Page 25 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

He didn’t remember exactly how he’d managed to fly across the room and hit the far wall, but once he slid to the floor, he jackknifed to his feet, ready to face the attacker, who seemed to be a woman.

“Who is that?” she demanded. “What are you doing in here?”

Carnal could hear footsteps from upstairs.Charming.And from downstairs.Free and Serene.Within seconds the room was full of people. Charming found the matches by the lamp and lit it.

Carnal looked at Rosie, who was wearing a white shimmery nightie that left little to the imagination, along with a confounded mix of interest and confusion.

“Brother,” Charming said simply, “welcome home.”

Carnal stared at Charming for a couple of beats before turning his attention to Free and Serene. “What is this human doing in my room?”

It sounded like an accusation. Hearing that tone, Free’s jaw tightened. He didn’t like the entitlement he heard in his son’s tone. “Not like you were using it.”

Quickly interjecting in hopes of keeping things from escalating, Serene said, “She’s a friend of Kellareal’s. He asked your father for a favor.”

Carnal looked back at Rosie, who thought it best to sit on the bed, pull the covers over her lap, and keep quiet while the family hashed things out. But while that was taking place, her eyes were wandering over Carnal’s upper body, which was tan and defined in a way seldom achieved by human males. He was a living, breathing work of art. She remembered what she’d overheard Charming say about Carnal ‘fucking his way through Farsuitwail’. She had no doubt that he’d had plenty of opportunity to do exactly that, between the divine body and the cocky attitude that exuded male confidence.

The next time he looked her way, she gave him a fine impression of her Auntie Elora’s little wave and said, “Hi. I’m Rosie.”

He cocked his head to the side as if considering that while his eyes fell to her breasts. “Yeah. I see that.”

“She’s not for you,” Charming said in a way that caused Free and Serene to exchange a worried glance with each other.

Carnal turned to his brother with a little smile. “No? I think she’s old enough to decide for herself,” he taunted. Charming took a foolish step forward, but Free put out his arm and stopped his youngest son’s progress before it became a middle-of-the-night sibling scuffle.

Carnal laughed at that, then turned toward Rosie. “So. What do you say, human? The bed’s big enough for both of us.”

Rosie started to get up. “I’ll sleep downstairs on the couch-thing.”

Serene stopped Rosie and pulled the covers back over her. “No, you will not. Carnal will sleep in, um, his other brother’s room.”

“Crave’s room?” Charming looked and sounded astonished.

Even Carnal, who seemed to Rosie like the sort who’d be hard to surprise, looked stunned at that.

“Yes, Carnal,” his mother said. “Go get some sleep. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

For the first time, Carnal looked at the decidedly girlie surroundings. “What in crapnation have you done to my room?!?”

“Carnal!” Serene took on a no-nonsense mother voice that was deeper and almost boomed. “Go to bed.”

He looked at his mother. “I’ve been defending Shit City for seven years. I’m not a child, Serene.”

“Then don’t act like one. Go to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow and youwillbe respectful to our guest.”

Carnal looked back at Rosie. “With all due respect.” He could not possibly have said that with more sarcasm. He picked up his stuff and, on the way out, with arms full of boots and discarded clothing, bent and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.

She smiled. He chuckled. They all filed out closing the door and Rosie was left alone in the ‘crapnation’ room that belonged to the eldest son. She turned off the lamp and replayed the event in her mind again and again while sleep evaded her. One thing was certain. There was something about Carnal, something besides the obvious.

Rosie woke at the usual time, got ready for work and, as usual, found that everyone else had gone by the time she made her way downstairs. Serene had left something for her in the warming oven. When Rosie took it, she made a mental note to thank Serene for looking after her in that way. It was a kindness beyond mere hospitality.

She’d halfway expected to see Carnal downstairs, but like the rest of the family, he was, apparently, gone.

The night had brought a chill that made Rosie draw her shawl tighter on the short walk to the Commons. She hadn’t closed the door before Dandy was saying, “Build up the fire, Rosie. Every time the door opens, the heat goes with it.”

“Okay,” she said.

Rosie built the fire to a bright blaze, went through her list of chores that were practically second nature at that point, and stopped to have the sausage and biscuit snack she’d picked up from Serene’s kitchen on the way out.

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