Page 46 of Gift from the Tree

“Corentin, this is too much,” I whisper to him, feeling a little overwhelmed by how much work they put into this room.

“You’ll need it all.”

“Did Gaster make all of this? How in the world could he have had the time to do this?”

“He had some help,” he answers vaguely from where he’s perched at the door, watching me intently.

“Thank you so much. It’s all way too much, more than I could’ve ever dreamed of. But I appreciate it more than I could tell you.” I don’t know why he or they, whoever, put the effort into making this room really my own, but it’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Blinking my eyes quickly to force away the tears building up, I move out of the closet and go over to the desk to get a better look at it. Sitting on the corner is my box that appeared on my birthday. I’d taken it with me to Gaster’s, so he must’ve already moved all my stuff back here. Running my hand over the top, I close my eyes as the familiar warmth and comfort soak into my body.

This is really my room. Unbelievable.

Corentin clears his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “Would you like a proper tour of the house now?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” I smile as I follow him out the door. As we step out of my room and continue down the hall, we pass by the only other door on the hall with mine.

“What’s that room?” I ask Corentin, pointing to the door.

He stops walking and looks between me and the door. At first, I think he’s going to ignore my question before he finally answers, “Draken’s bedroom.”

“Well, at least I know where to look now if I need him.” I try to say it as casually as I can. Knowing that I’m sleeping in a room so close to Draken is doing strange things to my body. Things I’ve never felt while thinking about another person, things that both excite and terrify me.

The romance books I’d read and then delete off my secret Kindle always painted the picture that any act of intimacy could be mind-blowing, electric, but the only experiences I’ve had were torture. The thought it could be more feels both freeing and petrifying.

We continue walking down the hall, and when we reach the fork, Corentin takes a left and I can’t help but look down the hall to the right. Maybe everyone’s right about my curiosity. I can’t seem to help it.

“What’s down the other hallway?

Corentin doesn’t slow his steps or even glance back at me, just throws it out there. “Our bedrooms.”

Fuck, we’re all in the same hall. The thought makes me trip over my feet, but before I can embarrassingly hit the floor, two arms grab ahold of my waist. Corentin straightens me up and lets his hands linger on my sides for a minute before taking a step back.

The touch of his hands sets my sides ablaze, the exposed skin burning with sensation. Even after he withdraws them, the lingering weight leaves an imprint on my body, a phantom presence that sends tremors coursing through me.

Fuck, why does it feel like that?

“Stay away from our bedrooms,” he says in a clipped, angry tone, taking another step away from me.

“I wasn’t going to go in your bedroom,” I snap back, the moment completely broken as heat flares up my chest and makes my entire body burn with embarrassment.

Ignoring me, he continues to storm down the hall until he stops to open a large mahogany door. He leads me inside a room that looks more like the guys’ hangout. Like every room, there are large windows looking out over the grounds, not like the forest view I had, but a field of green, with a large natural-looking pool in the middle. It looks like something nature has created all on its own and the guys just keep it nice and clean. If I hadn’t developed a recent fear of pools, I’d kill to float around in it.

There’s a full bar on one wall, another large sectional, and a pool table in the center of the room. Yeah, definitely a hangout for the guys. Making his way over to the bar, Corentin pours himself a glass of brown liquor and throws it back. “This is the lounge.”

“It looks like a man-cave,” I reply sarcastically.

“A what?”

“A room dedicated to only males, to kick back, get drunk, and do whatever they please,” I explain, matching his snippy tone.

“So it’s true we’re letting the little spy back into the house?” Caspian steps out from the corner by the bar, scaring the shit out of me.

“Fuck, you scared me,” I say, placing a hand over my racing heart.

“Me stepping out of the shadows is the least scary thing I can do,” he remarks darkly, taking a step toward me.

“Caspian,” Corentin says in warning. They have a stare off for a long, tense moment, ending with Caspian sending me a chilling look, then stepping back into the shadows.

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