Page 29 of Winterfall Destiny

Tucking the blanket under his arm, Andrei yanks me to my feet, pulling me close. His eyes dazzle in the dark and he takes a sharp breath as my body touches his.

What will I do if Andrei wants more than a kiss? Nervousness skitters along my spine—we discussed waiting, but he's here.

"Don't worry," Andrei says softly. "I won't drag you back into that bed." He kisses my forehead. "But don't look in my head, please."

At least that Andrei half-smirk is the same guy.

"Shoes?" I suggest.

"Nope."

I stumble as Andrei drags me towards the bedroom door. He pauses and places a finger to his lips. "Don't wake anybody."

"I suspect not everybody's sleeping," I whisper as we creep along the hallway. I halt when we reach the stairs leading to the attic and his room.

I haven't walked into Andrei's room today; I spent too much time on vigil inside to want to return again. His bed's unslept in, but at least Andrei isn't in the bed, a statue of death I worried would never come back to us as the days passed.

The room is him again, not only the spiced scent of the soap he uses, but the aura of life rather than death. Andrei, but not quite because the First's aura's attached. I push thoughts of it away, including the one that comes constantly: where is the creature?

Unlinking my fingers from Andrei's, I cautiously look around. "You're planning activities in that bed instead?" I ask lightly, but my mouth dries.

He shoves hair from his face. "I intend to prove a point to the others, Maeve. So, no."

"Then what?"

With a grin, he hops onto his dresser, the one with drawers half-open as usual. Above him, a thick blackout blind is taped to the small window on the slanted ceiling. He tears this down and in a moment unlatches and shoves the window upwards.

"Come on."

"You want me to climb through a window onto the roof?" I ask. "You do know I don't have the same agility as you? Or your expertise in not falling and injuring myself."

He looks down. "Crap. Are you scared of heights?"

"No. But we are three storeys high and?—"

"I want to sit on the roof and watch the sunrise with you," he blurts.

"Oh." My eyes go wide. "I thought you meant watch the sunrise in the garden."

"I didn't think this through." His exuberance ebbs, but I walk to him.

"Help me up."

"You sure?"

"But if I fall to my death I won't be happy," I say teasingly.

I needn't have worried about falling. The roof peaks just above the window and the newly renovated tiles sit firmly in place. Andrei keeps a tight grip on my hand and hauls me up to sit beside him.

I've never climbed as high above the world I currently live in, and unlike the view from my bedroom window, I can see over the treetops to a clearer view of the lakes, and mountains behind whose dark shapes silhouette against the night sky.

The soon to be dawn sky.

"You're fortunate it isn’t raining," I comment as I gesture at the clouds obscuring the stars.

"Uh huh." Andrei drags the blanket across my shoulders and hugs me to him, my side against his hips, his breath in my hair.

Taking his bare arm, I play my fingers along the soft sheen before linking mine with his.

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