The Designated Mate novel Chapter 22

"Arms up," he said.

"Won't you be cold?" I questioned, looking up into his eyes for the first time since we'd come face to face. There was an emotion I couldn't decipher lingering in his eyes for a few seconds as he examined my face before it abruptly disappeared.

"I will be fine. Now, hands up," he said with slight annoyance. Deciding it was best to just do as told and not question him further, I raised my arms and allowed him to slip the still-warm garment over my head and down my body. It might as well have been a dress, as it came almost all the way to my knees. Without thinking, I instantly snuggled further into the warmth of the soft cloth.

"Now sleep." He murmured quietly before disappearing once again. When I didn't hear another creak for a while, I allowed my mind and body to wind down as sleep encompassed my mind once again.

***

When I woke for the second time, it was because of a bright ray of sunshine coming in through the window at just the right angle to shine directly in my eyes. I groaned while stretching, my body giving off its own pops and cracks as I stretched out over the large expanse of my bed. I released a deep sigh of content before rubbing the crusties out of my eyes and forcing myself out of bed.

I was pleasantly warm all night long, which I knew to be a combination of two things: the heavy winter sweater I was still donning and the fire that was still going strong. The latter of the two made me slightly uneasy. I knew it wouldn't be in as good a shape as it was now had the man from before not slipped back in again sometime after I'd fallen back asleep to tend to it. The only thing keeping me from going into total freak-out mode was the fact that I was still alive and well, which confirmed what he'd already told me - he didn't intend to do me any harm.

Well, not intentionally anyway - that was for sure.

"Uhhh..." One of them trailed off, sharing a look of unease with the rest of the girls.

"We were just about to leave, actually," another cut in, saving her friend from having to basically tell me no. I glanced down at every one of their plates filled with food they'd barely touched.

"Oh, alright. Well, nevermind then," I murmured softly, the disappointment in my tone easily detectable no matter how hard I tried to hide it. I turned and made the walk of shame a few feet away to an empty table before taking my seat. I did my best to ignore the prying stares of everyone in the room as I ate in silence on my own. I used my hair as a curtain to try and shield my face that was still slightly flushed with embarrassment.