“Good morning! Ready for breakfast?”
The fog of sleep and a pounding headache made it hard for me to identify the overly-cheerful voice. It wasn’t Theresa. I sat up and rubbed my eyes as the name of its owner filtered slowly to the forefront of my mind.
“Clavis?” I mumbled, focusing on him in the open doorway. The room was still dark, with only the moon and starlight shining through the windows to light his grinning face in silver. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask the same thing of you,” he replied, looking for all the world like a cat who had just caught a mouse.
I frowned, staring at him in confusion as awareness trickled slowly in. The door wasn’t supposed to be there. It was to the right of me and the bed, but it was supposed to be straight ahead and to the left. The pale blue walls weren’t right, either, nor was the light blue rug, and my eyes kept picking up more incongruities as they wandered the room. A fluffy white comforter over my lap. And under that comforter, a hand on my right hip, a hand that was too big to be mine. I followed it to the forearm against my back and turned to my left as an irritated sigh filled the silence.
“I need to start locking my door,” Chevalier muttered into the pillow.
Suddenly, I was wide awake. It all came rushing back to me. When I left Licht’s room last night, my guards were gone, and Chevalier had been there waiting for me. I’d told him he needed to talk to Licht right away, and he’d insisted I go to his room rather than risk walking the halls alone. And I had been too exhausted, emotionally and physically, to argue against his paranoia.
My face was blazing hot with embarrassment.
I wanted to disappear, but as usual, he was unaffected. His eyes weren’t even open. He could at least glare at Clavis for me, but no. He lay there, his face half-buried in the white pillow, his pale blonde hair fell messily over the other half, allowing me to see one closed eye through the fringe, and—and darn it, he looked cute. Really cute. Too cute for me to be mad at him.
“You didn’t forget about breakfast, did you, Ivetta?” Clavis asked.
“I—wh-what?” I stammered, whipping my head around to face him again, blushing to the tips of my ears. My throbbing head protested the action.
His position in the doorway kept him well out of Chevalier’s reach, which was probably why Chevalier wasn’t bothering to threaten him, and he really did look like a cat who’d caught a mouse. Me. I was the mouse.
“Breakfast,” Clavis said, clearly enjoying himself. “The Simmons left already, so it’ll just be the two of us. Sorry, Chev, I didn’t make enough for you.”
“But—”
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’d rather sleep in, anyway. But the food’s getting cold, and I know how much you’ve been dying to sample my cooking, so we really should get going.”
“I—”
“Ah, yes, you have to pacify Chev first. I understand. I’ll just step outside. But don’t take too long.”
He winked and left, closing the door behind him without letting me get a word in edgewise. I flopped onto my back and covered my face in my hands. The constant throbbing in the right side of my forehead reminded me of all the crying I did yesterday.
“Oh…” I moaned, a combination of pain and frustration.
Chevalier applied pressure to my right hip, sliding me closer to him. He nuzzled into my neck, his warm breath doing nothing to cool my flushed skin or slow my racing heart, and I realized I was in trouble. His left hand settled on my stomach and moved slowly and deliberately across to the right side of my waist, and his lips brushed against my ear as he purred in a low voice, “You don’t have to go, little dove.”
That tone did something to me. Something that woke the butterflies, flooding my stomach and swirling around my stuttering heart, something that made my breath come faster with each light kiss he trailed along my neck. He moved in closer, one of his legs crossing over my left ankle and his chest pressing into my shoulder, and I swallowed hard and lowered my hands cautiously from my face, turning to see his crystal blue eyes smoldering in the moonlit room. He smiled and raised himself up a little, leaning over me to press a kiss to my lips. I gasped as he nibbled my lower lip, and I felt his smile widen, felt his right hand leaving my hip to caress my back, felt him easing himself onto me when I didn’t push him away. My heart was pounding harder and faster than ever, my arms wrapping around his neck of their own accord, my fingers tangling in his fine blonde hair.
“Chevalier…”
He slid his tongue into my mouth, and I moaned into a kiss that felt feverishly hot. His touch was fire and silk, soft and scorching, burning sparks along my back, my stomach, my waist, drifting briefly down the side of my hip, back up to safety before I tensed. I hooked my leg around his, needing to feel closer, needing to feel this entanglement with him. Panted breaths between kisses and rustling sheets filled the spaces between the pounding in my chest and the pounding in my head.
And the pounding at the door.
“Are you coming, Ivetta? Or do I need to pry Chev off of you?”
What was I doing?
I broke the kiss and buried my face in Chevalier’s shoulder. His teeth tugged at my earlobe, drawing another moan from me and triggering a series of loop-de-loops among the butterflies.
“If you want to stay…” he murmured.
“I-I don’t know,” I whispered, shivering as he layered wet kisses around to the nape of my neck. “I…”
“You gave him your word.”
I nodded.
“And you’re afraid of what will happen if you stay.”
I bit my lip and nodded again. We both knew how it would end. Me in an irrational panic when a loving touch or a sweet word triggered a memory of pain and insult, him trying to calm me down, probably feeling guilty for upsetting me. And then me feeling guilty when the fear faded.
This was why us sleeping together was not a good idea. Not right now.
He sighed and rolled off of me, pulling me into his chest in a tight embrace. “Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, giving him a slight nod. “Y-yes,” I said, unconvincingly. “I am. My head just hurts from all the crying yesterday…”
He kissed my forehead, right over the epicenter of the throbbing. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Well…I…”
He sighed, his breath shifting the hair that had fallen in my face before his fingers brushed it back behind my ear. “You still care far too much for others and not enough for yourself, little dove.”
