Page 5 of Savage Princess

Which, of course, is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.

Elena perches on the edge of the bed, tucking her robe around her knees as she reaches for one of the plastic forks. The instant she takes a bite of the food, she lets out a low moan and touches her lips, an action which shouldn’t make every hair on my arms stand up, but it does.

“God, I forgot how good real food is,” she mumbles through another mouthful, and I laugh.

“Go slow,” I warn her. “You’ve been eating packaged rations for a while now, and you haven’t eaten anything in over a day. You don’t want to make yourself sick.”

I can tell it’s an effort for her, but she listens to me. After several more bites, she looks up at me, a guilty expression washing over her face.

“Oh my god, I’m over here eating like a pig, and you haven’t eaten anything. Eat, Levin, please.”

“Just enjoy it,” I tell her firmly. “Eat what you want. There will be plenty left over for me afterward.”

She hesitates, but I can tell that she’s too hungry and enjoying the food too much to argue with me. In a way, I like watching her eat as much as I’m looking forward to partaking myself, even though the smell has my mouth watering and my stomach grumbling. It makes me feel as if I’m taking care of her—protecting her. It’s all I’ve wanted to do all this time.

Well, notallyou’ve wanted to do. Be honest about that, at least.

I shove the thought out of my head, waiting patiently as Elena scarfs down as much of the food as she can stomach before she finally pushes the container towards me.

“I can’t eat anymore. I probably shouldn’t.” She reaches for one of the bottles of water I’d asked for along with the food, watching me as I take a bite. “Just go ahead and finish it off.”

“Gladly,” I tell her with a chuckle as I reach for the container, balancing it on my lap as I scoop up a forkful of chicken and rice. “Hell of a lot better than MREs and unseasoned grilled snake.”

Elena lets out a shudder, her face blanching a little, and I regret mentioning the snake. “How’s your ankle?” I ask while we’re on the subject, nodding toward it. “Better?”

“Sore,” she says, turning her leg a little so that I can see. “But I could stand on it in the shower better than before. I sat there for a little bit and let it soak. I think I’m going to be fine.”

I can tell from the way she says it that it hurts, but she’s being tough about it. It’s admirable, really. It’s been a long time since I’ve met anyone as capable of toughness as she is. She’s been up against more recently than a girl like her could probably have ever imagined, but she’s faced it all and risen to the challenge. It’s more than I would have expected.

When we’re both done eating, I throw the containers away, putting the chair back where it belongs and glancing over at her. “Get some sleep,” I advise. “I’ll knock and wake you up in the morning.”

Elena nods, her teeth sinking into her lower lip, but she doesn’t say what I think is on her mind. “Good night,” she finally says, watching me as I walk to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do to leave her sitting there. She looks so beautiful, even in that ratty robe wrapped around her, her damp hair over one shoulder. I want to go to her in a way that’s almost painful, my heart squeezing in my chest as I try not to imagine spilling her back onto the pillows and spreading that robe open, and failing. I can see it as clearly as if I were already doing it, but I force myself to open the door to my room, walking through it as I look back and take one more look at her.

“Good night, Elena,” I say quietly, every part of my body throbbing with need.

And then I shut the door behind me.

Elena

The disappointment as Levin walks through the door between our rooms and closes it feels like a physical thing, knotting in my stomach as I hear the click of it shutting behind him.

I hadn’treallybelieved he’d give in just because there was a bed. But I’d hoped. My head had been full of fantasies where he set the food aside and kissed me instead, where he murmuredI’m too hungry for you, Elena,against my mouth as he pressed me back against the pillows and found out that there’s nothing but bare, damp skin underneath the robe I’d thrown on after my shower. I pictured his hands running over me as he devoured my mouth, the way it would feel to have him inside of me in a bed, and the different things we might try this time.

I had imagined the possibility of him falling asleep next to me again, his arm draped over my waist the way it always was on the beach, but this time in a quiet, peaceful room, with a bed and pillows and blankets that actually kept us warm.

It was all just a fantasy. Iknowthat, but it doesn’t keep me from sitting there, struggling with myself, as I sink my teeth into my lower lip and hear the water turn on in the other room, giving me something entirely different to fuel my fantasies.

Did he feel the same way while I was in the shower? Was it hard for him to not come in and join me?Surely not, considering how much he said he regretted what happened on the beach.

Just go to bed, Elena,I chide myself, sitting there and trying to force images of Levin dripping wet out of my head, despite the very clear picture I have of sinking to my knees on the floor of the shower and running my tongue up the grooves of muscle on his abs.

I sit there, my heart racing and my hands knotted in my lap, until I hear the water turn off in the other room. Flopping back onto the pillows, I try not to picture Levin walking naked through the room next to mine. I tuck my robe around me, pulling the blankets up to my chin, and I tell myself to go to sleep.

It’s fucking impossible. Not because I’m not tired—I’m not sure that I’ve ever been more tired in my life. The bed is nowhere near as comfortable as what I’m used to back home, but after the nights on the beach and the cargo ship, it feels heavenly. Just an actual pillow feels like a novelty at this point, and I want more than anything to be able to just sink into oblivion.

I can’t shake the hyperawareness of how close Levin is, though. I’d missed him while we were on the cargo ship—missed the feeling of him curling behind me and holding me as I slept—and it feels even worse now, when we could enjoy it so much more.

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