Page 112 of Kingdoms of Night

The bed was large enough for three, even if it did slope toward the middle. Feron was fully covered by the blanket. And of course he would sleep a lot longer. She just needed to close her eyes for a few minutes. Would he even notice if she just took a short rest?

She pulled the second blanket out of the bag and wrapped it around herself. Just a few minutes. Long enough to start replenishing her energy. Then maybe a little nourishing tea. She definitely wasn’t going to let him realize she’d slept beside him.

“Hawthorn, Buttercup, if I fall asleep, will you wake me in a few minutes?” She tightened her arms around herself, the blanket soft and warm over her skin.

The wolves bobbed their heads and gave a short bark.

“Thank you.” She perched on the side of the bed and eased down slowly. Her balance was fairly good, as was her muscle control. She took care not to touch him. There was enough room between them that the wolves could stretch out as well if they wanted.

Yes. This would be fine. She drew in a deep breath and let her eyelids slide shut. She just needed a little rest, and then she would—

All the cold had vanished. Something comfortably hot pressed against her back and over her thigh. It also banded over her waist. So nice—

Wait...

Wait.

Slowly she opened her eyes.

She had slid more toward the center, and Feron had rolled over and wrapped his arms around her. Where had her blanket gone? There was only one blanket now, and it covered both of them.

Oh, boll weevils. They were spooning. Naked. Maybe she could slip out before he realized what had happened.

A surprised grunt warned her he had woken up as well.

He bolted back, clutching the blanket and pulling it from her. “What happened?”

“Hey!” She grabbed ahold of the end and covered her breasts before she could be exposed, glaring at him.

He drew in a sharp breath as he glanced around the room and then back at her. He pulled the blanket up to his chin as he stared at her. “Did we...”

“Did we what?” she snapped. “Do the horizontalcortumbala?”

He blinked. “Does that mean having sex?”

“What do you think?”

He cleared his throat. “I’m...going to guess...yes. And that we didn’t.”

She frowned. “You think after all that you went through—eating a wyrm, drinking hallucinogenic tea, fighting yourself, and fighting a spriggan, that you were up and in any condition to have sex?”

He shrugged, his expression sheepish. “I honestly don’t remember.” His face remained flushed, especially at the cheeks. “Although I’d like to think we would have remembered it.”

“If you think I would waste all that energy on a man who is too sloshed out of his mind to even remember the act, then you have seriously underestimated me. So unless someone came in here and—”

Considering Puck, that actually might not have been entirely far off. She curled in, attempting to cover herself up even more.

“Do you want the blanket?” He began to remove it, but she held up her hand.

“No! Do not take off that blanket,” she shouted. “Now turn around. I’m going to put my clothes on.”

* * *

FERON

“Just look away.” With one more glance at her exposed legs, he complied.

It was a little hard to grasp just what had happened. One moment he’d been sleeping, and the next he’d been cuddled against her.

---