Page 34 of Their Demon

His nostrils flared, and I swear, his breathing faltered for a second. What I wouldn’t have given in that moment to feel his breath against my skin. That thought alone made my heart flutter, along with something else.

Stop that, he growled warningly.

I was already blushing, but I’m sure my face turned four shades redder.

Sorry.

You’re not sorry.

I batted my eyelashes innocently.

“You two done flirting?” Aiden patronized us.

The laugh I’d been holding busted out at that moment, louder than I intended, and I snorted. My hand immediately covered my mouth as embarrassment overtook me.

All three of them just stared at me, bewildered. Seconds later, everyone cracked up along with me, laughter filling the air and easing the rest of the tension.

Once the laughter faded, Keir said, “I will be the one to take you to see Mavis. How does tomorrow sound?”

At first, I couldn't speak, stunned not only by his agreeing to let me go but also by his offer to take me himself.

“Yes! That sounds amazing!” I yelled, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of him, throwing my arms around him in a hug.

He tensed up the moment our bodies touched, but he wrapped his arms around me a second later, giving me the softest hug ever.

“Are you sure, Keir? We don’t mind taking her,” Nicholas offered.

Keir shook his head as he released me, a thoughtful expression on his face as he watched me be all excited. “I’m due for a day off anyway, and I need to talk to Ida.”

“A day off?” Aiden spoke everyone’s shock out loud. “Are you sure you’re okay? Not sick or anything? Should we be worried? Do we need to call the doctor? I’m sure we can get you som—”

“Would you shut the fuck up?” Keir barked, fed up with the teasing as he turned to face the twins. “I saidI’mtaking her. End of story.”

I’m not sure if it was his words, or maybe he gave them a look I couldn’t see, but they both nodded with their hands up in fake surrender. He was no longer smiling by the time he turned back to me.

“We will go between your trainings tomorrow. I can’t promise a lot of time, but I can give you as much as—”

“Thank you,” I blurted out. His eyes widened at my outburst. “Just… Thank you. I know it’s hard for you to let this happen.” He started to open his mouth, but I kept going. “I know you just want to keep me safe, but you have no idea how much this means to me.” My cheeks were starting to hurt from the huge smile I was sporting.

He chuckled and grinned—actuallygrinned—at me. “Good to hear.”

Fuck, she’s adorable.

I don’t know if he knew I’d heard him, but as he left the kitchen, saying he had a few things to take care of, he stole a sideways glance at me, a pondering look in his eyes.

The twins were both giving me ‘you gonna tell us what that was about?’ looks, and I shifted under their eyes.

I giggled nervously. “He called me adorable.”

Chapter 15

Nicholas

Shewasadorable. I couldn’t help but watch her as she trained with my brothers that morning.

The way her skin glistened with sweat, stray hairs sticking to her face. The way she struggled with the increased weight Aiden kept adding to her bar, her arms shaking. The way her face lit up when Keir told her they were using practice swords today, her swagger immediately changing, morphing into confidence. The way she looked at Keir when he revealed how he hid his weapons in his shadows, speechless during his show-and-tell.

She had me so worked up by the time she finished her morning trainings, I suggested we do something different for endurance training after lunch.

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