The image of Licht’s tear-stained face flashed through my mind.
“Is Licht okay?” I asked, my stomach twisting with sudden worry.
Chevalier gave a soft laugh and shook his head. “No, but he will be.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “He was worried about you.”
I bit my lip again and shrugged, trying not to picture the bloody dagger or the red lines on Licht’s arm.
“Final warning!” Clavis called through the door.
“Sorry, I have to go.” I started to pull free, and Chevalier looked away, his arms falling away from me and his smile vanishing. There was something about his expression that gave me pause. It was like…he was pouting. I’d never seen him pout before. It was cute.
He deserved at least one more quick kiss goodbye. Or…
I leaned in again and kissed him hard, cupping his face in my hands and pushing him into the pillow. His startled gasp of air told me I'd surprised him. He dug his fingers into my waist, his other hand tangled in my hair, and I really didn’t want to stop. He tasted a lot better than Clavis’ cooking ever could. But it was only a matter of time before Clavis made good on his threat and came through that door…
I withdrew slowly, letting each sensation of tongue and teeth linger, ending with one last tug at his upper lip. His eyes were wide when I was done. I smiled with satisfaction and said, “Sweet dreams, Chevalier.”
The door opened as my feet hit the floor. I ducked my head, avoiding Clavis’ eyes like the plague as I stepped into my slippers and pulled on my dressing gown.
“Oh, good, you’re done. See you later, Chev,” Clavis said, holding the door open for me while I darted past him into the hallway. “And for you, our resident Angel of Mercy,” he continued, grabbing my hand before I could get too far ahead of him, “I have planned a gourmet breakfast in bed.”
Surprise won out over embarrassment. “What did you call me?” I asked, looking up at him.
“One of my many talents is escaping from all sorts of traps and restraints, so my brothers were thoughtful enough to leave me hanging from that tree to practice my skills,” he said, interlacing his fingers with mine as we walked. He leaned toward me, lowering the volume of his voice. “I saw you leaving Licht’s room.”
“Oh.” I looked away, uncomfortably aware of his golden eyes taking in my messy hair and flushed cheeks, and then a thought occurred to me that made me meet his gaze again. “You weren’t hanging there until midnight, were you?”
He laughed. “Of course not. I was out until midnight setting new traps.”
I couldn't hold back a smile. He'd never learn. “And that’s why we’re not eating in the gardens.”
“That, and I always wanted to cook for you while you were on bedrest, but the doctor wouldn't let me. He insisted you needed normal nutritious food to heal.” His dramatic sigh punctuated his thoughts about that.
It was getting harder to be upset with Clavis. He’d worked so hard to keep me entertained while I was stuck in bed all those weeks, and he’d wanted to do even more?
“That’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”
He shrugged my thanks off, but he looked pleased. “Anything for you.”
We didn’t run into anybody on the way back to my room. The hallways were empty at this hour, although the kitchens were probably busy as the cooks fired up the ovens. He planned it that way, I realized. As obnoxious as he could be sometimes, he really was the gentleman he boasted of being, too. I still would have preferred having breakfast another day, so I could have slept in with Chevalier, though. Well, maybe not slept in, since I had lessons with Sariel starting up again this morning, but slept longer, and Theresa could have brought my clothes up to Chevalier’s room so I could get ready there before I left. He wouldn’t have minded that.
Theresa probably wasn’t happy about being woken up this early, either.
My guards were standing outside my door, stoic and expressionless, as always. I still couldn’t look at them. And I didn’t have to, because my door opened, and there stood Theresa, her green eyes only glancing at me before she leveled a glare at Clavis. She wasn’t happy at all.
“Welcome back,” she grumbled. “Everything’s done. Can I go now, or do you have anything else for me to do before I’ve even had my breakfast?”
“No, that will be all, thank you,” Clavis said airily, leading me past her and into the room.
“Sorry, Theresa. You can take a nap later,” I said, offering her a smile.
“Already planned on it,” she threw back over her shoulder. She closed the door, and suddenly, my feet left the ground.
“Clavis!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around his neck as he scooped me up. “What are you—”
“Reenacting the scene,” he replied. “I had to carry you back then.”
“Because I couldn’t walk!”
“Details.” He set me on the bed, shifting me back against the pillows propped against the headboard, just like he did then. And, just like then, I held my breath, blushing and averting my eyes from his chest in my face. He pulled the blanket over my lap and smirked at me. “Is something wrong?”
“Don’t you dare try to feed me,” I warned him.
He laughed and set a tray full of food over my lap. “I couldn’t eat my own breakfast if I did that.”
I didn’t recognize a single item on the tray. The colors, textures, and shapes didn’t correspond to any food I knew of, but the smell wasn’t revolting, so that was something. And when I looked back at Clavis, now seated on a chair at my bedside and beaming like a happy little boy, I didn’t have the heart to even ask what any of it was.
“This looks very…um…unique,” I said. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“Try the eggs first,” he said, beaming.
I swallowed and looked back at the tray. There were eggs here?
“I think the wings turned out well,” he supplied.
That must be the ridge of brown on top of the purple stuff. My guess would have been something burnt, or maybe a flower, but now that he mentioned it, I could see wings.
“They did,” I agreed, taking a spoonful of the jiggly purple…eggs? “Why did you add them?”
“Because you’re our little dove.”
This was why I couldn’t stay mad at him. I really hoped all this food was edible, because I was about to choke it down with a smile rather than risk hurting his feelings.41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8A6HD1Y5k
