All night I dreamed only of good things. For the first time in four years, I slept soundly. Every time a bad dream began to form, Marcus would appear, clad in armor and wielding a variety of weapons, beating back the nightmares and cocooning me in warmth.

Marcus was my protector. My warrior. My champion, as if I were a medieval princess at a jousting tournament. He protected me physically while I slept and in my dreams.

It was more than a little ridiculous. But I couldn’t fight my own subconscious, and I wasn’t sure I disagreed with it.

But there was no doubt that last night was the best night’s sleep I’d had in a long time.

My mother had been a wonderful parent. But she could only give me so much, and she hadn’t had time to dote on me. She’s been too busy working, bringing home every penny in tips she could earn. We’d been a working-class family through and through.

Then my mother was gone, and I’d spent years sixteen through twenty with my father. In terms of Maslow’s pyramid, I’d been pretty darned close to the bottom. My life had been a series of terrifying, anxious moments.

But not now.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, turning in place to look down at Marcus, settled down on his makeshift bed of blankets. I felt a small pang of guilt for making him sleep on the unforgiving stone floor all night, but I did my best to quash it. Marcus was a grown male. If he wanted to, he’d leave.

Still, it wasn’t the way my mother had raised me. She’d taught me manners, darn it.

I took a moment to take in his features, guiltily creeping on him while he slept.

He was too good looking to be true. Even in his sleep, he was almost ethereally beautiful. And, much to my chagrin, just the sight of him was enough to make a smile tug at my lips. Being around him made me scarily, ridiculously happy. It was like a drug; I knew I should be cautious, but he made even that difficult. He was a quandary, a problem that I didn’t know the solution for.

A knock interrupted my furious thinking and almost caused me to jolt out of bed onto my poor champion.

The male in question was upright and set in a protective stance so fast that even I was impressed. And, I must admit, a little peeved. Being fast was my thing.

“Kaiah, you awake? I know it’s early…” Ammi’s voice came through, slightly muffled by the thick wood of the door.

I cast a glance at the clock in the corner of the room, quirking a brow. 10:00 am. I’d hate to see what Amirykal considered to be a reasonable waking time.

“She’s unavailable,” Marcus growled, relaxing slightly at his friend’s voice.

The door burst open with a loud bang of wood hitting stone. Ammi’s eyes sparkled with the manic light of a wolf who’d cornered a moose calf.

“I was already planning on some girl talk, but now I see it’s an absolute necessity. Marc, go tell Lucifer he needs you.”

Marcus’ brows furrowed, his head cocking to the side. “What-”

“Did I stutter?” Ammi didn’t falter, capitalizing on his obvious confusion.

His face became downright thunderous. “Don’t you order me around like-”

“Chop chop, the Cursed aren’t hunting themselves!” Ammi chirped as she held the door open with a flourish.

Marcus held his ground stubbornly, crossing his thick forearms over his chest. He glowered at the goddess like a disapproving parent, a look that would’ve made me quail beneath him. Ammi, however, only smiled brighter.

“Damn, you’re acting more and more like Luce every day. Watch out Kaiah, pretty soon he’s going to start growling when anything with a dick gets within a five-foot radius.”

I flushed scarlet at her words. She really had no filter.

“I’m not leaving, Amirykal. You can have her after breakfast, provided I’m in a good mood.” Marcus’ voice rang with finality, but I suspect it would have had no effect on Ammi had I not spoken up.

“It’s okay Ammi, I want him to stay for a bit,” I admitted, half because I wanted to end the confrontation and half because I really didn’t want my time with my Champion to end just yet.

Ammi raised an incredulous brow. “Alright, no hard feelings. But you owe me every juicy, sordid detail after breakfast,” she winked cheekily, “I’ll corrupt you yet Kai-Kai.”

“That’s my job,” Marcus replied without so much as a beat of hesitation, before raising a hand. “Now, get out before I make you.”

“Sheesh, I get no love here,” Ammi complained, backing away. “I’ll leave. Last time you teleported me my curls were frizzy for a week. Ain’t risking that shit again. See you soon, Kaiah!”

The door closed, and Marcus rolled his eyes.

“She’s like a kid sister I can’t shake.”

I giggled at the harried look on his face. “I like her.”

He shook his head in mock-sadness, “Most people do. The rest want to remove her head from her shoulders. There’s no in-between.” He looked me up and down carefully before asking, “did you sleep better?”

“Much,” I nodded, “better than I have since I was sixteen.”

His eyes darkened. “I don’t like hearing that shit, babygirl. Breaks my heart.”

“Let’s not talk about it then,” I replied, opening my arms. “Good morning, Champ.”

His lips tugged up at the corners, but he otherwise didn’t comment on the nickname.

“It’s the best morning, babygirl.”

He accepted my wordless invitation, sweeping me up into his arms and making me squeal in delight. His warm body felt so comforting against my own that I melted into his embrace, tucking my head into the crook of his neck and shoulder. He shuddered as my breath ghosted across his skin, causing goosebumps to rise and a giddy smile to light up my face. Was it wrong that affecting him like this made me feel so warm inside? Maybe, but I found I didn’t really care.

After a moment of simply allowing ourselves to enjoy the feel of one another, I reluctantly pulled away.

“You said something about breakfast?” I prodded, my stomach rumbling embarrassingly as I spoke.

Marcus grinned, “That I did. Have to take care of my mate. Unfortunately, I’m not very good at cooking, so you’ll have to settle for professional undead chefs.”

Sounded alright to me.

“Do they have pancakes?” I asked, somewhat sheepishly.

He shook his head sadly. “They do, but now I’m not sure it’ll work out between us. Waffles are obviously superior.”

I snorted, “Not if you add chocolate chips and whip cream!”

He burst out laughing and I jumped away, scurrying to my closet and emerging with a giant pink sweater and leggings. Then I quickly brushed my teeth and sorted out my hair, throwing it up into a hasty bun.

When I came out from my bathroom, Marcus was also dressed, in a fitted red shirt and dark jeans. His hair was combed back from his face and a set of daggers hung around his trim waist.

His dark eyes scanned me up and down heatedly, his appreciation obvious.

“I’m beginning to notice a favorite color.” He commented, holding out his hand for me to take.

“It’s pretty,” I shrugged, linking my hand with his without hesitation. “I’m beginning to notice an obsession with sharp things.”

He mimicked my shrug, smirking roguishly at me. And, to be fair, I really couldn’t talk. I had five knives hidden beneath my sweater in various places. I was beginning to become comfortable with Marcus and Ammi, but everyone else in the realm had yet to earn such esteem.

“Onward, to pancakes!” He cried, tugging me along. I wondered why we didn’t simply teleport, but I didn’t bring it up. I was just fine spending every moment I could with him. A part of me still wondered, worried about when the other shoe would drop. It wouldn’t take much to shatter the beautiful little bubble I was living in, and it would be in keeping with my luck so far.

As we made the walk to the kitchen, Marcus and I talked easily about silly things, like favorite foods and colors and the weirdest dreams we’d ever had. It was amazing, both of us laughing and joking and me mooning shamelessly after him. He was devastatingly handsome, especially when he smiled. And when he laughed…no one had the power to save me from his laugh.

Then we entered the kitchen, and my giggle died in my throat.