Page 45 of The Ballad of a Bard

Her heart fluttered, her chest tightened to the point of pain and her head became as light as a floating, free falling feather. “I would.” But it didn’t come out as confidently as she intended it to.

Not when he was looking at her like that.

She gulped, trying to avoid breaking contact with him as he at last, finally, gave in to her whims.

A well-earned, fast victory.

Another one for her belt.

Honestly, her list of accomplishments was becoming quite long, especially considering how young she was. Not to mention the partial immortality that would grant her even more years.

“You’re incorrigible.” He groaned as he slapped his face but plopped down on the couch. His legs twisted up, bent at an angle as he propped his head up on one of the spare pillows, curved into a circle.

“Happy?”

She gaped at him in disbelief. “No!”

“No?” He frowned at her. “I showed you what you wanted to see.”

“West, that’s no way to sleep! Please, take the bed. It’syourbed, after all.I’mthe guest.I’mthe one who’s supposed to be sleeping on the couch.” Crimson insisted as he sat up, placing his black boots flat against the floor.

His mouth folded into a thin line. “You’ve been sleeping on a cot, barely made for one person, let alone two. I can handle sleeping here while you finally get the rest you deserve.”

There was a twinge of pity she beheld there and she hated it. It felt… miserable to see him looking at her like that. Like she should be ashamed of her previous living arrangements. She knew that he would never imply that, but it was there nonetheless.

“Sleep in the bed tonight or I’ll go sleep with Cobalt in the healing ward.” Crimson demanded, with perhaps a little bit of a looming threat. She was done with the strange, lonely feeling that overtook her in the middle of the night. For the reason why she felt unsafe here. Someone else in the bed with her, it just made sense in order to make her feel secure.

“No.” He pushed off the cushions and stalked over to her.

“I wasn’t asking, West.” She licked the top row of her teeth, annoyance darting through her like a buzzing mosquito.

“And I wasn’t answering.” He tried to wink at her and as he kicked off his boots before settling into the couch for the evening, as the dusk was heavily falling over the world, she moved faster than lightning.

Crimson bolted for the couch before he could sit down once more. She shoved her hip against him, falling flat against the soft pillows. With how comfortable they were, she would have been easily able to sleep here as well as the bed, without tossing and turning.

“Really? This is a childish argument, and an even more childish way to go about it.” West scowled at her as she took up the entirety of it, curling onto her side to get a better look at his vexing face.

“Compared to your immortal age, Iama child.” She retorted, and refused to get up from the couch, or even move an inch.

“Fine,” He started, and the surrendering tone of his word should have been enough to key her in to what he did next. “Act like a child, get treated like a child.”

Crimson shrieked as he plucked her off the couch and tossed her over his shoulder, slapping her backside lightly with the flat side of his hand. She let out a gasp at that, one that he seemed to grin at. His gait was sure as he strolled casually into the next room and heaved her onto the bed.

She was two steps ahead of him, though.

“I don’t think so, Heartstrings.” West anticipated her next action much to her chagrin, as she scrambled to get off of the bed and back to the couch. He knelt on the bed, trapping her between his knees and his arms as he caged her in with his body overtop hers. “You’re staying in this bed.”

Her blood turned to molten lava, spewing steam throughout her entire being. With the way he propped himself over her, there was no room for her to escape. Her heart was a slow, thick rhythm that pounded through her head. Her mouth became dry,sodry.

“Let me up, West!” She growled up at him, baring her teeth like a wild predator. He only smirked right back down at her and leaned closer.

“Oh, you thought I was asking, Heartstrings?” West chuckled, a rumble that was far deeper than his usual resonance. “Not in the slightest.”

She knew her cheeks turned bright red, because his navy eyes landed on them, constricting as he found her mouth. He seemed to pause his flirtatious flaunting, his chest going absolutely ridgid. They stayed like that for a solid minute, unable to look elsewhere but at the other.

“Fine.” West gave in at last, shifting off of her and freeing her from the cage of his muscular body. “But on one condition.”

“What is it?” Crimson tried to make her voice sound normal, tried to clear it of any of the desire that rolled through her like a tidal wave. There was no doubt in her mind anymore, she wanted him.

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