Page 76 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

He hadn’t told his sister that Kein had only started acting docile since Alezya’s arrival at the camp.

Everyone in the camp knew, and that was partially why his men were utterly confused at the previously untamable dragon acting so tame around the foreign woman, but he hadn’t realized Kiera didn’t have that insight.

Thus, although it was thoroughly humiliating to him, he told her the truth; that up until Alezya’s appearance, he and Kein had been trying to murder each other almost daily.

His sister listened, baffled, looking more stunned with every sentence.

“And you’re saying, when you tried to take her back up there...”

“We fought again,” he admitted. “Right away. He almost killed me, until Alezya was... harmed again. In fact, he probably only let me live because he went to get her back.”

“...Wow,” his sister scoffed after a beat. “Your dragon really is crazy.”

Kassein didn’t have anything to answer to that. He slowly got back up after cleaning his hands and sword in the snow and put it in its sheath.

A part of him felt almost grateful to his dragon for making it so he might not be able to live without Alezya.

Even if Kein was a mad dragon, Alezya being the only thing keeping his dragon from killing him wasn’t the worst outcome.

.. that is unless she tried to leave again.

She hadn’t attempted anything since, but every time Kassein saw Alezya’s eyes linger on the mountains, that fear gnawed at his insides.

They had kissed, and she seemed to enjoy his touch, but how could he be sure whoever she’d left behind wouldn’t tear her away from him again? He wasn’t a fool. Kassein wasn’t scared to admit his feelings for Alezya, but he was scared of what those feelings could provoke if unchecked.

It was all fine when she was near, when she was within his reach, but the second Alezya was out of sight, something inside unsettled again.

A dangerous part of him wanted to keep her here, bound to him, by any means.

A more reasonable side, the side that his mother’s kindness had raised, wanted to do anything he could to chase that sadness away from her eyes, forever, for good.

But how? How would she have everything she could ask for down here when she’d left something up there?

“Kassein.”

He turned his eyes back to his sister, who had her eyebrows raised.

“If keeping her here keeps Kein sane for now... then fine. Let’s keep her here and teach her whatever she needs to be safe.

At the pace she’s going, she might even finally be able to properly speak our language soon, and then, we’ll know what’s going on with her people.

Who knows, with a bit of luck, she might turn out to be the answer you’ve been looking for. ”

“The answer to what?”

“Kassian’s order,” Kiera sighed. “Pacifying the north?”

“Fuck Kassian’s order,” he grunted. “I don’t care for the tribes, and I will kill anyone who has harmed her.”

“Sure, sure… Nevermind, let’s go. This has taken a while, and I reek. I need a bath… You know what, I’m going to go to the hot springs; I can’t let Lorey see me like this. Let her know I’d love for her to join, yeah?”

Kassein watched his sister leave but remained behind for a moment, irritation gnawing at his gut as he took in the aftermath.

That missing body still nagged at him, an itch he couldn’t scratch, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

With any luck, they had miscounted, or the bastard had been smart enough to run. Either way, he’d be keeping an eye out.

The events of the day would spread through the camp soon enough.

No one would dare bother any of the women for a while, not after what they had witnessed.

If they did, they would know exactly what awaited them.

With that final thought, Kassein turned away from the bloodied scene and walked off, ignoring the nervous glances trailing after him.

This time, Lorey had taken Alezya into her tent, and as soon as he walked in, Kassein’s eyes found her seated on a little cushion, her face already turned to him.

She jumped to her feet as quickly as her injuries allowed and walked up to him.

Every time he saw those black eyes looking up at him with a mix of relief and wonder shining out of them, it felt like something soothed him inside.

Now that he knew he could touch her, hold her, Kassein’s hands were helplessly drawn to Alezya’s body, settling on her back even though he was dying to caress her entire body.

“Your Highness,” Lorey greeted him politely, “may I ask where Kiera is?”

“Gone to bathe,” Kassein replied without taking his eyes off Alezya. “She said you’d join her. The hot springs.”

“I should do that, then. Feel free to use our tent with Alezya. We were practicing her vocabulary again; she’s quite good!”

“See you later,” Kassein said as a polite but direct way to dismiss her.

“Yes, Your Highness. Bye, Alezya.”

“Bye,” Alezya repeated, that faint blush rising to her cheeks like every time she spoke their language.

