The Desert Alpha's Mate

CHAPTER 26-WHO IS WHO

Eleanor clasped her hands over her mouth when she realized what she had said. 'How could you blabber your mouth, Eleanor?' she scolded herself. The grin on Prince Badr's face grew wider. His eyes twinkle with happiness. He faced her fully and looked intently at her with a grin still plastered on his face.

"You were saying something, My Lady?" he teased, smiling widely. Eleanor shook her head and didn't respond. She didn't take her hands off her mouth. "I heard you say someone is afraid of losing me and that someone hates the fact that I am going to marry a girl other than her," Prince Badr continued. He was smiling widely, and his eyes never left Eleanor, he was teasing her.

Her eyes went wide as she heard the last words Prince Badr had said. "Your Highness, I never said I want you to marry me!" she said to him. Her face was flushed, "How could you think that that's not what I meant," her tone rose slightly, to hide her embarrassment. She avoided his stare when she spoke, her heart was thumping loudly in her chest.

"Oh, forgive me, My Lady. I thought that was what you meant. You hated seeing me marrying another. Isn't it an indirect declaration that you want me for yourself?" Prince Badr teased her, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Hah! H-how someone could be too full of themselves?" she scoffed, fanning herself even though it was cool inside her chamber because her window was open.

"Oho! Who are you calling ostentatious, My Lady?" Prince Badr said, he leaned toward her. "Look at me directly in my eyes, Ella, then you tell me that I am assuming everything wrong," he said to her. The way his tone changes makes her look at him, which was a wrong move on her part. His face was merely an inch away from her. She felt her heart going wild again. His nearness didn't seem to help. Eleanor was hypnotized by his gaze. She was drowning in his two dark brown orbs, "I... I..." she mumbled.

"You what, Ella?" he asked, slowly inching closer to her. His gaze was sweeping her face, then it landed on her lips. "Ella?" he mumbled her name again. His voice was slightly hoarse, and he never moved his gaze from her lips. He was slowly leaning toward her.

'Is he going to kiss me?' Eleanor thought. 'Will he, do it?' She foolishly asked in her thoughts. She knew what would happen, and never attempted to dodge it, not that she couldn't dodge it, she was anticipating it, "I–" her words stopped in her throat when Beta Sabir abruptly entered her chamber.

Beta Sabir cleared his throat first before speaking, "My Prince," he announced his presence. Prince Badr stopped then grunted, "We will continue this conversation later, My Lady," he whispered to her then gently caressed her cheeks, before he lazily faced their beta. Eleanor sighed; she didn't even know she was holding her breath the whole time.

"Yes, Uncle?" Prince Badr asked the beta. He stood up from her bed and came closer to Beta Sabir. When she heard the prince called Beta Sabir 'uncle', the memory of her dream came back to her. She looked at Beta Sabir with curiosity. She couldn't believe this grumpy man had a dark past that probably haunts him, up to this day.

'Should I tell Prince Badr about it? Is it his past? And if it is, why did I dream of it, during my two-day coma? Why do I need to know it? Do all people here in the Sahara know about it too?' questions started to fill her mind.

"My Lady, I have an important matter I need to attend to. I will send Armin for your food and to attend to your needs," Prince Badr said to her. He came near her bed again, then he leaned down and kissed her on her forehead.

'Did he..."'Eleanor thought. Dumbfounded by what the prince did.

"We will talk again tonight," he whispered to her. Then he caressed her cheeks once more before he left with Beta Sabir.