He leans in and whispers in my ear. “I’ve been fantasizing about all the things I want to do to you for weeks. One more night won’t kill us.”
Leaning back, he looks down at me with a heated gaze, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. I smile, nodding in agreement. He places a quick kiss on my lips, rubs his fingers delicately along my sides, then turns and joins Raef in the knife sharpening party.
I sit on the bed and watch them while we make small chat.
When Meela finally emerges, she eyes them, then sits beside me on the bed. Everyone looks tired.
“What about Rhydra and Gaethri?” I ask.
Raef shrugs. “They had already gone to bed for the night. We need to be up early to try to find them before the elvish guards.”
“Okay. We should probably get some rest then. It’s late.”
Everyone agrees, dousing most of the remaining lights and trying to get comfortable with our arrangement.
Raef takes a spot on the floor at the end of the bed, and Meela lies on her back beside me, closer to the wall. We look at each other for a moment and smile. It’s not so bad, being here with everyone I care about.
I turn over, closing my eyes, when a warm, rough hand reaches for mine and holds on. My heart tugs in my chest as my eyes get heavy, but I have no intention of letting it go.
Meela’s breathing gets slower and deeper beside me, and so does Raef’s. Despite my heavy eyelids and the exhaustion settling in after the last few days, I can’t drift off to sleep just yet. I don’t think Daegan is sleeping either. I try to let go of his hand so I can try something, but he doesn’t let me. So I keep hold of it as I climb out of the bed and onto the floor, curling against his body and pulling his arm around me.
“It’s not comfortable down here, you should go back up on the bed,” he whispers in my ear. His hot, minty breath sends pulses of heat through me.
“I don’t care,” I whisper back.
His arm tightens around me in response, and we fall asleep just like that.
Chapter 41
“We need a name.”
“Raef, what are you on about now?” Meela rolls her eyes. It almost distracts me from the ghost of a smirk on her lips.
“We’re getting close. We just need the crown, right? History books will tell the tales of our heroism and bravery. We need a name.”
I watch, thoroughly entertained, as she gives him the same look she always gives him. There’s something more behind the annoyance though. I know it. Though when we woke up early this morning, they stayed separated, unlike Daegan and me. I didn’t care that I’d slept on the floor. I slept more peacefully in his arms than I have in a long time, and waking to him lightly stroking my hair is something I never want to go without again.
He continues, ignoring her glare. “The covenant. No, the order of…”
“The order of dumbasses. The order of cocky bastards. Both are good options.”
He laughs. “The order for short, though.”
She chuckles a little too.
“Are we all motherless?”
“Raef… what?” Meela has a palm up in the air.
“Elysande lost her mother, so did I, so did Daegan, so did Rhydra… what about you Gaethri?”
“Deceased,” he grumbles.
Raef raises his eyebrows at Meela.
“What does this have to do with anything?” Her eyes are narrowed.
“It can be our common ground. For our group name. What are the odds we’ve all lost our mums? The motherless order… the order of the motherless…”
