Page 82 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

Kai was standing like Shehryar, his hands balled into fists by his side as he glared furiously at Pierre. With the way he rolled his clenched jaw and the way his fingers kept shifting by his sides, it seemed like he was getting ready to attack his best friend. My heart started squealing in my chest, because that wasn’t anger in his blacker than black eyes.

Kai was jealous. He had no reason to be, but he was.

“Oh, it looks like the other bear has something to say now,” Pierre joked. I had no idea if he couldn’t see Kai’s jealousy or if he was being purposely obtuse. Either way, I giggled.

When Kai looked at me, flooding my heart with adoration for him, I flashed him a big, loving grin. The dark aura around him wavered as he huffed out a breath, but his frown remained stubborn. Though at least he looked more adorably grumpy than he did murderous.

Once Pierre gave me the all-clear with some instructions on what to do if anything started hurting or bruising by the end of the day, he left me in the infirmary with Kai and Shehryar. I barely got a breath in before Shehryar burst into an angry rant about how dangerous what I did was—though he hadn’t even seen it. I quietly nodded and apologised until he eventually ran out of steam.

“Don’t do that again,” he said softly. “Please, Princess.”

“I won’t. I promise, Sher.”

He put a hand to the back of my hair and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of my head. “Good.” He pulled back and checked his wristwatch while turning to Kai. “You may have half an hour with her, Prince Kai. Then I need her back to get ready for the Cannon Ceremony. I would appreciate it if you could accompany her up to her room.”

“Of course,” Kai said with a firm nod.

Shehryar bowed and exited the room, leaving the door half open behind him. Then it was just me and Kai and a warm silence full of fuzzy awareness.

“Hi,” I whispered, my lips curling up timidly.

“Hi,” he rasped as he swaggered over until he was standing between my legs.

His gaze caressed all over my face with a delicacy that made my skin tingle. I dropped my head further back to let him check over me completely the way it seemed like he needed to. A sigh slipped out of me when he brought his hands up to cup my face, and my lashes fell shut.

I had missed his hands on me so much. I’d missed the warmth of his huge body, and the sweet, enchanting scent of him too. I’d missed him. And we’d only been apart for one night.

The weight of his mouth landed on my forehead first and he inhaled deeply. His body sagged towards me on his exhale. Then he kissed the bridge of my nose so gently. The hollow of my left cheek, and my right cheek. He dipped his head and kissed the thudding pulse under my ear, then dropped his head lower and inhaled again, sending a sweet shiver skittering all over me.

“Kai.” My shaky hands clung onto his biceps as my lashes fluttered.

He moved back up, swift and easy, tilting my head higher as he slanted his mouth heavily across mine. He tugged at my lips with a near-desperate greed, yet his hands were so gentle on my face. I could feel it in the tremble of his fingers how careful he was trying to be and gosh, it was so sweet, but I didn’t need careful. I just needed him. So I kissed him harder, dragged him down closer, and after a moment of hesitation, he reciprocated.

“You scared the life out of me, Babble,” Kai panted, resting his forehead on mine.

“Sorry.” I gulped slowly, knowing I had much more than just that to be sorry for. “And I’m sorry for not—I mean, last night—I said I wasn’t going to stay away from you but—”

His arms immediately squeezed me closer, and he shook his head. “No, don’t apologise. It’s okay. I understood why, Esmeralda. You had a lot to think about, and I…” He let out a sigh. “It hurt. But only because I knew there was nothing I could do to fix it for you.”

A crack split through my heart, filling me with regret. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for hurting you, Kai.”

But he smiled, soft and small and genuine, as he stroked his thumb across my cheek. “Don’t be sorry, Babble. It hurt because you were hurting. Because I care about you so much, Esmeralda. And I’m not sorry about that. I won’t ever be. You shouldn’t be either.”

Forget that he’d just spoken the hottest, sweetest words possible, it was the burning sincerity in his eyes that stole my heart’s ability to function properly. It hiccupped and sobbed and screamed, pumping bubbles and achy heat through my veins instead of blood. And that breathless feeling wiped away the rest of the world and all its problems.

All I could see was Kai and how beautiful his heart, his mind, his soul were. And he was mine, and I…

I was in love with him. There was no question about it.

Slipping a hand around to the back of his neck, I pulled him back down to me, mashing my mouth to his and showing him exactly what he was making me feel. All the love, happiness, trust, everything, until I felt satisfied just pressing soft pecks to his hot, swollen mouth.

“Kareem was asking me about you,” I whispered. Kai’s fingers slowed as they combed through the side of my hair. “But—I think it was a good thing.”

“Really?” My nod put a relieved smile on his mouth. “I’m glad. I’m so happy, Esmeralda. For you. But for us too.”

My mouth stretched. “I like it when you say us.”

His gorgeous dimple appeared deep in his right cheek. “Me too.” And then he kissed me.

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