Page 52 of The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities

I could not breathe without making this woman mad. Yet, for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to open my mouthagainand make it worse. “We’re in the middle of an enchanted forest with literal demons running around in circles. If you want to survive, you’ll have to learn to cooperate with me, whether you like me or not. So stop acting like a petulant child just because I hurt your little feelings last night—”

“Do not talk about last night!”

“Why not?”

“Because there’s nothing to talk about!” she seethed, her voice echoing around the stone walls. She squared her shoulders and looked me in the eye. Proud. Fierce. “I was careless with my wine, and you were careless with your words. End of story.”

But I hadn’t been careless with my words. I had been careless with my body. I had been careless in the way I danced with her, touched her, stared at her mouth like it was land and I was drowning.

I loosened a breath as I scrubbed a hand down my dripping face. “It’s better for you like this and you know it.”

She lifted her chin. A droplet of rain glided down her jaw and found rest just above the swell of her breasts. Suddenly, I was parched, and the only thing I wanted was that single drop of water.

“I haven’t given you the right to decide what is better for me,” she hissed.

“I merely—”

“No!” she yelled, and this time her voice broke a little. “I’m not interested in what you have to say anymore. I will not be your fool again.”

I am the fool, Nepheli. I am. Not you.

But, obviously, I couldn’t say that. So I turned away, shrugged the bag off my shoulders, and fumbled for Walder’s matches. I pushed the wet tips of my hair off my eyes and managed to spark one up despite the tremor in my hands. Instantly, a small bonfire emerged on the cavern floor, smokeless and odorless but as warm and comforting as the real thing.

Nepheli gasped and crouched over it with rounded, magic-starved eyes. The pitter-patter of her sodden clothes and hair didn’t disturb the fire at all, so she leaned further down and teased the flames with her fingertips, fearless in her curiosity. “It’s warm, but it doesn’t burn,” she whispered, her eyes gleaming in the orange light.

I hauled the fluffy blanket out of the bag and sprawled it in front of our magical bonfire before checking if Agathe had packed another day dress for Nepheli. Thankfully, she had. I pulled out the purple cotton garment and tossed it to her. “Change out of your clothes and sit down to warm yourself up.”

Nepheli glared at me, the silent warning stark in her eyes:Do not tell me what to do.

“Hurry up,” I pressed. “You’re going to get sick.”

“And you care?” she huffed.

“I don’t want you as my personal ghost,” I retorted, flashing her a wide, mocking grin. “Since you’re so keen on staying with me for eternity, evidently.”

“You’re an insufferable—” she began, but was interrupted by a violent sneeze.

“Get out of this dress before I get you out of it,” I snarled.

Nepheli gritted her teeth. “Turn around.”

A phantom feeling—something between frustration and nervousness—prickled from the inside of my skin. I faced the other way, and for a few moments, there was only the rustle of clothes slipping up and down the curves of her body. My mind conjured images of my hands slipping up and down her body too, her skin on my skin with nothing else between us. My hands on her breasts, her hands in my hair, her calves on my shoulders as I pounded—

No. Just no.

For the love of the sky, I was a grown man. Where had my self-control gone, damn it?

I tried to distract myself by naming the magical minerals that peered like treasure through the rocky ceiling while I restlessly tapped on the leather strap of my baldric.Citrallite, pink kreel, blue lopronite, green—

She cleared her throat. “I’m decent now.”

I veered to find her perched on the blanket in front of the fire, running her fingers through her wet hair. Her nose was pink from the cold, and her lips looked swollen and red, as if she’d just been kissed. Her eyes darted up. She frowned. “Why are you staring at me?”

I chose my most dry, unimpressed tone. “You think very highly of yourself, don’t you, darling?”

“Apparently you do too, since you can’t seem to take your eyes off of me,” she bit back, her cheeks heated.

Since there was no way I could answer that without making things worse than they already were, I focused on getting myself out of my cape and baldric before settling down next to her with a long exhale. “Are you hungry? Walder made us dinner.”

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