Nia woke slowly, pulled upward from sleep by warmth surrounding her from nearly every direction. For several long seconds she remained suspended in that hazy space between sleeping and waking where her body recognized comfort before her mind fully caught up enough to question it. The bedding beneath her felt impossibly soft, heavy blankets trapped warmth around her legs, and steady heat pressed firmly against her back alongside the slow rhythm of breathing.
Her eyes opened carefully, and the first thing she saw was a broad arm wrapped securely around her waist beneath the blankets, dark fur scattered lightly across warm bronze skin.
Memory returned all at once as she recognized the mountain cave, the bed, the tiger beastman behind her, and the fact that Kael had apparently become part of her sleeping arrangement at some point during the night.
Nia went completely still.
She had ended up half sprawled across his chest while he slept behind her with one arm wrapped around her middle. His body pressed solidly along her back, his breath stirred faintly against the top of her curls, and heat surrounded her so thoroughly that every trace of yesterday’s cold had disappeared from her muscles. Even the ache in her ankle felt softer this morning beneath the lingering warmth of the heated stones tucked near her foot.
Unfortunately, the position also explained why she had slept so deeply.
Kael was absurdly warm.
Not simply warm in the ordinary sense, either. His body heat soaked through the bedding and into her as if he had been built specifically to survive winter storms without noticing them. It was dangerously comfortable, and the fact that her body seemed entirely unwilling to move away from him made the situation worse.
Behind her, Kael’s breathing shifted slightly.
Nia froze again.
A low rumble vibrated faintly through his chest before his arm tightened around her waist just enough to pull her a little closer beneath the blankets. The movement did not feel like trapping so much as keeping her tucked securely against him, but that only made her composure wobble harder because it carried the lazy certainty of someone acting from sleep-warmed instinct.
Nia cautiously attempted to shift an inch away.
Kael immediately tightened his arm again.
She stared at the cave wall ahead of her with growing suspicion. There was no reasonable way he was still asleep. Nobody reacted that quickly while unconscious.
Nia tried moving again more carefully this time.
The arm around her waist tightened once more before a rough sleepy voice spoke directly above her head.
“Stop trying to escape.”
Nia nearly launched herself straight off the bed.
Kael’s arm tightened before she could actually succeed, keeping her from falling sideways onto the floor.
“You’re awake,” she accused.
“Yes.”
“You could have mentioned that earlier.”
“You were warm.”
Nia stared forward in disbelief. “That is not an explanation.”
“It’s enough of one.”
His voice still carried traces of sleep, deeper and rougher than usual in a way that absolutely did not improve the situation. Nia became painfully aware that she was still half lying on top of him beneath the blankets, with one hand braced against his chest and her hip caught against the solid weight of his body.
“You are holding me hostage.”
Kael’s chest rumbled softly behind her. “No. I’m keeping you from falling while you threaten my ribs with your elbows.”
“That sounds fake.”
“You move a lot in your sleep.”
Nia immediately frowned. “I do not.”
“You stole most of the blankets too.”
“That seems unlikely.”
“You wrapped yourself in them.”
Nia opened her mouth to argue again before slowly closing it because, honestly, that sounded possible.
Kael’s eyes warmed slightly when she failed to answer immediately. He had woken sometime before dawn when Nia shifted closer against him searching for warmth in her sleep. At first he had intended to move away enough not to crowd her, but the moment he loosened his arm she had pressed unconsciously closer while dragging half the blankets with her. After that, he stopped trying to move.
Watching her sleep beside him had done something strange to the restless instinct that had been prowling beneath his skin since finding her injured in the forest. The constant alertness quieted whenever she relaxed completely against him, warm and sleeping and no longer looking ready to flee at the slightest movement. Kael had not expected that, and he had no intention of pretending he disliked it.
“You could have warned me before I woke up like this,” Nia muttered.
“You looked comfortable.”
“That is not the point.”
“It is to me.”
Of course it was.
Nia rubbed one hand briefly across her face before realizing the cave was brighter now. Morning light filtered faintly through the outer chambers, and somewhere beyond the curtain she could hear movement along with the low murmur of voices from the main living area.
Her eyes widened slightly. “How late is it?”
“Not very.”
“You say that suspiciously.”
Kael’s mouth shifted faintly. “My mother came in earlier.”
Nia went completely still.
“She what?”
“She checked your ankle.”
Nia stared at him in horror. “While I was asleep?”
“Yes.”
“And you did not think waking me up might be important?”
“You were drooling on my chest.”
Nia opened her mouth and found nothing to say.
“I was not.”
“You were.”
“That is slander.”
Kael’s quiet amusement vibrated through his chest again, and Nia abruptly realized she had become far too accustomed to hearing that sound already. This was how people got trapped, she thought with growing suspicion, not through fear or force, but through warmth, comfortable beds, dangerous patience, and being looked at like they mattered.
Nia narrowed her eyes at him. “You seem entirely too pleased with yourself this morning.”
“I woke up holding a beautiful woman who steals blankets and threatens forests with branches.” His gaze moved slowly across her face. “Why wouldn’t I be pleased?”
Heat rushed into her cheeks.
Kael’s gaze settled on her flushed face.
“You’re getting warm again.”
“That keeps happening because you say ridiculous things.”
“They’re accurate things.”
“That does not improve the situation.”
Kael’s hand shifted slightly against her waist beneath the blankets, and Nia became aware of every point of contact all over again. She carefully pushed one hand against his chest.
