Page 72 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

After staring at her for a second, he leaned in, and pressed his lips against her forehead, softly but slowly.

Alezya blushed like a young innocent girl, unable to stop the blood rushing to her cheeks and the warmth spreading throughout her whole body.

Kassein’s arm around her waist was still holding her, and she wanted to lean against him even more, every bit of his warmth so attractive to her.

But she didn’t, and instead, tried to control her emotions a bit.

That kiss had changed everything between them.

.. even Kassein’s gaze seemed strangely more peaceful, as if some of his worries had vanished.

While still holding her, he gently nudged her in the direction that Tievin had taken, and she wondered if they were headed to wherever the breakfast was served.

She was hoping that Lorey and his sister would be there too because she was still unsure about finding herself in the middle of a group of men again, even if Kassein was there.

He was holding her waist, and they were now walking side by side.

She wished he’d put on his cloak so she could have partially hidden underneath it and been closer to him without it being too obvious.

Alezya felt a bit ashamed as her desires gradually came to mind.

She found herself so foolish for wanting to be as close to Kassein as she could.

.. and yet, she couldn’t deny what she knew she craved.

She was an adult woman with desires, and Kassein had made himself more than desirable, enough for her to desperately yearn for his touch.

Was it against her better judgment? She had once desired a man, another man, and the result hadn’t been pretty or enjoyable in the end.

.. but she wanted to believe Kassein was different.

He was kind, gentle, and understanding, some words she couldn’t associate with the one she had once been married to.

His warm hands certainly couldn’t be compared to the way she had been brutally handled by her husband.

Kassein was almost the opposite, all too aware of his inhuman strength and trying hard to control it so as to not harm her, while her ex had been weaker and yet very determined to assert his dominance.

Alezya was almost mad at herself for comparing the two, but she knew it was also in her best interest to be cautious, the self-preservation part of her mind crying for her to be cautious and not trust a man so quickly again. ..

She wanted to though. She really wanted to trust Kassein.

He was younger than the man she had been married to, or he seemed to be, and so far, the two had acted quite differently.

Moreover, Kassein had been in a position of strength all along, and yet, he hadn’t used it to force her to do anything.

On that, the two couldn’t have been more different. ..

She took a glance at him as they kept walking, letting her body warm up against his skin.

Something had definitely changed between them since that kiss.

.. although it was subtle. If anything, it had ignited even more hope in Alezya’s heart.

She wanted to believe, desperately, that Kassein would turn out to be different.

The expression of sheer disgust of Lumie’s father when he’d seen her was still carved into her mind like a horrible nightmare after she had spent hours suffering to give birth to her.

.. Alezya didn’t know if she would be able to endure the pain of such an expression a second time, not if it was Kassein looking at her in disgust this time. ..

Was she foolish to trust him? To want to believe again?

Was she unconsciously setting herself up for more disappointment, throwing all caution to the wind?

She had spent so much time picking up the pieces of her broken heart, and she had once sworn never to trust a man again.

Why was she giving in again so fast, and to a complete stranger? Had she gone mad?

Suddenly, she thought of something and stopped in her tracks, getting his attention.

“Alezya ? ”

“Kassein,” she called, her throat a bit tighter.

She bent down and grabbed some fresh snow in her hands to show him.

“Snow,” she said in her language. “Lumie.”

He frowned for a second, a bit confused by her sudden change of vocabulary, but nodded after a second.

“ Altha, ” he replied. “Lumie. Altha .”

Alezya smiled and nodded. He didn’t know it yet, but this was so much more than just a word to her...

Oblivious to her inner excitement, Kassein took the snow off her hands and rubbed them gently, visibly more worried about warming them up. One day, she hoped he would meet Lumie.

She was still afraid of how he would react to her child, but Alezya found herself desperately believing in a future where he’d accept her daughter as he had accepted her.

Just like she didn’t see a ruthless killer in him, she hoped Kassein would see beyond Lumie’s unique appearance and not treat her like some freak.

