Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,61

getting you some clothes tomorrow. Until then, you can continue to wear Solomon’s clothes.”

Looking down at the clothes he was currently wearing, Mathieu sighed. He should have known. They were slightly baggy on him, but they would have fit the blond man perfectly. “Thanks. I’m going to see about sleeping.” He kissed Kiev’s cheek for everything she had done for him. Swallowing hard, he looked across the house to where Solomon seemed to be in a temper. Somehow he knew this wasn’t going to end well. Without any more conversation, he weaved through the glass walls until he stood at the opening to Solomon’s room. “Hey…”

“What?” The blond growled, naked to the waist.

Mathieu looked around at the room. It wasn’t nearly as large as Avian’s had been, but it was large enough. The bed was set furthest from the door on a metal bed frame, raised a few inches on the ground and covered in dark colored sheets; the dresser was flanked by two different sets of cupboards, set opposite from the bed; the desk was clearly meant for only a single occupant; and the bathroom was tucked behind a frosted glass door. Taking a deep breath, he slowly entered the room, closing the door behind him before sitting on the edge of the bed. “Thanks…for the clothes, and sharing your room with me.”

Solomon kept his back to Mathieu, arms folded. “Whatever. Just take the bed. We’ll get another moved in tomorrow.” Pulling a few blankets out of a cabinet, Solomon laid them out on the floor and dropped onto them.

Mathieu turned his gaze to the bed he was sitting on, which was clearly big enough to fit three people comfortably on it. “Uh, we could just share? I don’t bite.” He felt kind of bad to be evicting the man from his own bed. At the moment, he wasn’t sure if he actually disliked Solomon, or if he was just looking for someone to be angry with so he didn’t have to hate himself.

Solomon turned his back to him, pulling a blanket over himself.

Furrowing his brow, Mathieu shrugged and hesitantly climbed onto the bed. He had offered and if the blond was going to be a jerk, then he wasn’t going to feel back. Curling up on the side of the bed closest to the glass wall, he had a clear view of the dual setting suns slipping below the trees in the distance. The sheets were surprisingly soft against his skin. He watched them until the sky was dark and was almost asleep on the firm bed when a shift of the mattress forced him to crack one eye open. Rolling over, he saw that Solomon was laying on the bed, back to Mathieu. He kind of smiled before snuggling into his pillow and fell asleep.

~*~

Morning came far too early for Mathieu’s taste and he rolled over, trying to block out the suns’ rays. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but at least the sun was no longer shining directly against his closed eyes. The warmth of the man just behind him was like a furnace, making Mathieu want to kick the blankets off, to seek out some much desired airflow.

The bed shifted behind him and he heard Solomon get up, padding into the bathroom. Cracking an eye open, he looked through the walls to see the others in various states of alertness. Some of the other rooms were doubled up too, he noticed, such as the room shared by Josette and Adele. Whoever had thought up the design of this house was either really smart, or really stupid. The glass took away privacy, but it instilled a sense of unity. Living in a house like this took away any chance of secrecy; Mathieu could even see that Nathan slept with his head at the foot of the bed.

As well as this house seemed to fit these close-knit people, it just made him feel awkward and exposed. He pulled the blanket back over himself and wrapped it tightly around him, using it as a shield while still being able to watch the others with a sense of mild interest. Kiev was a few walls away and she seemed to be having a silent fight with Mina over use of the bathroom. Mina finally conceded with hands up in a surrendering manner when the other blonde woman put a menacing hand against the wall, boxing Mina in.

He shook his head slightly as Solomon re-emerged and climbed back onto the