Page 104 of Winds of Ruin
Sunlight illuminated the shadows beneath his eyes and the irresistible, rugged stubble growing on his chin.
This attraction would be trouble.
“You make it too easy, pet.” And yet he was hard to resist, all the same.
Physical and emotional attachments had always remained separate to me; I couldn’t start muddying them now. Nor would I let him punish himself over one fun night of trying something new.
“I’m serious,” he said. “I don’t dally around—that was out of character. It doesn’t change your wanting to travel with me at all?”
Though I had no ill feelings about what had occurred on the parlor floor, it seemed he did. The consequences of my flippant behavior struck again.
I squashed the image of his mouth hanging open, his body tensing as he gripped himself. It’d become clearer—that should not have been for me. I’d betrayed the trust he’d placed in me.
“It changes nothing.” I grabbed his shoulders, spinning him to face me on the stool. “We’ve established that we need one another. I apologize for my advances. But we’ve quelled that tension now, haven’t we?”
He searched my features and set the teacup on the butcher block.
Tell me it hadn’t quelled anything for you.The thought invaded, like a sunken ship hitting ground in the depths of my mind.
My heart skipped a beat as he licked his lower lip and ran his hands up and down his thighs. If he wouldn’t answer me, I wasn’t above shaking him.
“We have,” he finally said. I didn’t release his shoulders. Instead, I peeked into his cup to find it empty. Good.
“Come with me,” I said, pulling him to rise.
Once he’d gotten to his feet, I stepped behind him and pushed him out of the kitchen and into the parlor.
Neatly fluffed pillows and a stack of blankets, folded with precision, lay on the sofa.
I placed the quilts on the ground and settled down. Emmerick tapped his foot as he watched me from the doorway. “Come here,” I demanded and patted the sofa next to me.
His gaze narrowed skeptically. “You’re awfully bossy in the morning.”
And at night.I kept that comment to myself. He rubbed the back of his neck, appearing uncertain.
“And you’re awfully exhausted. Come, lie down,” I commanded.
“You said you wouldn’t try to get me in a state of undress.”
“Oh, puppy. With you looking halfway to death—that’s the last thing on my mind.”
Lie.
Even tired, he was devastating. I wanted to see him rested, happy, cared for. I didn’t feel equipped with the nurturing nature required to provide such things to him forever, but they felt right in the moment.
His shoulders relaxed, and he relented, settling down on the couch beside me.
I pulled him by his elbow and made him lie with his head in my lap, facing up. At first, he was stiff, and he folded his hands on his chest. I settled back against the cushion, taking in the way his dark lashes curled.
That stupid fluttering sensation in my stomach returned.
“This is... cozy.” He huffed out a laugh. When I ran my hand through his thick hair, he sighed and closed his eyes.
“You need rest. I’m not messing about or making advances. If it helps you to know, this reminds me of when I was a girl. Fenris sat with me like this once. I’d been too heartbroken to sleep. I can tell you the story if you want.”
“Yes, please,” he hummed out as my fingers clawed gentle circles on his scalp. His arms finally relaxed into the cushions.
“When I was thirteen, I was smitten with a boy I’d met in Belray Square. I don’t remember his name now. I’d see him there each week when I went into town with my mother.
