Secret Royalty

Chapter Eighteen

         She was extremely cute when she slept. Her fingers would curl up into loose fists, her body would coil into the fetus position, and her warmth would mix with my own. Naturally, I would begin to write poetry in my mind, but I would become so imperturbable that I would fall asleep with eyes still craving and yearning to watch her. Emilia never noticed when I crowded her face with my lips as she dreamt, but how could you not kiss her? Her curls swarmed around her head and her feet entangled with my own. It was difficult to realize that we both had problems and I couldn’t exactly fix them and I felt challenged when I had to witness her anguish. She didn’t deserve the pain.

         Somewhere in the middle of the night I woke, though Emilia was still delicately sleeping. When I shifted my weight, attempting to go brew a coup of tea, her hand subconsciously laced around my wrist, pulling me back to my spot next to her. “I’m here,” I whispered to the sleeping girl before touching my lips to her cheek. She muffled something incomprehensive back and then said, “Jed, I-“ but she stopped. I cradled her in my arms, understanding her sleep-induced thoughts. “I love you too, Em.” She burrowed against my body, seeming so petite and extremely fragile pressed up against me, though I was only a few inches taller. Listening to her breathing helped me calm my own. I drifted of to a nice, lenient sleep.

         She woke me five hours later by kissing my nose. “Hi,” she mumbled, curving her arms around my chest and twisting up to my frame.

          I kissed her cheek while pulling her even closer, which was getting close to the impossible. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

         -

         “Morning,” I mumbled, loving how intimate we were. I was freezing.

         He chuckled at my faint shivers. “Am I as cute as you when I sleep?”

         I bit my lip cautiously. He watched me when I slept? He was thoroughly pulling an ‘Edward’. “It depends. I’m not that cute,” I grumbled with a faint drone.

         His smirk was pretty enticing. “Very cute,” he responded.

         “Then you were even cuter, but Dean says guys don’t like to be called cute.” It was true, one time I mentioned to Dean that Pierce thought he looked cute in his suit and he had a lengthy speech of why not to call guys cute. It messed with their man card, he kept on persisting.

         Jed’s eyebrows mushed together. I found the action quite amusing. “When were you calling Dean cute?” he asked between my flamboyant laughs.

         I tried calming myself, but I never had been good at that. “Do you have OCD?” I asked nicely, running my fingers through his hair as I giggled.

         His face had an even more confused mien to it then. “What? No.”

         My lips rubbed together. Chapped. “Well, you always get irritated when I mention Dean. I’ve known him longer than you,” I smiled, twisting a ringlet around my finger.

         He mouth drove into a line of frustration. “But I’m just-“

         I interrupted, “Jealous? Because I never called him cute, I was just telling him what Pierce said. Plus, it was years ago, so calm your pineapples.”

         “Pineapples?” he repeated apprehensively. I have to say, he did look pretty cute- cut that, attractive –when he was confused.

         My smile widened. “Yeah, don’t question my motives.”

         “I won’t,” he promised, kissing my lips quickly.