Dark One's Daughter *Book Four*

Darkness on the Edge of Town {1}

Six Weeks Later ...

Tugging at the corner of the sheet that was laid across my bed, I groaned in frustration when it got caught at the corner. Recently, I had been trying to not use my magic as often by constantly relying on it for simple tasks such as changing a bed or making a strong cup of coffee in the morning. Overall, it had gone well but when the sun had just risen and I was still in the process of waking up, these tasks were a little more complicated than they needed to be.

Just as I managed to detach the sheet from the corner of the mattress, a set of arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back against them. Instantly, I relaxed into Killian's embrace until I felt a cold dripping of water on my shoulder.

"Seriously?" I exclaimed, leaping forward, and spinning around to stare at the smug smile on his face. "You're all wet."

"The magic of the modern shower," Killian smiled, heading over to the bed to sit down but I was so not having that.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I said, placing a hand on his still wet chest to stop him from moving towards the bed. "I just made that, and I don't want you dripping water all over it."

"I'm in a towel, love," Killian reminded me and my eyes involuntarily flicked to the towel around his waist, something that brought a smirk to Killian's face.

"I can see that, but the towel is also damp now," I said.

"Would you like me to take the towel off, then?" Killian asked, and I forced myself to keep my face straight as I looked right at him.

"Not at all," I shook my head.

"Afraid you won't be able to control yourself?" Killian smirked, making me internally groan.

"Killian, my brother is currently residing in the room on the other side of this wall. Behave yourself ... " I warned him before I moved around him and picked up a set of his clothes "... and for the love of the Gods put some clothes on."

I turned back around to hand him the clothes but as I did, I immediately noticed that there was no longer a fresh white towel wrapped around his waist. Instead, it was discarded on the floor leaving every inch of him on display. My stomach fluttered at the sight of him, but I reminded myself that Baelfire was still in this apartment with us.

As though he had no care in the world, Killian approached me again and took the clothes from my hands before he bent down and placed a kiss against my neck.

"Thanks, luv," Killian said before he thankfully started to dress himself again.

Last thing I needed was Bae seeing anything that would tarnish his ... semi-respectable image of his little sister-by-barely-a-few-minutes.

"Have you spoken to Belle recently?" Killian randomly asked, as I perched myself on the edge of my bed and shamelessly watched him get changed.

"I did the other day," I replied, knowing what he was probably referring to. "She's moving on, Killian. I don't want to constantly hassle her with memories of a man who broke her heart into a quadrillion little pieces. She has a new guy now anyway."

"Yes, I did see that," Killian said, pulling his black trousers on. "With your moronic ex's friend if I remember correctly."

"You remember right," I sighed. "But in this town age really is just a number considering half of us are over a hundred."

"Don't sell yourself short, luv. We're over three hundred years old. They're all practically still infants," Killian said, making me smile.

"The power of the curse," I shrugged.