Filed to story: The Alpha Kings Hated Slave
“N-nothing,” she snapped her mouth shut.
“Mm.”
Silence descended afterwards. She pulled closer to him, her eyes closed to revel in his moment. It was beautiful. Apart from the times he was making love to her, this was the most intimate he had held her in the past two weeks. It was almost like he was trying to withdraw himself from her.
As if he heard her thoughts, he pulled away from her, severing all contact completely. He got up from the bed, his face stoic.
Danika suddenly felt bereft. Empty. Vulnerable. She reached for the straps of her petticoat to slide her arms into them when a knock came at the door. It caused her to pause.
The king glanced at her state of undress and at the door. He walked to the door and pulled it open. A pause.
Then he stepped away from the door and allowed whoever was there enter into his chambers.
Baski hurried in, carrying a bowl of water and a towel. Following the king’s instructions, she dropped it on the bedside table before she left the room.
That was when he moved away from his position. Going towards the bedside table, he climbed in behind her again. The ruffles of clothes made her look behind her. He folded his evening garment to his bare arms. He folded them up to his shoulders before he reached for the towel and dipped it into the cold water.
“Your hair, Danika,” he said, breaking the silence.
Reaching for the wild mess that is her hair, she pushed them all out through her right shoulder, causing the mass to cover her right breast completely and fall to her belly. At the first press of cold water, she gasped at the unexpected chilling feeling. But a few seconds later, she enjoyed the ministration because it diverted her mind from the pains those spots produced before.
By the time he was done pressing the cold water, the hot water had arrived too. He repeated the same process. Indeed, the pains began abating slowly.
She reveled in the intimacy of having King Lucien take care of her like that. But even as her pains were decreasing, the dreadful sinking feeling in her gut would not abate.
He was withdrawing from her. Without a single change at all in his demure or his attitude towards her, he was withdrawing from her. And she had no idea what to do about it. The helplessness would be the death of her.
“Tell me about it.”
King Lucien was lost in thoughts-thoughts of the past-when that soft satin word pulled him back to reality. Her voice took him aback.
His hands paused on his scroll, the word he was writing unfinished. King Lucien raised his head and looked at the woman sitting on the bed. He must have been so deep in his thoughts that he completely lost track of reality. He had no idea when she woke or even when she pulled herself up in a sitting position.
“Go back to sleep, Danika.” His hand resumed scribbling. He had to finish writing this message tonight. The messenger will be delivering it to the twelve kingdoms tomorrow.
But instead of doing that, he heard the ruffles of the bedsheet that indicated that she must be getting out of bed. He also knew that she was naked under that bed sheet. He knew because he was the one that put her there. She’d fallen asleep in his arms in the middle of his administration.
He had been massaging the left side of her back with hot water when her body went lax, and her head fell against his chest.
He was almost done with the towel anyway, so he dropped it. And kept holding her. He lost track of time. He had no idea how long had passed while he stared at her sleeping body while the same kind of thoughts kept running through his head.
Now, she came up beside him, wrapping the bed sheet tightly around herself. He stopped writing and folded the scroll methodically.
What was he writing? Danika wondered, but only for a fleeting moment. Something else was more important.
“Tell me about it, my king,” she asked softly.
“There is nothing to tell.” But there was so much to tell. He did not bother asking who she was talking about because he knew.
“No.” She shook her head. “There is so much to tell.” If there weren’t, it would not be weighing him down so much, Danika thought sadly.
Silence.
“You will never understand, Danika,” he said at last. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“I might not, Your Highness, but I will surely listen. It will ease you. It will clear your mind,” she whispered.
He shook his head. He said nothing.
“I watched you for long minutes. You weren’t writing. You were lost in thoughts. Please, tell me what it is.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. He flinched. It did not get past her that it was the first time in a long time he flinched away from her touch. She didn’t take her hand back. “Don’t let it eat at you any longer. It will if you keep it all bottled for too much,” she added.
Her voice only met silence.
Time passed.
Her feet began hurting.
Finally, she sighed in defeat. Slowly, she let go of his shoulder and turned towards the bed.
“I have failed someone.” His deep voice stopped her.
“D-Declan, your cousin?” she asked because that was the person he believed he had failed.
But he shook his head. “No.”
She turned and walked back to him. “Who did you fail?”
A deep breath he took. Then deep blue eyes looked up at her. “Aneriaveta.”
The name did not ring a bell.
Danika’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Who is she?”
“That’s her full name. The name she would rather die than bear,” he deadpanned.
“Who?” She was getting more confused.
“Vetta,” he let out softly. “Vetta is short for Aneriaveta.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?