SYN
Exhaustion hit me the moment we made it to the house. I realized once more how I’d never really fallen into a deep sleep for all these past months. It’s like my body had to stay alert just in case they returned. Now that I was back with them, I had the urge to sleep…for days if I could get away with it.
We arrived at my door, and Caspian opened it with a flourish. It was exactly the same. A breeze blew in from the window, shifting the sheets on the mattress as if we’d walked into a dream.
A lot had happened in this room…but it said quite a bit for my tiredness that I could care less at the moment. I just wanted to be in that bed.
Caspian hovered in the doorway as I walked towards the bed. I glanced back at him over my shoulder. “Are you coming?” I asked casually, not bothering to hold in my yawn.
I didn’t miss the spark of relief on his face and how he practically lunged for the bed, throwing off his shirt as he went.
He bounced onto the mattress eagerly, shooting me an impish grin that was ridiculously sexy.
Heat stirred inside of me…but also…I was so fucking tired.
I yawned again and he snorted. “I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I’d love to seal our whole ‘I love you’ thing, and I really can’t wait for you to fuck—”
“Make love to you,” he corrected, pulling me into his arms and throwing the covers over us. He was like a mother hen, moving me around until he was content with how I was situated. Which was perfectly nestled against him. And then he sighed—blissfully, it sounded like–as he cuddled his chin over my head.
“We can sleep, baby. I’ll try not to ravage you in the middle of the night. I probably need all the sleep I can get as well.”
I was already drifting off when he murmured, “I love you.”
My eyes flew open. I didn’t think I was ever going to get used to that. I didn’t want to get used to that. I didn’t ever want to take for granted the idea of his love. I knew firsthand how hard it was to find. And no matter what I did, I was going to remember that.
“I love you too,” I whispered back. “And just for the record, I’m fine with fucking still being on the menu, along with making love.”
He groaned, rubbing his hard-on against my ass. I opened my mouth to say something else, but before any words could come out…I was drifting into a deep sleep.
* * *
I sat up with a gasp, a nightmare where I was back on that island, screaming for my men, still clawing at my mind. I reached for Caspian, wanting him to hold me so I could reassure myself that the dream wasn’t real, but I realized he wasn’t there.
Frowning, I looked around the room, leaning over to see if he was inside the bathroom. But he wasn’t there.
All of a sudden, he appeared in the doorway and I jumped, my hand over my heart in surprise.
“Casp—” I started, before realizing he was just standing there, staring at my wall. I frowned and slid out of bed. His attention never moved to me even as I walked towards him.
He was sleepwalking.
I bit my lip, wondering what I should do.
River was suddenly in the doorway, making my heart once again leap out of my chest. But he was definitely not sleepwalking, judging by the way his eyes were focused on me.
“He’s sleepwalking,” I whispered, gesturing to his brother.
“Climb back in bed,” he ordered before placing his hand on his brother’s back and leading him towards the bed.
“I didn’t know he did this.” I frowned. I knew River had before. So was this some kind of genetic thing?
“It started after the blast,” River murmured, leading Caspian back to the bed. He obeyed without ever coming back to consciousness, his eyes still locked in front of him.
I sat on the bed, biting my lip, unsure of what I should do.
Caspian murmured my name, his eyes finally closing.
I glanced at River who had moved to the foot of the bed. I couldn’t read the expressions on his face, they were flipping so fast from one to the other. “Care to join?” I asked, patting the other side of me. He opened his mouth, that same yearning I’d seen on Caspian’s face shining through in River’s.
But then he shook his head and walked towards the door. “Goodnight, Syn,” he whispered in a pain-filled voice as he left the room.
My thoughts were spinning as I settled back into bed, sighing in relief when Caspian’s arms wrapped around me and he whispered my name once more.
As tired as I was, it was a bit harder to fall asleep this time.
River’s pain echoed in my thoughts for hours, and daylight was breaking by the time I finally went to sleep.
* * *
When I woke up hours later, still tired, Caspian was still in bed with me despite the late hour.
“Hi baby,” he beamed, his fingers trailing across my cheek…and down my neck…and then—I caught his hand before he could get to his destination.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, concerned.
“What do you mean?” Caspian’s forehead was lined with confusion.
“I woke up and you were sleepwalking last night. River had to get you back in bed.”
Caspian bit his lip sheepishly. “Ahh, yes. Should have mentioned that.”
“River said it started after the blast?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s not a big deal. I think it's just from the unknown, and worrying about where you were. I suspect I’ll stop now once I can convince my head you’re not going to disappear on me.”
“Okay,” I murmured, getting the hint that like his injuries from the blast…this wasn’t something he wanted to talk about.
Caspian brushed a kiss across my forehead and squeezed my hand gently. “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed.” His eyebrows lifted up and down like a cartoon villain. “Unless you want to save some water.”
I giggled and made a show of licking my lips and dragging my eyes up and down his body. “I’m always up for conservation,” I said in what I hoped was a sexy voice.
I’d never really tried to be sexy before. Hopefully I didn’t look like an idiot.
Caspian seemed to like it, because his finger was rubbing his bottom lip and his pupils were blown out. I slowly slid off my shirt, shrieking when he ran at me and hoisted me over his shoulder before trotting towards the shower.
And once inside, with the hot steam floating around us, he indeed made love to me…against the wall.
So maybe there was some fucking involved too.
And I don’t think any water was actually saved…
* * *