The following evening had been rather enjoyable, even when she found him at the other end of the bed the next morning, she hadn't been all that bothered. So much so that she flopped herself down on top of him and nuzzled her cheek into his back, the warmth and steady beating of his heart comforting, though he had grunted and was trying to shove her off him.
"Stop wiggling," she complained, swatting at his hands. "We sleep in groups all the time, stop being a baby."
When he refused to stop squirming, she wiggled herself around until she was lying directly on top of him with her cheek between his shoulder blades and she smiled, ruffling his hair and refusing to budge. She wasn't very heavy, but with that weight over most of your body, you didn't have much luck dislodging it.
"Don't humans sleep together?" she asked, knowing full well they didn't, but she wanted to make him uncomfortable.
"Only lovers or children sleep in the same bed."
"That's so odd, I had eight in my bed at one point."
"Eight?" He was bright red, and she smiled, taking advantage of his embarrassment.
"Yes, three vampires, a Fae Lord, an incubus, a hybrid, a Goddess, and a dragon. All piled in on top of each other, it was wonderful."
"Sleeping together?" he asked indignantly.
"Frequently," she purred. He turned a flaming crimson that had her laughing. "Oh, calm down, it's not an orgy. We sleep! It's a comfort thing, we are more comfortable around others of our kind. You'd know that if you weren't so afraid of yourselves."
Turning her head to dig her chin into his spine, he hissed, and she looked down at him, her head tilting to the side to see his eyes better with his head turned.
"Get off, you crazy woman."
"I'm not crazy, my sister is crazy but I'm quite—mostly sane. I just like making you blush, it's cute."
He blushed even harder, and she laughed, rolling off him when he made a swipe for her.
"You should have told me who you were," he snapped.
"Why? So you could put a little bell on me for my own protection?"
"So you would be safe," he growled.
"It means the same thing, Malik. You would cage me just like the Gods. I'm not a bird, you can't lock me in a cage and ask me to be happy. It wouldn't make me happy, it would make me crazy, and I don't want it. I will never want it."
He was frustrated, but she didn't care, she wasn't something for him to control, and she didn't want to start resenting him like she did the Gods.
"If nothing else, can't you just trust me?" she asked.
She saw his desperation, his need to protect her, and she smiled faintly, kissing him hard on the cheek before getting off the bed and flouncing away from him as though it had all been dealt with when she knew he wanted to argue with her.
"What do you normally eat for breakfast?" she asked, giving a cry of happiness when she found her clothes washed and dried in a neat pile.
Stripping out of the dress, she moaned happily as she started pulling on her clothes, glancing back when she realised, he hadn't responded.
He was staring at her while she tugged up her pants, still without a top and her undergarments showing.
"Humans…" she sighed, wiggling to get the tight fabric up over her hips and tying them off.
The door opened and Russo—along with another brother—marched into the room, stopping at the sight of her topless and ogling her as only men seemed to be capable of doing.
"What do you want?" Malik asked, though he was still watching her much like them.
"To talk to the queen," the other brother said.
"What for?" Etani asked, pulling on the brassiere and frowning at the ties that had been completely undone. "Malik?" she whined.
He blinked at her, then stood and shuffled over, his cheeks flaming as she pulled the mass of her hair out of the way and waited for him to figure out the laces and then tighten them.
"What are you doing in Istralis?" Russo demanded.
"I only came here by chance. I was looking for a fast way out of Ayathian, and that ship was right there, so I took my chances."
The two men watched her face, and she had to wonder if they were any good at detecting lies. It hadn't been a lie, but it still made her curious.
"What are your intentions?" Russo asked.
"Malik invited me to spend a few days, but then I was going to leave. I don't really have any desire to stay here. Are you done?"
Malik was still working on the ties and he grunted his frustration at the thing, the brush of his knuckles on her skin leaving her tingling.
"You know it would be in our best interest to keep you here," the giant said.
She laughed softly, looking up at them. "You might be half bear, and there are lots of you, but you are human. You can be broken quite easily, and it's not my problem if you want to fight it out with Ayathian. You're not going to take on Winter. You cannot hold me here, and I will not be kind to you if you try."
The two men exchanged a glance and Malik sighed, tying off the laces and offering her the shirt.
"Let's not start a war with Ayathian, or the Fae," Malik said as she pulled on the shirt and stretched to get everything to settle into place on her body.
"Your husband will be glad to have you back," Russo said.
"I'm sure he would, he would like a lot of things."
She hadn't thought much about what Epharis wanted, and she tilted her head as she tried to think what he might want. She didn't know, she would have to ask him if she ever saw him again.
"What are you thinking?" Malik asked, offering her a leather thong.
Accepting it, she braided her hair and used the thong to tie it off.
"Just wondering what Epharis wanted."
"Probably an obedient wife who didn't run away," Russo growled.
Her anger flared, and she glared up at the giant man. "You shut up. You don't know what you're talking about, and it's none of your business. Keep your speculations to yourself."
He glared right back at her, more speculative than angry though.
"I will be here for only a few days and then I will leave. You cannot get back to Ayathian in that time to warn them. I will not be caged by humans."
Turning away from the two, she looked at Malik and found him watching her curiously. Offering his arm, she took it, allowing herself to be guided out of the rooms and into the hallway.
"Come meet my parents, I'm sure they'd be delighted."
"Meet them as who?" she asked warily, and she frowned as she felt something inside her stirring, silently telling whatever it was to behave and go back to sleep. It ignored her.
"As Etani, just Etani," he said, and she nodded, accepting that.