“I like these berries,” I mumble.
“And what was your pathetic lover called?” Ken looks all too amused with himself, enjoying the fact that I can’t stop from answering.
“Felix.”
A vague image of his face crosses my mind. I’m sure he doesn’t even miss me. And the revelation doesn’t hurt, surprisingly. We only kept each other company because we were both lonely and sought affection. Other than the physical aspect, there was never substance between us.
“Have you—”
“Enough, Kenisius!” Rainer gives the shifter a pointed look. He looks entirely distraught, as he strokes his jaw. “This is not an appropriate line of questioning.”
Kenisus throws his head back in a howling laugh, and his shoulders shake with the force. “When is appropriate ever any fun?”
“Alessia.” Rainer turns to me, and I’m so buzzy and disconnected, that I can only smile up at him. “How many berries did you have?”
“A lot, by the looks of it,” Ken says.
He’s right. I close my eyes and lean back on the ground. I’m floating… floating… floating. The sun warms my skin and it’s like a million soft kisses.
Wait—when did the sun come out? Am I imagining it?
“Why didn’t you let me kiss you?” I ask Rainer without looking at him.
“You’re not thinking clearly,” he replies.
“Yes I am. I certainly didn’t imagine your erection poking me before Ken interrupted.”
Ken howls with laughter and Rainer must give him a look, because the shifter immediately swallows his humor down with a fake cough.
“You asked what I want,” I say with my eyes still closed, and my arms behind my head. “I want Char back. I want her to be alive. I want to know why Felix wouldn’t choose me over the lord. I want the lord and the lady to pay for what they did to me and Char. I want Dovenak to change, for the Trade to no longer exist so everyone can be safe and free and happy—” I pause. “I want more doughnuts. I want to see you naked. And I want to have an orgasm not by my own hand for once.”
A few moments of silence pass, before Rainer says, “I’m taking you to bed.”
“Oh goodie.” My lips tilt up into a smile, and I try to open my eyes but my eyelids are too heavy. “I’m glad you’ve agreed to make one of my wishes come true.”
“No,” he says, clearly exasperated. “I’m putting you to bed—alone. You need to sleep this off.”
I don’t want to go to sleep. I try to say it, but my lips don’t move. They tingle. My whole body tingles. I could stay here forever. Right here.
I’m scooped up into a pair of strong arms, and I sigh, wrapping my arms around the owner’s neck. I immediately know it’s the prince based on the way he smells floral yet masculine. He grips me tight, and I’m safe with him.
My eyes stay shut and I nuzzle into his neck. “You smell like roses.”
“And you smell like bad decisions and regret. My undoing.”
I chuckle, and he stills when my parted lips caress his skin.
“She needs to sleep it off,” Rainer repeats, his chest rumbling. Ken says something I don’t quite hear, to which Rainer replies, “I’ve got this, Kenisius.”
Rainer starts walking, and I cling to his warm frame.
“Will I be okay?” I mumble.
“You’ll be fine,” he tells me. “Nothing a nap won’t fix.”
“I don’t want a hangover.”
“Moonberries don’t give you hangovers.”