LKF #12 - Blanket Hog

Little Known Fact #12 - Blanket Hog

The below excerpt is my favorite scene out of ERIS (Eternal Truths, Book 1). I laughed myself silly while writing it. It is somewhat inspired by real life.

My hubby and I are both blanket hogs. We found this out as newlyweds sharing a bed for the first time. Those first few nights we played tug-o-war, and not in a nice/fun way either. We both like to cocoon while sleeping. To keep the sleepy time peace, we decided that we both needed a comforter of our own.

Obviously that isn't an option in the Middle Ages, so Lucien had to come up with a different solution. :P


EXCERPT:

Eris lay on the bed, just as he thought she would. He locked the door and then went to the bed. The girl had wrapped herself in her cloak and slept on the thinnest sliver of the bed she could manage. If he nudged her, she would fall on the floor.

A small shiver shook her body, and she clutched at the cloak more.

“Little idiot,” Lucien grumbled under his breath. He pulled the blanket from the end of the bed and spread it over her.

Eris made a little squeaking noise then her whole body loosened as she relaxed under the blanket.

Lucien walked around to the opposite side of the bed. He undressed, dropping his clothes where he stood, and got under the blanket. He was on the edge of sleep when Eris shifted. He stiffened in anticipation of what she would do.

She reached toward him. Instead of stabbing a knife in his back, she grabbed the edge of the covers near his neck and yanked. He didn’t understand her goal until the entire blanket was wrapped around her, leaving him in the cold.

He lay there, bared to the chill air, and wondered why he found the entire situation amusing rather than annoying. The brazen little wench had stolen his covers. He glanced at her. And what’s more, she looked pleased with herself that she had.

Did Ranulf have to endure the same?

It didn’t matter what she’d done with Ranulf. She wouldn’t be doing it with him. He grabbed the blanket and pulled.

Eris whimpered.

He stopped pulling, and she resituated the blanket around herself once more. Her pleased expression returned. Lucien let her savor her victory for half a minute before he pulled the blanket.

Again, she whimpered. He didn’t let that stop him. He situated the blanket over himself once more and presented Eris with his back. She tugged at the blanket, but he had a firm hold.

She finally stopped.

Lucien thought she’d fallen into full sleep once more. Instead, she reached toward him again. Her hand landed on his back. He jerked as her ice-cold fingers brushed his skin. The woman was frozen.

She patted his back a few times and then shifted so she was pressed against him. A small sigh left her lips, and she relaxed.

Meanwhile, Lucien was wide awake in more ways than one. Thoughts of sleep fled as his lower body sprang to attention. Eris shifted, pressing herself against him and forcing one of her legs between his.

He tried moving away but stopped when her sounds of protest returned. He wondered if Ranulf slept in like manner every night. It would explain why the man was in his bed more often than anywhere else.

Lucien looked over his shoulder at Eris. She looked pleased with herself again. Whatever she dreamt about, whomever she thought she held, the doing of it had made her happy. But, sleep wouldn’t come to him so long as she was coiled around him like creeping ivy.