Page 106 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
He gently opened her hand and, one after the other, touched her fingers with the tip of his.
“Fingers,” he said. “Five fingers.”
She smiled and nodded; he remembered Lorey had mentioned she had taught Alezya the basic numbers the previous day. As their hands already touched, she grabbed his and touched Kassein’s fingers, his hand far more coarse than hers.
“Kassein fingers,” she said.
Then, she turned it around, his palm now facing the tent’s ceiling, and pointed at it with a questioning look.
“Hand,” he said. “My hand.”
“Hand,” she nodded.
It would have been quite an innocent discussion if it wasn’t for the heated, tense silence around them, or the way Alezya faintly licked her lips, leaned closer to him, and put a lock of her ink-black hair behind her ear. How she kept going back to his eyes shyly, while his green irises didn’t leave her.
In a surprisingly bold move, she kneeled even closer and, with her pale hand, followed the curve of his forearm, up to his bicep.
“Arm,” he taught her.
“Arm,” she repeated.
Then, both her hands covered his shoulders, his muscles tightening under her touch while his hand had quietly moved to hold her lower back.
“Shoulders.”
“...Shoulders.”
Her hands moved again, to his neck, and similarly, he moved his palm up to her nape.
“Neck.”
“Neck,” she repeated with a sharp breath.
Their eyes were now locked on each other’s, with a mix of excitement, shyness, and unspoken questions floating between them. But there was also a playful twinkle in her eyes, as she moved her hands again, down this time, to his chest.
“Chest,” he said.
“Chest,” she nodded.
His hand was still on her nape, her slender neck effortlessly covered by his palm, his fingers intertwined with her silky smooth hair. Did that woman not fear the hand that had killed men right in front of her eyes earlier? How could she trust him so? She ought to understand he was the most dangerous man of all by now. If she feared men, what did she think of him? Did she trust him so much, despite everything?
The mere thought sent a dull ache through Kassein’s chest.
Alezya, a foreign, fragile woman, trusted him far more than his family did. More than his brother did. Sure, Kassian had reasons to exile him, but... would his brother trusting him more have changed anything? Their older brother had turned into a sour, bitter man after his return from the east alone, ever since he’d taken the throne. They’d fought more often without their kind older sister to mediate. If anything, Kassein resented Kassian more than anybody else, and his brother was the reason he wouldn’t go back to the Capital.
Maybe Kiera was right when she’d said he was sulking in the north, but Kassian had been the one to exile him there in the first place...
“Kassein.”
Alezya’s patient voice brought him back to her. Every time he was near her, the anger subsided to let in more questions he didn’t want to ponder about. He let out a faint sigh and, aware that he probably looked like he was lost in his thoughts and neglecting her, he took his hand off her nape to bring hers to his lips, gently kissing her fingers. Her injuries were mostly healed,so she wasn’t sporting as many bandages these days, but she carried the smell of medicinal herbs all the time. It reminded him of his mother, and how she also treated him kindly no matter what.
Did Alezya have a child too? Was that how she was capable of such patience, trust, and kindness with him, although she should have been afraid of Kassein and his dragon?
She gave him a smile, and moved her hand to his cheek, grazing his stubble.
“Cheek,” he said, aware he hadn’t spoken in a while.
“Cheek?” she repeated, her fingertips playing with the beard he hadn’t bothered shaving in a while.