He would keep her warm just like he was so determined to warm up her hands just now. ..

The mere thought of that dream of hers had Alezya tearing up.

She couldn’t help it; the hope was so foolish, and yet, she was desperate to believe again.

How would she live on without hope? The only thing that mattered was for Lumie to survive, but if she was allowed to wish for the best possible outcome, she wanted Kassein to be a part of it.

She silently told her beating heart to shut up and stop those foolish thoughts, but it was too late; the thought had bloomed in her mind, and now, she wanted to hold on to it. ..

Kassein was still warming her hands, pulling her toward the breakfast area. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice her tears; the sun was blinding anyway, so perhaps he had seen them but not thought much of it, for he smiled when Alezya awkwardly wiped the tears from her face.

They found almost the same gathering for breakfast as the previous night and, to her surprise, Lorey was already there, sitting on the dark gray dragon.

Kassein’s sister wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but she heard her name mentioned between them, probably Kassein inquiring after her.

Lorey answered with a polite smile. She was already holding a bowl of food in her hands and greeted Alezya with a smile.

It made her wonder if Kassein’s sister and her would notice.

.. or if Tievin would be the one to mention what he had seen between Kassein and her.

Would that be an issue? If she noticed anything between them, Lorey was graceful enough not to let it show at all, instead just politely chatting with the two men.

While Alezya was trying and failing to identify some of their words, Kein announced its arrival by stomping its huge orange paws in the snow, happily reuniting with the other dragon.

The other dragon was reluctant to move and play, despite the orange dragon’s taunts.

It took a word from Kassein, answered by an annoyed growl, for Kein to settle down.

The orange dragon turned its head back to them, stopping its silver eyes on Alezya for a second, before it sat down in the snow, not without a bit of attitude and lots of snow swept around. ..

This time, again, it decided to lay next to the other dragon and try to steal its food, and a concert of growls ensued.

“Kiki,” Lorey called, patting the dragon’s back.

For some reason, Kiki seemed to obey Lorey because the dark gray dragon let out a hot, pissed whiff at Kein, and turned its head in the opposite direction to eat in peace.

Kein growled, trying to get its attention, but soon enough, a few warriors brought the body of a bear, and the orange dragon didn’t wait for them to run away before it began devouring it.

Just like the previous day, both dragons didn’t seem to mind one bit about the humans sitting on them.

Alezya was still utterly shocked to be able to actually sit on a dragon’s back!

Not only that, but Kein’s body was so huge, even if she just sat on its orange paw, her feet were barely touching the ground.

Moreover, she loved to be able to lean against Kassein’s knee.

She was impressed that he was still half-naked, and apparently completely fine despite the biting cold.

Even she felt a bit warmer by sitting between his legs, although she couldn’t tell if he emitted more heat than her inner turmoil did. ..

Soon enough, Dajan himself brought her a bowl of food filled with meat.

She had almost forgotten about him, and from his sorry expression, while holding the bowl, she felt like he was the first one remorseful about what had happened earlier.

She gave him a faint smile as if to say she didn’t resent him one bit; she had witnessed him speaking up for her, and that was more than enough in her eyes.

Dajan smiled back at her, but unfortunately for him, he wasn’t the only one mindful of Alezya’s reactions; a hand appeared on her shoulder, and as he gazed up, the poor man went a bit white before quickly scuttering away.

Alezya glanced up at Kassein just in time to see half a second of his glare. She gave his knee a little nudge and a reprobating look. A bit childish, wasn’t he? He shrugged and focused again on his food, a bowl having been brought for him as well.

Just like the previous day, Tievin didn’t sit on either of the dragons, but instead, was pacing in the snow.

He was reading something out loud, or telling Kassein and Lorey about the contents of his papers.

Alezya didn’t care for another one of his long monologues, but she was curious about what those words were written on.

What did the Dragon Clan use to write? She ate while trying to take peeks in his direction, but Tievin was staying away from the dragons, and thus away from their trio.