“I’m getting up now.”
Kael looked down at her hand before lifting his eyes back to her face. “How does your ankle feel?”
Nia paused.
Annoyingly enough, it no longer throbbed nearly as badly as yesterday.
“The swelling feels better,” she admitted carefully.
Kael’s attention sharpened. “Move it slowly.”
“You fuss too much.”
“I sound correct.”
“You always think that.”
“I usually am.”
Nia rolled her eyes before cautiously shifting her ankle beneath the blankets. The pain remained, but it felt duller now and significantly more manageable than yesterday.
Kael watched her expression the entire time before his hand moved carefully from her waist to her ankle beneath the blankets. Warm fingers pressed lightly near the swelling before easing immediately when she inhaled sharply.
“Still tender,” he murmured.
“Only a little.”
His thumb brushed carefully along the side of her ankle while he examined it with focused attention.
Nia looked down at him. “You really are good at this.”
“I told you injuries happen often.”
“You also apparently cuddle injured people professionally.”
Kael looked entirely unbothered. “You slept better.”
The frustrating part was that he was right again.
Nia pushed herself upright slowly, and Kael let her move only because she shot him a warning look the second his hand twitched toward her back. Even then, he remained close enough to catch her if she lost balance, his posture relaxed in the way of someone pretending not to hover while clearly prepared to intervene at the first sign of trouble.
She gathered the blanket around herself and shifted toward the edge of the bed.
Kael sat up behind her with infuriating ease. His hair fell loose around his shoulders, slightly disordered from sleep, and the morning light softened the hard lines of his face without making him look any less dangerous. Nia made the mistake of glancing at him too long and immediately regretted it.
He was unfairly beautiful in the morning.
Not gentle exactly. Kael did not look gentle even with sleep still lingering around his eyes. His beauty came from strength, from clean lines and golden attention, from the kind of presence that made it difficult to look away once her senses had already noticed him. Nia liked beautiful things, and that was becoming a serious inconvenience.
Kael’s gaze settled on her face. “You’re staring.”
Nia looked toward the curtain. “I am assessing threats.”
“In my bed?”
“You are the threat.”
His mouth shifted faintly. “Then you should pay attention.”
“That was not permission to become more smug.”
A soft knock sounded against the wooden frame outside the chamber before Kael’s mother’s voice drifted through the curtain.
“Are you both awake, or are you still pretending sleep will stop the rest of the settlement from talking?”
Nia went rigid.
Kael looked entirely unbothered. “We’re awake.”
His mother pulled the curtain aside a moment later carrying a folded cloth bundle over one arm and a small wooden tray in the other. She stepped inside with complete ease, looked at Nia sitting flushed and wrapped in blankets near the edge of the bed, then looked at Kael still sitting behind her with one arm braced casually along the bedding.
Amusement brightened her face instantly.
“You look much better this morning,” she said warmly as she set the tray near a low stool. “Your color has returned.”
Nia tried very hard not to think about what kind of color Kael had been causing in her face for the last several minutes.
“Thank you for checking my ankle earlier.”
“You needed sleep more than permission.” The older woman’s gaze flicked briefly toward her son. “And Kael looked one breath away from growling at anyone who suggested waking you.”
Nia looked sharply at him.
Kael did not deny it.
“Of course,” she muttered.
His mother laughed softly. “He has always been attentive once he decides someone belongs under his protection.”
Kael’s ears flicked once. “Mother.”
“I said attentive. That was me being polite.”
Nia watched them exchange looks and felt something in her chest soften despite herself. Kael’s mother teased him with the comfortable ease of someone who had spent years entirely unimpressed by his intimidating reputation, and Kael accepted it with the patience of a man who had long ago realized resistance accomplished nothing.
The warmth between them made the cave feel lived in.
Safe.
Kael’s mother unfolded the cloth bundle and held up another outer layer of clothing. “Put this on before you leave the bed. The morning wind bites harder up here.”
Nia accepted it carefully. “I can dress myself.”
“I assumed you could.” The older woman’s eyes glittered with amusement as she glanced toward Kael. “I was reminding my son that watching your ankle every second will not magically heal it faster.”
Kael looked unimpressed. “It might.”
“It will not.”
“You don’t know that.”
Nia stared at him. “You really said that seriously.”
“Yes.”
His mother shook her head fondly. “He’s been watching your ankle for the last ten minutes like it personally offended him.”
Nia laughed before she could stop herself.
Kael looked entirely unapologetic. “It’s injured.”
“That does not make it your mortal enemy,” his mother informed him.
“It’s causing problems.”
“You sound deeply betrayed by it.”
“I am.”
Nia pressed her lips together, trying unsuccessfully to stop smiling.
Kael looked at her.
Of course he did.
His mother looked between them with increasing satisfaction before holding the outer layer toward Nia again. “Here. Before he decides glaring at the swelling counts as treatment.”
Nia slid her arms into the garment while Kael remained close enough to help if she lost balance. The thicker layer trapped warmth around her, and Kael looked pleased when the shivering stopped.
His mother set the tray closer. “Eat a little before going outside. The settlement has already invented at least seven different stories about you.”
Nia blinked. “Seven?”
“At minimum,” Kael’s mother replied calmly. “One claims Kael fought another predator male for you during the storm. Another says you appeared from the mountain itself.”
Nia slowly looked toward Kael. “Did you fight anyone?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I would have won.”
“That is not reassuring.”
His mother laughed again. “You’re learning quickly.”