Ileus was talking about a place called Vilinski. About its king and queen, Ian and Áine and a girl named Iona… The names bounced around her head. So many questions, so much confusion… Her head started pounding and her heart raced as a ragged breath left her and tremor traveled down her body. There were knots of fear forming in her stomach.
"Anastasia!" Ileus rushed to her and knelt in front of her. His gaze darted between her eyes. He placed his palm on her cheek and said, "Breathe, baby, breathe." He caressed her cheek and said softly, "Whatever you are thinking, don't. Please, will you try to relax?"
She stared in the golden yellow hues of his eyes that seemed to tether her. His touch on her skin… that deep and low and velvety voice… Why was it that it eased her fluttering heart? She began to relax and her fears melted into his warmth. He inched closer and started stroking her hair and then slowly down her back. "It will become okay," he reassured her. "Slowly, she felt herself surrendering to his voice and caress, to the subtle pressures of hands and fingers over her neck and back. Anastasia closed her eyes till her breath evened out and could feel his comforting presence next to her. She didn't want him to leave her… ever. She didn't know where that thought cropped up from, but she didn't want to let it go.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked after a long time.
She felt soft cloth over her forehead and arms and neck and opened her eyes to see that he was wiping sweat from her skin. She nodded. Kaizan, who was standing only a few steps behind, handed her a skin of water. She gulped it down and felt tired.
As if understanding her need to lie down, Ileus said, "Eat something before you go off to sleep, Anastasia."
After he was satisfied that she had eaten sufficiently, he made her lie on the fur pelt. Though Anastasia was expecting that Kaizan would curl up beside her just like any other night to give her warmth, she saw that it was Ileus who was sleeping beside her on a separate fur pelt, and that… somehow was far better. With a smile in the darkness that she was sure that he hadn't seen, she drifted off to deep sleep.
Unfortunately, nightmares came.
She was standing in a field where there were war cries. Flames burst from all the sides and trapped her. An obsidian face of a woman came into view with pointy teeth and sharp claws. "I will kill you and eat your flesh!" the face said. "I will chew your bones!" She attacked her and with a scream Anastasia plunged her sword into the witch. The witch faded away only to be replaced by golden eyes in which she plunged her sword again.
Anastasia got up with a jolt, scared as hell, gasping for air. Icy sweat broke out on her skin as a wave of panic surged through her body. Her head reeled and she swayed. Suddenly a firm hand came around her and pulled her closer to him.
"Anastasia." She trembled as she heard his low voice. He wrapped his arms around her in a reassuring way. "What happened, baby?" he asked and kissed her forehead as if on instinct. "Gods, you are quivering like a dry leaf. Did you see a nightmare?" He kissed her forehead again and again as he threw his thigh over her, which was a comforting weight. She found herself savoring his woodsy, spicy scent and that soothed her nerves. He pressed cool kisses on her forehead and murmured sweetness. "Easy. You are safe with me, love. No one can harm you, Ana." That word of endearment… Soon his scent and those sweet nothings made her feel comfortable and she shivered in relief.
"I often see these nightmares…" she said in a low voice.
His hand stroked down her back and he placed his strong muscular arm beneath her head. It was all so intimate, yet she felt as if this was meant to be. She clutched his shirt tightly as if she had found an anchor.
"Do you want to talk about them?" he asked in a soft lilting voice. He knew that if he forced her to talk about them, her headaches might become messy and her condition may worsen. He had seen a similar case when he was in the human realm and the man was treated very patiently by the doctors. How he wished those doctors were in this realm as well.
She shuddered in his arms and he held her tightly. "No…"
"That's fine Anastasia," he replied. "We can talk about them later. Sleep for now because we have to climb a lot tomorrow."
She nodded slightly and then curled inside his fur against his body, nestling her face against the black fleece of hair on his chest through his open shirt. She should have felt shy doing it, but she only felt… cozy and familiar and comfortable and… intimate. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep after a long time wrapped around a pair of strong arms, which promised safety and tenderness and an emotion she wanted to place.
Sometime during the night, without knowing, she ended up crawling up his body and curled against his chest. She thought she heard a moaning sound and something very stiff beneath her, but she was too comforted to comprehend all that. She just slept on her personal bed that was warm and cozy and she didn't want to step down from it. She heard moans every time she moved. A pair of arms clamped her to be still but she would turn and toss to find a more comforting dip. Eventually she found a place which dipped into the place where those groans emitted from. She smiled at the lovely feeling.
She didn't know for how long she had slept, but when she woke up, she found Ileus beneath her, watching her patiently.
"Gods!" she got up, poking her elbows in his stomach. "How did I end up here?" And what was poking her on the belly? When she realized what it was, she blushed heavily. Immediately she got down from her 'bed', apologizing profusely.
"You got to be kidding Anastasia!" came Kaizan's accusatory voice. "You wake up right on him and discard me like a fly in milk?"
Anastasia was dumbfounded. She was speechless. She mumbled something in her fae language and tied her hair up in a loose bun. Ileus sprung right up and sat with one knee up and a hand dangling on it. "Did you sleep well?" he asked with a lop-sided smile. And why were his eyes red? Her gaze traveled to his open shirt, the hair on his chest that disappeared beneath the buttons and further low, where something was protruding from his pants. It was a massive crown of his erection that even his pants couldn't hold. Damn he was impressively huge. For a moment she couldn't remove her eyes.
"Enjoying the view?" he asked in a low, husky voice.
Anastasia's face blushed a deep shade of pink, not because she was shy, but a thought flashed across her mind—of wrapping her lips around it.