Page 223 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“Kassein, my baby,” she said, trying to remember his language as fast as she needed to ask. “Lumie, my baby. Did you—”
But his hand interrupted her, cupping her cheek and jawline, and before she could get another word out, Kassein pressed his lips against hers urgently, desperately, kissing her like he needed it to survive.
Alezya’s body immediately reacted, her heart jumping in her chest, her stomach twirling excitedly. She felt the heat of his strong, firm hold warm up her entire body in a matter of seconds, like hot lava pouring over her. She was exhausted, she had been cold every day she’d been away from him, and Kassein’s embrace was washing all the hardships and discomfort away. Alezya barely found room to breathe, let alone speak a word. Kassein’s thick lips were relentlessly tasting hers as if they’d been apart for months, not days.
When she finally found the strength and willpower to gently push his chest away, not making a dent in his position but clearly indicating she needed a break, he reluctantly pulled back, breaking their kiss with a lingering pout.
“Kassein,” she breathed. “My baby. Lumie.”
“With Lorey,” he pressed his large hands against her cheeks, cupping her face again. “Lumie is with Lorey. She’s fine.”
He gave her a strong, determined nod, and after an extra second of looking into his dark green eyes, Alezya let out a long sigh of relief, the last ounce of pressure vanishing off her shoulders. She allowed herself to go limp in his embrace, some final tears escaping her eyes.
Her baby was fine and safe with Lorey. Kein had saved her.
She had tried to believe it until now, but it was nothing compared to the relief of knowing, for sure, that her baby girl was fine somewhere. Kassein’s hand moved to hold her neck, his thumbs gently caressing her hair as he kissed her temple.
“She is like snow,” he whispered into her ear, “and she is like you.”
“It’s my baby,” she let out a broken laugh between her tears, wishing they had more vocabulary to say everything that needed to be said about her baby.
She looked up at Kassein, and he was smiling down at her, a smile so rare and gentle she couldn’t help but mimic it back.
“She is yours,”he whispered. “So small. So white. She is hassna.”
“What is hassna?” Alezya frowned.
“Like you,” he whispered. “You’re hassna.”
The way he looked at her, his thumb caressing her cheek and his eyes filled with something dangerously akin to admiration, made her blush. Whateverhassnawas, it seemed like a very good thing. Alezya let out a long sigh of relief, and let Kassein hug her again, more tenderly, pressing the side of her faceagainst his strong torso. This position had to be uncomfortable for him, but she didn’t care at that moment.
She had almost forgotten how warm his skin was, but she never wanted to part ways with him again. Then, he put his arms under her back and knees, and lifted her effortlessly.
A sudden loud growl made her jump against his torso, and Alezya turned her head to see Ekut, who had walked up to them at some point, had just fallen backward, bum in the water, while Kein was growling somewhere above their heads.
She couldn’t see it, but Alezya could feel the dragon’s silver eyes on them from above, and she guessed it had landed on some cliff nearby. Kein growled some more, and the orange dragon sounded upset.
“I-I didn’t—” Ekut fumbled, his terrified eyes looking for the source of the sound.
“Kein,tawa.”Alezya said to the air above them.
Kein let out another angry growl, but a second later, there was a loud, sharp flap of wings. Alezya guessed he had simply repositioned himself, perhaps onto a higher cliff to better watch over them. She felt a stab of regret she couldn’t hug Kein’s warm scales too, but there was no space for a dragon to land here.
Still, she could hear Niiru’s chirpy growls in the distance and guessed the younger dragon was zipping around Kein, playing in the air.
“Kassein,” she said. “You...”
Her words died in her throat as she noticed his state and, more worryingly, a thin trail of dried blood on his skin. Her blood went cold, panicking. She tried to pull back a bit to take him all in, and realized his hands were covered in dried blood, and he had some on his face too.
“Kassein,” she said, her panic rising again. “You... hunt? Who?”
His expression suddenly went serious, his anger palpable.
“Men,” he hissed. “Men who hurt you.”
He took her forearm and lifted it, showing the cuts and bruises she’d gotten from her fall. Upon spotting some dried blood on her wrist, Kassein frowned and immediately brought it to his lips, licking the dried blood off her. Alezya blushed; his intimate demonstration suddenly reminded her of where they stood, and the two pairs of eyes witnessing this interaction. She pulled her wrist away, leaving Kassein to lick his lips in a movement that did something to her lower belly.
Ekut was still ass-deep in the water, but Ekata was staring at Kassein with an amused expression and suggestively biting her lower lip.
