She pries herself from my embrace, hips swaying as she walks naked to the bathing chamber. My gaze trails after her, hungrily drinking in the curves I’ve come to know so intimately the last few weeks. From the doorway, she pauses and looks at me over her shoulder with mirth, knowing the effect she has on me as she stands there in the nude. Her full body and wide hips are hypnotic, and I lose all sense of reason or conscious thought when she’s undressed. A low, needy groan escapes me, but Laurel only winks and turns back to resume her nighttime routine. I love the bathing chamber she washes her face in now, and we’ve had countless couplings in her massive bathtub, modeled after the one in the Eless estate. When she returns from her closest, she’s clad in a nearly transparent lilac chemise, and I hum in appreciation of the sexy garment, then wash my own face before changing into a pair of soft sleep pants and turn back to the bedroom.

Laurel and Lunaria are snuggled up together on Laurel’s massive bed, and I grin at the pair. The giant cat’s purring is so loud I can hear it from where I stand across the room. I crawl into bed beside them, stroking Lunaria’s sleek body.

“Of all the surprising things that have occurred between us, Lunaria allowing you to touch her might be the most surprising of all,” Laurel teases.

“I think she liked me before you even did.” The cat slowly closes her eyes before opening them again in acknowledgement. Laurel laughs, and the sound lights up what I now know is my aether-heart. The laugh jostles Lunaria, and the cat jumps from the bed in protest of our movement. With a look back at us, she disappears through the cracked patio door. “We have to build some kind of cat door for her before next winter. I cannot stay in here with that door open.” Laurel lets out a low chuckle, but I see through it to the emotion she tries so hard to keep hidden. There’s a nervousness to her at my statement, like she isn’t sure whether she’s afraid or excited by the prospect of me still being here next winter. I wrap her in my arms and haul her body close to mine, her backside pressed against me, then place a kiss on top of her head and inhale her scent. Laurel needs to be shown that I’ll be here, not told. All I can do is hold her close and breathe my intention into every exhale. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re making the right choice moving Nemesia out of the cells and trusting her to translate the book for us,” I murmur gently, returning to our conversation about the best friend, turned traitor, turned potential friend again. Laurel sighs.