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Chapter Four: Afraid To Face The Truth

Another week passed until Nikolai fully recovered and started to remind Alina of his old self again

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Another week passed until Nikolai fully recovered and started to remind Alina of his old self again. It seemed the king had healed both physically and mentally. He was once again full of life and charm, he no longer worried about the weakness of his claim to the throne, he was no longer anxious about his brother's traitorous plans.

Alina was spending the afternoon at the conservatory, tending to her plants, bathing them in her sunlight. She squealed in panic when someone hugged her from behind. At first, she feared it might be Kirigan, although they hadn't met since that night he kissed her, but when she turned around she saw Nikolai, her beautiful dashing Nikolai, and she hugged him with full force, jumping at him with her whole body weight, making him stumble back a little. She heard him chuckle and she smiled, too.

When she leaned back to take a better look at him, she noticed he was wearing his teal-blue royal suit, his golden hair combed splendidly, his hazel eyes gleaming with happiness – he fit there perfectly together with the blooming flowers.

Nikolai was the complete opposite of the Alpha that had consumed Alina's being.

"Saints, how are you already out of bed?" she exclaimed, squeezing his pinkish cheeks softly.

His smile brightened the already sunny conservatory. "The light of my life has spent day and night of the last few weeks tending to my every need. I guess that did it."

He looked at her with pure honest eyes, putting one of his hands on the small of her back, pulling closer, the fingers of his other hand running through her brown curls. His touch was completely different from that of Kirigan's – Alina desperately clung to Nikolai to make herself crave her husband's body more than she craved the other man's. Nikolai leaned in and Alina raised her head, their lips almost touching, their faces so close they could feel each other's breaths on their skin. Just an inch more and their lips now touched. The kiss was sweet, and soft, and gentle – everything Alina should've wished for.

She could feel Nikolai's hard body pressed into hers, his hands grabbing her hips firmly as their mouths continued the mesmerizing tango. She heard flowerpots fall to the floor and crash when Nikolai pushed them off the table to make space for Alina's body. He pulled her up on the table by her hips, their lips never stopping contact... Alina suddenly felt very hot, wanting to take off her clothes to be closer to Nikolai...

The door to the conservatory opened and Alina felt Nikolai flinch away from her. When he moved to the side, she was exposed to the one darkening the doorstep.

Kirigan looked at Nikolai, standing at her side, breathing heavily, then at Alina, where his gaze lingered longer, taking in her brown hair in disarray, her brown eyes, now glazed, her kefta raised scandalously up to her thighs. Something inexplicably dark and wild appeared in Kirigan's eyes as he watched her. It seemed to be hard for him to collect himself and Alina wondered if for once Nikolai could see what she saw all this time – the craze in Kirigan's face, the possessiveness emulating from his posture, his suffocating power.

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