Head over heels

Alessia

Averting his gaze from the file, he looked up at me, his expression blank. “What did you say?” He arched his perfect-shaped, dark brows, amusement lurking in his ocean eyes.

It was a terrible idea, a terrible idea to even think of challenging him. Even though I wished he hadn’t heard me, he did—he heard me. Yet, he asked that for his own amusement.

I gulped the lump in my throat, my pulse racing. But I refused to show him my nervousness. “It’s nothing. I am just tired.” I paused, hoping to brush it off. “I should sleep.” I turned, aiming for the bed, praying I could just hide under the blanket.

But I had barely taken a step before he stepped forward, blocking my path. “No.” He stated, his tone sharp. “We are not done here.”

As I said nothing, he added, “You were asking about the heir,” he asserted, taking another step closer.

His intense gaze made my movements stiff. My heart throbbed so fast I feared that it would burst out of its spot. “I was kidding.” I said, faking confidence in my voice, my gaze locked onto his.

He was so tall that I almost broke my neck to keep eye contact. “And I was wondering what was so funny.” He said.

“He is looking at us like we are his next meal. Should we be worried or thrilled?” Salony whispered in my mind.

My breath hitched. I wanted to step back, to put some distance between us, but I was frozen in place as if some invisible force held me in the place. And, I knew if I backed down now, he would definitely see it as weakness and I refused to show him any of my weaknesses.

“I asked—” I forced my lips to curve into what I hoped was a casual smile. “When are we going to work on bringing the mentioned heir?”

His lips twitched, and for a second, I thought he might smile. But he didn’t bless my eyesight with that. Rather he took another step, leaning slightly as he lifted his brows, “Eager, are we?”

Hearing what he had asked, my eyes widened. “No.” I immediately raised my voice.

He nodded slowly, definitely mocking me, “Fine then.” He muttered more to himself than to me as he moved back to the spot he was standing earlier. So normal, so unbothered.

I watched him blankly, as he focused on his file again. What was so important about it?

“Sleep, Alessia.” His sudden deep voice almost made me jump. “Tomorrow will be a long day for you.” He said without even glancing at me.

“So caring, isn’t he?” Salony joined with her usual sarcasm.

I wanted to piss him off but he had a point. Tomorrow would be my first official day as Luna. I knew no one here. Even though his family already felt warm and welcoming, I would still need to conform to them as well.

Swallowing my frustration, I bit back a sigh and walked to the bed. After pondering for a while, I grabbed a few extra pillows, and started arranging them to form a border down the middle of the bed. It was indeed a childish move, but if I had to share a bed with Dorian, I needed some barrier to protect myself from getting strangled.

“Wow, a pillow fortress.” Salony joked.

A smile escaped my lips. For a moment, I could feel his eyes on me but when I glanced up to confirm, he was still so invested in that damn file.

I focused back on fluffing the pillows as if they were the most important task in the world.

“Does this make you feel better?” Dorian asked when I was done.

I brushed my hands out of habits and then slumped down on the bed, saying, “Just making sure we both get a good night’s sleep. After all, you did say tomorrow would be a long day.”

“How considerate of you.” He murmured while flipping through the pages.

“You are welcome,” I replied, trying to match his nonchalance as I pulled the blanket up to cover my body.

This time, he finally looked my way. But before his dark gaze could unravel me, I forced my eyes shut. Yeah, I should definitely sleep.

The light stayed on for the next twenty minutes, casting an irritating glow through my closed eyelids. I didn’t dare open them, though. Occasionally, I switched sides, trying so damn hard to sleep, but my mind refused to shut down.

I wouldn’t completely blame the light, perhaps it was his presence too. I had always slept alone, even as a child. The idea of sharing a bed with someoneeven if there was a pillow barrier between us felt so foreign.

A muted sigh left my lips as I rolled over to face the pillow barrier. My fingers wrapped around the pillow, seeking comfort in the soft fabric but my fingers brushed against something else—something so cool, not the soft fabric of the pillow.

Flipping my eyes open, I glanced down, and my heart nearly stopped. A black sleeve.

He was sitting on the bed, his back resting against the headboard, a book in his one hand. The other was casually draped across the pillow barrier, his fingers barely an inch away from mine. Goddess! When the hell did he get on the bed?

Before I could think any further, he tilted his head slightly, as if sensing my touch. Our eyes almost met, but fortunately, I was faster, squeezing my eyes shut and pretending to sleep like my life depended on it.

“Smooth move, Alessia. Very convincing.” Salony muttered humorlessly in my head.

Seconds passed—maybe minutes, I couldn’t tell before I heard the soft rustle of paper. The next moment, the light clicked off, eventually plunging the room into darkness.