With his face relaxed in slumber, he looks like he carved from the most luminous, high-quality piece of marble. Like Sleeping Beauty’s prince, I am tempted to bend down and warm his lips with my own and see if it returns life to him. I swallow back a small laugh. Although my mind is still fuzzy with sleep, I wonder if this is part of the whole “being embraced by a maiden” thing rendering unicorns vulnerable. He certainly doesn’t look dangerous or terribly alert.
Swiping my curls back out of my face with one hand, I jump as the naga clears her throat at my elbow and slams the tray down hard enough that the clatter makes my pillow bolt upright. Where the banging on the door hadn’t done the job, the fact that I was startled—paired with a loud noise right beside us—seemed to do the trick. He snaps upright so fast that I’m practically thrown to the ground. I would be kissing a floor of questionable cleanliness right now if not for his quick reflexes.
Rubbing the sleep out of one eye, I utilize a glare that’s made men and women alike rush out of my path. Shame it doesn’t have the same effect on her. The naga merely gives me a snide smile as she sets out three teacups and pours the tea as if she didn’t just barrel in at any ungodly hour.
I squint at the faint sunlight peeking in through the window and wrinkle my nose at it. I’m typically an early riser, but this is ridiculous. It couldn’t be more than ten minutes after sunrise, fifteen tops.
“Thank you so much for at least waiting until the sun rose to wake us up,” I mutter to our hostess.
I’m not at all surprised when she inclines her head graciously, a smug smile on her lips.
“Yes, it was considerate. You are welcome. Nagas, being far superior to your race, wake during the early hours before dawn, when the false light of twilight illuminates the sky. Everyone in my inn was awake, bathing in the springs as they prepared for the day… but I deigned to allow a weaker creature such as yourself more rest. As clearly your mate was likewise indulging you,” she adds with a honey-sweet smile directed at Eliph.
I battle the urge to knock that expression right off her face—I mean, hello, I’m right fucking here—but smile victoriously as he pulls away from her, practically drawing me further into his lap to place me between them.
“It seems that Eliph didn’t mind sleeping in so long as he has me to cuddle with. I mean, there’s you—a vicious serpentine rope who’s up before the ass-crack of dawn and is about as subtle in your interest as a club aimed for an unsuspecting male’s head—and then there’s me. I guess there are perks to being tied to a simple lay-about human, since he isn’t trying to escape me,” I observe.
The naga’s expression darkens, her lips pressing together into a sour line as she uncovers the platter of crusty bread and dried fruits and slams the dome down beside it. It seems to me that someone doesn’t like the tables turned on her nasty attitude.
Ha! Take that, bitch. Score one for the weak, pitiful human.
Green eyes brightening with what I assume is venom, she gives me a chilling look before directing a disgusted sneer at the goblin happily picking at the food and utterly ignoring her. He goes so far as to wave her aside so that he can get at the platter from a better angle, drawing an enraged hiss from the female.
Strange.
I eye the platter, and I’m surprised at the delicious-looking assortment of fruits she provided. Even dried, some of them look pretty exotic to me. With the sharp cheeses and fresh bread, this looks like a quite a cozy little feast—and far more effort than I would have ever guessed that she would ever go through for Grimsal or me after the way she treated us last night.
Regardless of what’s going on between me and Eliph, that scaly witch isn’t going to get her claws into him. I’m already discovering that he’s not like most guys, and he certainly deserves better than being saddled with that attitude.
If I’m being fully honest here, he’s sweet enough that he probably deserves better than my moodiness and trust issues too.
That is—of course—if this isn’t all for show.
Argh!
Our hostess straightens, peering at each of us intently. Strangely, not even Eliph is