He was making me sleep in the same bed as him, a man I had only known for a few hours. It is absolutely scandalous?!
I never went to sleep, and I think he knew. I could hear and feel him tossing around during the night. Sometimes he would mumble something in his sleep, probably scolding me for building a wall of pillows. It wasn’t until the late hours of the night that my eyes finally grew heavy with the morning light coming through the balcony door. I felt warm and cosy, putting me in a relaxed state until I finally drifted off to sleep.
When I woke again, the sun was high in the sky. I sit up straight only to discover Kaden is still fast asleep. He must have had a sleepless night as well. I rub the sleep out of my eyes, now realizing that the pillow wall was removed and on the floor next to Kaden’s side of the bed. Glancing back over my shoulder I notice his perfect face, not a scar or pore in sight, since his entire body was covered in scars. His lashes were black just like his hair.
My gaze wandered down his face to his bare chest, taking in the curves of his muscles. Without realizing it, I find myself staring at him way longer than I should. Being this close to him should bother me, but it doesn’t. Cold shivers started flowing freely through my entire body, but instead of feeling the intensity of it like yesterday and the comparison of today, it felt more natural. It felt like it should have been there all along.
A bond like this shouldn’t even happen so quickly, right? When humans fall in love, it takes weeks, if not months, and even then, that love isn’t certain. Tempted, I reached out to gently cup his face with my hand. He leaned into my hand out of the blue, startling me and causing me to pull back.
“Don’t stop, Little One.” His rough voice spoke as he opened his eyes.
“Don’t stop what?” I acted like I didn’t know what he was talking about.
“The touching.” He murmured.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. You must have been dreaming.” He gives that sly smirk of his.
“If you say so, my sleeping beauty."
Shit! He knows that I’ve touched him. His ego must be really satisfied, thinking that he has won me over. But I have news for him. He won’t win me over that easily, with his dark hair and unique body structure. I have more power than he thinks. Out of frustration, I threw the blanket off, ready to go to the bathroom.
Halfway to the bathroom, I noticed a clean pile of clothes on the couch again. I must have really slept like a log because I didn’t even hear someone enter the room. I grabbed the pile of clothes, and I could feel the burning sensation of Kaden’s stare burning into my back, watching me close the bathroom door behind me. Once in the bathroom, I give a sigh of relief.
“Stupid, stupid! Why did you have to go and touch his face?” I screamed to myself.
“What was that?” I hear him shout from the bed.
“ Nothing!” I call out through gritted teeth. I could hear him chuckle, and god did it sound good.
“Snap out of it, Meara!” I barely grazed his skin, and I was already going crazy. Mental note to self: don’t touch Kaden unless it is necessary. He is a No...Touch.Zone. Completely off limits.
Opening the cold water of the tap, I quickly splashed some water on my face and got dressed. It is strange how a place that looked dated way back many centuries still had modern things like running tap water and electricity, but they didn’t have any cars or cellphones. I guess it is a good thing because now people can’t get distracted while driving.
Luckily, the two girls didn’t give me a corset this time, or they did, but it was a small brown leather waist trainer belt thing. I can effortlessly tie the laces by myself; no help is needed. Feeling good about myself, I take one last look in the mirror, notice what a mess my hair is, and quickly braid it in a side braid before exiting the bathroom. Today, I want Merilla to help me find out about my parents. Where they are, who they are, and what happened to them. If they were even still alive, The faster I find out all those details, the quicker I can return home.
“You look like you’re in a hurry, little one?”
“I want to get an early start and find Merilla so that we can start our search for my biological parents,” I say swiftly. He stares at me intensely for a moment, making me feel rather uncomfortable.
“ Might I suggest you start your search in the castle library? I will ask Deon to pull all the old records from the archives with information about elementals who had children about twenty years ago.”
“ Thank you; that is kind of you.” I thanked him
“ Before you slave yourself away in the company of the books, would you care to join me for breakfast?” I wanted to get an early start, but something about his eyes was soft and inviting, begging for my company. I must eat after all; who knows how long I am going to be in the magnificent library of his with my head stuffed away in all the books. Before I knew what I was doing, I accepted his offer.
“ I would like to have breakfast with you,” I said with a stern face, not wanting to show him that I was actually looking forward to having breakfast with him for some odd reason.
