Page 39 of The Bastard Prince

"You cannot kill me,corderito," he replied quietly, turning his back to me. "Ya estoy muerto."

6

"Good job," I praised, unable to wipe the smile from my face. "Buen trabajo, Trigger."

"I slow," Trigger grumbled, dark eyes locked on mine. "I not read good."

"No –" Shaking my head, I reached up and cupped his cheek. "You arebrillante."

Offering him another wide smile, I trailed my thumb over his bruised cheekbone.

"I'm so proud of you." And I was proud of him. I was proud of myself, too. No one else had been willing to teach the boy how to speak in our language.

We'd both been at the estate for many years now and not a single one of the tutors had made any progress with him.

Neither had the Crellids, or Fabio's men – no matter how brutally they tried to beat him into submission – or into speaking in English.

Trigger was viciously hostile and violent to anyone that came within a one-mile radius of him, and he only communicated in Spanish.

He was relentlessly stubborn and refused to learn or submit to his father's way of life.

He didn’t refuse me, though.

No, he always gave me his very best version of himself.

It was almost like a dirty little secret between us, sneaking into each other's bedrooms and practicing each other's languages.

I freaking loved it.

Years of combing through books, practicing Spanish, and sneaking into Fabio's personal library had won out.

Trigger was finally making progress with not only speaking in English, but the written word, too.

My heart was soaring at a ridiculous height right now. It excited me deeply to know that we could hold a conversation in both his language and mine.

If I was to be his one day, I didn’t want there to be a language barrier. I considered these tutoring sessions a solid investment in my future.

Because I was fully on board with becoming his.

I wanted this boy to claim me.

I needed him to.

Huffing out a breath, Trig tore his gaze off mine and turned his attention back to the book in his hands. "Lit…tle…pig, lit…tle…pig, let me…co…me…in, " he slowly churned the words out and furrowed his brows. "Pig?" He turned back to gape at me. "I read pig?" He made an oinking sound with his nose for emphasis, looking affronted. "Piglet?"

Giggling, I nodded back at him. "Sí."

"I want to fuck this," he growled, tossing the book across his bedroom floor. "I am man,corderito. No read piglet book."

Corderito.

Little lamb.

I shivered with pleasure. "You have to learn," I replied, scrambling off his bed to retrieve the storybook. "Don’t be embarrassed,mi lobo."

"Ashton laugh at her Trig," he grumbled, eyes narrowed. "Ha-ha-ha."

"I would never laugh at my Trig," I vowed, stifling a laugh.

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