"You were so happy to have your own room though, I can't steal the bed from you."
"It's big enough for two."
His response had my eyes widening, attention settling on that annoying little smirk on his lips. He was teasing me. My mouth flattened for merely a moment before I decided to play along, wanting to call his bluff.
"Don't try anything funny then, Captain," I murmured, lashes fluttering as I moved to sit upon the edge and remove my shoes. "Do you have a shirt I could borrow? Rena didn't give me any clothes to change into. I was going to borrow one from Bran."
He shuffled around for a moment before he leaned close, his eyes boring into mine with a playfulness I was beginning to become familiar with. He held the shirt up between us as he spoke, his voice still soft with that slight huskiness that had my toes curling. “You're tellingmenot to try anything funny?" His eyes held laughter that had my gaze narrowing upon him. "You're the one who stumbled drunk intomyroom demanding to borrowmyclothes. I should be the one tellingyounot to take advantage ofme, don't you think?"
Flushing, I motioned for him to turn so I could change and he obliged, moving away with a predatory slowness that had me quaking, a warmth alighting in my stomach that had nothing to do with the firemead. This truly had been ahorribleidea.
"You're the one who suggested sharing a bed," I shot back, but my tone lacked the bite I tried to convey. My dignity crumpling beneath the flush that I knew stained my cheeks.
"I told you before, I'm not a kind man," he responded, eyes fixed on the wall as he crossed his arms. I quickly stripped from my clothing, swiftly pulling his soft linen shirt over my head. It hung mid thigh, baggy and comfortable against my skin, smelling of rain and cedar. "I may be selfless enough to share the bed, but I'm selfish enough not to give it up entirely."
He turned back around when I murmured I was decent, his eyes immediately traveling down to my bare legs. Gaze snapping away, his throat cleared as he looked anywhere but at me. Lifting the rumpled covers, I slid beneath them and snuggled down into the bed with a contented sigh.
"Thank you for letting me sleep here," I finally spoke as I felt the bed dip. “For someone who claims to have a heart so wicked and black, you're being awfully nice to me."
He didn't respond and I felt the firemead slowly pulling me into a deep sleep, my breaths coming soft.
"You're like a storm," he whispered into the darkness, and I struggled against the lull of exhaustion, humming in response. “Terrifying and beautiful all at once. As if I'm caught in the eye of it, a peace and stillness that I could lose myself in, while everything l've known around me is ripped to shreds."
"A storm?" I slurred softly, sleep and drink slowing my mind as I rolled to face him. “Where there’s a storm, there’s rain.”
He smiled softly, eyes roaming over my face and I spoke again, my fingers tracing little shapes upon the pillow I rested on. “Why did you leave earlier?"
"I was enjoying myself too much."
"Is joy a bad thing?"
His quiet laugh had my frown deepening and I reached over to slap his chest lightly, but his hand caught mine entwining our fingers, my breath catching as he rolled and leaned closely in until our noses were nearly touching.
"I've spent my whole life avoiding the things that I can't have, little menace." His voice was low, soft with a sadness that I couldn't quite comprehend in that moment, yet it fractured my heart all the same. “The things that bring me joy never truly stay mine for long, they're always taken. If that were to happen to—”
"To what?" There was a desperation in the question. A desperation to hear the admission, for him to voice it and not be able to take it back.
"Will you remember this in the morning?" He asked.
"No."
"Liar." His laugh broke the tension and I sighed, my own bubbling up.
"Fine, keep your secrets tonight, Delmar." My teasing tone died out and my eyes studied his face, the restraint set into all the sharp edges of him. “But not forever, okay? Tell me eventually.”
"Eventually." His response was hesitant, but a promise underlied his words. His hand still entwined with mine squeezing once—gently.
I gave a contented sigh before the lull of sleep became too strong and I let it pull me under.
Chapter Twenty Five
Ieyed the reptilian-like creatures with a mixture of fear and fascination as the hot sun beat down upon our group.
The creatures were much like the small lizards we had in the north, with their little angled legs, long tails, and forked tongues. Except these were nearly the size of a horse and had teeth the length of my smallest fingers, razor sharp and awfully deadly looking. They also had little sprouts of feather-like tufts on either side of their heads—similar to little horns.
"We're riding these through the desert?" Rena asked, disbelief coating her tone. I couldn't help but agree, they hardly looked friendly.
"These creatures," Gianni began, gesturing to the beasts, "are called Tolokok and they are to be respected." He gave her a sardonic smile, so unlike his usually playful, flirtatious manner. "Unless you'd like them to eat you."
