I sat down on one of the plush couches and pulled a luxuriously soft throw over myself and promised that I would wait to fall asleep until after Kiran was off the phone. However, it took all of three seconds before I stretched out on the perfectly soft couch and dozed off.
“Eden,” Kiran’s soft voice woke me from a deep sleep. I roused, realizing I hadn’t meant to fall asleep and suddenly felt frustrated that I had. “Would you like to move to the bedroom?”
“No,” I mumbled, the thought of leaving the warmth of the blanket sounded awful.
He lifted my head and put a pillow underneath it, before laying another blanket over me. I snuggled deeper into the couch and was almost asleep when I remembered Lilly.
“Is Lilly coming?” I asked, not even sure if Kiran was still in the same room.
“Yes,” he said softly.
“And is that Ok with her? If she didn’t want to come, she didn’t have to just for me,” I argued, but my voice was too gentle to convey any truth behind my words.
“Eden, Love,” Kiran replied soothingly, “I spend my life doing things for you, but Lilly is not one of them. This act of kindness is for Lilly. And for Talbott, I suppose,” he laughed to himself, but I was already lost in the world of dreams, my eyes shut tight and my mind drifting off into a peaceful sleep unconsciously feeling utterly safe and thankful for Kiran’s thoughtfulness.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I woke up the next morning feeling better than I had in a long time. A very long time. I stretched my body long on the couch and then propped myself up on my elbows to take in the apartment in the daylight. It was just as glamorous as it had been at night, only the sun streamed in through large windows casting long fingers of light over the ivory couches and dark wood floors.
I continued to scan the apartment from my place on the couch. The kitchen cabinets were the same color cream as the living room furniture with dark wood detailing and a camouflaged refrigerator that blended in. There was a large kitchen island that reminded me of Aunt Syl’s with bar stools and everything. A long table could be seen through the open doorway into the dining room. The dining room, decorated in deeper reds and golds, seemed more formal than the rest of the apartment.
I couldn’t see the two bedrooms from where I lay, but the master suite’s door was open and from my perch I could see Kiran standing with his back to me, shirtless. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him silently pull a t-shirt over his head, each muscle in his back rippling with the movement, his tanned skin perfect and golden brown. He pulled his shirt down to the waist of his jeans and then ran a hand through his tussled hair. My heart pounded wildly against my chest and when he started to turn around I threw my head back against the pillow pretending to be asleep again.
I definitely needed to pull it together. These feelings I suddenly felt for Kiran had to be controlled. First of all, they were nothing like the love I felt for Jericho. These were raw and passionate and…. physical. The love between us was long gone, and I was left with the residual emotions of a former relationship. I could control this. I could remember Jericho. I just needed to get away from Kiran first.
“Eden, you can open your eyes now, I’m fully clothed,” Kiran mumbled playfully, while walking into the kitchen.
“Yeah, thanks. Maybe next time, keep the door closed?” I suggested, keeping my face turned away from him to hide the burn of embarrassment written all over my cheeks.
“If that’s what I thought you wanted, I would,” he answered brazenly.
I couldn’t even reply to that. My mouth dropped open and I whirled around to face him. He stood at the island, smiling sheepishly at me, his eyes blazing and his hands fidgeting nervously with the counter ledge. I wanted to find the arrogant smirk I could detest easily, not this shy, hopeful version that made my stomach do jumping jacks.
“Oh, so now you’ve resorted to using your body to lure me in?” I joked, hoping to find some semblance of normality between us.
“If that’s what it takes….” His smile turned roguish. “It’s no more than what you to do me!” he accused and I almost fell off the couch.
“That is not true!” I protested, standing up in outrage. “I don’t do anything like that!”
“Then please don’t start,” his voice turned soft…. hoarse…. seductive…. “If you actually tried to capture my attention, I wouldn’t stand a chance.” His eyes fell over my body in the old expression that I couldn’t define, the one that came and went with every other thought in his head.
“Is this flirting?” I gasped playfully, calling him out.
He shrugged one shoulder and turned toward the cabinet for a glass. “There are clothes in the bedroom; I had your stuff brought up last night. We have school in an hour.”
“Do we have to go?” I whined. “I was perfectly happy to be a high school drop out!”
“That will just not do for a future queen,” Kiran reprimanded from the sink where he filled his glass with water.
“Ha! Like your father will ever let me be queen and you king,” I rolled my eyes.
“So you’ve given up on killing him, then?” Kiran asked casually, and I struggled how to respond. My gut told me to trust him, but my brain promised that he was still the enemy. As twisted, and confused as our relationship had become, he was still the Crown Prince, still fighting on the wrong side of this war.
“Obviously, I can’t discuss that with you,” I replied.
“Obviously,” he agreed, furrowing his eyebrows. I turned toward the bedroom again, but he stopped me, “Eden?”
“Hmmm?” I faced him again, hoping there would still be time to grab a shower before school. I was still in the clothes I wore during my kidnapping and my chest was caked in blood.
“About yesterday…. About the conversation with my father,” Kiran started, his fingers finding the counter ledge again. “That didn’t have anything to do with you. I know that I made it sound like you were my property, but in reality I just wanted my father to stop collecting Immortals. I didn’t know how else to go about it.”