Page 47 of Crown of Slumber

She groaned and rubbed her face. Her hair looked burnt orange in the fading light, a tangled mess around her head. A blanket was wrapped around her shoulders. “I wasn’t about to climb into bed with you when you were unconscious from your injuries. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“I think you’re a princess who isn’t accustomed to sleeping on hard wood floors.”

She rolled her eyes. “You were the one who insisted we share a room.”

I sat up, then instantly regretted it as a rush of dizziness clouded my mind. I raised a hand to my head to steady myself and closed my eyes.

“What are you doing?” Aurelia snapped, pressing down on my uninjured shoulder to guide me back down on the mattress. “You need to rest.”

“I’m fine. The healer sped up my recovery. It only aches a little bit.”

“Right,” Aurelia said doubtfully. “So, if you stand up right now, you won’t sway at all? I won’t have to catch you before you collapse into a pathetic heap on the floor?”

I let out a short laugh. “Gods, you really know how to flatter a man, Aurelia.”

“Go back to sleep, Fenn.”

“I can’t sleep if you’re just going to lie down on the floor. I’m a gentleman.”

She snorted. “Not from what I’ve heard.”

My eyes snapped to hers. “What have you heard?”

“The staff is whispering about you. They remember your… proclivities from the last time you were here.”

A crooked grin spread across my face. “Ah, yes. Well, we were not very quiet when we stayed here.”

Aurelia wrinkled her nose. “You are disgusting.”

“Hmm, that’s not what the barmaid thought.”

Aurelia tugged the blanket more securely around herself. “Well, if you’re all right, then I’m going back to sleep. Stay awake, if you must, but I’m tired.”

She turned away from me, but I caught her wrist. “I’m serious, Aurelia. Take the bed.”

“You can’t sleep on the floor!”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re injured.”

“Wasinjured. Besides, you sustained injuries, too. I could make the same argument foryouto take the bed.”

“You may call yourself a gentleman, but I am a lady, and I would never?—”

“Fine,” I said, scooting to the other side of the bed. “Then we’ll share.”

Her mouth fell open. “I will not?—”

“The bed is big enough for us both.”

“Gods, do you ever stop? Does it ever exhaust you, this constant need to lure women into your bed?”

“I’m not trying to lure you. I’m in too much pain and far too tired to try, even if I wanted to seduce you.”

She shook her head. “This would be completely inappropriate.”

“Aurelia.”

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