A small, petulant part of him protested to her scolding him like this, when he was abed in the hospital, half-mauled by a dragon, and he was the sort of person who found lectures just as painful as any near-death injury.
But by the time she was blushing his expression had softened too, and – in spite of the effort he had to afford to the motion, and the wince he held back – Evander lifted his hand to glide it along her arm in comfort, half-wishing she would just look at him again, because he was too tired to say all the things she wanted him to. Women, he would have tutted, if he had the energy, and their fickle imaginations. But Evander fancied he was afraid to know what stories she had made up about him and them. “I love you, Caroline,” he said plainly this time, sighing. “And I’m rather glad to not be dead.”
But by the time she was blushing his expression had softened too, and – in spite of the effort he had to afford to the motion, and the wince he held back – Evander lifted his hand to glide it along her arm in comfort, half-wishing she would just look at him again, because he was too tired to say all the things she wanted him to. Women, he would have tutted, if he had the energy, and their fickle imaginations. But Evander fancied he was afraid to know what stories she had made up about him and them. “I love you, Caroline,” he said plainly this time, sighing. “And I’m rather glad to not be dead.”
