Wild Magic Three: The Shade of the Earth- a M/M fantasy shifter romance

3-- Sleeping Arrangements

ROBERT—

The shifter sniffed the air before making a huffing, irritated noise and turning his back on Edon. I rolled my eyes for what felt like the hundredth time in an hour and held my hand out for the bowl. Edon handed it to me with an amused glint in his eyes, but he didn't comment.

I turned the kid around with a hand on his shoulder, discomfited by how delicate and bony he felt. I held the bowl out to him and his eyes flicked to it, but he didn't move to take it.

"You need to eat, kid," I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. "I'd think you'd be pretty hungry, with the way your ribs stick out through your skin, yeah?"

The shifter shook his head, his nose furrowing as he studied the vegetable broth. It was likely what Edon had asked the kitchen to prepare for the shifter because he looked starved, as if anything heartier might make him sick.

I held the bowl up to my mouth and took a sip, closing my eyes at the touch of salt on my tongue, before meeting the shifter's eyes and motioning with the bowl again. Showing him it was edible.

He watched my every move like I was something fascinating, then reached out and tentatively took the bowl from my hands and held it cupped in his much smaller palms.

"Drink it, and we'll get ya some meat in the morning, yeah?"

The shifter nodded, and I was grateful he at least seemed to understand Common, even though he had only spoken less than a handful of words. And those words had been heavily accented at that. Strangely, his accent hadn't sounded Akaran. It was softer, more nasally than the deep husk of Akari. Maybe Swabi?

He took a sip and made a face. I chuckled, and his smile seemed genuine as he shrugged self-deprecatingly before beginning to slurp it back.

The shifter was finished within minutes, and he handed the bowl back to me, his fingers lingering on my palm as his eyes met mine. There was possession and heat there, but also genuine warmth and a small spark of joy.

He was a sweet kid, if spunky and bratty enough to make me want to wring his neck.

"Now time to get some rest," I said gently, stepping back towards the door. It wasn't until that moment I noticed Lhiam and Edon had managed to sneak away. Had I been so fixed on the shifter I hadn't heard them step away? "I'll come back in the morning to bring you to get breakfast, alright?"

The man's head cocked to the side and he shifted on his bare feet. He seemed confused, but also something else. As if he understood my words, but not their meaning.

I nodded, unsure how to say good night to a silent, unresponsive man, and moved towards the door. Though the man's bare footsteps were silent, I could tell he was following me as closely as he had on the way to the room. I turned back to him and shook my head, holding my hand out to push him back. He frowned and cocked his head, stepping even closer to me. I took a step back and shook my head again.

"Stay here. Rest. Sleep. You understand?"

I pointed to the bed, and the man's eyes followed my finger, but then his bemused, nearly condescending gaze was back on me. He watched me as if it was I who was misunderstanding the situation.

I turned to leave again, but stopped when I once again felt him following me. This repeated for the next five minutes, with me turning him towards his bed over and over until I gave up and threw my hands in the air in frustration before stomping towards my own room at the other end of the castle where the guards were housed.

Maybe he was ensuring I got to my room safely? Edon had told me about the protectiveness he felt towards Lhiam; the protectiveness a wild mage felt towards their mate that bordered on obsessive. So I allowed him to follow me all the way to my room. I stopped, turned to him, and tried not to grimace as he watched me expectantly.

"I'm safe; this is my room," I said, gesturing back to the door. "You can go back to yours; get some rest, alright?"

The man's eyes crinkled in a smile, but he patiently watched me, and I could almost see his tail twitching with amusement and fascination at my antics in my mind's eye. Then I remembered bobcats didn't even have tails and my irritation rose for some odd reason.

Samire, I suddenly thought, my mind again flashing back to my family's cat when I was a child. That was his name. I had forgotten, as he'd died when I was still young, but now I remembered. We had called him Sami.

And that was who this boy resembled as he stared me down with his head cocked and his eyes lidded with amusement and stubborn arrogance.

"Fine," I grumbled, rolling my eyes and shoving my way into my room, followed closely by the shifter.

I painstakingly set up a small cot for the shifter, though there was barely space for it in my tiny room. I retrieved the cot and extra blankets and pillows from a storage room nearby, where we kept them for visitors. The shifter observed me closely, his body relaxed and his eyes studious and prying. He watched me, every move I made, as if he had never been any happier than he was simply having his eyes on me.

It was disconcerting, but I tried to put him from my mind. The poor man would have to get over his infatuation, and soon. I almost felt sorry for him, because there was no chance in the four hells I would ever even consider being with a man in that way.

When the cot was laid out for him, I pointed from the man to the cot and then made a sweeping gesture toward it.

"Sleep, kid. I'm fucking exhausted."

The man's head cocked, concern flashing through his gaze. Then his eyes flickered to the cot and he snorted. With hardly a glance in my direction, he swiftly pulled the blankets back on my bed, slipped beneath them, and curled into a tiny ball in one corner. His eyes closed, and I would have thought he was asleep but for the smirk on his lips.

"That's great, kid. Just fucking great," I muttered. At that point, I was so exhausted I was near to just curling up and passing out on the hard stone ground. So I pulled the cot blankets back and lay down beneath them.

My eyes snapped open a second later when I felt the uncomfortable cushion of the cot dip just slightly. I glared up and met the shifter's far-too-close gaze.

"Fuck," I hissed, shoving myself back and away from the man when I felt his breath on my face. "Go to sleep!"

The shifter kneaded the pillow beneath him, then curled up and closed his eyes. I rolled my eyes, stood, and stomped to my own bed.

Only to have the process repeat itself. Four more times.

"Please kid, I need to sleep."

The concern was back in the man's gaze as he looked me up and down. His fingers clenched and unclenched before he reached forward and tenderly brushed a strand of hair from my eyes. He made a huffing, chirruping noise and I shook my head.

"You're going to sleep where I do whether I like it or not, huh?"

The shifter's smile was soft and pleased as he huffed in satisfaction. As if happy I had finally understood. I fell to sleep within seconds to the sound of deep, soothing purring.