Page 35 of Flame and Starlight

“No! Get off of me!” I could feel myself thrashing and fighting against her.

“Alys!” A sharp smack across my face caused my eyes to fly open, and I jolted upright, smacking my forehead right into Asher’s nose. “Fuck!” His hand gripped his nose, a little trail of blood dotting his upper lip.

“Oh, shit!” I reached out to try and help, but really I had no idea what I could do, so I dropped them back down. I tried to bring myself out of the dream, looking around and telling myself I was safe and fine. I was in the tree house cabin, in bed, in the Winter Court. Asher was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hair mussed from sleep, and shirtless, showing off all his murder tattoos that snaked across his body. They did, in fact, cover his entire back as well. His entire…muscled…back.

“What were you dreaming about?” He jerked his nose and grunted through the pain of resetting it before it could heal crooked.

“I’m not sure.” I rubbed my forehead where it had collided with his nose. “It was dark. Something was talking to me about my power.” I left out the bit where I knew that it was Nyxa. “You slapped me!” I suddenly remembered.

“Yeah, well, you broke my nose.” He gave me a pointed look, and I shrugged, causing the thin strip of my nightgown to fall off my shoulder. His eyes followed it and lingered there. I took a deep breath against the warmth pooling in my center and pulled the strap back up on my shoulder.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “Thanks for getting me out of it, though. Even if your tactics sucked.” I pulled the covers a bit further up my waist. He laughed and stood up to stretch. I shamelessly watched as his abs moved while he stretched his arms above his head. “You can sleep in here, you know.”

He dropped his arms to his sides and raised an eyebrow. “Are you coming on to me, little duck?”

I sighed and lay back into the pillows. “In your dreams. I’m only saying that the couch can’t be that comfortable, and this bed is plenty big enough for two. I’ve shared a bed with plenty of friends before. But by all means, go back to laying your six-and-a-half-foot body on that tiny couch.”

He smiled and walked his way around the foot of the bed and to the other side. I locked my eyes onto the ceiling, refusing to look at him as he crawled in. The bed sank under his weight as I clasped my hands together on my stomach.

“If you snore, I’ll kick you out,” he said as he settled in.

“Hilarious.”

I heard him laugh to himself. I dared to look at him out of the corner of my eye. Sleeping was going to be impossible. He lay there with his right arm tucked under his head and the other hand resting casually on his chest. His dust, which I was actually beginning to find beautiful, danced slowly under his skin in time with his shadows that spread under the sheets.

“Go to sleep, Alys,” he said sleepily, his eyes still shut. Realizing that I had been staring, I clamped my eyes shut and turned on my side, away from him

He has murdered people, Alys.

I repeated that mantra in my head, begging my body to listen to my brain.

But maybe there’s a bigger reason.

He rolled over, and even though he was on the opposite side of the bed, I could feel his breath tickle my bare shoulder. Eventually, sleep pulled me in. As it did, I thought I felt his fingers gently run through the ends of my hair. Gooseflesh broke out across my skin as I smiled and let myself sink into a dreamless sleep.

I rolled over in the morning to an empty bed. I sat up quickly and looked around, but Asher wasn’t in the room. A sliver of anxiety crept its way into the pit of my stomach. I hadn’t felt it in so long it was almost a foreign feeling. The sun was shining through the trees, casting odd shadows across the floor. I climbed out of bed and threw my hair up into a knot on the top of my head and made my way out into the main room of the house. Asher was sitting cross-legged in one of the chairs next to the fire, reading a book. That knot of anxiety that had formed suddenly relaxed at the sight of him.

“What time is it?”

“Almost noon. I figured you needed your sleep. You were rolling around all night.” He gave me a pointed look.

“Noon? You let me sleep half the day away?” I walked in front of him and plopped down in the chair opposite, not caring when the silk nightgown slid up my thighs.

“Like I said, I thought you needed the sleep. If you get dressed,” he said, eyeing my exposed skin over his book, “we could go into town and shop around the markets. Maybe get some lunch since you slept through breakfast.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” I stood up to run back and get ready, but he grabbed my arm to stop me. I didn’t think I would ever get used to his emotions rolling into me.

“Wear your hair down,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. I nodded, and he let my arm slide through his fingers.

After we had lunch in a cute bakery, he walked me to the Solstice markets. Since our arrival last night, warm string lights had been hung, crisscrossing across the square. I looked around at all the people talking and laughing with each other, holding on to their children’s hands, and thought how normal everything seemed. It was almost human.

“I’ve never seen you like this,” I said, tugging a bit at his wool coat.

“Like what?”

“Relaxed.” He snorted. “No, seriously. You’re all jokey and almost nice. Is it my charm that’s

slowly chipping away at your icy exterior?” I asked dramatically.

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