Daman (Sons of the Fallen Book 3) by Jaclyn Osborn

Author:Jaclyn Osborn [Osborn, Jaclyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Daman

Lights danced along the evergreen tree and reflected in the windows behind it as Warrin and I strung popcorn and cranberries on the branches. I lightly bumped his arm, and he flashed one of his shy smiles that made my heart flutter.

Crazy to think that only two days ago, he’d been awkward to even touch me. And now, he pressed close to me and smiled a lot more. I was seeing who Warrin really was, the man beneath the battle-hardened soldier.

We hung wooden ornaments, the crackling fire keeping me toasty and warm despite the snowstorm raging outside the cottage.

Decorating the yule tree with him helped fill that void in my chest from missing my brothers. Christmas Eve was always a big affair at the mansion, filled with laughter, food, and them being total idiots.

“Are you okay?” Warrin asked, forehead scrunching.

“Yeah.” I hung another ornament. It was in the shape of a snowflake. “Just wondering what my dumbass brothers are doing.”

“What do you normally do on this night?”

“Gray forces everyone to watch Christmas movies with him, while Raiden bakes sugar cookies.” My chest ached at the reminder that I was so far from home. “Not quite as Hallmark as it sounds. A ton of bickering happens. One year, Castor and Galen got into a fight and killed the Christmas tree. Like legit snapped it in two and shattered all the ornaments. Gray screamed and pummeled them both. He lost energy mid-fight and asked Raiden to finish beating them up for him.”

Alastair had broken up the fight before Raiden jumped in, though, and sent us to our rooms like we were children. Definitely one of the more memorable Christmas Eves. Raiden had made his rounds and snuck all of us cookies and rum-spiced hot chocolate before we had returned to the living room to clean up the mess. At the stroke of midnight, we’d all been laughing again.

“Let’s spend the holiday in Echo Bay next year,” Warrin said, resting a hand on my lower back. “War permitting.”

“Sure.” His statement tugged at my heart. I had to remind myself that he’d made sacrifices too because of the marriage. Compromises. He’d given it his all, while I’d done nothing but make his life harder with my bad temperament and jealousy. Not that I could one hundred percent control Envy, but still. “The tree’s pretty.”

“It is.” His hand stayed on my back as we stepped back to admire our work. Softness touched his expression. “These ornaments belonged to my mother. She loved this time of year.”

He hadn’t spoken of her before now. Was he feeling more comfortable opening up to me? I’d opened up to him a lot earlier that day too, much to my surprise.

“Will you tell me about her?”

“Very well.” Warrin guided me to the couch and sat beside me, thighs touching. He bounced his knee. Twice, three times. Indecision crossed his face before he pulled me onto his lap.

“Hey there.” I threaded my fingers through the hair at his nape.

That familiar blush colored his cheeks.

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