Page 96 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
After we leave, she asks me mischievously, “What if I run off with your gold?”
“I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
As we get close to a food stall, the smell of roasted meat and fresh bread fills the air.
“Two meat pies,” I tell the vendor.
“I’m not hungry,” Astra says, but her stomach chooses that moment to growl loudly. I raise an eyebrow, and she flushes red. “Fine. Maybe I am a little hungry.”
We find a bench near a fountain and sit down to eat. Astra takes a careful bite, and her eyes widen in delight. We finish our meat pies in comfortable silence, watching the fountain spray water in lazy arcs. Astra licks her fingers clean, completely unselfconscious about it, and I find myself staring at her mouth longer than I should.
“We should find a place to stay,” I tell her, standing up and brushing crumbs off my shirt.
She nods, gathering up the empty wrappings. “Somewhere cheap.”
“Somewhere clean,” I correct her, offering my hand to help her up.
She takes it without hesitation this time—another small victory—and lets me pull her to her feet. Luna stretches lazily on the ground before jumping back into her preferred position on Astra’s shoulder.
The inn is easy enough to find. The building is modest but well-maintained, with flower boxes under the windows and a sign that reads “The Copper Crown Inn” in faded paint.
The owner—a round-faced woman with graying hair—barely looks up from her ledger when we enter. Perfect. I slide a coin across the counter.
“Room for the night.”
She glances at the gold, then at us, then back at the gold. Her eyebrows rise slightly, but she doesn’t comment on the lavish sum.
“Room twelve,” she says, handing me a key. “Up the stairs, down the hall, last door on the right.”
I catch Astra’s eyes lingering on a colorful pamphlet displayed near the reception desk. Her fingers brush against it briefly, and when she thinks I’m not looking, she folds it quickly and slips it into her pocket.
We reach our door, and I unlock it to reveal a small but clean room with a bed, a washbasin, and a window overlooking the town square. It’s nothing like the royal chambers I’m used to, but it’s a thousand times better than sleeping on dirt in the forest.
“I can take the floor,” Astra says immediately, clutching her new book to her chest.
Before she can blink, I scoop her up in my arms and cross the room. She yelps in surprise, the book tumbling from her grip as I deposit her firmly on the bed.
“We’re both taking the bed,” I tell her plainly.
Her eyes go wide, color flooding her cheeks. “What? No! I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Fine.” I lie down on the narrow strip of floor beside the bed, stretching out with exaggerated comfort. “Then, I’ll sleep down here with you.”
“Lucian!” She scrambles to the edge of the bed and stands up, staring down at me in horror. “You can’t—That’s not—Get up!”
“You said you wanted to sleep on the floor. This is the floor.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it!”
I fold my arms behind my head, perfectly relaxed. “Then get back on the bed where you belong.”
She glares at me, her hair falling in waves around her flushed face. “Have you always been this clingy?”
The accusation stirs the primal part of me. Before I can think better of it, I’m on my feet and catching her face between my hands, my mouth quickly finding hers.
This time, she doesn’t freeze. This time, when my lips move against hers, she melts into me with a soft moan that goes straight through my entire body.
The sound undoes me completely.
