<h4>Chapter 333: Sleep With Me (II)</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    My heart started pounding in a frantic rhythm against my ribs as I watched River getfortable in my bed.


    A second or twoter, I tooy back and pulled the nket higher, the fabric a feeble, thin barrier between my raging embarrassment and the suddenly cool night.


    I reached over to my bedside table and flipped off my ownmp, plunging myself and the room into almost darkness. Only the moonlight, through the open curtains, and the faint reflections from the firece were filling the space now, turning River’s silhouette into a darker shade, a presence more felt than seen.


    Silence returned, but it had a different edge to it now. It was neither anticipatory, nor expectant. It was heavy with possibilities, with the warm fuzziness I had mistakenly hoped to avoid when I had tried to send him away.


    I tried, with everything I had, to steady my breath, to let my heartbeat slow to something remotely resembling normal. But it didn’t work.


    Minutes stretched with the weight of hours. I could feel River’s breaths, they wereing regr and steady, making me assume he had already fallen asleep.


    I attempted to close my eyes, inhale, and rx. I tried to imagine snow drifting against my window, the safe, distant hum of the Academy at night. I counted sheep like a child. I tried to will exhaustion to set in. But nothing worked. Each attempt at sleep seemed only to push wakefulness deeper into my bones.


    Time lost meaning. I tried to estimate how long I had been lying there like an awkward log on this bed, curdling into worry. Ten minutes? Twenty? An hour? I didn’t know.


    Eventually I dared to peek over the edge. River’s eyes were closed. His face had rxed into an expression I rarely saw - the one reserved for absolute repose.


    For a moment, the rhythm of his breathing convinced me that he had slipped away into sleep after all. Relief washed through me in a small, hot wave, and I turned to find some small corner of peace. I rolled over, setting my back toward him like that would shield me from the residue of my anxiety.


    The position did not help.


    My heart continued its wild marathon. Even though we both were sleeping on our sides of the bed, I could still feel the heat of his body, the mattress shifting faintly beneath him, and that sense of being watched - even if only by the memory of his presence - kept tugging at me.


    I was not good with liminal spaces - not when feelings sat heavy in the air like storm clouds. I tried to pretend I was calm, rational. I closed my eyes and tried again to sleep.


    This time the minutes felt endless. But my thoughts refused to let go off the men sleeping beside me. A silly part of me was almost expecting for Oscar to walk into my room as I knew he was feeling my emotions through our bond, but I knew he wouldn’t do that unless I would call for him.


    At some point, my thoughts started wandering - possibilities of what could happen with the two of us alone in my room, in my bed.


    I tried to shake those thoughts and images off, but they kept returning... until I could not bear the pressure of it any longer.


    With a deep, almost theatrical sigh that felt as if it came from the very core of me, I forced myself upright. The motion made the nket slip from my shoulders and the air kissed the damp warmth of my skin and snapped me sharply awake.


    River shifted at the sound, one hand moving from beneath the cover before he too moved to a sitting position.


    I met his eyes without allowing myself to flinch. For a heartbeat his face was nk, but the stillness in him suggested he had been awake all along. The truthnded in my chest like a stone that finally settled at the bottom of a well.


    I noticed his mouth moving. He was about to speak, to say something, or to ask something, but I spoke first. Before I could have second-guessed my words, before I could have messed up again, I said them out loud.


    "Alpha River Thorne," I started, keeping my eyes locked with his while my heart pounded so hard I was afraid it might jump out of my chest at any given moment, "I - Evaline Greystone - ept you as my mate."


    My voice was steadier than I expected. It rang in the quiet room, firm against the hush. Saying it aloud made it feel even more intimate.


    I watched as he froze. His entire body went rigid beside me. His eyes widened, and that calm, unreadable mask shattered as raw shock flickered across his strong features.


    For a long heartbeat, he didn’t even breathe. Then I felt it - something tugging deep inside me, a thread pulling tight, a warmth flooding through my chest as if a fire had been lit from within. His bond. His end of it was awakening now that I had officially epted him as my mate.


    His hand curled into a fist against the nket, his jaw clenched as though he was fighting to hold himself steady. His usually stoic, unshakable presence wavered, and once again I saw the extremely rare sight of vulnerability in him. It was pure, unguarded emotion breaking through his walls.


    His gaze snapped to mine. The storm in his green eyes was so intense it made me shiver. When his lips parted, it was to let out a breath he had been holding all this time.


    I had epted Oscar and Draven before, and while their reactions had left me warm and happy, I wasn’t ready for River’s reaction.


    The way he reacted, the way he’s looking at me right now... it’s almost as if he feared I wouldn’t ept him and our bond. And that thought clenched my heart.


    He finally shifted and closed the distance between us like gravity itself was pulling him to me.


    And then... his lips parted.


    "Evaline Greystone..."<fn24c7> Get full chapters from Find~Novel</fn24c7>