The Art of Sin (Unedited Version)

Chapter XIV

I woke up early in the morning, the sky still dark, with a weight on me. I felt panic creep up, my mind automatically returning to my days of servicing others. The weight, which I realized was an arm, pulled me up against a body.

"Shh, Winter. Go back to sleep."

I almost didn't realize it was Keon who spoke, my body tensing before he kissed me on the forehead. A minute later his breathing evened out and he fell back asleep.

My panic died down and it was then that I felt the others. I couldn't see them well but I could hear their individual breathing patterns. Soon I was lulled to sleep, my last thought being that I was so lucky to be able to sleep without my guard up.

When I woke again, sunlight was starting to stream through the window, instantly igniting a migraine that beat against my skull without remorse. I groaned, diving further into the covers as if that would help.

"Not feeling well?" A voice asked with a chuckle.

I peeked out to see Tate sitting up, seemingly to have just woken up as well. Though it was a harmless question, I couldn't help the glare that worked its way on my face. He raised his hands in defense, letting loose another chuckle, obviously not offended by my lack of morning social skills.

"Well, you were pretty drunk."

I sent him another glare, only succeeding in making him laugh. Grumbling, I crawled over, noting the bed being empty besides the two of us. My head landed on his lap. Immediately I felt his fingers running through my hair. It was soothing, so much so that I almost fell back to sleep. My migraine died down until it was just a dull throb and then it was gone.

"Did you magic on me just now?" I knew the answer, having been hungover before, the experience something not easily forgotten.

"U-um, yeah-h. I'm s-sorry if that wasn't o-okay." I chuckled, his nervous stuttering ceasing at my lack of anger. I took his hand, kissing each of his fingers.

"Thank you." He nodded but didn't reply, instead he went back to stroking my hair.

We stayed like that for a while. I looked up again to see him asleep though his hands were still moving. I chuckled and sat up, his eyes fluttering open. He gave me a questioning look.

"We should probably head downstairs soon before Lycus eats everything. "

He nodded and got up and started walking towards the bathroom. His steps faltered and he spun around, coming back to kiss me on the cheek before he raced into the bathroom, cheeks aflame.

Needless to say, I was surprised, as I usually am when it comes to the people here, but I found it adorable.

I heard the shower turn on and got up. Knocking on the door I asked if it was alright if came in to brush my teeth. Gaining a shy 'yes' I did so, going back into the bedroom after.

I was wondering whether or not to go fetch clothes for the two of us when I spotted another door. Assuming it was a closet, I opened it, my mouth dropping as I did.

It was, in fact, a closet. A large one that was bigger than my bedroom and filled with a variety of clothes. My first thought, after I got over my shock, was that there was no way these were all Nikoli's. He wore fancier clothes and many of these didn't meet his standards.

It was then that I noticed the colors of the hangers, sections of the clothes only being hung in certain colors. Small nameplates were above the sections. Looking closely at the nameplate above the maroon hangers, I saw that Bain's name scrawled on it. Each color had a name above it: maroon for Bain, black for Nikoli, turquoise for Blu, pink for Tate, mint for Noir, yellow for Keon, orange for Lycus, white for Ire, and a dark purple for myself.