I carried Teddy to my room and changed into my PJs. It wasn't quite 10:00pm, so I grabbed my e-Reader and curled up in bed. The hours slipped by, and when I was finally ready, I popped into the bathroom for a few minutes, then crawled beneath the covers and turned off the lamp beside my bed.
Teddy circled around on the pillow beside mine, getting comfortable, then curled up. He began licking his paws. I snorted and flipped over, sinking into the plush mattress, pulling the covers tighter. Bastian kept the temperature many degrees below any sane person.
I closed my eyes and let my mind drift. Dinner had been unexpectedly...nice. Things with Bastian had been unbelievably awkward in the pool after our sexual activities. But after his waffles, and then our day at the library, we seemed to have reached a new normal. Maybe...
Vivi's words played over and over in my mind. What if Bastian and I didn't take this chance? What if two years from now, I was stuck in a loop, always wondering what might have happened? What if I regretted passing up the best sex of my life?
And I would regret it.
Something curled low in my abdomen, raking delicate claws over my insides. Bastian had already given me two orgasms, and they'd blown my mind. Better than anything I'd had with Luke, times, like, a million. I thought of Bastian in his goblin form, head between my legs, pointed ears peeking out. Heat sprang to the surface of my skin. What would sex be like in that form?
I knew, without a doubt, that it would ruin me. Utterly. Did I want to be ruined?
I exhaled, trying to push thoughts of him out of my mind. Otherwise, I'd be forced to put my hand between my legs. The back of my neck prickled. I went utterly still. My eyes darted to the glass doors leading out to the back yard patio. I stared at them, taking slow, deep breaths.
After a few moments, I closed my eyes again. The sensation returned, stronger this time. It wasn't like when Bastian stared at me. It felt...invasive. I had half a mind to throw the covers over my face and sink deeper into the bed.
A shadow stirred, just beyond the patio. My heart ratcheted up. I took a deep breath, gripping the top of the comforter. My eyes narrowed, focusing on the spot. The shadow moved again. It was too tall to be an animal.
I blinked, blinked again. But nothing else moved. Just my imagination.
"Fuck," I whispered. I was on the bottom floor, and all that separated me from the outside world was, presumably, thin glass. That wouldn't be much protection.
My pulse thundered in my ears. Another dark splotch caught my attention. The shadow moved out of view. I hissed in a breath. Okay, not my imagination. Someone was definitely out there.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I whispered, my skin turning clammy in an instant. My breaths grew shallower. I didn't dare look away, and probably couldn't if I'd wanted to, laying frozen.
Minutes stretched on, and slowly I relaxed. There weren't any more moving shadows. Again, I began questioning what I'd seen. Slowly...my eyes began drifting closed—
A shadow passed by the doors. My eyes flew open. It was too fast to spot, like someone striding past, blotting out the moonlight for a second or two. My body went rigid.
"Fuck this," I gasped. Sliding out of bed on the opposite side, I raced out of my room. My breaths came shallow as I sprinted silently up the stairs.
I tapped on Bastian's door, then pushed it open. "Bastian!" I hissed.
A swarm of shadows immediately surrounded me, rendering me frozen. I yelped. They immediately fell away. "Jesus, fuck, Elle. What the fuck?" I caught a fringe of those shadows retreating back towards the walls.
"Don't turn on the light," I gasped out, a second later.
Silence, and then he was beside me. I couldn't see much in the darkness, but he was naked except for a pair of boxers.
"What's the matter?" He hooked a thumb under my chin, lifting my face.
"Someone's out there," I hissed. "I saw...something. Someone."
He went still. "What did you see, exactly?"
"A shadow? Like, a person-sized shadow?" I thought I was just imagining things but..."
"But...?"
"It walked by my patio doors, Bastian," I hissed.
"Shit. You're sure?"
"Sure enough that I'm not freaking sleeping down there tonight."
He exhaled. "Stay right here. I'll be back."
It was dark, but not dark enough to miss the leather baldric that appeared across his bare chest. The slithering of a sword made my eyes widen. Bastian held the blade in a firm grip and strode from the room. I stared after him, mouth hanging open.
"Wouldn't a gun be more efficient?!" I whispered, taking several steps after him.
"Too noisy, Sugar. Stay there—the house is safe." I froze, mid-step, then retreated back into his room. I ran to the window and looked out, searching the yard. My eyes narrowed, and I looked at every dark place, past the pool, near the tree line. A moment later, I spotted Bastian prowling through the yard. He froze, hesitated, then turned, and started off in another direction. After a minute, he disappeared around the side of the house.
My chest pounded, and I took shallow breaths, waiting. This had been a bad idea. What if it was Luke out there? What if he had the harp? What if it was a trap? What if Bastian went out there, and Luke used the harp and turned him into a sleeper?
"Fuuuuck," I breathed, my skin prickling. I took a step away from the window, then waited.
It felt like an eternity, though in reality, it was probably a few minutes. Bastian appeared in the room and flicked on the lights. I blinked, squinting, looking around, realizing only now that I was in his room. The sword—a freaking sword—was sheathed at his back. He was in a pair of sweatpants now, but no shirt. I eyed the leather baldric, crossing his broad chest, tight over his muscles, and swallowed.
