Hormones out of control … I guessed that would make an extra impact. Certainly, whenever Tejus was around I felt the hunger and all the crazy emotions that went with it peak and dive like a rollercoaster. Not that, when it came to him, I was much different when I was human…
“Can I come in?” he asked.
I frowned. “Uh, yes. It’s your home.”
“I’m trying to give you space. I don’t want to make this any harder for you.”
“You’re not,” I lied. I wanted him around – it wasn’t only the hunger that drew me to him, after spending the night together I couldn’t stop thinking about the way his skin had felt brushing against mine, his kisses that had run all over my body, the silent exhales that had escaped his lips and mine…Being near him, but not able to touch him, was driving me crazy. Like I didn’t have enough crazy to deal with.
“I’m going to take a bath anyway,” I announced. I desperately needed something comforting and warm – if it wasn’t going to be Tejus’s embrace, then a bath would have to do.
“I’ll meet you here when you’re done.”
“Okay,” I gulped. There was something about the way he’d worded that statement which made my legs feel weak and the pit of my stomach knot.
I made my way to the bathroom, and after running the faucet for a while, I stepped into the near-boiling water – fragrantly scented with oils and dried petals. I leaned my head against the edge of the tub, feeling the tension in my muscles finally relax…
I woke up to cold water and Lucifer meowing outside the door. I must have drifted off. Hastily, I wrapped a towel around me and went back to the living room. Tejus had lit a fire, and was sitting on one of the velvet sofas idly flicking through one of the ministers’ volumes.
“You were gone a while,” he observed, his dark eyes lazily wandering up and down my body.
“I fell asleep, sorry.”
I felt hugely self-conscious standing in the living room with just a towel on, and without waiting for him to say another word, I slipped into the spare room to put on some clothes. I heard Tejus rise from the sofa.
“I would like it if you would sleep in my room tonight,” he spoke.
I paused briefly before quickly wrapping myself in a robe.
“But…we can’t…” I trailed off.
“I know,” he replied, appearing before me. “But it’s where you belong – still. Even if I can’t hold you.”
I thought about the request, heat rising in my cheeks when I thought of the bed – in my mind I would forever remember it covered with tangled sheets, and Tejus leaning up against the headboard.
“Okay,” I breathed.
He stepped back out of the spare room, clearing his throat.
“I’ll let you get comfortable,” he said, gesturing toward his bedroom.
Unable to look him in the eye, I hastened to the room. My stomach was fluttering wildly, and I noticed the complete absence of my hunger – replaced by surging emotions and feelings of a totally different kind.
The bed had been re-made. I walked over to the frame, sliding beneath the cool sheets with my head propped up against the pillows. I started to notice things I hadn’t before – the way the decoration in this room was slightly different to the rest of the living quarters. It was more sparse – the crushed red velvet replaced by dark wools and oak. It suited Tejus more than the other rooms.
“Where are you going to sleep?” I asked Tejus as he made his way into the room, carrying a coverlet and a cushion.
“On the floor,” he replied.
“Oh.”
I had thought that he would be sleeping in the spare room or on one of the sofas – surely that would be more comfortable?
“Problem?” he asked wryly.
“No…won’t you be uncomfortable?”
He shrugged. “No. I don’t see why I would.”
“I feel guilty,” I burst out. “I should sleep back in the – “
“No,” Tejus interjected. “Please Hazel. I feel bad enough having been intimate with you without us being married – it is not the sentry culture, and definitely not the accepted behavior of a royal. The only reason I didn’t ask you to wed me was because of the ceremony – I wasn’t willing to risk it…more of my foolishness. However, I am certainly not willing to go on as we were before – you’re mine, and I intend for it to stay that way – no matter how difficult our path together may be.”
Wow.
Marriage?
I didn’t realize Tejus felt that way…I was speechless; completely thrown by his honesty. I felt the heat rising once again in my cheeks.