The thought startles me. Up until tonight, I’d still been resisting, telling myself I couldn’t let this spark between us burn out of my control. But now it has. And in my heart, Iwant to kindle it, to throw logs onto the fire, to pray before it and dance around it and watch as the flames lick the sky.
In my head... I know this is dangerous. For both of us.
But I don’t know what to do, don’t know how to pull away now, how to stop this thing that’s already taking on a life of its own.
Lyra shifts again, and this time, her crimson eyes blink open slowly. She looks up at me, sleepy and bleary, and yawns.
“Cairn?” she whispers.
“Hmm?” I brush my fingers across her cheek, then down the column of her throat.
“Is everything okay?” She blinks again. “Can’t sleep?”
“Everything’s fine,” I whisper. “Go back to sleep.”
“And you’ll be here when I wake up?”
My heart twists into shapes it hasn’t for many, many years. “Of course I will.”
Lyra gives me a sleepy smile, then scoots closer, curling her small body around mine.
And though I close my eyes and try to find sleep, it evades me for a long while. Mostly, what I find is worry.
Chapter 28
Lyra
CAIRN WAKES ME EARLY THE next morning, pressing kisses to my forehead and along the curve of my ear. I’m so warm curled up beside him, cuddled under his blankets while the cool autumn air gives my nose a slight chill. I don’t want to move. I want to lie here beside him forever.
“Time to get up,” he says softly, his breath brushing the sensitive skin along my neck.
“Why?” I grumble, refusing to open my eyes. If I keep them closed, maybe he’ll lie back down and let me fall asleep again.
“You have to get back to the castle before everyone wakes up,” he says.
And that makes all my cozy, sleepy fantasies come crashing back down.
That’s right. Last night was the Samhain festival. I’m in Cairn’s hut. And I’ll need to get back to my dorm room without anyone realizing I spent the night here.
And the girls... Ugh. They’re going to know something’s up now. Hopefully they’re not worried about me; I didn’t tell them I might not come back to the dorm. But I didn’t even know myself.
That’s bound to be a fun conversation.
“Come on,” Cairn says, and he shifts beside me, making the mattress dip. His lips brush my forehead again, soft and warm. “I’ll make you a latte.”
Thatgets me to open my eyes. I blink up at him, and he’s stunning. His bare chest is lined with firm muscle, and his beard is full and wild. It’s still too early for the sun to gleam through the window, so Cairn is mostly cast in shadow, his horns curling over his head.
“What kind of latte?” I grumble, trying not to let on that that’sexactlywhat I need to entice me to get out of this perfect bed.
His lips pull up on one side. “Vanilla and cinnamon.”
I squeeze my eyes closed and groan. Then I push myself up and let out a big yawn while stretching my arms over my head.
“Okay,” I say sleepily. “I’m up. Where’s my latte?”
I SIT ON THE COUCH in the darkness of the early morning, watching the red-orange flames dance in the hearth as I wait for Cairn to make that latte he promised me. He’s in the kitchen, hooves clicking across the worn hardwood floor. As he works and I watch the fire, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon starts to drift through the cozy little hut, making my mouth water.
“Here you go.” He walks into the sitting room a short while later, and I look up from where I was staring, mesmerized, into the flames. Reaching down, he offers me a teacup with what look like moonflowers painted on the side.
