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My eyes closed in frustration, and I fought like hell to stop myself from shivering.

A few minutes later, I heard his teeth start chattering too.

Dammit.

I had to pick one of the options; sleeping in his arms, or wrapped in his shadows.

Neither option sounded great, to be honest. Both would probably bring up feelings I didn’t want to deal with—and both would feel much more intimate than I was comfortable with.

But even that intimacy was better than freezing to death.

His shadows had felt less intimate than I imagined an actual touch would, but if he wrapped me in his shadows, he would still be cold. And I’d feel like shit if I snored away, warm and wrapped in his magic, while he shivered beside me.

So I sighed. “Fine. We can lay together. It’s only for body heat though—I don’t want you confessing to your damn fated mate that I seduced you into snuggling with me or anything when you finally meet her.”

“That’s not going to be a problem.”

I rolled to face him, my eyes narrowed at him. “You have no idea. I’ve heard that mates are extremely possessive.”

“Shouldn’t you be worried thatyourfated mate will hunt me down after you tell him about this?” he gestured between us.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll die long before I meet my fated mate.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, then. “Don’t talk like that.”

“Why shouldn’t I? Your magic already earned me twenty-one years of torture; it’s a miracle I’m not dead already.”

“It’s not amiracle. You’re not dead because you’re fucking strong, Diora. Take the credit for your survival.”

The emotion in his words surprised me.

“Fine, alright.” I turned away from him, not wanting him to see the shock in my eyes. His chest pressed to my back, and my eyes widened when I felt something hard against the top of my ass.

Stars.

Was that his erection?

Akari was the only one of us old enough to know how all of the baby-making shit worked when we were taken, but she’d explained it all to me and Vena when I was a teenager. It wasn’t like I’d seen the male anatomy though; it was all just theoretical to me.

At least, until his erection was jabbing my backside.

Not sure what I’d say about that, I decided just to keep my mouth shut. Namir didn’t mention it either, so that made it easier.

His arm draped over my waist, and surprisingly, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Honestly, it was far from uncomfortable.

It was… nice.

Really nice.

Not that I’d say so out loud.

I was too stunned to mention that, anyway, or to allow myself to overthink the situation.

My eyes closed, but I was still shivering a bit. He must’ve noticed, because a moment later, shadows began to slide off his skin, slowly engulfing us both.

I felt my own shadows respond, and kept my eyes closed.

We both relaxed further as the comfortable, peaceful warmth wrapped around us, and eventually, I fell asleep.