Page 20

“If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place.”

“You took care of it. You kept me safe.”

His eyes lowered to her neck again, and he reached out with his hand, tentative, stopping a few times as if trying to hold himself back. Eventually, his fingers touched her bruised skin, gently brushing against her injuries.

“I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

“I didn’t want to stay,” he blurted out.

That shut her up for a second, taking her by surprise. Naomi dropped her hand from his face as if burned.

“What do you mean?”

“After you saved my life, I didn’t want to stay here.”

Her heart fell. Had she somehow pressured him into staying with her? She had just wanted to make sure he was okay, she hadn’t realized he didn’t want to be there.

“I knew it would put you in danger,” he explained. “I thought one of my superiors would be tracking me down, but it was him instead. He was way less powerful than them, yet look how much damage he did.”

Oh.

That was what he meant. He was just worried about her.

“Am I scared about the prospect of someone even worse showing up at my doorstep? Yes, I am,” she said, watching as his shoulders tensed. “Does that make me want to kick you out and treat you terribly to avoid that scenario? No, it doesn’t. I feel like we’re becoming friends, Kilean, and I care for my friends. I like having you around and I wanted to take care of you. If that makes me foolish, then so be it.”

“I’m very grateful for your help and hospitality,” he quietly admitted. “I don’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy being here. I just don’t like that my presence puts you in danger.”

“We have dealt with it just fine, haven’t we? There’s no need to sour the good memories with one bad moment.”

Kilean seemed to really think about it, the deep frown on his face never leaving, and eventually, he nodded.

“Now, would you be okay with cuddling with me?”

He might have been okay with it in a normal situation, but shaken as he was after that fight, she had a feeling he might not want to. He silently watched her with confused eyes, as if he couldn’t understand why she still felt safe with him.

“You want to cuddle with me?”

Naomi nodded. “I’m still shaken from what happened. I might feel better if you hold me for a while, and maybe it’ll help you feel better, too?”

Thousands of emotions passed through his eyes, so mixed with each other that they were impossible to decipher. When he realized Naomi was serious—and confident—about her proposal, he nodded.

She sat sideways on his lap, pressing against his plump belly, and leaned her head on his shoulder, her body finally relaxing. Kilean was still tense, but he wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry for what he said to you,” she whispered, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“I hate that characters like that exist between demons, too. As if humans weren’t already bad enough.”

His big hand took her smaller one, brushing his thumb over it. “Unfortunately, rotten apples can be found in any group.”

“He mentioned absorbing magic,” she asked, too curious to let it pass. “Did you absorb his when you killed him?”

“No, I think there’s a specific spell for that.” Kilean’s tone was almost defeated, as if part of him had wished it were so easy. “I’m not sure that what he said would even be possible. Even with more power, our higher-ups would still be hard to beat. It feels like more of a death sentence than anything else.”

Naomi sighed, her little bit of hope crumbling. She pulled herself closer, brushing her face against his fur, trying to lose herself in the feel of him. He felt so warm and solid—safe.

“Thank you again for saving me.”