With some scanning through the offerings, Flintfinally lands on one of my favorite terrible action movies. Grateful for the distraction, I try to settle down in my little pile of comfort. Alas, it doesn’t seem to be doing it.
Flint, ever vigilant and weirdly, stupidly attuned to me is still sitting up on the couch. “What is it?” he asks, his voice gruff.
I don’t think about my next words, as they come spilling out of my face hole without my permission. “Willyousleepwithme?”
For fucks sake. Get it together, Casie.
There are multiple moments of humming silence. I’m so tense, hating myself, this weakness, the request itself.
I can feel my cheeks heating.
Flint doesn’t miss a beat. “Of course.”
He gets up and comes around to the mattress.
“Wait, really?”
He huffs out a breath. “Yes, Casie. Of course.”
I have a moment of panic. “I meant sleep sleep. Not… you know–”
He stops rearranging blankets and pillows to give me a pointed look. “Yes, Casie. I’m well fucking aware.”
Well, excuse me.
As if he realizes his words were a little sharp, he sighs, and plops his ass next to me. “Even if tonight’s…” he seems to search for a word “train wreck hadn’t happened, we still wouldn’t be doing anything you don’t want to.” He takes my hand and brings it to his lips, gently pressing a kiss to my knuckles. “So… move your ass and make space. Unless you meant you’d be sleeping on the mattress and I’d be sleeping on the floor.”
How he can make everything inside me melt then immediately turn around and make me laugh.
“I’d never let my knight in shining armor sleep on the floor,” I retort, scooting my butt over to make room at the back of the mattress.
When he tries to lay down, I stop him. Although he’s hot as ever in his black jeans and sweater, he’s going to be a different sort of hot laying down in this mountain of blankets with me. “Don’t you want to change?”
He shrugs. “It’s not a big deal.”
Again, my heart goes completely squishy.
Chivalry isn’t dead — apparently, it’s just Fae.
I reach out and squeeze his hand. “Go change. Really. I insist.” Since arriving here, he either sleeps naked with me or in a pair of basketball shorts.
He continues to study me, assessing whether I’m being the people pleaser I am at my core or if I really mean what I’m saying. And I do. I trust that Flint would never do anything to hurt me or pull some alphahole bullshit like Brett did.
Flint is, in fact, probably the one man I would choose over a bear.
I’m trying desperately to focus on the movie as Flint exits the bathroom. He cracks the window so Calida can nudge it up with her snoot if needed and turns off the lights. He double-checks that the door is locked. My heart does a slow roll in my chest when he places my jug of ice water on the floor above the mattress before he lies down next to me. After some hesitation, he hooks an arm around my hips. He doesn’t pull me closer, leaving inches of space between our bodies, but the weight of his arm is a comfort. Is he trying to respect my space or am I contaminated somehow?
I shut those thoughts away as quickly as I can, blinking away the tears that burn my eyes.
Holy fuck, he puts off a lot of heat. Almost immediately, the temperature under the blanket increases with the heat of his body. Lost in the warmth of him, I think I hear him whisper something, but I’m already gliding into sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ihave never been so fucking grateful for the sleep sweet spell my mother taught me as I have since coming to find Ash. Granted, she assumed I’d be using it to soothe fretful babies so my mate could sleep. No, I use it constantly on my beloved. Gods – no one needs it the way she does, and that’s never been more true than tonight. I don’t want her to dream or relive what could have, and almost did, happen tonight. I especially don’t want her memories burstingthrough now that there appears to be a crack in their containment. There’s too much on the line and the stakes are too fucking high.
Her breathing is even and, when I take a moment to scan her mind, I realize the spell has done its job as her dreams are quiet. I’d assumed so, but needed to be sure. She doesn’t deserve even more upheaval when her defenses are down.
I can’t help but think, again, that I wish I could just scoop her up, whisk her away from all of this. For all the power of my people running through my veins, so much of it seems useless in protecting, in helping, the person who means the most to me.
