Bowstrings & Velvet (Spellbound #1)

Chapter 8: Sleep, At Last

Felix closed the door behind them and watched as Shae collapsed on the bed. They'd ridden most of the night until finally coming upon a small village as the first rays of the sun hinted at the horizon. He had secured them a room at the local inn and left their horses to be tended by a stable boy. Since the horses were as exhausted from the long journey as they were, he'd decided they would stay through the day and the next night, to avoid wearing the animals—or themselves—out.

"Don't wake me unless the inn is on fire," Shae instructed drowsily as she kicked off her leather boots, letting them fall to the floor.

He chuckled. "At this point, I'd be lucky to wake up myself."

"If we die in a fire, at least we got some sleep first." She burrowed her head into the pillow, her long auburn hair fanning out behind her.

Unhooking his leather belt, he watched her long shapely legs, shown off so well in the tight buckskin trousers he'd purchased. An image of them wrapped around his waist made him look away. Apparently, exhaustion wasn't enough to dull the desire for his wife.

"Are you going to sleep with your clothes on?" he asked. She'd kept her tunic on every night, but tonight had not bothered taking anything but her boots off.

She pried an eye open to look at him. "Too tired to move," she mumbled but didn't close her eyes again as he continued undressing.

"Always hated sleeping with clothes on." He pulled the simple tunic over his head and threw it on a chair. "It's why being on the road is so tedious. I very much prefer to sleep at an inn with a proper bed. Or, even better, at home."

Pulling his boots off, he put them by the side of the bed. It didn't escape his notice that his wife was watching his bare chest silently. He reached down to unbutton his breeches, but after a glance at Shae, he left them on. It seemed like the prudent thing to do. She had probably seen a lot more of his naked body than she had ever wanted to.

"When at home I sleep naked."

Her admission made his head snap back to stare at her. The tips of his ears heated and his gaze spontaneously followed the curves of her body, as he couldn't help but imagine her naked between the sheets of her bed at home.

"I... Ah..." He ran a hand through his hair. "That's... nice?" Understatement of the year. The very thought of her naked only two doors away from him in the castle was more than he could handle. He'd always assumed she slept in the unshapely, thick cotton nightgowns she favoured when he'd visited her bedchamber in the past. To think she was there without a shred of clothing...

He cleared his throat. Looking at her, he caught a satisfied grin before she turned her back to him. So she was playing with him. He grinned, pleased that she felt comfortable enough to do so. His newfound good mood sank when he lay down on the bed, and she immediately scooted further away.

"You need not worry," he said wryly. "I'm so tired I suspect I will sleep like the dead. You should be safe from me pawing at you in my sleep."

Pawing at her in his sleep wasn't exactly something he wanted, either. If he was ever allowed to touch her, he wanted her fully awake and participating. The opposite of their impersonal couplings when they were trying for an heir. It had been the most awkward sex of his life as Shae absolutely refused to undress more than she absolutely had to and wanted no intimacy beyond what was strictly necessary.

It had reduced him to feeling like a lecher. Having to bunch her nightgown around her waist as he took her body in the quickest, most impersonal way possible. She had not even allowed him to kiss her or try to make it enjoyable for her. And he so very badly wanted to. He wanted to show her it didn't have to be the way it had been for them. That it could be so much more.