AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I wanted to take the kindling of that flame and stoke it until it burned bright enough for the world to see.
"Asking would give you the illusion that I'd accept a no, Baby Bird. You yourself said you were caged? A beautiful little Bird on display," I said, reaching out a hand to snatch a strawberry off the plate between us.
“My entire life has been a cage. That you give me no choice simply proves that you are no better.” Her smile was sweet and anyone could be fooled into thinking she was meek with the way she stared down at her hands. I knew better. Somehow, I knew better.
Deciding the strawberry was good enough for her, I held it out, watching as those mossy eyes deliberated on what she should do. Eventually, she leaned forward, taking a bite of the fruit and staining her pink lips darker in the center.
I had the urge to lick them clean. I already knew how she tasted with the scent of roses mingling with her. I was desperate to know how intoxicating she would be combined with the ripe sweetness of the berry. The only thing that prevented me from doing just that was us being in public, and the fact that she would inevitably be judged for such a contact with a man who was not yet her husband.
I would not be the thing that ruined her.
"And is that how you treat women then, King Reece? Like a bird to be caged? How medieval," she mused, turning her eyes away from me. I’d disappointed her with my answer. Even if I meant every word, I found the cold of having her light turned away too much for me to bear. "Nobody thinks I should have a choice in my life, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You're a King, after all. What do you care for the desires of a woman?"
"I know that I care for your desires far more than is smart." It came out more flippant and filled with innuendo than I desired, but it couldn’t be helped once the words left my mouth. Instead of backtracking, I tried to lessen the harshness of it with a sheepish smile.
"How original," she whispered. “I did not imagine someone like you would be so trite.”
Fury instantly overtook me with the prospect of Alina being familiar with pick up lines. She caught my eye, her lips tipping up in amusement at the rage she must have seen in my eyes, and then looked down, genuine shyness overtaking her features. "What do you know of pick up lines?" I growled.
"I was imprisoned in a palace, Reece. Poor as Lantis is compared to the beauty and grandeur of Oshal, we are still civilized. I am not blocked from using the internet or watching movies. I am not completely uneducated in the way of the world." She tipped her face up, like she was soaking up the feeling of the sun against her skin. The scent of her reached me, fresh, where in the darkness it had been rich. Sweet and innocent even when she spoke so boldly of worldly knowledge.
"Hmmm," I hummed, studying her and finally biting off the rest of the berry. Deciding to change the conversation away from my irrelevant jealousy, I focused on the one solid truth I knew more firmly than anything.
I was her first kiss. I'd be her first everything.
I’d also be her last.
"Well, if you aren't locked away in your gilded cage, who will you be?" I asked, watching her brush her hand over her shoulder like there was something there. Looking closer as she pulled her hand away and turned her attention back to me, I watched the way the highlights of the skin in that spot moved with her body. Unnaturally.
“Being caged would mean that I was a prisoner. So I would be obliged to be who my husband demands me to be," she sighed. The unmistakable sorrow in her eyes was enough to bring me to my knees at her feet. To worship and build her legs until she felt strong enough to stand on her own at my side. To encourage her to spread her wings so she could fly.
To shine.
Couples passed by our blanket, distracting her attention away from me in a way I knew was intentional. She put in the effort to look anywhere but at me.
"No, Baby Bird. That’s not what I was asking," I told her firmly. "Who do youwantto be, Alina? Without the interference of a husband who requires something of you or a mother who makes unrealistic demands. Who do you see when you look into the mirror and think of the future you could design for yourself?”
She glanced at me, her eyes going wide in response to the question. "Nobody's ever asked me that." She huffed a laugh, looking to the sky with a heaving sigh. "I like to read. I like children, though I don't have much experience with them. I want to be a Queen who serves my people. I want to be out there in the city with them and feel their plights. I don't want to be invisible anymore. I want to be real and tangible andseen,"she said, biting her bottom lip when she realized just how much she'd given me.
It wasn't everything there was to know about the woman who would be my wife, but it was a start. A small window into the soul that felt like an echo of my own.
"How is it—" I paused, grinning at her in my attempt to diffuse the tension that locked her frame rigid with anxiety. "That your mother didn't decorate you in jewels? She seems the type." I nodded to some of the passing princesses, to the diamonds that covered their throats and the bracelets circling their wrists.
Smiling sheepishly, Alina reached into the little clutch she grasped in her hand. Opening the clasp, she pulled out a wad of platinum and diamond jewelry. A necklace, bracelets, earrings. The whole shebang, tucked safely away where she needn't wear them. "Small rebellions," she whispered, her eyes dancing with pride at this one sign of just who she would be.
Standing, I held out a hand for her to take. She hurried to close her clutch, accepting the hand offered and allowing me to pull her graceful form to her feet. "Come with me," I told her, taking her free hand and guiding her off down one of the garden paths. Rounding the hedge wall of shrubbery, I pulled her after me with a broad smile.
"Where are we going?" she asked. Though it was hesitant, the excitement in her voice was unmistakable. The rebel lurking beneath the meek and awkward princess wanted to come out and play with me. Knowing she wasn't interested in jewels and luxury, that she dreamed of being with the people she served, painted a very true picture of my Princess.
My Queen.
"Do you trust me?" I asked her, spinning back to look at her. Her eyes were wide, shock lurking in those emerald depths. The only gems I truly needed. The rest could rot in the treasury for all I cared. They were dull in comparison to the shine of Alina Atwater.
"Do I trust you? I've only just met you yesterday." Her voice was a mumble, an annoyed and positively addictive tone to it. Her side comments to herself revealed more pieces of the puzzle that I slowly pieced together over our brief time together.
Stopping entirely, I cupped her cheeks in my palms. Thumbs running over her cheekbones, I willed her to see me. To feel me. "Do you trust yourself?" I asked her. "The only danger you're in with me is the risk of your own desire for me. I will never touch you in a way you don't want. I will never take something you don't want to give. Your resistance to me is only because you know you want me as well as I do. So I'll ask you again, Princess. Do you trust me?"
She took a deep breath before letting it go. "Yes," she whispered, her thicker bottom lip separating from the top.
