The Princess and the Warlock

Chapitre Vingt-Sept

Life with Kaius who gives kisses instead of silence was one that I never knew I needed until it was gifted to me.

My heart was being entreated to the deepest form of love and desire, a sort that was making up for every hint that I'd ever missed out on.

At dinner, instead of being all the way at the end of the table from me, Kaius would pull up his chair directly to my right. He'd brush his foot against mine every now and again, and my elbow would graze the side of his arm in a purposeful touch.

At night, before bed, Kaius would knock on my door and kiss me goodnight, even if he was in the middle of something. Sometimes he'd even come in and hold me until I fell asleep, his steady heartbeat against my back lulling me into the soundest of slumbers.

We couldn't get enough of each other.

It felt strange, but a good strange. Before I was wanting this, this exact moment, but it didn't even seem like a possibility. And now here Kaius was, speaking to me with a voice that soothed my nerves, holding my hand because he wanted to.

I'd said it before, but I never realized how much kindness is absent in the palace, and I was just now finding it in Gossington.

"I didn't think this was going to happen," I told him in a soft voice, still afraid at any moment I might wake up. I was sitting on the edge of my bed and watched him where he stood, peeking through the window on the far side of the room. He was dressed in the clothes he slept in, loose pants and a light tunic. He'd come to say goodnight, but my mind was nowhere near ready for sleep. I felt too awake. "I didn't think you saw me this way. As anything other than a spoiled brat."

"Not a chance," Kaius responded swiftly, batting away my fears with his comforting words. He turned to look at me. "Not often do I have the opportunity to meet a woman as amazing as you, Amora."

I glanced down at my feet, which were dangling a few inches off the floor. "What about those other women you housed here?"

Though I hadn't planned on explicitly asking him that question, I didn't regret that I'd spoken it. The answer hadn't been plaguing me, but the answer was one that I really wanted to hear.

Kaius moved away from the window and walked closer to my bed, moving to sit down beside me. "Would you like to hear those stories? Would they make you feel better?"

Would they? I had no idea. Or would they make me feel even stranger? Would I feel jealous? "I don't know," I told him honestly, pulling my leg onto the bed and facing him full-on. "I think it's hard to imagine you living here with anyone else."

Kaius' mouth pulled up on one side, but I wouldn't categorize it as a smile. "I think you'll understand a bit better if I explained it, but I understand if you wouldn't want to hear."

"Was she pretty?" I asked him, looking away from his truthful eyes to stare at his hands where they were pressing into the cot, indenting the blankets.

"Which one?" Kaius asked, but his voice was teasing. "Love, you could imagine how easily crossing the Wildwood barrier might be. I mean, look at you—you crossed over without knowledge, not knowing how close you were to the boundary line. When the line is crossed, I can sort of feel it. I'm not sure if it's because of the magic ripple or because where Gossington lies in correlation to the barrier."

I settled deeper into the bed, getting myself comfortable.

"Each time, I'd find someone who'd accidentally crossed over. And, mind you, that it hasn't always been women. There was a fellow once named Charles, and he was kind." A small smile brought to his lips as he thought back, moving to press his hand over my own. "But the last girl before you, her name was Kathryn Kepperton. She was running away from her abusive husband and willingly crossed over the boarder, knowing what she knew."