AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head. “No, I’ll come. It’s not the Maledinni who are keeping my family locked away behind a barrier.”
Zabriel’s tense shoulders relax, and he leans down and kisses me. “I adore you. I’ll be just outside when you’re ready, and we’ll go to the Great Hall together.”
I put it on, and the dress flows like liquid over my curves. I’ve never worn anything as special as this, but for once the finery doesn’t make me feel ridiculous like I’m dressing up in my better clothes. This dress is mine, and no one else’s. I can feel how much it was made for me by someone who cares.
I rework my braid and fasten it atop my head and take a moment to pat my hair and dress down, wondering how I look.
When I open the door, I get my answer. Zabriel’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open.
“Sha’len,” he breathes and holds out his hands to me.
I move forward and take them shyly, drinking in the delight on his face. If I look pretty to him, then it doesn’t matter what I look like to anyone else.
The Great Hall is filled with people as it was on his coronation day, Maledinni and humans alike. I notice that the two peoples seem more relaxed in each other’s presence this time. Some of the human lords are talking with the dragonriders. The unwed sons and daughters of each side are glancing curiously at each other. Several of the human women follow Zabriel with their eyes as we walk through the room. Some of them scowl at me. All their expressions ask,Who even are you to catch the king’s eye? A village girl. You’re no one special.
Zabriel clasps my hand tighter and pulls me closer to him, and he’s smiling as we take our seats at the high table.
I stumble a little over my chair, and a feminine titter goes up from one of the lower tables. I sit with my head down and my fingers tangled in my lap. Maybe I shouldn’t have put on a dress like this and drawn so much attention to myself.
“Isavelle? Are you all right?”
“Um, I’m fine.”
Zabriel narrows his eyes. He glances down at his body. I realize what he’s about to do the moment before he does it.
“Don’t—”
Too late. Zabriel pulls me out of my seat and into his lap and wraps his arms firmly around me. My face flames as he gathers me against him, his hands cupping my behind. “Zabriel, everyone is watching.”
“Fuck everyone. Listen to me.” He speaks slowly and deliberately, a strong hand cupping my face. “Everyone in this room needs to understand how I feel about you. Especially you. The moment I laid eyes on you sitting in the dust with your hands tied and covered in bruises and blood, I knew I’d found my Omega. Again. And this time I could see her face. I could see her poor, half-starved, and battered body. Then, your beauty was breathtaking. Now, your beauty is breathtaking. It’s got nothing to do with how you look, though I assure you, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and your lips and thighs drive me to fucking distraction.Youare beautiful. You’re kind. You worry about everyone but yourself. You made yourself this way by who you are, and I’m the luckiest man who ever lived. Do you doubt me?”
I gaze up at him with lips parted, unable to find any words. Zabriel’s red eyes are blazing into mine. Mutely, I shake my head.
His face relaxes into a smile. “I’m glad to hear it.” He takes my hand and presses a kiss to my palm, a playful light dancing in his eyes. “And what about me? Do you think I’m handsome?”
My lips twitch. Zabriel is utterly gorgeous and he knows it. He’s always so good at expressing how he feels that I have to try as well. I wrap my arms around his neck and gaze into his eyes. “It’s been one month since you awoke beneath the Bodan Mountains, and the people of Maledin are freer than I’ve ever known them to be. No one has spoken to me of executions or beatings, daughters being stolen, and families being punished for not going to church. The Maledinni don’t wish to persecute the humans living here, drive them away, or separate them from their kind. If everyone is allowed to live peacefully in Maledin, including those who are missing, I feel hopeful about the future for the first time.” I stroke Zabriel’s hand that’s holding on to my thigh. “And that’s because of you.”
I’ve never seen Zabriel struggle for words before, but now he’s silent for a long moment. He takes my hand and presses it to his thundering heart, covering it tightly with his own. “Thank you,sha’len. That means everything to me. This is the part of me who burns to be the best mate and king I can be. For you. Because of you.”
“Maledin is lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you, too.”
“Thank you,sha’len. Let’s drink to that.” He picks up his goblet of wine and holds it to my lips. When I try to take it from him, he shakes his head. “Let me do it.”
Hesitantly, I open my lips, and as he carefully fills my mouth with wine, I swallow it down. There’s a droplet of liquid on my lips and he kisses it away.
Zabriel’s smile turns roguish. “So, you like me as a man and think I’m devastatingly handsome? Good to know.”
“We never settled the matter about whether I think you’re handsome,” I tease.
Zabriel gives me a smoldering smile. “Your scent becomes so flowery when you get excited. You have no secrets from me, and when you finally catch your Alpha’s scent, I’ll have no secrets from you, either.”
Zabriel kisses my throat and slides the blade of his nose up my cheek. Beneath the table, he wraps his large hands around my hips and thighs and squeezes. “This is what you’re meant to be like, isn’t it? Rounded hips and thighs and tapering little toes. I can’t get enough of looking at you and touching you. Every time you let me hold you like this is a gift,sha’len.”
I feel myself melting into him. I’ve never been praised so much in my life. I think I might become addicted to his voice.
He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and gazes at me. “That look you’re giving me right now is a gift as well. So beautiful. Maybe I’m even more than handsome to you. I feel you pulling my clothes with your eyes when you think I’m not looking. You’re always hunting for my knot.”
“I am not!” I exclaim, though I know that’s a lie. I bury my face in Zabriel’s shoulder when everyone nearby turns to look at me. It’s so easy to forget about everyone in the room when I’m talking to Zabriel. I can feel him laughing silently against me.
