Kian looked at her for one still mont, and then, just as Isabella was trying very hard to keep her face serious and queenly and completely unaffected by the whole matter of him almost taking off his hide skirt in front of her, he let out a low laugh.
It was not a loud laugh, and it was not the kind of laugh that belonged to soone amused by the world in general. It was soft, deep, and brief, like a little sound that had slipped out before he could stop it, and because it ca from him of all people, it felt even more dangerous.
Isabella’s face beca hotter at once.
She hated that he could do that.
No, hate was too strong.
She hated that he could do that and look good while doing it.
She had already turned her eyes away after warning him not to take off the skirt, because even though she was usually bossy and shaless enough to order everyone around like she was born for it, there were still rare monts when sothing caught her off guard badly enough that her cheeks betrayed her.
This was one of those monts.
So she rubbed her pregnant stomach and looked up at the ceiling as if the ceiling had suddenly beco very important, then she said with forced dignity, "Fine. Fine. If you have to change, then I’ll turn around, but be quick."
Kian watched her for one second longer.
The faint red at her cheeks was so soft and so unlike the usual bright and dramatic Isabella that sothing inside his chest gave a strange, quiet pull.
She was usually sharp with him, teasing, clever, and always ready with a line that would make soone else speechless. Seeing her like this, all flustered and trying to pretend she was not flustered at all, made him feel sothing warm and painful at the sa ti.
So he answered in a voice that was low and obedient in a way that almost sounded like teasing, "Yes, my queen."
That only made her worse.
Isabella gave a small laugh, because if she did not laugh, she might have sounded too obviously affected, and then she quickly turned her back.
Behind her, Kian moved at once.
He did not waste ti, because he knew very well that if he moved slowly, Isabella would only beco more aware of every tiny sound in the room, and that would amuse him far too much for a morning that had already been irritating. He changed into a clean hide skirt, wiped away the spilled dicine from his chest, and cleaned himself with quick, efficient movents.
Even then, the whole room still seed full of her.
Her scent clung softly to the air because she had just entered. Her warmth lingered where she stood. Even the sound of her breathing, quiet and trying to be normal, seed to settle around his mind in a way he could not ignore.
That was the problem.
No.
That was the danger.
Because In his bloodline, the males like him were not ant for love, they were ant to serve the moon goddess and fulfill her purpose when the ti was right.
Kian knew that, and that was why he was like this, always keepin his distance and always so cold to those aro him.
Even Shelia herself does not know about the curse and Kian only found out after his father’s death.
If he fell for Isabella, he knew that the moon goddess herself would take him out the mont he had an heir, just like she had done to his father.
That was why he had kept his distance even when every part of him had already begun leaning toward her.
Because he was scared of hurting Isabella, so he started treating his own heart like an enemy camp that needed to be watched.
But now?
Now that battle was becoming harder and harder to win. The mont he looked at her, he wanted to soften. The mont she entered a room, he noticed. The mont she smiled at soone else, he cared.
The mont she looked tired, he wanted to shut the world up and put it outside. This was not a passing thing anymore.
This was not sothing he could still pretend was under control.
By the ti Isabella asked, "Are you done already?" he had already forced his face back into sothing calm.
She turned around, and the first thing she saw was not Kian.
It was Glimora.
That little shaless beast was sitting there, staring with bright, round, unblinking eyes that held far too much curiosity for a creature covered in fur.
For one second, Isabella simply stared back.
Then she gasped.
"Oh my gosh," she said, scandalized. "Why are you still here?"
Glimora gave a soft sound from her throat that truly did sound suspiciously like laughter.
Not normal beast laughter, because Isabella had no idea whether beasts were supposed to laugh at all, but definitely a sound with attitude in it.
Kian saw it too.
The corner of his mouth moved.
Isabella pointed at the door at once. "Out. Out! You are not allowed to sit here staring at people like a nosy auntie."
Glimora blinked once more, rose with insulting calm, and padded toward the door as though she were the wronged one in this situation.
Just before leaving, she made that little sound again.
Isabella stared after her in disbelief.
"Gosh," she muttered, "why is everyone shaless nowadays?"
The mont the words left her mouth, she felt warmth behind her.
Then strong arms wrapped around her from the back.
Isabella froze.
Kian’s body pressed close behind hers, his chest firm and warm against her back, and before she could even fully react, his head bent and his nose brushed against the side of her neck. He breathed her in slowly, deeply, shalessly, like a man who had been thirsty all day and had finally found water.
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