He could hear her smirk. “Only a little.”
“This is a little?”
“Oh, Captain,” she whispered, her voice matching the heat floodingdown his body. Eyes still closed, he reached to stack more blankets over his hips. “You have no idea what I can do.”
He couldn’t help it, he shivered. And nearly choked on air when he felt something warm and round graze his cheek. He jerked back.
Her laugh was hard, and it echoed in his chest. And then her fingers were rough on his chin, gripping him tight.
“Nes?” He kept his eyes shut.
“Shh,” she hissed.
Then he did look. He opened his eyes to happiness like he’d never before seen on her face. Pure joy, and it only made him want to smile back at her, to do whatever he could to keep such elation from abandoning her.
Nes was so close, the air of her exhale circled his ear. Her fingers, now light and delicate, slid up his jaw to the skin below his ear then down along the back side of his hairline, caressing him. Goose bumps rose at the back of his neck. Her touch both calmed his heart and excited other parts of him.
She closed her eyes, and he followed her. It wouldn’t hurt to give in just a bit.
“Are you two finished yet?”
From downstairs, a new voice snapped into the room, and he jumped. Nes leaned away. It took conscious effort on his part not to groan. The bed did it for him as Nes shifted and stood.
She snorted. “There’s nothing to finish, Suri!”
He couldn’t see Suri, or anyone for that matter, like this. For one, he wanted to be clothed and much more relaxed in certain areas. He clutched the blankets harder. He needed Nes to leave.
“Like I believe that!” Suri called back.
He couldn’t stop his groan this time.
“How you doing over there?” Nes asked him.
“Wonderful.”
“I’m sure you are.” There was a rustle, then her voice came again. “I’ll give you a minute alone.”
“Or two,” he rasped. He risked opening his eyes.
Nes stood in the doorway fully clothed, her smile knowing. “Join us when you’re…at ease again.” She winked. Then she was gone, the bedroom door shutting behind her.
He collapsed on the bed. He ran his hands over his face, dragging his nails over his eyes. The image of Nes’s bare body was seared to the dark side of his eyelids.
She was, if nothing else, impossible to forget.
26
Toran
Toran found Genna sitting at a table, a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
The same girl who had admitted them into the brawlhouse sat on the stool to Genna’s right—Suri, he presumed. She had dark hair and a face that spoke of such familiarity he wondered if he’d encountered her prior to the brawlhouse or if he was simply mistaking her for another girl. Nes stood on Genna’s other side, a bowl of something thick and creamy in her hands. No one spotted him at the bottom of the stairs.
The table in front of Genna and Suri was laid out with a full breakfast: scrambled eggs and buttered toast and orange slices and doughnuts.
He watched Nes set down the bowl, then kick out a stool, one hand already claiming the pot of coffee and the other her favorite doughnut. The pastry was in her mouth before she bothered to sit. His eyes followed her as she poured herself some coffee, then filled the empty cup at the place setting next to hers, too. For all their flirting and teasing this morning, seeing Nes like this, at ease, made new feelings creep out of his chest. They slid up his collarbone, wrapping around his shoulders like an embrace.
He owed both Nes and Suri his life. He wanted to thank them.
