Valkyrie Rising ✓

Chapter Thirty-One

I sit cross-legged on my bed, ignoring the pounding in my chest and trying to appear nonchalant as Kaz sets a pillow on the floor.

"Any chance you'll let me snag one of those blankets?" He grins at me, his perfectly white teeth flashing.

I roll my eyes. "You're not really sleeping on the floor."

"I had hoped not, I'm not going to lie." He sits next to me, then bends to scoop the pillow up.

I notice his hand is shaking slightly. A beat of silence stretches into several. I pop my lips for something to do and to break the quiet.

Kaz laughs. "This is way more awkward than it should be." He stands and looks at me, his upper lip disappearing into his teeth. Then he walks out.

I wait, watching the door. But he doesn't return. So much time passes that I think maybe he went to sleep in one of the other rooms. Or maybe he's not as concerned about Anders now that Eveia and Wick aren't here to dilute some of the tension.

I sigh, feeling a little deflated, then pull the covers up to go to bed. I'll just have to ignore my disappointment and try to rest for tomorrow.

I remember the light and sit up. Kaz comes back in as I'm swinging my legs down. He flicks off the light and shuts the door.

"Scoot over," he says, coming over to the bed. He tugs his shirt over his head and climbs in next to me, careful to leave a space between us.

Still, I can feel the heat radiating from his bare chest. I lie on my back and pretend I don't notice but I do. I notice everything. The slight indentation in the mattress, beckoning me closer to him. The small tug of the covers with every rise and fall of his chest. How still he is otherwise.

I wonder if he's noticing all the same things. Suddenly, I feel very vulnerable, yet safe knowing I'm with Kaz. It's an invigorating freedom, an intoxicating fear.

His left arm shifts beside me, coming up to prop behind his head. "You asleep already?"

I laugh. "Definitely not." I roll over onto my side facing him, snuggling my pillow to me.

Kaz says, "So tell me something."

"What would you like to know?"

In the muted shadows, I see his eyes shift toward my face.

"I don't know," he says. "Tell me something no one else knows."

He shifts onto his side, too.

"If no one else knows, what makes you so sure I'd tell you?" I say.

"You're sharing your bed with me. Clearly you already trust me with your life. What's a secret or two?"

He makes a fair point. Plus talking may keep my mind off whatever else we could be doing in my bed tonight. Those thoughts send my heart racing and make my palms sweat.

"I don't know what to say. You already know me."

Kaz reaches over and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "I don't know everything about you."

I close my eyes, trying to reign in my raging feelings. "You want my whole life's story?"

He smiles and lies back again, resting the hand that had so recently touched my face on his chest. "You can give me the highlights. When you lost your first tooth, first time you broke a bone. Your first kiss." When he glances at me sidelong, I know that's what he's really wondering.