Page 169 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
“It is getting rather late.” Still on cloud nine after my win, I rose to prepare for bed.
After washing my face, brushing my teeth, and donning my night shift, using an overgrown bush beside the stream for privacy, I sauntered back to camp and grabbed my cloak from the wagon. I was spreading it out on a patch of grass dappled with dandelions when the Blue Caps unfolded a feather mattress on the other side of the fire. I watched them add a plethora of pillows to the mix.
Rub it in, would ya?
I sat upon my inadequate bed, which was in sore need of a washing, and tied up my hair in a messy top bun, hoping to keep the sweat off my neck while I slept that night.
“Something wrong with the spot I chose for tonight, darlin’?”
When I blinked up, Pete stood over me like a mussed sex god. He wore just his trousers and linen shirt, which also needed a wash, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His open collar exposed the dark fur covering his broad chest. Fur I wanted to lose my fingers in.
Cool it, Amy. You’ll never sleep if you keep upthosethoughts.
Indicating the Blue Caps with a subtle flick of his eyes, Pete gestured toward his pallet a yard away, where Sionna had been snoring since sunsdown. “Would you like me to moveourpallet over here?”
Ourpallet. Because we slept together. As lovers would.
What was it you said about sleep?I berated my conscience.
Swallowing, I nodded at Pete’s pointed question. He went to fetch his pallet.
I stood, wringing my hands, as he nudged a sluggish Sionna off her nest. She trudged the few paces toward the fire, then plopped down with a great harrumph. I nearly seized in panic, realizing she was going back to sleep where she’d fallen. Wasn’t she going to snuggle up as a buffer between Pete and I, like she had the night we’d spent in Humwater Dell? Wasn’t she going to save me from having to sleep body to body with Pete?
Save you?Please, honey.Your loins are thrumming, and your nipples are pebbles. You don’t wantsavedfrom anything.
Pete flopped his pallet at my feet, gesturing at it. “After you, darlin’.”
Tucking a wayward bang behind my ear, I stepped onto the worn leather, still warm from Sionna, and sat as casually as I could manage—given that I was gulping on my heart with every breath.
Striding from the stream where she’d been readying for bed, Rhoswen waved as Pete’s manly bulk settled onto the pallet beside me. “Good rest,” she bid us just before Pete’s arms engulfed me and urged me down onto my side, my back to his chest.
Afraid to move lest I bump something unbumpable behind me, I froze in that position, my head lying in an awkward, sideways angle as I stared ahead, an unblinking statue.
Chuckling, Pete tapped my stiff shoulder. “Care to make room for my arm?”
Gulping once more, I made an idiotic noise and lifted my head. His sinewy arm slid beneath my cheek, his bicep now my pillow for the night. My eyes fluttered shut at the warmth and comfort found there. His linen sleeve, though dingy and stale smelling, was soft against my skin, his muscles firm and supportive in the best way. Goddess, it was the most comfortable position I’d lain in since I’d crossed the portal, and I almost moaned at my abused neck’s relief.
“No shadow cloak tonight,” Pete murmured, his mouth so damn close to my ear arch. His other arm snaked my waist, his bear paw claiming my tummy. Why, oh why did I decide not to wear underwear that night? “Sorry.”
Fighting the urge to wiggle as his deep timbre vibrated along the tendons of my neck, I clenched my fingers. “I figured. If you’re not a harbinger tonight.”
“Shh,” he warned, his breath tickling my ear again, making me shiver. “Right. Tonight, I’m a simple bearded bundle of irreverence and defiance, aye?”
I bit down on a grin.He liked that, huh?
“You’ve a talent for storytelling, Shorty.”
“Thanks, but I can’t take credit for that. I basically plagiarized the plot of a romance I read last year. Wasn’t even that good, but the story fit.”
“But you drew some bits from your own past, aye?”
My mouth twisted. “Some.”
“Then I suppose it’s safe to assume your father—he’d have absolutely detested me as your lover.” Dark as all hell, he chuckled.
“Says the harbinger who’s captured me for the man who had him killed.”
“Well—barring that, I mean.”
