“You don’t need to apologize.” I cut him off before he could tell me what I already knew about the fire.
His head turned to the mantel clock resting on his dresser. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” He sounded pathetically concerned as he took my hands to his mouth, breathing warmth over them.
“It didn’t bother me,” I lied innocently, albeit not convincingly, as my body betrayed me with a tremble.
He let go of my hands, swung his legs off the bed, and hurried to the fireplace. There was a low “whoosh”and the room began to glow dimly. “Come here.” He sat on the fur pelt and beckoned me with the pat of his hand.
“That’s perfect,” I chuckled through chattering teeth, trotting over to join him on the ground by the flames.
“Your lips are blue,” he murmured, stroking his soft thumb slowly across my lower lip. A shiver went through my body unrelated to the temperature.
“You look comfortable,” I joked, nodding to his bare torso. I knew he was intrinsically heated, but the lack of clothing and blankets felt a little extreme.
“I have fire inside of me.”
“Well, would you mind donating some more of that gift?”
“I can’t light any more fires in here.” He looked over at his dresser, and I realized he might actually be considering lighting it on fire for me.
“Graysen,” I sighed, opening my arms with the blanket. “Come here.”
“Oh.” The word was hardly more than an exhale.
After a moment of calculated hesitation, he moved his side against mine, snaking his closer arm around my back under the fabric. Desperate to absorb his body heat, I threw both legs over his lap and pressed the side of my face against his smooth, exposed chest. His other arm grabbed the far end of the blanket and closed it around us. I rested my hands on his taut stomach to thaw. He was far warmer than the fire itself. I bit back a contented moan as I melted into him.
“Warming up?” The bass of his voice rumbled through his chest and into me.
“Yes,” I nodded. “Thank you.” As if to confirm my comfort, a yawn escaped me without warning.
“Are you tired?” His hand wrapped around the back of my head, fingers weaving into my hair.
“A little.” Actually, a lot. My body had been working hard to keep me going, and now that it was soothed, I could drift off any moment. His heartbeat was a slow and steady lullaby in my ear.
“You can stay up here. I’ll take the couch.”
That was the opposite of what I wanted. I wanted to doze off exactly where I was, held in the arms of my beautiful fire demon. “I don’t think that I’ll be very warm if you leave.”
There was a moment of silence before he quietly and somewhat apprehensively asked, “Do you want me to stay with you while you sleep?” I thought I heard his heart miss a beat, but that was probably wishful thinking. I was the one benefiting from the current situation, after all. I had no illusion that it was mutualistic.
“It would keep me warm.”And safe. And happy.
There was more silence before he replied, “Then I will. Will the bed be acceptable?”
“Mhm.” Had I not been so tired, I knew my body would have been hopeless to control itself in response to those words. But I wassoexhausted. And I wasso. Incredibly. Cozy. Tenderness filled my chest. Sleeping in a bed together was intimate, but it felt correct. I was deeply appreciative of his presence, and grateful I could hold onto him for the night.
His arms hooked under my knees and around my back to lift my curled form while he stood. “How do you want me to lie with you?” he asked as he walked us to the bedside.
“It doesn’t matter.” My drowsy heart fluttered.
I felt myself sink into a soft mattress, facing towards the left side of the room. Through my barely lifted lashes, I could see snowflakes falling silently outside the frosted window. He walked to the other side of the bed. There was a rustle behind me before soft heat swallowed me whole. A thick arm snaked under my neck, with the other wrapped around my stomach. His legs curled with mine, my feet pressing against his shins. I was nestled into his lap, with the back of my head tucked under his chin. I was hardly a small woman, but I disappeared into his form.
“Are you comfortable?” he murmured with lips pressed against the top of my head.
“Very. You?”
“Very,” he purred, his arm tightening around me possessively.
“Can we do this again?” I didn’t want this moment to end. I’d be content spending every waking second of my life wrapped in heavy blankets and his smoky essence.
