Page 5 of Tarnished Embers

“It’s almost as if you knew we were coming,” Kit teases, walking around and eyeing the huge four-poster bed. Each room has one, complete with drapes that can be pulled shut to create an intimate sleeping space. Heat colours my cheeks at Kit’s words, and the bastard notices as he turns back to glance at me, a feline smile drawing his lush lips upwards. “What are you thinking about that has you blushing, Pretty Thing?”

“S–shall we move on?” I squeak out in a rush, turning on my heel and hurrying towards the door. Of course, I’m slowed down because Caspian won’t let go of my fucking hand.

“I want to see your room, Sugar,” Prince hums, and it’s not a request. No, there’s a note of command in his voice that renders me unable to deny him.Damn, this is not good. Why can’t I resist them?

Against my better judgement, I stop in front of my door, Caspian beside me and the others a furnace at my back. My free hand trembles as I reach out and grasp the handle, turning it while sunlight spills out of the room, filling me with sunshine and a lightness like it always does. For what feels like the first time since I walked into the house today, my lips pull up into a genuine smile.

“Fuck me, Little Cinders,” Caspian breathes out next to me, and I turn to look at him with raised brows. “We need to get you smiling like that more.”

I can feel the blush that seems to be a permanent fixture on my face deepen, and my pulse pounds as I look away, unable to hold his adoring stare any longer.

“This is me,” I tell them softly, inching into the space and trying to block the door as if I’m afraid they’ll somehow taint it with their…overbearing manliness. It’s a lost cause though because Caspian has a firm grip on my hand and uses it to move me aside.

“It’s perfectly you,” Prince declares, striding past me and looking around. I try to see what he means, to take it in as if for the first time. I was drawn to the soft yellow walls and the large windows that let in so much light; it’s an artist’s dream. Suddenly, my eyes widen, my stomach filling with damn butterflies as I catch the corner of the room in front of the windows that has my easel set up, my paints and charcoals strewn messily on a table beside it.

Caspian finally lets go of my hand, only to casually stroll over to the art space. It’s something that no one else has ever seen, not my father or any friends I’ve had over in the past, though there haven’t been many of those. Cas’s eyes take in the half-finished painting and then the others tacked onto the wall beside it.

“You’re an artist?” he questions, his tone soft and almost reverent. The others join him while I’m rooted to the spot, wanting to bolt and scream at them to leave all at once. I can’t see their faces fully, only the side of them, so I don’t know what they’re thinking. He turns to face me and then his eyes lock onto mine, something unreadable in his expression, and I still can’t move, trapped as my soul is laid bare for these strangers. “Little Cinders, these are amazing.” Something inside me warms, liking his praise, my body losing all tension as his words flow over me.

“I’m taking this one,” Prince states, tearing my gaze from Caspian’s as he reaches over to pluck a drawing from the wall. It’s an ink and watercolour of a phoenix in flight, the bright orange and yellow colours dripping down the page, the ink splattered across it. I made it recently, feeling like after five years I was finally rising from the ashes that were left after Mum passed.

“Is that okay, Little Cinders?” Caspian asks seriously, and in that moment, I know that Caspian would tell Prince to fuck off if I said it wasn’t okay. I’ve somehow gained a protector in the past half an hour, and it’s enough to almost bring tears to my eyes. I swallow hard, my eyes flicking back to Prince who still holds my drawing, his expression intense, his brows lowered like he’s waiting for me to deny him.

“S–sure,” I say, licking my lips, and for a moment they all stare at me with molten fire in their gazes, their eyes shining like jewels. Prince’s lips kick up in a half smile that leaves my knees weak, and I’m sure I’d give him all my drawings if he smiles at me like that every time.

“Then I want one,” Oct declares, his eyes leaving mine to roam over the wall. “That one.” He points to another of my watercolours, this one a pink, purple, and turquoise octopus, and I see it suits his surfer vibe. I made it recently too, after a rare day when Dad took time off work to take us for a weekend away by the sea in Cornwall. Part of me now wonders if he spent that time with me, knowing that Odette would soon join us and it wouldn’t be just him and I any longer. Oct carefully takes it off the wall, then reaches for another and pulls that off too. “This one can be yours, Kit.”

Kit takes the painting, also of an octopus, but this one is in shades of deep violet and navy with galaxy stars down its side and pouring out of it in an ink spill across the page. This image makes my chest tight because I painted it a few years back when I was in a bit of a dark place. My hand rubs over my shirtsleeve, over the scars that litter my forearm from that time, the reason I wear long shirts even on the warmest of days. Kit’s lips lift, and he looks up at me.

“You are exceptionally talented, Pretty Thing.”

“T–thank you,” I reply in a rasping whisper, feeling like I’m too raw. To most, these are just pictures of animals, but each one holds a special meaning to me, as if they’re a part of me. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t want to part with them, but for some reason, I don’t mind each of them taking one. I like that they’ll have such a special part of me with them.

“Will you choose one for me, Little Cinders?” Caspian pleads, and my gaze flies to him, my heart suddenly pounding. “Please?”

He holds his hand out, and the others stand back a little. Slowly, reluctantly, I inch towards him, my palms sweating and I’m not even sure why. I let him take my hand, and he pulls me in front of him, wrapping his arms around me from behind and engulfing me in his scent of caramel apples. It calms me, even though I know it shouldn’t because we’re effectively strangers, and I let myself sink into him just like I did with Prince on the stairs. A contented rumble sounds from his chest and he pulls me even closer. I let my hands rest on his arms, his muscles tensing and proving that he’s every bit a man who could pin me down right.Dammit, Ember! Not the fucking time for dirty thoughts of your stepbrother.

My eyes roam over the drawings, noting the gaps now that the others have taken their paintings. Then my vision snags on a dragonfly in shades of red and bronze, and I know that this belongs to Caspian.

“Did you know dragonflies symbolise change? Transformation?” I tell them, leaving the warmth of Caspian’s embrace to reach for the picture and take it off the wall. “It reminds us to open our hearts to change and encourage us to feel relaxed, even when situations are difficult.” I turn and look at Caspian as I say the last part, his copper eyes so intense that they’re practically glowing. “This is the picture I think you should have, Cas.”

His irises flare brighter at the nickname that slips out from my lips, and his smile stops my heart altogether.

“Thank you, Ember.”

Oh lordt, when he says my name like that, like I’m something precious to be cherished and looked after, I can’t think of a single response.

“Why don’t you show Cas and I our rooms, darlin'?” Prince drawls from behind Cas, and blinking as if coming out of a daze, I look over at him and nod.

“Of course, you guys must be exhausted.”

“Not too tired to— Oomph.” I look at Oct, seeing him rub his side and giving Cas a death glare. A small giggle bursts from my lips, even as my cheeks warm, wondering what Oct was about to say. Surely he can’t have meant…

“Add that sound to the ‘noises we need Ember to make every day’ list,” Kit declares, striding forward and grabbing my hand before pulling me towards the door, the others following behind us.

“I’ve another sound I’d like to he— Fuck, dude!” Oct curses, and I know that Cas, who seems to have become my protector, has once again stopped Oct from saying something that might be a little too much for me right now.

I barely repress a groan when we reach the room on the other side of mine and open the door. Shades of green greets us, from a deep, almost black to a bright emerald and I know by the way that Prince saunters into the space that he’s already laid claim to this one.

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