The smell of baked goods filled the large castle as we descended the stairs. I followed Kaden as he led the way outside, where a large table was placed in the centre of the garden under a canopy to cover us from the harsh morning sun rays. The huge table is spread with fruit, baked goods, bacon, sausage, eggs, cheeses, and many other foods displayed on the table.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I ordered the chef to prepare a bit of everything,” Kaden said behind me, causing me to jump. Both his hands reached for my hips, and I swiftly moved aside to dodge his touch. Every time he touches me, I lose focus. He gestured for me to take a seat instead while he pulled out one of the chairs for me like a gentleman, clearly trying to soften me. I politely thanked him and sat down in the chair as he pushed the chair closer to the table.
Deon, Zaden, Mike, and Seth were also seated at the table. One would think that the guards would stand guard and watch, but instead, they are joining us for breakfast. Not that I have anything against it. It is just odd that the king would want his subjects to try and act like they are royalty, but not Kaden. He has his men joining him at the table for breakfast like a big, happy family. He really stunned me and caught me off guard with his politeness. Maybe he does have a softer side to him, besides the barbarian act he puts up. Unless he is trying to win me over by making me think that he is kind to his people,
Everyone sat in silence while I looked around, confused, as everyone looked at me strangely.
“ Your majesty tells us when to eat,” Mike said proudly.
“ I am not royalty.” I corrected him with a smile.
“ But you will be soon, my Little One.” Kade added. “ Best you try and get used to the idea,” Kaden said casually as he placed a napkin on his lap while everyone was still staring at me.
To divert their attention from me, I told them to dig in. Without any hesitation, they all filled their plates to the brim, even Kaden.
“ Deon I want you to go to the Archives with her ‘ Majesty’.” He glared at me as he slowly said that last part. “ And pull the records of all the elementals who had a baby just over twenty years ago.” I wanted to correct him and say that I was only twenty years old, but I stayed silent and swallowed hard on my piece of bread. Merilla mentioned that he was way older than he looked, so I didn’t want to look young and naive in his eyes.
In my head was a constant tug and war about trying to get away from hearing and returning home, but there was this small part of me that wanted to stay and find out about my real parents, who they were and where I came from, and also explore a bit. I have never travelled outside our little town before. I rushed my food down as fast as I possibly could and excused myself from the table, barely turning my back to the table as Kaden rushed to my side, grabbing ahold of my hand in a tight grip.
“ Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your betrothed Little one.?” He said in a deep, gruff voice, almost not sounding like him at all. The men around the table completely went silent, turning their focus away from the food and towards me and Kaden.
I look up, gazing straight into those piercing, darkened red eyes I saw previously. The look in his eyes really looked like he was possessed or something, like a demon monster thing.
“Kaden, let go of my hand; you are hurting me!” I call out in pain.
There is a slight smirk creeping up in the corner of his mouth, almost as if he liked hurting me. I reach for his hand, trying to yank it off of my other hand, but his grip is locked tight.
“Kaden, please,” I call out.
Zaden was the one who jumped up first and came to my aid, clearly realizing that Kaden wasn’t toying around. All the other men also rushed to our side.
“ Kaden! Let go of her! You are not yourself; it is the darkness.” Deon shouts while trying to pull Kaden away from me as Zaden attempts to loosen his grip around my hand. The other two guys also jumped in to help, but even with all four of them, none of them was able to pull him away. With all four men pulling and trying to push Kaden away from me, his gaze never even left my eyes. His evil smirk is still plastered across his face. I know I’ve called him a barbarian, but this was way different than before.
“Marilla, help, please! Call for Luka. It is Kaden!” I call out in my mind, hoping she hears me.
Kaden suddenly reaches for my hip with his other open hand and pulls me in so fast that I slam hard into his chest. His grip on my hip is so tight that I can feel the skin bruise. A yelp escapes my mouth as I quiver in pain.
Somewhere deep inside my core, I feel the slightest prickle of cold streaming through my veins. The more I fought to get out of Kaden’s grip, the colder my body seemed to get. Now I wasn’t just fighting one battle; I was fighting two. One where I have to get Kaden’s death grip off of me, and the other battle of this cold burning sensation sweeping through my body, burning and freezing me up from the inside. I bite down hard, trying to distract my attention from the pain growing from within.