But he was so mortified by his uncleanliness, not to mention his helplessness, that he shoved irritably at the gentle hand. The light scratch of her fingernails on his scalp sent chills of pleasure through his aching body. Still cradling Merripen's head, Win stroked her fingers through his matted, unwashed hair. Probably the aftereffects of the morphine. His usual rough appetite for life had been replaced by shattering melancholy. He wasn't certain how he felt about that. And if he hadn't by now, he probably wasn't going to. Without speaking, she sat beside him and lifted his head, and gave him tiny sips of water until his mouth was moist enough to allow speech. Cool, frail, sweet-smelling, a lovely spirit in the darkness. In fact, he had undergone some strange reversal in which everything hurt except his wounded shoulder, which glowed with a near-pleasant warmth. His bones were sore, and so was his skin. His tongue seemed twice its normal size, dry and swollen in his mouth. That one sliver was brilliant with the whiteness of midday. Merripen awakened in a dark bedroom, the only glimmer of light coming from the quarter-inch space between the closed draperies. Now close your eyes.' And he soothed her back to sleep. She fell asleep again, stirring only when he returned to stretch out beside her and gather her in his arms. She knew she should go with him-she was concerned about Merripen-but as she tried to sit up, she was reeling with exhaustion, stupefied with it.Ĭam coaxed her back down into the welcoming depth of the bedclothes. She was woozily aware of Cam leaving the bed in the middle of the night, pulling on his clothes. dream of something sweet.'Īmelia slept deeply, dreaming of resting in a dragon's nest, tucked beneath his warm leathery wing while he breathed fire on anyone or anything that dared to approach.

'We'll start arguing again in the morning. Now it's time for you to have some help.' He kissed her gently. You've done more than enough, keeping all of them together and safe. 'There hasn't really been time, with all the other? Amelia began defensively. To start with, I'm going to teach her to ride. We agreed to find some new hobbies to keep her busy. 'I had a talk with Beatrix while we were crushing bees. 'By the way,' he murmured, 'the flatware's back in the silver cabinet.' Amelia sighed, nestling against his shoulder and biceps. Pulling the covers over them both, Cam continued to stroke her.

Mine until midnight