Cherished by The King |BxB|

Chapter 22

Celian's POV

I opened my eyes slowly, the well-needed sleep still weighing me down. My vision was invaded by strands of black hair, the scent of my mate's somehow only adding to the tiredness because of its calming effects.

A small smile spread to my lips as I yawned and wrapped my arms around the vampire's bare chest. There was no other place as comfy to take a nap other than his lap. The way his chest heaved peacefully up and down also told me that he was far gone in his dreams.

But as the fogginess slowly faded away, the smile on my lips said a quick goodbye.

I lifted my brown eyes to his face, the one only an inch away from my own. He looked so steady and collected, not a single wrinkle arching his perfect skin.

What had happened yesterday still haunted me. It made my stomach churn thinking about it, even more so as I looked at him. The pain in his voice, or the shame in his eyes. No one should ever go through something like that. I understood exactly what it felt like, yet I was hopeless.

How could I ever make him feel safe again? How could've I been so stupid, leaving him all alone? I know I should've fought harder to stay with him even when I had a different kind of knowledge back then. I couldn't stop blaming myself.

And I couldn't stop being angry. I had never wanted to tear someone into shreds just like I did right now, and as every second passed, the more I regretted not slaughtering that bastard when I had had the chance.

I also couldn't stop feeling guilty for thinking he had cheated on me. It had been so selfish, I should care about him more than about myself, after all. And of course, I did.

My emotions were just a huge mess of pain, sadness, and fear.

"Good morning, Darling."

I snapped awake from my thoughts, my exhausted eyes flicking to the deep maroon ones. He hid it so well that I could barely see a change in them. But I knew that somewhere there, in the tiny flicks of orange, he was aching.

"Hey... how are you feeling?" I started quietly, lifting one of my hands on his cheek. I stroked it gently, letting my thigh glide further on his hips; so I could bring him closer to me.

There wasn't any fabric between us, only a thin fleece on top of us as we lay on the floor. Though neither one of us didn't seem to mind the intimacy, on the contrary, both were as tightly glued to each other as possible.

"Cold."

Lynx mumbled in response, sleepiness evident in his gruff voice.

A slight frown spread to my lips as I saw him rattle his teeth together, the cheek under my hand boiling hot. And to confirm my hunch, I tried his forehead with the back of my hand.

"Oh no– you are really hot," I mumbled in my thoughts, turning to look towards the fireplace right next to us. Before we had gone to sleep, I had lit it with a few logs, both of us falling dozing off to the crackling of the cool wood as the fire ate them.

Now it had died down, and all of the spruce logs turned into black ash.

We weren't in the strange room anymore, but rather in another part of it. The place where we were was called something like a drawing room, and it was in between the bedroom and the bathroom. There were sofas, a small table, the fireplace, and then cabinets for towels and lotions. The dark, mahogany floor was covered with dozens of different colored rugs and pelts.

We were lying on top of one big pelt, right in front of the hearth. I had to improvise yesterday, as Lynx hadn't been warm enough even after I had cleaned him up in a bath. Besides, it was just as soft on top of all these furry rugs and pelts as it was in the bed.