Page 125 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“I ate with Kiera too,” he said, “and you’re hungry.”
She realized he had split his meal in two parts to eat some of his dinner with her.
Now it made sense; a single stick of meat and a bowl of soup wasn’t much for a man she’d seen eat vast amounts of meat so far... She gave in, and took the second stick while he ate his bowl.
“More meat?” he asked when she’d finished her stick.
“No. Thank you.”
“Kiitso,” he repeated.
She nodded, but she was still pretty sure that she had never heard Kassein or any of the others use their word for “thank you.” Maybe she lacked some cultural context there.
They finished eating while exchanging more words, this time translating more abstract concepts such as greetings or emotions. This language exchange had become sort of a special thing between them, and soon enough, they were back to lying on the bed together, Kassein’s arm around her shoulders and Alezya’s cheek on his torso.
This time, neither of them initiated anything; in fact, their chatting was somewhat fascinating enough that they talked late into the night and fell asleep like this.
The snowstorm had stopped when they woke up the following day. Alezya woke up first this time, and she found herself still in Kassein’s arms, both of them almost in the same position they’d fallen asleep in, except that her body, probably attracted to his heat, had tried to climb Kassein’s, leaving her with her leg across his and her arm around his torso. She would have been a bit more ashamed if she hadn’t been so cold; even with the blankets covering her, Alezya could feel the habitation had gotten really chilly overnight, and her face sticking out of the blankets was cold. She shivered and curled up even closer to his body.
“Good morning,” he whispered, using her language.
She smiled. His pronunciation wasn’t the best, but she liked how his raspy throat made the greeting even sexier. She put a kiss on his shoulder and felt him tug the blanket around her, although she was already as covered as possible.
Because they had slept so much already the previous day and not done much, they were up early, as the light that came into the habitation was definitely that of sunrise. She could hear Kein’s snores and some morning birds taking advantage of the dragon’s slumber to get chirpy.
Alezya pressed her cheek against Kassein’s skin as he combed her hair with his fingers, thinking of how they only had a few days left together. She hated it, but she had to return to her clan before the next gathering, and she had to get Lumie out of there... A knot of anxiety formed in her stomach, and maybe Kassein had felt her tense or something because he put another kiss on her forehead gently.
“I like your hair,” he whispered.
That made her smile. He touched, caressed, and combed her hair any chance he got. Her long hair was one of her favorite things about herself too, and she had noticed no one in the Dragon Clan seemed to have this very straight, very dark, and very long hair. Being complimented about it made her want to take care of her hair even more.
She kissed his jawline, again amused by his beard, which was protesting the frequent shaves by growing back spikier every morning.
“Breakfast?”
“Breakfast,” he nodded.
They got up together, cleaned up, and dressed to venture out, but almost nothing was done without them touching each other in some way.
Alezya let Kassein braid her hair, and although she was gutted she had lost that piece of fabric he’d gifted her, she was still content with the little string of leather he used to tie it this time. She stopped him from shaving himself, as she was starting to like the little stubble, and helped him put on each piece of his war gear, the arm braces, shoulder pieces, and his cape, even though he could have done all of it on his own.
As Alezya was about to step outside, he grabbed her hand and swung her back so that she collided with his bare chest, making her laugh.
“Kiss me,” he demanded.
She smiled. How could the mere fact that they understood each other more and could talk like this make her so happy? Those words of his were enough to trigger little swarms of butterflies in her stomach.
She cupped his face with her hands and got on her toes, pulling his face toward her to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her into his embrace.
She never wanted to leave this man. Alezya had never known so much bliss as the time she had spent with Kassein, and the only thing that prevented her from being truly happy was Lumie’s absence.
No matter how hard she was falling for Kassein, everything was tainted by how worried she was about her baby. She kept reminding herself how Suolk and her cousin were clearly in charge of caring for her, how they had a child of their own and would know what to do, and how her father was not going to do anything so long as he needed Alezya to return pregnant... So much was hanging in the balance, but for her, nothing mattered but Lumie. She was only allowing herself to enjoy this, basking in the sunshine of Kassein’s affection, because she knew she had to brace for the inevitable storm that was coming.
They stepped out of the leather shelter together, and she insisted on greeting Kein, who was waiting for them outside. The orange dragon had become such a companion to Alezya that she found herself patting its hot snout fearlessly.
She glanced up the mountain, but there was no sign of her father’s spies. She redirected her eyes to Kein. Maybe she had the key to her plan right here. Her idea was a bit mad, but madder things had happened in the last few days.
With Kein in tow, they walked hand in hand toward the large fire pit his men had lit up again in the middle of the area. Many men silently greeted them, and those who did out loud, Alezya was glad she understood their greetings to theirAqayir. Her father would die of envy; no one in any clan had ever understood as much as she could now of their archenemy’s language.
