Page 99 of Night's Fall
“Aleksei!”Isnapped.
“WhileSetandAnthemewere briefing me last night, you crashed on the couch,” he reminded me about whatI’djust reminded myself about.
New discoveries (and allIlet filter into my exhaustion before passing out):Setwas the commander ofAleksei’spersonal detail.Anthemewas his second.
“Yes,Idid,”Iconfirmed.
“The futureQueenofNight’sFalldoesn’t sleep on a couch.”
“I was perfectly comfortable.”Or, at least, comfortable enough to pass out.
“We could askMadamGarwah, butI’mrelatively certain it isn’t the done thing, darling,” he teased.
I was not seeing good things for my future, learning how he could whip out the sweet and cute to muddle my brain and get his way.
“Stop being cute whenI’mtaking you to task for taking liberties.Didyou carry me here?”
“Guilty,” he said like he didn’t feel any vestige of that word at all.
“How many bedrooms are in this penthouse?”
“Five.”
“Including this one?”
“Yes.”
“So you had four other rooms you could take me to?”
“Why wouldIdo something as bloody stupid as that?”
“I don’t know.Maybebecause we’ve known each other less thana week.”
“I can’t be certain, but itfeelslike surviving an assassination attempt together is akin to about two months of courting.”
Honestly?
I couldn’t really argue that.
Even so,Islapped his bare shoulder, and althoughIdidn’t do it hard, the way my hand bounced off his muscle was sobering.
“Laura,bissi.”Hisgentle tone pulled my attention from his sinewy shoulder to his face. “Afterlast night, you can’t ask me to be apart from you.Itjust…won’t work.”
What was this?
“Seriously?”
“We can hope this overwhelming…driveto see you safe settles down, but for now…”Heshook his head. “Fornow,Laura, it’s on the edge of my consciousness every waking second, you standing with your arms thrown wide between me, an enemy and a weapon.Mybeast is riled.Hecan’t settle either.Theonly moments of peace he andIhave had since it happened was whenIstretched out beside you, felt your body against mine, healthy and alive, but unconscious, andIfell asleep.”
That was awful.
And one must pause to consider if this was behind him being such a jerk last night.
Being the one who needed to pause, with a monarch in my midst,I’dhave to consider that later.
“But you’re awake and it’s back?”Iasked.
“It isn’t as fundamental, pervasive, but it’s still definitely there.”
