CHAPTER SIX
VICTORIA
Iwoke slowly, aware of warmth before anything else. A solid weight beneath my cheek. The steady rhythm of a heartbeat, deep and even.
My brain tried to catch up with my body.
The last thing I remembered was going to bed while Feral sat in the sitting room reading. I’d assumed he’d intended to stay there until I was asleep. Or he’d disappear again or remain in the chair for the night.
He’d said we’d share a bed, but maybe he’d only meant the suite.
He must’ve joined me in the bed sometime during the night.
His arm rested around my waist, and I was draped across his chest like an affectionate house cat. The domestic intimacy of our positions made me want to dismiss this as accidental proximity in a shared sleeping space.
Except his hand had curved around my hip at some point, and my fingers had splayed across hisnakedchest.
His thighs appeared to be naked as well. His sides. His…
He had an erection and it was prodding my thigh.
My brain stuttered, attempting to find a clinical way to rationalize this. It was an involuntary physiological response. Morning biology. Alpha male hormonal patterns. Completely impersonal and not related to my presence at all.
My face heated anyway.
I went absolutely still, mentally calculating the least disruptive extraction method. If I moved slowly, shifting my weight gradually, I could probably?—
The wolf sleeps like a mountain, vast and wide, while she lies draped across his naked side,Acorn said.
I shot a furious glare toward the headboard where my squirrel companion sat grooming his tail with too much satisfaction for this hour of the morning.
He leaped off the bed and scampered into the sitting room.
Traitor.
I attempted to slide away without disturbing Feral, lifting my head carefully and beginning to ease my leg from where it had somehow ended up tangled with his.
His hand tightened on my hip. “Going somewhere, wife?”
I froze.
His voice came out rough with sleep, but the thread of amusement underneath made my belly jump around.
Looking up, I found him watching me, his pale blue eyes fully alert. His mouth curved into a smirk.
He’d been awake.
Possibly the entire time.
I scrambled backward off the bed with absolutely zero dignity, nearly falling off the edge before catching myself. My nightgown had twisted around my legs, and I yanked it straight while trying to gather the scattered remains of my composure.
He didn’t move to cover himself. Didn’t apologize or look even remotely embarrassed. Just placed his hands underneathhis head, linking his fingers, and watched me with an insufferably calm expression.
I pointed at the very obvious bulge under the covers.
“That,” I said, “needs to be addressed.”
His eyebrow rose. “Does it?”
