Page 63 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
“True,” I said quietly. Then, “Thank you.”
“There are a couple other things that I wanted to run past you,” he said with a heavy sigh. “But it’s been a hell of a night.”
I nodded. An incident like the one he had caused tonight had never happened before in the time that I had been alive. Atleast as far as I knew. I wondered what The Council’s reaction would be. What it would mean for the city.
“I’m not really in any shape to make the trip back tonight,” Kieran continued. Suddenly he wasn’t meeting my eyes again. “And if anyone has come across thoseEnforcersat the wall, they’ll be looking for me. Would you mind if I slept here tonight?”
There was nothing suggestive in his tone. And nothing pleading, either. I could tell that if I said I wasn’t comfortable with it, he would turn and head right back out the glass door, onto the balcony, and into the night. To face whatever might be waiting for him out there.
“Of course I don’t mind. You’re more than welcome,” I said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen once they find those Enforcers. But with your injuries, you need to rest and recover before you try to take off again. I just hope they don’t know it’s me that you’ve been visiting.”
We both sighed at the same time. We really were fucked.
I flattened imaginary wrinkles in the comforter again. “You can rest here tomorrow while I’m at my work assignment. There’s bread and some other stuff in the cabinets. The good stuff—like the blueberry muffin, or the chicken that one night—I usually get from a friend. But I also get an assigned lunch at the cafeteria in the Knowledge Center. I can just pack it up and bring it to you.”
There was something like true gratitude in Kieran’s expression as he smiled at me again. And there was also something else that, like so many of the looks that Kieran gave me, I couldn’t quite place.
I returned the smile. Then I realized there was one tiny problem with him spending the night.
Wherewas he going to spendthe night?
The thought must have been showing on my face, because he stood from the bed and walked over to my desk. “If you have a spare pillow and blanket, I can make myself comfortable here. I sleep sitting up all the time during scouting missions, so I’ll be fine.”
“Absolutely not!” I said so vehemently that his head snapped back to me, eyes wide. “That’s ridiculous for you to sleep in a chair when there’s a bed right here.”
I said this even as I knew what it would mean.
“You’re fine with us sharing a bed?” he asked. His amused smile was back, and I instantly wondered if he was going to make me regret this decision.
“Yes. I think we’re both mature enough.” There was an unspoken “I hope” at the end.
“I don’t know. Speak for yourself, Maila.”
“It’s either that or you can take the bed, and I’ll take the chair or the floor. I’m not making a guest—and an injured one at that—sleep in a hard wooden chair.”
“If you say so,” he said. His grin was huge now. “Want me to blow out these candles?”
“Sure.” I scooted over toward the wall to make room for him. Thankfully, I already had a second pillow on the bed. I scanned it quickly for stray hairs or anything else embarrassing. Then the candles were out, and we were submerged in darkness.
Or at least, I was. I remembered once again with annoyance that he could see me just fine.
I felt the mattress dip as he sat down, then the full weight of him lying down beside me. The comforter tugged a bit as he pulled it up and over himself.
This was fine. No big deal.
I laid down next to him. Our hands brushed and I jerked mine back, folding it over my stomach instead. Even without touching, I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
He just had a cold shower—how was he still that warm?
The clean, fresh scent of my soap and shampoo filled my nose. Both were standard issue, nothing like the exotically scented bubble bath and perfumes that Brielle always managed to get her hands on. But the scent ofmysoap andmyshampoo mingling with the scent of his skin…it was the most intoxicating thing I had ever smelled.
It was going to be a long night.
We laid there in the dark. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I couldn’t have begun to guess how much time passed. Hours? Minutes? Seconds? It felt like an eternity.
Even without night vision of my own, I could feel that he was still awake. In fact, my intuition told me that he was staring up at the ceiling as well.
That lump returned to my throat, and before I even fully understood what was happening, my eyes began to sting.
