Chapter 21

Chapter

Twenty-One

" C an I try a sip?" Zala asked as Myrria started to clear the plates from dinner.

Her daughter had been eyeing her and Rixx's glasses of cherry red Verrilion wine all evening, and now the bottle was almost empty. Maybe it was the way the wine spread warmth throughout her body or the fact that she could no longer feel her fingertips, but Myrria twitched one shoulder. "If you wish, but I doubt you'll like it."

"Dothvek children drink wine from an early age." Rixx poured the last of the bottle into Zala's empty water glass. "But that is because water is not plentiful." He winked at the girl. "And wine is far from the harshest thing on the sands."

Zala's eyes were wide as she lifted the glass to her lips, eagerly taking a gulp and then making a grim face as she swallowed. "I thought it would be sweet."

Myrria and Rixx both laughed at her stricken expression and the slightly green tint of her cheeks.

Zala gave the bottle a sideways glance, as if the shiny glass had betrayed her. "It looks like it should taste like candy."

"Compared the Dothvek wine, it does," Rixx told her, his voice a low rumble.

Rixx stood and carried the rest of the dishes to the sink where he helped Myrria rinse them off while Zala kept her hand pressed to her stomach.

"You should go to bed," Myrria finally told her daughter. "You look like you've had enough celebrating for one night."

Zala nodded, mumbled goodnight, gathered the skirt of her fancy blue dress, and made her way to the ladder. Myrria didn't tell her that she would not be joining her in the loft bed as she had since they'd taken in Rixx. She didn't want to field questions or for her daughter to think that her sharing a bed with him was anything but a strategic move in case Donya made a visit early in the morning.

She still hadn't explained her reasoning to Rixx, but he had not questioned her. He had agreed as soon as she'd asked, which made her wonder what he might think of her. Myrria knew that she was safe with him. Although it made no sense—he was significantly bigger and stronger than her—she knew in her bones that he would never force himself on her.

When Zala was upstairs and had stopped rustling around enough to convince Myrria that she was in bed, she dropped her voice. "I do not want my landlady to make a surprise visit in the morning and find me sleeping with my daughter and not my newly returned husband."

"She can come in at any time?"

Myrria released a strained sigh. "It is her property, and she likes to remind me of it. She does not allow a dead bolt because she claims it's a fire hazard. I think she likes to creep in when we're out."

Rixx grunted as he wiped the last plate dry. "You should leave this place."

Hope bloomed in her chest for a moment before withering. "I can't leave." Before, she had always thought she couldn't leave because she was waiting for her husband. Sh'd been sure he would return, and she had to be there when he did. But now, she was sure he was gone for good. She couldn't leave because she had no place to go and no money to get there.

Rixx made a rough noise in the back of his throat, but he did not argue with her or ask why, but the levity that had been in his voice was gone. "You can prepare for bed first. I will come in once you are done."

Myrria's felt inexplicably sad that the gulf between them had widened again, but it was for the best. She hurried to the bedroom, ducking beneath the curtain and quickly shedding her day dress. She took a nightgown from the dresser and pulled it over her head, noticing that she's inadvertently picked her nicest one.

"Not that it matters," she whispered to herself as she slipped under the covers and clicked off the lamp on the bedside table. The room was suddenly shrouded in darkness, the only light slipping in through the gap in the curtain.

She hadn't minded sharing the loft bed with Zala, but it was nice to be back in her bed with the thicker mattress. But even though it was her bed, it now smelled like him . She breathed in the spicy male scent that permeated the sheets and heat coiled in her stomach.

The light from the outer room was extinguished, and Rixx's bare feet padded across the wooden floorboards toward her. It was ridiculous that she was holding her breath. She'd already explained why they needed to share a bed. He knew that her decision was all about convincing her landlady. So why was the blood pounding in her ears?

The curtain rustled as it was pulled back then there was the faint sound of clothing hitting the floor. Myrria stiffened. Was he taking off everything? Gods forgive her, she wanted him to be taking off everything.

The bed creaked as Rixx got in on the other side without speaking, readjusting himself until he was lying on his back with his shoulder almost touching hers. Myrria could feel the heat of his body as they both lay side by side.

"You do not need to fear me," he husked. "I have no intention of touching you."

"I'm not afraid of you," Myrria insisted, although her wavering voice betrayed her.

"I can feel your fear."

She swiveled her head to him. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark enough that she could see the silhouette of his profile. "What do you mean you can feel my fear?"

He released a breath and twisted his face to hers. "Dothveks are empathic. We can sense each other's emotions and thoughts."

Her breath caught as the shock of his admission hit her and she pushed herself up onto her elbows. "Have you been reading my mind?"

"Our empathic powers do not work like that. Not on other creatures. Only with Dothveks and only ones who allow us to access their minds."

Her breathing steadied. She would die of embarrassment if he knew all the things she'd been thinking about him. Then she narrowed her gaze at him in the dark. "But you said you could feel my fear."

He was quiet for a few moments. "I do not know how, but I am able to sense your fear. I cannot hear your thoughts, but I know when you are frightened. That is how I was able to find you when you were being attacked."

Myrria sank back onto the bed. "Oh. But I'm not afraid of you right now."

"I can sense—"

"I'm afraid of myself," she interrupted before she could think better of it, "because I do want you to touch me."