smile, probably elicited by my obvious fluster. “Celestials don’t need sleep, but we do indulge from time to time.”
“You’ll sleep with me then?”
His gaze fell to my lips for a second before he tore it away.
Fuck. “That came out wrong, I mean—”
“I know what you mean. And yes, I’ll sleep with you.”
My stupid mind focused on the words I’ll sleep with you, and heat crawled up my chest and hugged my neck. I took a gulp of hot tea to cover my sudden shyness and bit back a wince. “What happened at the Beyond?” I glanced over his shoulder to the spot where his wings had been a little while ago. “You got them back?”
He sat back in his seat. “He gave them to me, and then he told me to leave.” Uri clasped his hands together. “I’m too tainted for the Beyond.”
“He said that?”
“He didn’t have to. I saw the pity in his face. He told me I could best serve by working with you.”
“The Dominus?”
“No, you specifically.” Uri’s expression was warm. “He likes you, and he wanted you to know you can come visit him any time.” He leaned his head to the side. “What happened, Fee? What happened between you two in Limbo?”
I took a gulp of my tea and then proceeded to fill him in.
I padded over to the bed and kicked something on the floor. The damn journal again. It must have fallen onto the floor when I went sleepwalking. I popped it back on the dresser and climbed into my bed, already sleepy again. I guess the sleepwalking had exhausted me, not to mention the lecture Uri had given me on sacrificing my life to save him.
Yeah, he hadn’t been happy about that part.
“I’ll keep watch,” Uri said. “Just sleep.”
There wasn’t anywhere for him to sit aside from the dresser chair, which wouldn’t be very comfortable. I mean, he wasn’t exactly delicate, and that chair was tiny.
I patted the bed beside me. “Come lie down.”
He hesitated. “I’ll be fine on this chair.”
I gave him an are you kidding me look. “I promise not to compromise your virtue, okay.”
He looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it.
I gave him a stern look. “I’ll sleep better knowing that you’re comfortable.”
He nodded and approached the bed, kicked off his boots, and then stretched out beside me, making sure to leave a gap between us. I was tempted to shift closer and throw an arm across his torso, but I held back. We were friends, that was all. My deepening feelings for him didn’t mean he reciprocated, and the last thing I wanted to do was make shit awkward. Besides, I was knackered.
I closed my eyes and exhaled, falling into slumber.
I awoke what seemed like minutes later to predawn light and the steady thud of a heartbeat against my ear. Uri lay on his side, his arms around me, his chin resting on my head while I remained tucked snugly against him, my arm around his waist and my head on his chest. I didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to risk waking him because his deep, steady breaths told me he was asleep, but my body was buzzing from being this close, from the intoxicating effect of his aura. I wanted to rub myself against him like a cat, to lick his naked chest and take his nipples in my mouth. Oh, fuck. He was there, right there, exposed for me to have.
Nope.
Not doing it.
I wriggled, trying to slip out from his embrace.
He moaned softly, and then my pulse skipped as his hands slipped into my hair. He nuzzled my temple, then trailed the tip of his nose down my cheek, and I stopped breathing. His exhalation was warm, and his moan heavy with sleep, but I was awake, aware, and totally turned on.
I needed to put distance between us. He didn’t know what he was doing, and it was wrong of me to take advantage, but instead, I lifted my chin so that my lips grazed his jaw. He smelled divine, like magnolia and honeysuckle, like sunshine and rainbows, and now I needed to back off.
I pulled away, and his grip on me tightened.
“Seraphina…” One of his hands slipped down my spine to cup my ass and haul me against him, and what met me there gave me no doubt as to whether he was awake or not.
“Uri?” I looked up and was snared in his amber eyes filled with heat, longing, and