Imperfect (Disappeared #1)

Chapter Eight

Theodosia stared over at Ahuil, who was still snoring.

Well, now what was she supposed to do? Just fall asleep with a strange man next to her and hope it all went well? He looked distinctly unthreatening at that moment, but who knew what could happen later? Theodosia's knowledge of men was mostly limited to her mother's warnings that compromising situations lurked around every corner and that keeping herself safe from said situations was a full-time job.

This was probably the most compromising situation yet. Her mother would not be pleased.

"Oh bother," she said under her breath. "I'll have to make do until morning. But I shall never breathe a word of this to anyone in case they think me a perfect harlot."

Still, try as she might, she couldn't sleep.

The first reason was Louisa. She imagined her tucked into bed and wished she could kiss her goodnight. And her mother too. Despite their argument earlier in the day, the countess had been as kind as she could be with such a maddeningly different daughter. Her mother had always tried to understand her, even if it had never quite worked. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of her and how she'd disappointed her.

The other reason for her insomnia was the forest. A low whisper crept through the trees, rustling the dry pine needles of the branches together. From farther down came the softer whisper of the leaves. It wasn't particularly eerie. It was just that Theodosia had never slept in a forest before. She had been constrained to well-padded bedrooms where nature was firmly shut out. The only sounds she ever heard were the familiar creaking of the old estate at night.

Here, there were so many new sounds, and each one grabbed her attention. There were rustlings from the movements of birds, and the distant crunch of pine needles on the grass as some creature cautiously made its way through the underbrush.

There were sudden smells too, delivered on the back of the wind. A heady rush of pine, a lingering smell of damp earth and rotting log, and a slightly nutty smell, perhaps from the bark.

And then there was Ahuil. Because Theodosia couldn't sleep, she propped herself up, alert to every movement and sound around her. At first her eyes wandered about, but soon enough they rested on his sleeping form.

He had a wide mouth that was surrounded by brown scruff. His nose was defined and looked regal in his strongly masculine face. His golden eyes were obscured from view and his long brown lashes lay on his lightly freckled cheeks. He had high cheekbones, wide-set eyes, and deeply tanned skin, and his wavy hair was a shoulder-length tangle of brown that spread out over the pillow.

In short, he was handsome but a kind of handsome Theodosia hadn't seen before. The men of her acquaintance mostly had neat features in a relentlessly groomed package. Nothing about Ahuil was neat, from his overly wide mouth to his freckles to his wild hair to his guileless mannerisms.

Theodosia moved over onto her side. She could feel the heat of his body radiating toward her. It felt nice, though strange. His breath lightly brushed her cheeks. It smelled a bit sour, like bread. She felt a prickling on her back, like tickles, and on her arms. Her stomach felt tight and worried. In short, she was out of sorts.

She looked away, unable to bear this further intimacy, and then gasped quietly.

The forest was lit up with what she quickly realized were thousands of fireflies. The tree canopy was filled with them. They floated like little puffs of cotton caught in a breeze and blinked occasionally. The moon was hidden behind a bank of cloud and the fireflies looked almost painfully bright against the velvety blackness.

Theodosia shook Ahuil awake. "Look! Look!" she whispered. He started up quickly, his eyes fierce as he cast them about.

"No, no, it's just the fireflies, don't worry." He rubbed his eyes and laughed. His wavy hair was messy and looked like a rumpled lion's mane. "Theodosia, the fireflies come out every night. I thought a half-beast was about to eat us."