I didn’t move. I should have moved away but the smell was so good I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave it. I let things sink in as I scanned the darkness of the room to figure out where I was at exactly. The living room… I was still in Margo and Heath’s apartment. I was on the sofa and I was warm and cuddled up against… I inhaled the scent again and closed my eyes tightly. Rathe. That smell was Rathe.

I took in my position without moving a muscle. I didn’t want him to wake up. Especially while I was draped over his body like this. My right leg was thrown over his legs, and I was lying on one side of his body with my arm thrown over his wide shoulders. I could only blame this on the smell. In my sleep, I had been drawn to his scent and apparently climbed on top of him or at least tried to.

The warmth from his breath was near the back of my neck. It was so close that his exhale caused goosebumps on my arms. I shivered wishing this didn’t feel so amazing. His hand moved… sliding around my back.

He was holding me. I wasn’t sure where his arm had been before, but he was holding me in place now. In his sleep, he was pulling me closer, too. That made me feel marginally better. It probably shouldn’t. He was a man and I was pressing against him.

I tried to stay still and calm as not to wake him. I needed to remember why we were cuddled up asleep. I’d been drinking wine, it had started to relax me and make me think less. Rathe had returned from his date, and I grimaced then, remembering he’d been on a date and I’d been upset about that. He’d sat beside me. I had wanted to smell him more because I was possibly drunk. I hadn’t been sleepy, though… yet, I remembered little else. Had I fallen asleep so easily? I wasn’t drunk enough to pass out. Three glasses was not enough to knock me out so quickly.

“If you want to stretch out you can,” Rathe’s voice was a raspy, deep whisper I wasn’t expecting to hear. I gasped in response to his voice. He was awake, and here I was sprawled all over him. What should I do now? Thank him and go to Margo’s room? Or was Duely in there? I lifted my head and scanned the room for the others. As expected we were alone and I doubted Duely left me here. We still had the stranger following me. Duely knew I was unsure about that and I wanted the extra magic if I was being stalked.