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From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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In the darkness, his gaze found mine, and when next he spoke, his

voice was even lower. “I know yyou have nightmares, Poppyy, and I know

theyy can be intense. Vikter warned me about them.”

Sorrow pierced the embarrassment before it could even form,

shattering it. “He did?” Myy voice was thick, hoarse.

“He did.”

Myy eyyes squeezed shut against the burn of pain. Of course, Vikter

would’ve filled Hawke in. He’d probablyy done so the veryy first night

Hawke had to watch over me. I knew in myy heart of hearts that Vikter had

shared this information for myy benefit instead of preparing Hawke for the

night one of the nightmares drove me from sleep. He’d done it so Hawke

wouldn’t react in a manner that would cause me embarrassment or stress.

Vikter was…gods, I missed him.

“I want to be close enough to intervene in case yyou have a

nightmare,” he continued, and I opened myy eyyes. “If yyou scream…”

He didn’t need to finish. If I screamed, I could draw nearbyy Craven.

“So, please, relax and tryy to rest. We have a hard dayy ahead of us

tomorrow if we have anyy hope of not being forced to spend two nights in

the Blood Forest.”

A hundred refusals rose to the tip of myy tongue, but I was cold, and if

I did have a nightmare, someone needed to be nearbyy to stop me before I

started screaming bloodyy murder. And Hawke’s heat…the warmth of his

bodyy was alreadyy seeping through the blanket wrapped around us, sinking

into myy chilled skin and bones.

Besides, all he was doing was sleeping beside me. Or sleeping with

me, as he’d said. But neither of those things was forbidden.

And it wasn’t like we hadn’t alreadyy done things I should’ve

protested or avoided. Compared to the night at the Red Pearl and during

the Rite, this was extraordinarilyy chaste, no matter that I shivered now for

an entirelyy different reason than the cold.

“Go to sleep, Poppyy,” he urged.

Exhaling as loudlyy and obnoxiouslyy as I could, I plopped myy cheek

back onto the bag and winced. The material had chilled significantlyy while

I had myy head up. I ended up staring straight ahead, focusing on the vague

shape of one of the guards standing in the moonlight.

I closed myy eyyes, and immediatelyy, myy entire focus went to where

Hawke’s bodyy touched mine.

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