I almost jerked out of bed. There was no way he could know... “Um, about you and me being so close.” My voice was shaky. I hated it.
“Uh huh. I thought so. I need you to stop thinking about me in that way.”
This time I flew out of his arms and sat up. The cold suddenly became irrelevant. “Can you read my thoughts? Or—orfeelme?” I accused. “Smoke said that some scholars could speak to each other’s mind butyou’refrom a scholar family too.”
“No, I can’t.” He sat up, his hand moved closer to mine. Our fingers brushed. “It’s not me.”
“I certainly cannot hear what you’re thinking.”
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine, and he scrubbed his hand down his face. “I think you sometimes send me images of your thoughts. I canseewhat you are thinking sporadically. It took me a while to realize you were doing it while you dreamed, like our dreams were intertwining somehow. I thought they were my own dreams until I saw things that I couldn’t possibly know about you.”
My mouth hung open. I wasn’t fully grasping what he was saying, but he was in my dreams so often, sensual or not, that if he saw what I did... I jumped out of bed and hurried into the washroom and shut the door. I quickly locked it and put my face into my hands. How could I be sending him my mental images? He had seen that I was imagining him kissing me, touching me—and then told me tostop.
My pulse thundered in my ears, but I started to shiver again and wrapped my arms around myself.I need you to stop thinking about me in that way.
I was mortified. This was worse than the rejection during The Sorting Rite. I knew him now—Iwantedhim. And he knew me. After seeing those thoughts, he flat out denied the feelings—the connection between us? There was a spark and he had to feel it. I gulped. My heart was squeezing in my chest. No, hemustfeel it and yet... He refused it, refused me. Tears burned my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away.
“Aesir—Bonecarver.” The handle jiggled. “Open the door, please.”
I’d have to face him at some point, but I needed a moment. My coat hung on the hook next to my bed. I could hurry and put it on and bury myself under my blanket. Better yet, I could dress and go somewhere else. Anywhere else. The dining hall was always unlocked, and there’d probably be a fire.
“You’re going to freeze to death in there. Come out.”
“No.” I’d rather die of hypothermia than embarrassment. I didn’t want him to see my threatening tears.
“I know what you’re thinking and that’s not why I asked you to stop imagining... things about you and me.”
My heart skipped a beat. Then why? My teeth chattered and I glanced around for something to warm myself. The bath linens were the only option unless I filled a hot bath. I reached for one when the door lock clicked and a moment later he stood in the threshold, all bare skin and frustration with a key in hand. His eyes slid down to my exposed legs and back up. “It’s too cold for you to be so underdressed.”
“Me? You’re practically naked in—” I threw my hand toward him, and his absurd lack of clothing. When did he start sleeping in thigh-length shorts that hung so low on his hips? Damn, he looked good too. All that muscle... “In whatever you call that.”
“We’re not talking about me. I’m not locking myself in the subzero washroom.”
He strode forward with a smirk, and I held out my hand. “Don’t you dare.”
Without a word, he gripped me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder. I gasped in shock and pushed against him, but he held harder. “Viper, have you lost your mind?” I shrieked. My nightshirt rode up so high, half my ass was probably in his face. I reached back and tried to tug it down. He let out a low laugh. “This isn’t funny!”
He tossed me onto his bed, then pushed me over and wrapped me up again. “You’re freezing.”
“Why?” I asked sharply. I wanted to push away from him, but he warmed me and that took precedence over my stubbornness. My teeth chattered, and I buried my face in his neck. I felt too vulnerable to meet his eyes. “Why did you ask me to stop?”
He let out a long slow breath and held me tighter, like he was afraid I’d run again. I feared what he might say, even if it was what I wanted to hear. My pulse hummed loudly. I was sure he could hear it. “Because it makes it grueling for me not to cross lines with you when you’re sending me thoughts like that. It’s hard enough without...”
I closed my eyes and shuddered, but it wasn’t from the cold.
It was grueling? Hedidwant me. My heart must sound like a drum. In the quiet of the room even his was loud. “I’m truly so tempting for you?”
“You have no idea.”
My pulse ticked up, and the muscles in the pit of my gut tightened. “Alright, well, I don’t know I’m doing it, so how can I stop?” I whispered.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“No one has ever said anything to me about this before.”
“If you did do it before, I doubt anyone could know your thoughts from theirs. And besides, until tonight you’ve only done it while you slept—while you dreamed.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
