Royalty

Chapter 38: Do You Trust Me?

Astra's POV:

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James is sleeping in bed, his good arm wrapped around me while I read. I reach the end of my chapter and contemplate whether to stop or not. He's so warm, and it's such a soft bed ... Okay, so that's a signal I'm getting tired.

Of course, there's also the fact that it's like four in the morning.

I put my book down and manage to turn out the lamplight without waking my psychopath. I snuggle into his chest, taking a deep breath.

I want to trust him, more than anything. And I almost do, I really almost do, but there's this little piece of my brain that won't shut up. I'm scared of getting hurt, I think. I don't know if I could handle the pain of finding out he wasn't serious. But ... But I really think he is. If I could just get rid of my anxiety and lingering doubts, we'd be fine.

Just as I'm starting to close my eyes, he starts mumbling in his sleep, shifting a little. I can't make it out, but I can tell by his expression in the moonlight, the tight corners of his mouth, the slightly knit eyebrows, that he's agitated.

Nightmare, probably.

"James," I whisper softly. "Love, wake up." I shake him a little. "James –"
He wakes up with a start and sits bolt upright, which is unfortunate as my face was above his. I yelp as his skull rams into my nose. "Ow!"

"Oh, shit, shit, shit, shit, sorry, sorry," he stammers out, switching on the lamp and smoothing back my hair. I put a hand against his chest. His heart is hammering.

"It's fine, I'm good —" I stop when I feel something trickling out of my nose. He lets out a dry laugh.

"Shit, angel, I'm so sorry, I think I broke your nose," he says, grabbing tissues from the bedside table, and holding them up to my nose. I winced.

"No, I shouldn't have had my face right above yours — Are you alright? You were having a nightmare." I press the tissues up to my nose, I'll let him reset it after I figure out if he's okay.

"It's nothing, love, here let me —"

I push his hand away, and look him in the eyes, seriously, which is hard to do when I have a wad of tissues shoved up my broken nose. "James. Are you okay?"

He just smiles gently at me, and seems sincere. "I will be in a few moments. It's alright." I nod, satisfied, and he pulls me closer to look at my nose. "Oof. Sorry about that, angel. Let me just ..." I wince a little as he shifts my nose so it's even again. "C'mon, let's bandage that up." He shifts out of bed as best he can with his bum arm and helps me to the bathroom off our bedroom. I sat myself on the counter, holding tissues up to my nose and leaning forward.

He tips my head up with a hand, and kisses me gently. "I really am okay, but I appreciate your concern." I nuzzle against him a little, as best I can while holding tissues to my nose.

"A queen looks out for her king," I murmur. He chuckles and presses a kiss to my forehead.

"Look up at me a moment, love." I look up at him and he helps me get some cotton up my nose so I don't keep having to hold the tissues. I stare at his eyes the whole time.

I love his eyes so much. When light hits them, they glint almost pure deep gold, and if light isn't on them, they're the darkest chocolate brown, like the bark of a spruce tree, and sometimes from a distance they almost look black, like obsidian. I get lost in them now, like I often do. It takes me a good while before I realize he's done the same thing.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love emerald green?" he murmurs, staring dead into my eyes. I shake my head a little, smiling a little bit – Despite the four or five months we've been together, I've never seen him get lost in my eyes like this before. He kisses me again.