Page 35 of The Demon's Delight
That sounded right. His injuries had pulled me in deep. Had I not been in a safe environment, anything could have happened, and I wouldn’t have noticed until I came out of the trance.
“Sorry.”
He gestured wildly with his hands as he spoke. “No need to apologize for that. We have some dried meat still. I could make a quick stew. There’s cake, but they’re getting rather stale and don’t taste right without some tea. But I can make tea too! That’s fine. That’s a good idea, actually. Or?—”
“Don’t bother with any of that on my account. I just need sleep. I’m too tired to eat.”
Seir blew out another rough breath. “Are you truly going to refuse me the honor of taking care of you after what you just did for me?” His hands were on his hips, his normally jovial expression pulled into a frown, eyes strangely sad. “It took youhours, Hailon. Several, in fact. And my leg might be better than it was before. Still, you would deny me reciprocation?”
Something in my exhausted brain found his indignant tone amusing. Confusion pulled his brows even further together as I laughed. “Just for now, demon, not forever. Can we discuss this after I rest?”
He capitulated with a heavy sigh. “Fine. I’ll give you the terms of my repayment tomorrow. I’ll have you know I rarely make deals. They are so much work and for what? That’s more my brother Rylan’s thing, he’s always loved the art of crafting a good contract. I simply don’t have the patience most of the time, but this? This seems like an appropriate situation onwhich to put conditions in writing.” He pounded his fist into his open palm, so unusually serious I laughed out loud again. His mouth dropped open, then twisted into a grin. “You are a truly perplexing creature, Hailon Derne.”
“I know.” I resisted the urge to throw his words back at him, no matter how true they might be. Knowing him, he’d take it as a compliment. He embraced his mercurial nature more than anyone I’d ever met. “What?” I asked, seeing his lopsided smile as he continued to openly stare at me.
“I deeply enjoy hearing you laugh. It’s a truly beautiful sound.” As I sat there with my mouth partially open at his admission, Seir shook his head and set to organizing our little camp so we could go to sleep like he hadn’t said anything of such significance that I was sure I’d remember it for the rest of my life.
After arranging the logs in the fire to his liking, he approached me again, face far too close for several heartbeats. His eyes searched mine and blood pounded in my ears. He was close enough his breath feathered against my skin, his hair grazed my own. He’d done several things since tumbling down the hill that I should have been far more offended by than I was. He was behaving like we knew one another far better than we did. Like he was preparing to kiss me.
What was more, I wanted him to.
I had time to inhale, the weak protest I’d half-formed stuck in my throat. Then thoughts fled as I found myself lifted against his body. He’d slid one arm under my thighs and the other across my back with his fingers splayed wide, palm cradling the back of my head. The overwhelming desire to cry passed through me with shocking urgency. A lump clogged my throat and tears burned my eyes. The care and comfort in the way Seir held me struck some part deep down inside me I hadn’t known was so desperate for such a gentle touch. He loweredhimself to his knees and laid me down with my head resting on one of the packs. He made a pillow for himself with the other, then pulled me against him again, my shoulder pressed into his chest. Tossing our cloaks wide, he spread them over us both as makeshift blankets. Seir snuggled in then, his nose in my hair and his arm loosely draped across my waist, hand palming my hip.
My pulse spiked, his spicy scent filling my nose. But the weight of my exhaustion was too heavy to do anything but relax into him.
“There’s no need for this.” I wiggled, turning onto my side so I could crawl a respectable distance away. “I can?—”
“Shh.” He clucked his tongue and pulled my back snug against his chest, our legs nested, and his arm banded even tighter across my hips. His tail loosely curled around my ankle for good measure. His breath moved the hair along the back of my neck as he spoke, and I barely managed to keep myself from shivering at the sensation. “Sleep. I promise I have no untoward motivations tonight. Let me keep you warm. Let me protect you while we rest.”
Even half asleep, my eyebrow raised. I hadn’t missed the careful way he’d qualified that his motivations were puretonight. He was getting bolder and taking any chance to touch me he could get. But… he also never failed to respect my boundaries. And more often than not, my chest felt hollow when he pulled away.
Besides, I did honestly feel safer with the barrier of his body between me and the dark forest. He was pleasantly warm too. “Fine. For tonight.”
“Thank you.” His deep exhale betrayed significant relief. “Sleep, Hailon. You’ve more than earned it.” I felt the briefest little kiss against the back of my head, then his fingertips dragged through the tangled mess of my hair, making my scalptingle and my body relax into a puddle. My heart throbbed behind my ribs, heavy and hot. I fleetingly worried I’d done some kind of damage to myself healing him after all. Maybe the orange, red, and black magic was dangerous. Only time would tell.
As I blinked heavily, hardly able to hold my eyes open any longer, I saw that the moon had risen, nearly full and silvery over the trees. Through the open side of our stone shelter, the moonlight made an arrangement of shadows that was oddly distinct. I squinted, trying to clear my vision. My exhaustion left me wondering if I was really seeing broken columns and other remnants of a structure, not just odd piles of rocks and sticks.
I realized once my eyes closed for the final time that we hadn’t taken the wrong road after all; the map was plainly incorrect. With my energy totally depleted, I couldn’t even tell Seir what I was seeing, and it was too late to leave. The best I could do was wrap my fingers around the forearm draped over my hips and squeeze.
I was about to find out firsthand if any of the stories were true after all.
We were in the ruins.
Chapter 17
Seir
Hailon twitched in my arms, a high-pitched whine leaving her throat.
“Shh,” I soothed her, using my fingers to comb through her hair some more. That always relaxed me, and she’d liked it before, so it was worth a try. I’d almost suspected a sleep paralysis demon was visiting her, but there was nobody else around that I could see. Besides, I doubted they’d try anything with me nearby, outranking them as I did.
At some point in our sleep, she’d spun and was now facing me. I had absolutely no complaints about that. Her arms were tucked up against her chest, her hands curled into fists under her chin. An intense frown plagued her even in dreams, and she tensed as though doing battle with something I couldn’t see.
“It’s alright,” I muttered, smoothing out the lines on her forehead and between her eyebrows with my fingertips. “Shh. It’s okay. I’ve got you. Rest easy.” I tugged her closer, hoping that the warmth and security of my hold helped. I pressed my lips to the place the lines had been, whispering oaths of protection directly into her skin. With the arm that was caught between us, I loosened her clenched fingers and held them with my own,feeling the thud of her steady heartbeat against the back of my hand.
I breathed the cool night air and the scent of her hair, far more content than I had any right to be. The beat of her heart matched up to mine, and I reveled in the relief that gave the incessant burning in my ribs. Other, lower aches just had to be ignored.
Before I realized I’d fallen back asleep, I was startled awake by my own snoring.
