Page 93 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
As soon as she seemed to figure out where she was, and with whom, Alezya’s breathing eased down a little. She tried to rub her tears, but the fabric on her hand was dry and harsh, making her skin redden. Kassein took over, using his thumb to gently wipe away the tears from her eyes.
His other hand was already holding hers, and Alezya’s tightened around his a bit. This was enough to make his heart falter again. ...Would he be able to let go when the time came? Kassein clenched his jaw, feeling angry at himself. He was too selfish. He’d always been...
“Kassein,” she muttered, pulling him out of his dark thoughts.
He turned his attention and eyes back to her. Alezya was frowning faintly again, and holding his hand tighter than ever. Was she confused by his actions? Or still affected by the nightmares that haunted her?
He couldn’t think of anything to say that would soothe her, so instead, he kept his elbows on the edge of the bed, held onto her hand, and caressed her hair.
For a while, they remained like this, staying together in silence. The camp was completely quiet in the midst of the night,not even a breeze howling above the tent. Alezya wasn’t showing signs of falling back asleep.
Instead, she was holding onto his hand, her eyes looking up at him, still teary, but much calmer.
That woman wasn’t afraid to sustain his gaze, which fascinated Kassein. All his life, people had lowered their eyes in his presence, as if afraid to trigger a beast. Only people in his family were able to look directly at him, and in the last few years, their gazes had shown more disappointment than he could endure. Alezya reminded him of a snow leopard again, when those felines were cornered and refused to go down without putting up a fight... except now, there was no fight to be had.
Instead, she trusted him, or so it seemed. She clearly wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
Finally, a faint smile came back to Kassein’s lips. He’d be alright...
Whatever she decided, whatever it turned out Alezya needed, he’d be able to comply with it. At least, that’s what he wanted to believe.
“Kassein,” she muttered again.
He tilted his head, wondering why she was calling out his name this time, but to his surprise, Alezya moved on the bed, retreating toward the end of the tent, and pulling him along...
It took a couple of seconds for Kassein to understand. She wanted him on the bed with her? His throat dried up a little, and his heart wavered dangerously. He knew she trusted him, but this much... He hesitated a bit, leaving her to pull and stare at him with intent in her eyes.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t understood, but he wasn’t sure he could go along with that request of hers. His resolve he’d spent the last few hours trying to build seemed to be dangerously fragile now. But Alezya’s wet eyes eventually won him over again.
After a faint sigh, Kassein climbed on the bed.
He pulled the fur blankets over her, while he lay on top. Not only did he not need them, but he preferred having some kind of barrier between his and Alezya’s bodies, even if it seemed ridiculous by the way they were now lying next to each other. Trying to calm down his roaring heart, he put an arm under her pillow and watched as she closed her eyes and got closer to him, nestling her face against his shoulder like she needed that refuge... Their hands were still bound together, and to Kassein’s surprise, she seemed to quickly fall back asleep as soon as she’d found the right position against him.
He wasn’t so lucky, as his whole body was way too aware of the woman lying beside him to let him rest. Instead, he had to look down at her long raven hair sprawled behind her, on top of the piled-up furs, all the way down to her legs, while the top of her head rested right below his chin. He’d never paid much attention to women’s hair before, but Alezya’s was truly uniquely smooth, and a beautiful black color. It reminded him of the scales of his father’s dragon.
He couldn’t peek at Alezya’s sleeping face, but he could feel her shallow breathing against his skin... Was she soothed by his body heat? Hers was pretty cold, and perhaps he’d underestimated how cold the place was. It was hard to tell with a higher body heat than most humans.
She was still holding onto his hand, and he didn’t want to move, afraid he might disrupt her sleep after she’d already been awoken once. If she hadn’t, he would have liked to caress her hair or her back while she slept, but knowing that she’d found some peace in his embrace was enough for now.
...For now?
Kassein closed his eyes, sighing. His sister was right, he was still a brat. He may have the body of a grown man, but he was only eighteen.
He wondered if Alezya was much older than him. She seemed younger than his sister for sure, but if she’d had a child already, he guessed she had to be at least his age. He wasn’t sure how young women could conceive, but Alezya looked young either way. It was only her eyes that showed a strong and mature mind, forged by the need for survival. Lorey was right; he truly didn’t know anything about her.
Kassein forced himself to close his eyes again, trying to strengthen his heart and mind for the questions that would have to be asked the next day.
It was a good thing that Alezya was learning their language.
He hoped she would teach him more of hers too. He wanted to learn everything he could about her, not just force her to absorb their culture for survival purposes. No matter what, he hoped she’d know she was safe with him. It didn’t matter what she turned out to really need, in the end.
For once in his life, he wanted to be there, a safe haven for someone.
Chapter 9
The next morning, Alezya woke up feeling better than she had in a long time. The warmth covering her body was like a gentle cocoon she felt reluctant to get out of. She slowly opened her eyes, remembering how she was in Kassein’s habitation... but the view that greeted her wasn’t the fabric walls. Instead, a wall of dark skin, just inches away from her face, took her by surprise.
She blinked, quickly waking up as she was trying to figure out her situation and how she’d gotten there. After a second, she realized she was still on Kassein’s bed, but Kassein was on the bed with her. Her heartbeat quickly picked up to a racy pace as blood rushed to her extremities.