Lorey left, leaving the two of them together in a strange, hot-aired silence.

Kassein was still half-naked, and now, he felt all too aware of his bare skin, inches away from Alezya’s face. She was looking up at him, but it felt too dangerous for her to be standing so close, alone in that space with him.

“Kassein,” Alezya said, her voice sounding dangerously sweet. “Kassein Commander.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve been hearing Tievin call me that all day, I guess,” he said. “Did Lorey teach you new words?”

“Lorey, bye,” she frowned.

“Yes, Lorey’s gone,” he said patiently, “but Lorey taught you new words. Man-dragon? Commander? Meat?”

Alezya’s eyes opened a bit wider as she understood, and she gave him a firm nod before grabbing his arm with her hands and gently pulling him deeper inside the tent. Kassein followed suit as she sat in front of the large mirror and the space Lorey and perhaps his sister readied themselves.

Looking a bit proud, Alezya began pointing at random objects around her.

“Comb, necklace, pearls... Bracelet, lip balm... Candle...”

She pointed at many objects around the tent, immensely proud, although Kassein corrected her gently and patiently a couple of times.

They were seated on the plush carpets on the floor, but Alezya kept moving around and pointing at things while he remained still, his eyes riveted on her.

She hadn’t looked so animated often, but he was falling even deeper for that woman every time her eyes shone like this.

The contrast with the heartbroken, terrified woman he’d picked up in the mountains made him all the more relieved that she finally seemed to find some peace here.

Every part of him felt the urge to protect her, shield her.

Even now, they were sitting on the floor and not touching, but his entire body was turned toward her while his leg was raised like a shield between Alezya and the tent’s entrance, his forearm resting on his knee.

She felt safe with him, and that was enough.

She had seen him kill a man, and yet, she’d walked up to him, despite the fear in her eyes, to plant that kiss on his lips and convey everything he needed in that moment.

She had no idea of what she’d unlocked with that simple kiss, but it had changed everything.

“Kassein,” she called him.

He hadn’t been paying attention for a while, and she’d picked up on it. She gave him a half-shy, half-annoyed pout and then pointed her finger at the mirror.

“Mirror,” she said.

“Yes,” he nodded.

Then, he gently grabbed her pointed finger, and pulled it toward him, keeping it raised to show her. He covered her small hand effortlessly with his own and smiled.

“Finger,” he said.

“Finger?” she repeated.

He gently opened her hand and, one after the other, touched her fingers with the tip of his.

“Fingers,” he said. “Five fingers.”

She smiled and nodded; he remembered Lorey had mentioned she had taught Alezya the basic numbers the previous day. As their hands already touched, she grabbed his and touched Kassein’s fingers, his hand far more coarse than hers.

“Kassein fingers,” she said.

Then, she turned it around, his palm now facing the tent’s ceiling, and pointed at it with a questioning look.

“Hand,” he said. “My hand.”

“Hand,” she nodded.

It would have been quite an innocent discussion if it wasn’t for the heated, tense silence around them, or the way Alezya faintly licked her lips, leaned closer to him, and put a lock of her ink-black hair behind her ear.

How she kept going back to his eyes shyly, while his green irises didn’t leave her.

In a surprisingly bold move, she kneeled even closer and, with her pale hand, followed the curve of his forearm, up to his bicep.

“Arm,” he taught her.

“Arm,” she repeated.

Then, both her hands covered his shoulders, his muscles tightening under her touch while his hand had quietly moved to hold her lower back.

“Shoulders.”

“...Shoulders.”

Her hands moved again, to his neck, and similarly, he moved his palm up to her nape.

“Neck.”

“Neck,” she repeated with a sharp breath.

Their eyes were now locked on each other’s, with a mix of excitement, shyness, and unspoken questions floating between them. But there was also a playful twinkle in her eyes, as she moved her hands again, down this time, to his chest.

“Chest,” he said.

“Chest,” she nodded.

His hand was still on her nape, her slender neck effortlessly covered by his palm, his fingers intertwined with her silky smooth hair.

Did that woman not fear the hand that had killed men right in front of her eyes earlier?

How could she trust him so? She ought to understand he was the most dangerous man of all by now.

If she feared men, what did she think of him?

Did she trust him so much, despite everything?

The mere thought sent a dull ache through Kassein’s chest.