No. She’d not be sleeping in her brothers’ room this night. Not when she could sleep in wonderful silence without having to make herself deaf first with one of her blades.
Ghleanna carefully placed her two axes and her sword on the wood chest at the foot of the bed—she still had blades strategically placed in her boots and inside her chainmail shirt and leggings should something need to be killed during the night—and eased onto the mattress beside Bram. He didn’t even move or wake up and she realized how exhausted he must be.
Once she was stretched out on her back, one arm behind her head, the other at her side, Ghleanna let out a luxurious sigh. Now she’d be able to sleep like a baby.
That is until Bram wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her in tight against his body. Ghleanna froze. Was he awake? She didn’t think so.
She tried to remove his hand from her waist, but he only gripped her tighter. Then he moved closer, pushing into her side, resting his head on her shoulder, his face turned toward hers. His eyes were still closed and his breathing normal. He was asleep but . . . still. He was awfully affectionate while he slept.
“Bram?” she whispered, loath to wake him up, but . . . still. “Bram.”
He moved around a bit, sighed out, “More oil. Bring me more oil so we can see all those delicious scars.”
Good gods, what was he going on about? Or maybe she didn’t want to know.
Deciding there were worse ways she could be spending the night—like in a room with her brothers—Ghleanna stopped worrying and went to sleep.
It was the first good sleep she’d had without the help of ale in six bloody months.
Chapter 6
“Wake up!” a voice boomed, shocking Bram into wakefulness. “The two suns are nearly up and we must face the day!”
“Shut up, Addolgar,” another, sweeter voice said from beside him.
“Don’t have all day, sister. We need to get on the road. Many miles to go.”
“I am quite aware. Now piss off!”
“Suit yourself.”
The door slammed shut and the body that sweet voice belonged to burrowed in deeper beside Bram.
“Uh . . . Ghleanna?”
“Just another five minutes,” she softly begged. “Just another five.”
But in less than five minutes—more like ten seconds—Ghleanna jerked away from him, wide dark eyes gawking.
“What are you—” she began.
But Bram quickly cut in, “I was here first.”
“You . . . oh. You were.” She closed her eyes, shook her head. “You got a bit clingy when I stretched out last night.”
“Did I?” Bram sat up, ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize. And you weren’t . . . I mean, your hands didn’t go . . . I mean . . .” She let out another breath. “You were quite proper is what I mean to say.”
“Good. Good.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed. “Then we can forget it ever happened.”
“Right. Good idea. It never happened. We were both just . . . tired.”
“And all that snoring.”
“Right! The snoring. How could anyone expect us to sleep with that lot snoring away? We had to sleep together. It was necessary.”
“Although,” Bram admitted after a moment, “it was quite lovely, wasn’t it?”
“Aye,” she replied, her voice soft. “It was.”
“Thank you for that.”
“And thank you. That’s the best I’ve slept in—”
The door swung open again, cutting off Ghleanna’s words. “Oy!” Cai yelled into the hallway. “Addolgar did see ’em in bed together! Who knew the little bastard had it in him?”
Hew stuck his head in. “They still have their clothes on. What’s the point of being human if you’re going to do it with your clothes on? Playing with the flesh is the best part.”
“Maybe they got dressed quick.”
“Nah. I bet they just slept.” Hew shook his head. “Boring.”
“Not everyone’s like you, Hew. Running around, f**king anything that moves.”
“Let’s go!” Adain yelled from out in the hallway. “I want to eat!”
The door slammed shut and Bram closed his eyes, trying to remember that this would all be over soon enough.
“That was a bit awkward,” Ghleanna sighed.
“Of course it wasn’t. We’re dragons. We don’t have all those weak sensibilities like humans.” He waved toward the door. “That was nothing.”
“Come on, you two whores!” Addolgar bellowed from the hallway, most likely waking up the entire building, and if not, the brothers’ laughter probably did the trick. “It’s time to eat! Let’s move, move, move!”
“Okay,” Bram told her. “Now that was awkward.”
After a quick morning meal in the pub, they’d gotten on the road as the two suns rose, heading toward the ocean and the port where they’d meet the boat that would take them into the Desert Lands. As they walked, Ghleanna kept thinking about what had happened that morning. Waking up in Bram’s arms—even fully clothed—had been . . . strange. Mostly because she’d been so comfortable. She’d never been that comfortable in a male’s arms before.
Maybe it was because the royal seemed so non-threatening. He was Bram the Merciful, after all. He never ate humans and was always running around trying to create alliances and truces with their kingdom’s enemies. He’d never been in a battle in his life and hadn’t even noticed the one right outside his own castle gates.