Page 118 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
Her baby girl... Would he accept her? Alezya wanted to think yes, but she was terrified it might be her own delusions and that perhaps Kassein’s attitude would change if he came to find out she had a child, an unusual child, with a different man.
She could tell he already had his suspicions. Every single time the word baby came from either of their mouths, somethingtensed ever so subtly. When she had seen that beautiful crib earlier... she hadn’t been able to stop herself from imagining Lumie in it.
Would Kassein watch over her baby like he watched over Alezya?
She fell asleep with her doubts taking root in her heart, right next to the hope that had dared to blossom already.
The next morning, she woke up to the sounds of wind battering the sides of the habitation.
She could tell precisely where Kein had decided to lie because only one portion of the thick leather panels surrounding them wasn’t shaking, the wind most likely blocked by the dragon’s humongous body.
Alezya turned her head; they had moved in their sleep, and while she was now on her back, Kassein’s arm was under the pillow under her head, his other arm around her waist, and his breathing was tickling her bare shoulder, his face buried against her neck. She smiled and turned to face him again.
She’d shaved him the previous day, but spiky little hairs were already sprouting back on his chin. Alezya bit her lower lip and brought her fingers up to caress the tip of the little spikes on his chin, right below those thick lips of his... Kassein’s hand suddenly captured her fingers, taking her by surprise, and he smiled with his eyes still closed.
While Alezya blushed, he pulled her fingertips to his lips instead, pressing a kiss against them before weaving their fingers together and drawing her hand against his chest.
“Kassein,” she whispered.
He answered with a deep rumble of his voice, clearly unwilling to wake up just yet. She smiled. He acted surprisingly childish at times...
So, she decided to act playful too, and lifted her body to put a kiss on his lips. This finally made him open his eyes, a dreamy green staring back at her.
She loved his eyes. They looked like the green of a pine tree in the spring: deep, dark, and vivid irises with hints of gold in them. His sister’s eyes were a lighter green, and she wondered if all their siblings had green eyes. Her people all had brown or black eyes, and Lumie had been the first child she’d ever seen with such pale eyes.
Would he mind her baby’s strange appearance? Was there anyone like her in their clan?
Kassein kept her thoughts from spiraling any further by pressing another kiss on her forehead, on her nose, and then on her lips. A tender, slow kiss that ignited something in her again. She could tell he only intended to give her a deep morning kiss, but the woman in her had been awoken by his attentiveness yesterday, and now, she craved more at every chance she got.
Much to her disappointment, however, Kassein ended their kiss and sat up, leaving the bed first. Alezya sat up too, staring at his back with a bit of a sullen look.
She could feel he had decided to leave the bed on purpose before it escalated into something else, and she wasn’t happy about it. She watched him put water on the tiny fire at one end of the habitation, open the flap a bit to air it out some more despite the raging snowstorm outside, and everything he did, he looked like he was trying to avoid looking in her direction.
“Kassein,” she called him, putting some anger in her voice.
This time, he froze and slowly turned to her. Now he had a naughty smile on as if her upset expression amused him, but Alezya wasn’t amused at all. Instead, she was on her knees on the bed, the blanket wrapped around her chest, staring at him with a disappointed expression.
She had gone to bed wearing a very thin piece of clothing that covered her from her chest to mid-thigh, which was perfect when sleeping under thick covers and next to a body as warm as Kassein’s.
Still, there were nothing but two thin straps holding it on her shoulders, and Alezya knew enough about men to know many would have given in to temptation while spending all night next to her wearing this.
“Water?” he asked in his language.
“Kassein,” she insisted, frustrated that she hadn’t yet had the words to ask him a more direct question.
He sighed and brought her a cup of warm water. She still didn’t understand how they could drink just warm water, but she drank it anyway because without him by her side, it was getting cold fast.
As he was near her though, she grabbed his thick wrist and pulled him back to the bed with her. Kassein let out another sigh but obeyed. Letting her hold on to his wrist, he leaned and put another kiss on her forehead.
“Kassein likes me,” Alezya said.
“Yes.”
“I like Kassein.”
He smiled. She moved her hand toward his pants, but he grabbed her wrist with his free hand and shook his head.
“No,” he said.
