The Lost Queen

Ch. 23: A Night In

A loud bang at Jarrah's door had him jolting upright with a start. His eyes, that were once closed with sleep, were wide open, his heart flying to the base of his throat. He looked to the door and found his Chosen standing in front of it with her arms crossed over her chest.

Rayne didn't look at all happy to be there. In fact, she was shifting on her feet uncomfortably and looked everywhere else but at him. She took a few steps in and then stopped, her knee-length nightgown shimmering beneath the moonlight.

He wanted to say something to ease her discomfort, to remind her that he was still her mate and she didn't need to be so uncomfortable. That he loved her more than anything and wished he could take back his ugly words. But for some reason, he couldn't find his voice either. Thankfully, she only needed a couple more seconds before she opened her mouth and spoke so he didn't have to do it.

"I . . . had a bad dream about Lilith, and I need another place to sleep," Rayne forced out. Alarm bells went off in his head at her admittance and he went to go to her, but she held a hand out. She did, however, walk over to the bed. "I'm fine, Jarrah. It was just a dream and I don't want to talk about it. I just need to sleep in here to protect the baby. Just hand me a blanket and I'll—"

"You're not sleeping on the floor, Rayne," he huffed, rolling his eyes. "Come here."

He had a strange sense of déjà vu then. How odd it was to think that they were once in a similar predicament long ago when they traveled to the lodge on the way to Crimson Peak. In those early stages of their relationship, he tried so hard to hate Rayne and keep up the anger he had towards her species. But after that night at the lodge when they shared a bed, something in him had changed. It was their first attempt at a connection in the early stages of their relationship. And he had to admit, he wished he was back in those times now, as strange as it was to say.

Rayne, stubborn as hell, thinned her lips. "No, thank you. I'll just take a blanket and sleep on the floor."

A flash of frustration and, admittedly, desire made him open up the other side of the blanket. He was careful not to open it up too far and reveal the awoken appendage lying beneath it. She didn't want to be in his room in the first place, based on her reaction. So he didn't want to give her another reason to leave. As long as he stayed safely on his side of the bed, she shouldn't see anything.

Not that she hadn't seen him before. But that was beside the point.

"That's not comfortable for you or the baby right now," he argued.

"Jarrah. I can't sleep in the same bed as you," Rayne hissed, her pretty brown eyes squinting into slits. She crossed her arms over her growing chest, hiding her hardened nipples from his sight as he forced his gaze back up to hers. "It's too close."

The arousal Jarrah found there made him shift further under his blanket, still hiding the evidence of how attached he was to his curvy, sheer nightgown wearing mate. Whose warm, fleshy body called out to him. Tempting him, as he remembered just how he got her pregnant.

Jarrah cleared his throat. "We don't have much of a choice," he forced out, trying his best to clear the huskiness out of his tone. He wanted her, but not until she wanted him just as much and was willing to admit to it. "I'm not going to touch you, Rayne."

Not unless you want me to.

Rayne's warning glare did the opposite effect of what it was supposed to do. And he twitched to life under the comforter as he shifted. Though he was thankful to have such a sexy Chosen mate, it didn't help him in times like those when they were supposed to be mad at each other.

"You better not," she hissed, her eyes drifting to his hands. She plopped herself down on the bed a decent ways away from him, with her curls fanned out and her backside facing him. The thin nightdress she wore rose higher over her thick, delectable thighs and accentuated the round curve of deliciousness calling his name.