His jaw was rigid, eyes darting around. They settled on me, and he seemed to relax. "You okay?" He asked, starting forward, then stopping.
"Me?" I all but squeaked. "You're the one who went out there. You didn't find anything? I swear I saw—"
"He was already gone."
"He?"
Bastian stalked across the room to the window, glanced out, then turned to me. "I smelled him. That fucking asshole came on my property. Left his fucking scent everywhere."
My limbs went cold. "Luke?" I whispered.
He gave a jerk of a nod. "He walked right past your patio doors."
My stomach bottomed out. "He could have..."
"No, he couldn't have," Bastian snarled, turning to face me. "A measly fucking human like him—he can't break through the magic to get through the doors."
I opened and closed my mouth. "What if he'd been out there with the harp, Bastian. We need to be more careful. He has an entire arsenal of artifacts now."
"He's a fucking human, Elle."
"With powerful artifacts, Bas!" I all but shouted. "You need to be careful."
He took a slow, steady inhale. "I'm going to find this piece of trash, and I'm going—" He stopped himself, hand clenching into a fist. His chest rose and then fell. "Let's go to bed."
I hesitated, the nodded. As if I could sleep after a thing like this. "I'm not sleeping downstairs tonight."
He nodded, his expression softening. "There's another guest bedroom down the hall. No bathroom but—"
"I'm...I don't really want to be alone right now," I managed, my cheeks flushing red.
He sighed, ran a hand over the shaved side of his head, then jerked his chin in a nod. "You can sleep in here. I don't bite."
Heat trickled from my chest to the apex of my thighs, because he did bite, very gently, in a way that made me come last time. Poof. Just like that—my fear was replaced by reluctance. I licked my lips, glancing at the bed. It was just a bed—for sleeping, of course. "Uh. Yeah, sure...as long as you don't mind."
A slow smile spread across his face. "You can be my first."
My brows pulled together, insides squirming. "Your...first? Human?"
"No, my first-first," he said. My head tilted to the side. "I've never allowed another woman into my bed, Elle." He'd been calling me Elle, I realized. Wait... "It seems you're full of firsts, for me," he added.
What was that supposed to mean? I certainly wasn't the first woman he'd touched or gone down on. And while I was the first human he'd indulged in after having sworn them off, I wasn't technically the first where that was concerned, either. So...first what?
Meow.
Both our heads darted towards the doorway. There stood Teddy.
"No. No fuckin' way. You—Cat—are not permitted in my bed, or my room, for that matter."
"Oh, Bastian, stop. He can come in."
"No, he fuckin' can't."
"Bas," I whined. "It's Teddy. He doesn't have to sleep on the bed. But come on, he doesn't want to be alone either, do you, Ted?" I asked in a baby voice. Bastian made a groaning sound in the back of his throat. "Please?" I made a face and batted my eyelashes.
"Ugh. Unbelievable." He stalked across the room, throwing back the covers. "Fine. But no bed, Cat. You sleep on the floor."
I rolled my eyes, then bounded over to the other side of the bed, sliding beneath the covers. Bastian followed, keeping to his side. He propped himself up on an elbow, looking down at me. "You good?"
I nodded.
He plopped back onto his back and the lights went out. Meow.
"Teddy," we both said at the same time. I snickered. "Go lay down, Teddy," I added. Teddy was silent after that. But that didn't stop Bastian from muttering something about stupid cats under his breath. He probably wouldn't admit it—ever—but something told me Teddy was growing on him.
I turned onto my side, facing Bastian, then closed my eyes. Sleep felt a long way off. I turned back onto my back, and then a few minutes later, my other side, facing away from Bastian. A soft groan and then hands wrapped around me, pulling me against a firm body. "If you don't stop squirming, Sugar, we're going to have problems. I can't get any sleep when you're flopping around like a fish. Stay put." To emphasize his point, a thigh wedged between mine, and arms tightened, holding me in place.
"Are you...are you spooning me?"
"That's what it looks like," he said.
Just to piss him off, I squirmed again, unable to move more than my hips, right against his lap. A warning growl erupted beside my ear, hot breath tickling my skin. "Elle," he warned.
"What, I'm trying to get comfortable. You've got me in a vice grip."
"Hmm...I've got you right where I want you. Now go to sleep."
I rolled my eyes, not that he could—
"I can feel you rolling your eyes. Stop. Go. To. Sleep."
I snickered. He was trying to sound forceful, but I felt the underlying tension in his words. If we didn't sleep, other things would happen, and he was trying hard to ensure that wasn't the case. Fine. I'd let him have this one. But...I couldn't promise I'd hold myself at bay for long. He'd gotten to have his way with me twice now, and I had yet to have my turn.
Taking a deep breath, holding it for a count of ten, then exhaling, I tried to extricate myself from all the emotions I'd felt over the last hour. Bastian's arms were warm around me. Despite being nearly pinned, I felt safer than I had in...as long as I could remember. I might have had a fancy techy-magical security system around the house, but around my body, I had an even stronger one. And in this moment, it felt like nothing could possibly touch me—not even Luke.