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He rolled his eyes at me playfully. “Can’t sleep?”
“I used to be able to fall asleep anywhere, fast,” I admitted, both of us still signing so we didn’t wake up the others. “I haven’t been able to since we got here from the wind fae kingdom. It just takes a long time to fall asleep, and I wake up easily.”
Zoran frowned. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, lying through my teeth.
He narrowed his eyes at me, and brushed a finger over the wrinkle between my eyebrows.
Pointing out my lie.
“It’s hard to sleep alone,” I finally said. “I felt safe when I slept next to you.”
“Now you don’t feel safe?”
“Not really. Your people hate me. That guard with the knife was the first one to hurt me, but I’ve known I’m in danger since the first day we got here.”
Zoran’s eyes were stormy as he signed, “You won’t sleep alone again.”
“Are you going to ask for volunteers?” I tossed back, flashing him a playful smile.
“No. You’ll sleep beside me, the way I should’ve insisted you sleep since the day we returned. I thought protecting you from my instincts was more important than what I wanted, but I was wrong.”
“You wanted me close to you?” I signed, honestly curious. He had never told me what he wanted before—and definitely not that he wantedme.
“Of course I did.” His forehead wrinkled. “You’re my mate.”
“But you only wanted to be friends,” I reminded him. “And then from my perspective, after we got here, it seemed like you didn’t even want to befriends.”
“I was trying to protect you,” he signed back, a bit frustrated. “Before, I agreed to friendship because it was the only real option. How was I going to convince you to fall in love with me without being able to speak to you?”
“I don’t know. Taking care of me? Listening to me? Communicating with our hands, like we did?” I caught his wrist and squeezed it twice. “It just didn’t seem to me like you wanted to be with me. And I know that could’ve just been from my perspective, but you haven’t shown me yours, so I have no other way to think.”
His lips pressed together in a tight line.
A moment passed, and then another.
The exhaustion began to set in, and honestly, I felt better having all of that off my chest.
“You need to sleep,” he finally signed. “We’ll talk more when we can. Please know that I want you, Cier. More than anything.” He pulled my hand to his erection and dragged it over the hardness there, proving his words.
My cheeks warmed, and I nodded, though it would take me a while to really believe him.
I couldn’t change the way I thought in less than two days, but maybe over time.
Zoran slid closer to me, and I rolled to meet him until my forehead was pressed against his thigh, and my torso curled against his leg. I murmured, barely loud enough for him to hear, “Wake that other guy up when you need to sleep, please. If you aren’t well enough rested when we find Heliai, it could be the end for all of us.”
Zoran didn’t reply immediately but as I drifted off, he squeezed my arm lightly, twice.
Yes.
Chapter7
When Zoran wokeme up with a soft brush to my arm, the same way he had when we were with the other kings and their mates, I found myself staring into his sleepy eyes.
He had woken up the other man to take his place at some point, like I asked him to.
I gave him a quick, soft smile, ignoring the exhaustion I was still feeling.
