Whisky and Lace: A Paranormal Romance (The Gate of Chalandros Book 1) by Laura Taylor

Author:Laura Taylor [Taylor, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Nalyx lay awake in the early hours of the morning, feeling surprisingly relaxed, despite the fact that yet another night had passed without him being able to explore a woman’s body. Sunlight was filtering in around the curtain on his window, and Gantalla was curled up against his side. She was still wearing her shirt, and Nalyx had made a concession to her modesty by donning a pair of loose, cotton shorts. She was still asleep, her breathing slow and even, and he could feel the warm puffs of air against his skin. It felt entirely perfect.

The odd thought occurred to him that it would be nice to have someone to wake up to like this every morning. And strangely enough, the serving women didn’t count. When he woke up next to one of them, he was hungover more often than not from a night of hitting the liquor hard, or the woman was eager to wake him for a repeat session of the night before, not letting him relax or sleep in.

Not that he was complaining about morning sex, not in the slightest. But this was different. Relaxed. Peaceful.

Good gods, was he actually thinking in terms of finding himself a wife? He’d never been interested in that sort of thing before, always seeing it as too much of a burden, too restrictive to be tied down to only one woman.

But all he could think now, watching Gantalla’s black hair splayed across the pillow, was that he wanted to see that sight every morning.

She was fascinating to talk to, and they’d chatted long into the night, sharing another cup or two of the bottle of whisky that still sat on Nalyx’s shelf. That, too, was unusual, in that he hadn’t finished the bottle yet. What was it about her that made him behave so uncharacteristically?

Finally, after about half an hour of lying there, Gantalla stirred, stretching lazily, then her eyes fluttered open.

“Morning,” she said, as she realised where she was, and then she smiled. “Seems you were right after all.”

“Told you I could keep my hands to myself,” Nalyx said, a wry grin on his face.

She chuckled. “No, I meant about the bed. It is more comfortable than the nurses’ quarters.”

He snorted out a laugh. “That, too.”

She settled down again, bringing one hand up to stroke his chest. A frisson of sensation shot through him at the contact, and he subtly angled his hips away from her. No need to interrupt the peace with his libido. “Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“Very.” He had, undisturbed by dark dreams of battle and soothed by the presence of a warm body beside him.

They lay in silence for a while, enjoying a few moments to just relax. Then Gantalla spoke again. “It occurred to me yesterday that there are no locks on any of the warriors’ rooms. When I came to collect my things yesterday, I could just walk right in. Is that safe? I mean, you’ve just got your weapons and armour lying around where anyone could sneak in and steal them.

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