Page 100 of A Shade of Myself
The bed depressed with Laurent’s weight. “Do you want to clean up in the bathroom?”
Was that a hint? I opened my eyes. He didn’t look especially impatient, but he was slipping on a fresh pair of boxer shorts. “Sure,” I said with a brightness I didn’t feel.
“I set out a towel for you.”
Nodding, I headed into the bathroom, and gave myself a quick wipe down. My hair was a mess of snarled curls and my mascara had slipped into raccoon mode. Wonderful. I fixed both the best I could with water and my fingers.
I didn’t care if he wanted me to go since I hadn’t intended to stay over, but I was scared that if we kept having sex his gravitational pull would be too strong to resist, and I’d be consumed. The smart thing would be to stop this now before I got in too deep.
Decision made, I reached for the doorknob.
Delilah jumped up to block me, her arms crossed, almost scaring the shit out of me.
“Oh no,” I said quietly, so Laurent didn’t hear me talking to myself. “You are not becoming some manifestation of my deepest desires. Move.”
She cocked her hip. Seriously? I willed her to disappear. This should have been simple since I was the one in charge.
In theory.
She fought me. Or one side of me fought another side.
I stepped back, scrubbing a hand over my face. Damn you and your analogies, Yoshi.
How badly would I scare Laurent if I asked for more? Even if more was a simple date?
“Give me time,” I whispered.
After a long moment, she fell back into being a normal shadow once more.
I threw open the bathroom door and strode back into his bedroom.
Laurent lay on his side, one arm stretched out under his pillow. He gave me a sleepy smile that disappeared as I picked up my clothes. “You’re leaving?”
“Yeah. I need to go.” I turned away, but he caught my hand.
“Stay and talk to me. Tell me about your day.” His voice was warm and low, infused with intimacy.
I blinked rapidly, then pressed my hand against his forehead. “You want an update on the few hours since I last saw you? Do you need a healer? Is this a deathbed thing? Shit, am I going to have to find someone else to have sex—” I yelped, laughing and tumbling onto the other side of Laurent because he’d yanked me down.
I smacked him with the pillow, but he hauled me into the crook of his arm.
His fingers ghosted along the back of my neck, making every tiny hair stand up.
I brushed his curls out of his eyes so he could see me stick out my tongue. Not because I wanted to watch his dark lashes sweep against his olive skin as his lids fell closed, making him look much younger.
Boo raced in and jumped up on top of Laurent, settling against his hip.
“No claws,” he admonished with a wince. But he didn’t move her.
Soothing as it was to lie here, there wasn’t much to tell him since I couldn’t talk about Giselle. Even if I could, it was much nicer to quietly snuggle, listening to his breathing deepen and slow, than discuss demons.
I did, however, have one question before Laurent fell totally asleep. “Can you think of anyone to ask about the Ascendant?”
“Just Tatiana,” he murmured.
“I don’t want to wait until she gets back. I’d been thinking Poe because ravens and shiny things. They might have heard of the Ascendant, but it’s not an option.”
“Why not?” He yawned.
