Page 56 of What Whispers in the Dark
Before Alora could say anything more, Miwa curtsied and disappeared into that darkness. Leaving only muffled murmurs of displeasure and disapproval behind.
By the stars,was the robe made of clouds? Soft, satiny, endless clouds that extended from her shoulders and pooled at her feet. She slipped into those shoes made of white fur and sank onto the vanity chair, marveling at the arrangement of creams and oils.
Not so long ago, she’d sat at her own vanity. Not one borrowed—and not one in such a place as grand as these castles. And even among the danger that lurked the cloisters, halls, and rooms outside her High Prince’s protection, still, she wouldn’t wish for that vanity over this one.
Groaning almost embarrassingly, Alora finished lathering lotion on her skin and crossed into the darkness of her bedchamber. Carefree and giggling at how unsteady her legs carried her across the space until the stars’ glow brushed against the mound of pillows on her bed and the plushest blankets she’d ever lain on.
Alora twisted backward and dropped in bliss to the sheets.
This.Thiswas a Stars Eternal dream.
She delightedly hummed the moment her head hit the pillow. Perfectly cold as Smokeshadows, soft as pearlsea petals, as comforting as an icy embrace carrying her through the night sky. She nuzzled into it and twisted on her side, threading one arm under and the other on top to cage it to her head as her lids blissfully closed?—
“Hello, clever girl.”
Alora’s eyes snapped open to Garrik’s face inches from hers, with his head propped on a fist, stretched out on the bed, lying on his side.
“What are you doing here?” she bit out, head spinning too much to even attempt backing away.
Something like mischief gleamed in his eyes. “Do you always moan when you bathe?”
That wasn’t an answer. And she wouldn’t indulge him. “What. Are you. Doing here?” Alora repeated flippantly, but the desired effect didn’t rouse him.
He simply smirked before rolling onto his back. Those incredible arms lifted above him before he laced his fingers together behind his head. “Your bed is comfier than mine.” Grayhair fanned around him as Garrik dropped his head further into the pillow.
She offered him a flat, unamused stare.
The mighty bastard side-eyed her. “I wanted to make certain you would not drown.” That was honesty. He meant it. She didn’t doubt that. After all, she had practically fallen down the steps when she’d clambered out of the bath.
But that honesty was short-lived. A wicked grin again twisted on his face when he admitted, “And became concerned with all the noise you were making.”
A feline grin widened on her face just the same. “Jealous that a bath can make me moan louder than you can?”
That may have very well been a mistake.
One moment, she was on her side, and the next … she couldn’t contain the ridiculous giggle as her back flattened onto the sheets.
Amusement spilled from his lips as his torso hovered over her. His face drifted inches from hers, so close they shared breath. Then Garrik’s voice deepened to something critical. Something final. “Sober up, darling. Then we can see just how loud your moans can get.”
That … sounded like a pitiful idea. “Why wait?”
Garrik pulled away with a graceful motion, straightened his spine, and sank onto his heels. “You know why.”
She didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t care.
Alora sat up, gripped his shoulders, and pulled him back against her chest while her heart hammered. It was only a shame that her robe and his tunic separated them. “I’m not drunk enough that I can’t make decisions.”
His sigh was devastating. “It is enough to make poor ones and to regret me in the morning.”
Huffing, Alora frowned like a faeling.
Garrik flicked her nose. “Pout all you wish, it is not happening tonight.”
Alora warded off the urge to cross her arms and instead rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Garrik’s grin broadened.
“At least allow me to—” She struggled to find the words but managed to twirl her fingers vaguely toward her forehead. Imagining a fiery wall of starfire in the depths of his consciousness that she had little hope of explaining in her current state.
