Page 55 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
“Unfortunately, my lord, with the popularity of the symposium, we’re over capacity.” He sounded a bit like he was reading from a script, which was probably close to the truth. She couldn’t imagine how many guests he had to turn away that day.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Kas rumbled.
Nesrina frowned.
“We’re terribly sorry. My wife and I even gave up our apartment for the additional guests.” The pot-bellied man gestured at an excessively pregnant, busty blonde down the bar, serving customers with a smile on her face and pep in her step.
Nes was impressed by the woman’s vigor. She managed her rotund belly and late-stage waddle with grace.
“However,” the man assured Kas, “while I can only offer one room, it’s the finest on my property.” The innkeeper handed over an engraved key, and Kas looked at the room number before he nodded and pocketed it.
“I’m familiar. It’ll do.”
With that, the duke turned back to Nesrina and held out a hand, offering his escort yet again.
Her stomach somersaulted as they ascended one wide staircase, then another, and one more that took them to the third floor.Oh, gods. Sharing a room?She would most certainly not includeallof the details of the symposium in her letters home.
Hands clammy, heart racing, chest heaving... Her nerves were wrecked by the time they made it to their room at the front of the building. She stood back as Kas unlocked the door.
Maybe there will be two bedrooms inside. How much space will be between the beds? Will there be any privacy? Please be big. Please be big. Please be big.
Kas swung the massive door open and ushered her in ahead of him.
The room was enormous.One big open space.She blinked slowly.
Behind her, Kas cleared his throat, startling Nesrina from her trance enough that she took a few steps inside, clearing the doorway, before doing a circuit with her eyes.
Two huge chairs and a small table faced the impressive marble fireplace to her left, its mantel higher than her head. There was an armoire and a writing desk across the way. To her right, a bar—where Kas was already busying himself with a carafe—and a table for two ran down the wall. The far end of the room was a huge semi-circle with six arched windows that offered expansive views of the city beyond. And there, tucked behind a privacy screen, in the middle of the half-circle, stood the room’s singular bed.
As if the duke knew she was about coming to the same petrifying realization he must have experienced downstairs, he turned from the bar and handed her a glass with a fingerful of amber liquid. “Sorry.”
Nes took it, lost in thought.
In hindsight, he hadn’t seemed at all worried when the innkeeper gave them their assignment. He said he was familiar with this room, as if he’d stayed here before. If he wasn’t terrified, then why should she be? They were friends now.Friends share beds sometimes... it’s fine.
“You know I’m attracted to you, right?”Kas’s confession sounded in her mind as her fingertip traced a line up and down the engraving on her glass.
Oh, my.She sniffed her drink. Whiskey was exactly what she needed to get a grip on this unexpected turn of events.
With a bolstering sip, Nesrina drew in as much courage as she could gather, and offered, “I can push these chairs together... sleep over here by the fire. It will be quite co—”
“Nonsense. That bed is enormous.” He waved toward the four-poster.
Itwashumongous, now that he mentioned it, and she gave it a closer inspection. Then again, Kas was humongous, too.
Nes sipped her drink as she brought her gaze back to the not-nearly-as-lanky-as-he-used-to-be man. She considered whether they could both fit atop the mattress—without touching.
It wouldn’t do to imagine herself accidentally curling up below one of his protective arms. It wouldn’t do to imagine him splaying one of hishuge hands across her back, tugging her close. It wouldn’t do to imagine him pressing his lips to hers again, this time while they were both awake.Nope, it simply won’t do.Shaking her head to clear her wayward thoughts, she gulped.
Kas sighed, his lips pursing almost imperceptibly as he struggled to hide his frustration.
“Are you annoyed with me?” Her eyes widened at her boldness. Sure, she said ridiculous things. But that was usually when she was horribly flustered. Though, Nesrina supposed this counted as a horribly flustering sort of situation.
“Absolutely not. You never annoy me.”
She sputtered into her drink. “Never?”
His lips quivered with poorly hidden mirth, but then his eyes softened, and with his change in demeanor, Nesrina’s heart rate picked up.
