Page 43 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
Together, they rolled to the side until they faced one another, still entangled, foreheads nearly touching. He gazed upon her placid face, eyes still closed in sleep, and he traced her jawline with his thumb. “Mi tilal.”He pressed a chaste kiss to her dreamy mouth, then pulled away to study her.
Her eyes opened in shock as she grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back.
“What the fates?!” she shrieked, a knee connecting with his groin.
Kas rolled from the woman’s embrace and thudded onto the floor beside the green-curtained bed. Confusion warred with dreamscape certainty as he blinked into the darkness. It was only a moment before the painful throbbing between his legs and the nauseous feeling in his stomach clued him in to what he’d done.
Oh my gods. Fuck.
Two small feet, attached to two shapely legs, and capped with a swath of fine silk stopped before him. “Whatdo you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
Kas groaned as he pushed himself from the fetal position to sitting, his back against the side ofherbed, which happened to be his old bed. “Miss Kiappa.” Mortification flooded him. “I am so sorry. I—I seem to have rediscovered my habit of sleepwalking.”
He chanced a glance at her to find her hands on her hips and disbelief etched in her brows. It was hard to say, given the lack of light, but theremayhave been a shimmer of mirth in her eyes. He wasn’t willing to test that theory though.
“Please, accept my apology. This won’t happen again.” Slowly, Kas stood and focused on one of the barely visiblepaintings hanging behind her. If he didn’t, his eyes might drop to her lips, or worse, her breasts, soft and rounded beneath her nightdress. He’d bought that one for her, had been swayed by the modiste who promised sultry fabrics, and now was pleasantly surprised by the way it looked in person—even if she was murky in the dark.
“I do not accept.” She pursed her lips. “What possessed you to come here of all places? Why not Aylin’s room? The library? Your bloody office? Do you make a habit of sneaking up on ladies and assaulting them in their sleep?”
Chastised, he threw his hands up and stepped back, knees bumping the mattress, buckling them. With an, “Oof,” he collapsed onto her bed.
Her mouth popped open, white teeth glowing in the meager moonlight. “A habit then?”
“No!” Kas shook his head as he stood, this time moving away from the bed so he wouldn’t wind up there for a third time. “I’m sorry. Please, believe me?” He brought his fingers to his temple, pressing into it as he rubbed a tight circle.
“It’s highly inappropriate to turn up in a staff member’s room in the middle of the night. You know this, right?”
“Of course I know that, Miss Kiappa. I told you, I was sleepwalking. I had no intent of harassinganyone.Truly, I’m so sorry.” He’d never apologized that much in his life, and still he felt awful for pawing at her, doubly so because he couldn’t say he regretted it.
She sighed, dropping her hands from her hips to wring them together. Were the room bright enough, Kas suspected he’d see her rubbing her thumb against the nail of her forefinger, one of her most frequent nervous habits, so much so, he doubted she knew she did it.
“You believe me?”
“I suppose. Though I still don’t understand why you came here.”
Because you’re all I think about.“You know—”No, no.It wasn’t the righttime.
“Iknowwhat?”Nestaunted,her eyes glued to his shadowed chest. Each time she tried to urge them elsewhere, they swung back, magnetized to him. It didn’t matter; he couldn’t follow her gaze in the dark.
Inhaling through her nose, exhaling through rounded lips, she fought to process the situation. He’d turned up in the middle of the night, dragging her from one dream into another, or so she’d thought.
Akkas came to her in her sleep, running a finger down her back, and she’d loved it. It wasn’t until he kissed her that she realized she was not, in fact, dreaming. Then she’d panicked.
Nesrina’s mind whirled at the clear and well-defined wish that she’d skipped kicking him out of the bed. Frustration had her directing her anger at him, which made sense, seeing as he snuck in.
What he didn’t know was she’d drifted off to sleep while picturing the two of them chatting in the library, walking around the gardens, sneaking beneath the willow, and—Oh!This was too much.
Lord Kahoth’s teeth ground together as he grumbled wordlessly, hopefully chastising himself for having kissed her awake, forconfusingher. She didn’t like being confused; she liked answers, certainty, and a clear direction.
“You know I’m attracted to you, right?” he blurted.
Her lungs seized up. Never before had she been so grateful for night as she was at that moment. Her heart got confused and split her blood, sending half to her face, and half to pulse between her legs. Her sleep-addled mind tried to make sense of what was happening.
He didn’t move, just stared at her through hooded lids; she could make that much out in the dark.
Her clammy palms clutched the fabric of her nightgown, and she dragged her gaze from his face to his bare feet. They were enormous, twice the size of her own.
“You know I’m attracted to you, right?”His words looped in her mind,loud, thunderous.
