Chapter Seventeen

“Wow, she’s way more pooped than I thought,” Emily frowned at the woman slumbering across my lap. “Has she been sleeping okay?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I answered simply, tugging a blanket over Celia’s shoulders. She had slid one arm under my thigh and the other over the top, resulting in a grasp I couldn’t easily escape without waking her. Celia’s cheek was pressed into my thigh, her hair strewn across my lap. The sight amused me, but not quite as much as the fact she had started out leaned against my shoulder.

“You don’t know?” Emily peered at me, unconvinced.

“You seem to have the wrong idea about my relationship with Celia.” I shot Emily a cold look. “We aren’t dating, and we aren’t ‘acquaintances with benefits’ either.”

“The term is friends with benefits,” Richard pointed out. When I sighed in exasperation, a look of realization crossed his face. “Ohhh. So, you’re not to the friend stage either? She seems so comfortable with you, though.”

“Well, he is totally her type.” Emily waved a wine glass around. “She’d probably have been scooped up by someone similar a long time ago if she didn’t keep settling for crazy bastards.”

It was Richard’s turn to sigh in exasperation. I chuckled and glanced down at Celia, running my fingers through her hair. My touch didn’t even make her stir. Saying that she was exhausted seemed to be an understatement.

“Huh. Regardless of what you say, you like her, huh?” Emily probed, a lecherous grin plastered on her face. “I knew that kiss wasn’t just to tease her!”

“Shhh, you’re going to wake her up!” Richard clamped a hand over Emily’s mouth.

I glanced down again. The human woman’s inability to speak softly should have woken Celia. Was something wrong?

“I’ll clean up after I’ve carried Celia upstairs,” I stated, shooting a pointed look in Richard’s direction.

“Right.” Richard nodded subtly to me and stood. “Come on, Ems. Let’s go home for the night. You can nudge Celia tomorrow when you’re both awake.”

I sighed, watching the pair as they left. It seemed that Emily was more impressionable than I first thought. Her drink had been non-alcoholic, yet after being told it was wine, she had acted proceedingly tipsy. I’d have to make sure someone watched her. I couldn’t have the Nightingale Family whispering in her ear.

Celia stirred in my lap, drawing my attention downward. She nuzzled into my thigh, her nails biting into my leg. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get myself out of that situation, or if I even wanted to.

A crooked smile spread across my lips and I shook my head. Celia needed somewhere better to rest, and I had paperwork to deal with still. I hadn’t anticipated spending the evening with Celia and her friends.

Eventually, I managed to pry Celia from my thigh and lift her into my arms. A soft sound akin to a purr rumbled in her throat as she rubbed her cheek into my chest. When I made it to her room, placing her on her bed proved difficult. She clung to me as if letting go meant she’d never see me again, going as far as to try pulling me into bed with her.

That wouldn’t do.

I placed a hand over her eyes and concentrated briefly, summoning silver light. Celia’s breathing and grip relaxed, allowing her to collapse harmlessly on top of her bed. After pulling the blankets over her, I shut off the lights and fled the room. It was a shame she didn’t show that kind of desire when awake. I shook the thought from my head and left the room. After confirming Richard and Emily had left, I closed the blinds in every room and relaxed into my true form, a sigh of relief escaping me.

A human body was so stifling.

After a moment of contemplation, I decided to do the dishes instead of merely collecting them. Perhaps a small show of respect would help alleviate Celia’s seemingly endless worries. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her I could hear her thoughts. She was already skittish enough.

A small sigh escaped me as I set the dishrag aside. I couldn’t blame her for her skittishness. I’d scared her when she first summoned me, despite her clear innocence. Frowning, I glanced down at the dishrag. She had freed me, yet there I was—an Aloryi king doing menial labor for the human that had summoned me.

A ‘human’ whose presence I couldn’t seem to get enough of lately.

I couldn’t deny that I found her attractive. There was something about her meek, innocent facade that amused me. Her insecurity and shyness made me feel the need to protect her. Then there were her dreams…which made me want to break her and her bed.

A shiver ran down my spine and tail at the thought. I never expected to find a woman who appealed to me on both a psychological and primal level.

