I sat up, lifting the quilt to my chin. Matthew stood next to me and blinked, stepping back at the evident fear his waking me caused.“Time to get up,” he muttered. Standing, he shook his head and walked to the exit.“No need to shake the damn teeth out of my head,” I muttered to myself. I was still frightened, which always left me irritable and cross.“I’ll thank you to keep a civil tongue,” came a deep voice from just a few feet behind me. I jumped, still draping the quilt about my shoulders, and inwardly groaned as I faced Aaron. He was already dressed, the light of the just-risen sun behind him, his golden head aglow and darkened against the backdrop of daylight. I swallowed, more embarrassed than repentant, as I well remembered his admonition to the young boy the evening before.“Yes, sir,” I murmured.He fixed me with a gaze that melted my insides and made my knees knock together, probing, before he nodded, seemingly appeased by my acquiescence.“See it doesn’t happen again,”
