Page 41 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

She licked her bottom lip, clearly trying to come up with a response. “Siren?” she asked casually.

I shrugged. “You’re beautiful and your compulsion is unusually strong. Seemed like it fit.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, fighting a smile. “Is that another one of your pickup lines?”

I grinned. “That bad?”

She shook her head, smoothing a hand over her hair in a nervous fidget. Then her gaze flicked down to my pants. “Why are you dressed like that?” she asked, gesturing toward me.

“Your game of cribbage must have been riveting for you to not realize it’s nearly midnight,” I said dryly. “I don’tknow about you, but I’m going to bed.” I pulled back the furs and blankets on the bed.

Meera froze, her eyes going round. “Here?” she spluttered.

I cocked a brow. “This is my bedroom.”

Her mouth opened then closed as she tried for words. “But there’s only one bed.”

I fought a smile. “I hadn’t realized.”

Her eyes narrowed in indignation as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I just meant, where am I supposed to sleep? No need to be an asshole.”

I chuckled. “In the bed, presumably.”

Her face turned beet red. “I think that’s inappropriate given the . . . circumstances.”

I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest, not missing the way her eyes briefly dropped at the movement. “I don’t bite.”

“That’s—” she practically choked on the word. “That’s not what I meant. Or said.”

“It’s what you implied. I’m not going to take advantage of you. I would think if I’ve proven anything since you’ve been here, it’s that.”

Her lips pressed into a flat line. “I’m suggesting it’s inappropriate because the . . . ya know . . . the . . .” She swallowed. I knew exactly what she was talking about, but I made no effort to say it. Meera had pretended that she didn’t have the dreams and had continued in her refusal to acknowledge it. If she was going to use that as an excuse, then I was going to make her say it. But when I didn’t say anything to help her finish her sentence, she threw her hands up in frustration. “Whatever. I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

“If you insist,” I replied,still fighting a grin. She stomped over to the bed in a huff, dragging one of the thick blankets and a pillow onto the floor. I slid under the covers as she attempted to make herself comfortable. With a snap of my fingers, the overhead lights turned off, plunging us into darkness.

Meera let out a hiss, twisting this way and that. Ninety seconds passed before she spoke.

“This stone is freezing. Why don’t you have a rug in here?”

“You do know I have a cat, right?”

“And?”

I snorted. “You’ve clearly never owned one. Corvo would throw up his hairballs on it if I put any kind of rug in this room.”

Hearing his name, Corvo popped into the bedroom and curled up in the armchair Meera had vacated. “He’s right. I so would.”

Another couple of minutes passed before Meera let out an exasperated sigh.

“I give up,” she groaned, getting to her feet. She bundled the blanket up and tossed it on the bed, followed by the pillow.

“That was my face,” I said, pushing the pillow away.

“Oops.” She said it like she wasn’t sorry at all.

I chuckled again as she took tentative steps toward the bed. I couldn’t make out her expression in the dark but the light from the moon made it easy to see her form.

“Just to be clear,” she started. “There will be no cuddles, no feeling each other up, no touching—period. Got it?”

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