I heard the rustling of fabric follow by a soft squeak behind me. When I turned, a groggy Celia flushed and glanced away, hiding partially behind one of her sleeves. She seemed entirely unaware that her oversized pajamas hung off one shoulder, revealing a tantalizing stretch of throat and shoulder.

“S-sorry, I just…” Her face turned redder when I raised an eyebrow at her.

“It’s your house,” I pointed out, watching her fidget. “Richard and Emily left a while ago. I thought I would clean up before taking my leave as well.”

“Oh,” Celia murmured softly, her gaze dropping to the floor. I withheld a sigh and forced myself to calm down. I wasn’t ready to test the depth of my attraction to her, and she wasn’t in a suitable mental state. “I’m sorry, I should be the one doing that.”

Celia strode over and reached for the dishrag, but I easily held it far out of her reach. She looked up at me with genuine confusion in her eyes.

“You cooked. I will clean,” I stated, attempting to keep my tone soft enough to quell her nerves and firm enough to convey the point. “Besides, you must have been exhausted to have fallen asleep against me like—”

“I-I did what?!” Celia turned crimson again and covered her face in embarrassment. “I-I’m so sorry! That must have been t-terribly uncomfortable for you. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again, I’ll…”

I sighed and placed a hand on top of her head as her thoughts devolved into a self-chastising cacophony. Whoever had made her so fragile deserved the most gruesome death I could give them. Her thoughts hadn’t even considered my race or status.

She merely thought that any man would find such a situation involving her revolting.

“It wasn’t unpleasant, and I’m not angry at you for it,” I informed her. She peeked through her fingers at me, unconvinced. “If there’s anything human and Aloryi men have in common, it’s that we want to be needed or desired. Even if merely as a pillow.”

Celia mouthed a few times but failed to come up with a retort. She dropped her hands to her sides but still struggled to make eye contact with me. “Well, if you’re not upset about it… Still, I’ll…I’ll try not to make the same mistake again.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that one. Most of the options sounded aggressive or cheesy, while what she needed was reassurance. Kissing her again wouldn’t help either…tempting as it was. I likely shouldn’t have done it in the first place.

“Consider us even, Celia,” I suggested, smiling. “I kissed you without permission and in front of your friends. If we’re comparing assumed sins, mine is worse.”

“Assumed…sins?” Celia raised an eyebrow at me. She struggled to parse my statement for a moment before sighing heavily. “So, I’m overthinking it?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not mad at me or embarrassed?”

I chuckled. “No. I found it endearing. I was worried you were still scared of me, but your sleeping self alleviated that concern.”

“Scared of you? Celia blinked. “I’m not scared of you. I’m scared of…” she trailed off, shook her head, then continued, “…never mind.”

Celia turned away and started poking through the pantry. I shot an amused smile at her back before returning my attention to the dishes. She feared insulting or hurting me, mentally or physically. She feared growing attached, especially to someone she saw as out of reach.

Above all, she was scared that my kiss and our date both meant nothing. The poor thing couldn’t read me at all.

“Have you seen my tea?” Celia grumbled after a few moments, making a square shape with her fingers. “Blue tin, about this big, says ‘chamomile’ in big gold letters.”

“Shouldn’t you rest?” I frowned. Upon closer inspection, Celia looked like she hadn’t been sleeping well. Mayar and I had cast wards throughout the house to prevent nightmares and other such intrusions, but something had clearly impacted her sleep.

“Probably, but…” She fidgeted with her sleeves.

“I will take care of everything. Rest.” I placed my hands on her shoulders and shooed her out. The sensation of her soft skin sent a jolt through me. I ached to feel the rest of her.

“Tsukiyo?” Celia looked over her shoulder at me, her sinfully plush lips slightly parted.

“It’s…nothing.” I tugged her shirt collar. “You’re going to get cold if you stay like that.”

I pivoted and returned to the kitchen before she could begin spewing apologies. I needed to be more careful if I didn’t want to scare her away. She knew exactly why I had hesitated to release her, yet she seemed to think it was her duty to keep her distance.

So someone ‘more deserving’ could claim me. Someone who wouldn’t be old or dead in the next twenty to thirty years. A blink of an eye for an Aloryi.

I sighed. Obeying her mother’s wishes would be harder than I anticipated.