Page 18 of A Lost Light

It took me far too long to realize what the idiot was going on about. To realize that I was crying. Sobbing softly against the soft cotton that covered his cool chest.

“Shut up,” I muttered between gasping breaths.

“Okay,” he said evenly. “Okay, Aahil. Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart. Bah. I scoffed at him, but couldn't speak.

I felt stupid. Like a child, curled up and blubbering on the man I'd thought an enemy not an hour before. All because I'd had one little orgasm.

Pathetic.

“You're not pathetic,” he murmured, stilltalking. I must have said that bit out loud. His big hand smoothed over my back, and he ignored the wetness between us as he rolled over and pulled me on top of him. Then he yanked the blanket over my head and buried me. As if he knew that I wanted to hide forever.

“I'm certainly not going to judge,” he told me with a hint of humor in his deep voice. “I'm an abomination, remember? I'm still trying to get over the idea that anyone would even touch me willingly.”

I huffed and snuggled deeper into my stupid cocoon.

“I won't tell anyone,” he whispered after a bit of silence. “If that's what you're worried about.” His hands still stroked over my back, petting me like an upset cat in need of soothing. Then he sighed. “And… thank you. For accepting me. For trusting me. Or… whatever this is.”

I considered simply dematerializing and leaving. But that felt cowardly. Not knowing what to say or how to get myself out of this situation, I turned my head and bit him, sinking my sharp canines into the lean muscle of his pec.

“Ow! What the hell?” he yelped. Then he let out a weary sigh and went back to petting my back. “Yeah. Okay. Fine.”

I was never emerging from these blankets. I would die here before I ever came out and faced anyone again. Especially the necromancer.

The embarrassment would be the death of me.

Though, I had the stupid, sappy thought that this whole awkward encounter might have been worth it.

A knock at the door interrupted my suicide plans.

“Aahil?” Andy called through the heavy wood.

I sat up and threw the blanket off my head, my eyes meeting the wry gaze of the necromancer I was currently straddling. Both of us were clothed, and he had tucked himself back intohis pants at some point, which I supposed might be a relief. If I cared about nudity. I arched a brow at the necromancer, and he pushed up on his elbows to mutter a spell that removed some of the less savory evidence of what we had been doing.

Climbing off the necromancer, I strode across the room, opened the door, and leaned against the doorframe, doing my best to look idle and unconcerned. “Yes? What has you beating down my door, witch? Is the house on fire? Are we under attack?” I smirked. “Did you lose one of your fuckbuddies?”

She narrowed her eyes at me, then tilted her head, leaning so she could see into the room.

“Hi, Andy,” Dyre said tiredly from the middle of my nest of pillows. His long hair was still loose, spilling over the cushions, and his t-shirt was rucked up on one side to reveal his lean stomach. He looked pleasantly boneless, which made me want to smile proudly at the effect I had on him.

Andy's gray eyes widened. I wasn't really concerned that she'd be angry. Why should I care? Everyoneelsearound here fucked like rabbits. Why should it matter if I stole the witch's toy?

And yet, something in me relaxed when she just shook her head and huffed a little laugh. “Really?” she said, arching a brow and returning her gaze to me.

I shrugged. “Apparently, I have no taste in bed partners.”

She slapped my shoulder and rolled her eyes. “You haveexcellenttaste. I just thought you two hated each other.”

Dyre stood, unfolding gracefully from his nest on the floor and running a hand through his long hair to tug out some of the tangles. “Absolutely,” he said with a shrug. “Loathe the little jackass.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. True to his word, he showed not a single sign that he had just been sheltering me while I had some ridiculous meltdown.He once more looked as placid and unruffled as ever. “He might be growing on me. Disgustingly,” I drawled.

Dyre gave me a half smile, and Andy laughed. “You two are so dumb.” Then, apparently content to let us have whatever… this was… she moved on to more important business. “We got the coordinates for the safe space from Bella. We're going to head out to Magea to practice with the artifacts in half an hour or so, if you two aren't too busy bumping uglies to join us.

She smirked.

I gave her a bored look at her crass human lingo.

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