Chapter 27

Twenty-Seven: Natalle Natalie's P.O.V.

The night was awful.

I didn't get a wink of sleep, and I was positive that Killian didn't either. Although with him sleepingin the sitting room, I moved from the uncomfortable armchair to the empty bed so I wouldn't haveto sit up all night.

It made me smile when he came back into the room. Even if we were mad at each other, I felt heard.He had listened to me the last time we fought and even if he didn't want to sleep next to me, he stillcame back. He didn't go sleep somewhere else, and he didn't stay up working all night. While hislegs hung over the end of the couch, and he was clearly uncomfortable, the small gesture made mevery happy.

The next morning breakfast was brought to our room, and I was stunned when Killian sat down withme at the small two-person table and began to eat in silence. We had never shared breakfastbefore, and I felt self-conscious as he watched me eat.

"What is your favorite color?” His question after a long night and morning of silence took me bysurprise, and I blinked at him from across the table.

Civility. I had asked him for civility, and he had heard me.

I smiled softly as I realized that he was making an effort. He hadn't stormed out of the room andslammed the door between us. He slept in our room, stayed to have breakfast together, and nowwas trying to learn more about me “Blue,” I looked away as I felt my cheeks warm. His piercing, hazel eyes were burning into my soul,and my tongue felt like it was tied in a knot as he continued to stare at me.

After I left him high and dry last night, I had expected him to be angry at me. But if he was, he didn'tlet it show.

If anything, he seemed more at peace now than normal.

"And you, what is yours?” I glanced over the rim of my cup as I took a sip of my orange juice. Hiseyes. locked onto mine, and I smiled at him as I swallowed my sip and lowered my drink.

“Green.” He said, and I forced my eyes away from him to glance around the room. There wasn't asingle green thing in here, nor did I remember seeing anything in his office.

I wasn't daft enough to think that he favored that color because of my eyes.

We had a long way to go before any deeper feelings could come to the surface between us. Thephysical attraction was undeniable, but it was the walls he had up around him that made it sodifficult to get to know him or develop feelings for him.

“That's good to know,” I whispered as I smiled down at my plate. There had been no hesitation inhis answer. He willingly told me something about himself. Even if it was as small as a color, it was astep.

The loud knocking on the door disrupted my thoughts, and my smile fell as I looked over myshoulder at the heavy wooden barrier. I wished I could send them away, but it wasn't proper norwas it polite. More than likely, it was Joselin telling me that I had to train today, and I would owe heran apology for my actions and words during my heat.

She hadn't deserved the way that I had lashed out at her. Now that I knew I had been wrong abouther relationship with Killian, I was ashamed to have to face her.

1/3 “Put your clothes back on. I am coming in!” The familiar voice of Killian's sister shouted as shecracked open the bedroom door slowly as if she was scared for what she might find on the otherside.

Killian grumbled, his hand tightening around his fork as he looked away from me and to the door.“Charlie, it's safe,” I said trying to hide my disappointment behind a forced smile.

Killian had finally started talking to me this morning. It may have only been one question and a one-word answer, but it was a start.

"Oh, good. I was hoping we could spend the day together before we get ready.” She cheered as shewalked forward and grabbed the uneaten English muffin half from Killian's plate. He let out a growlas she proceeded to help herself to some jam before taking a large bite.

Killian glanced at me briefly, and I could see that he was feeling torn. If I had to guess, he wasenjoying our civil time together as much as I was.

“Thank you for breakfast, Killian,” I said, and he seemed to light up when I used his name again. Thebrief moment of happiness vanished as soon as his little sister looked at him. He pushed his chairback aggressively as his eyes met mine. “It was very nice.”

His shoulders fell a small amount at my words, and as he walked past me toward the door, hestopped by my side.

I held my breath.

It felt like he was a scared animal, and he was trying to approach me on his terms. I didn't want tomake any sudden movements and scare him away.

His hand lifted as he reached for me, hovering over my shoulder. His fingers flexed before he curledhis hand into a fist and pulled his arm back to his side without touching me.

As he walked away, my eyes followed him. I couldn't help the small feeling of longing for his touch.He hadn't held me last night and refused to touch me this morning. My chest almost ached as Iwatched him leave. My lips parted as I took in a deep breath wanting to say that I appreciated theeffort he had put in this morning, but not wanting to do so when his sister was currently sliding intohis chair and eating the rest of his food. Instead, I called out, “Have a good day!”

He looked back at me, our eyes meeting for the briefest moment before the door closed betweenus.

“That was really awkward,” Charlie mumbled as she looked up at me with her *full.

I didn't want to discuss my relationship with her but didn't want to push her away when I had noother friends here. So, I kept my **.

“It was actually a very nice morning,” I said, pushing down my bitterness that it had beeninterrupted and finishing my eggs.

She let out a short hum, raising her eyebrows in disbelief before taking another bite.

"What are we getting ready for?” I asked, wanting to change the subject, but the way she glanced atthe blanket and pillow on the couch told me that she was still distracted by my relationship with herbrother.

“My welcome home celebration. It won't be very big. Just a gathering of the court and my friends.It's more like a small ball, really.” She lit up when she mentioned her friends, and I smiled at her. Itwas a happiness that I hadn't seen from her before, and I knew that it had been the night decisionfor her to leave the castle and travel.

It was hours of pampering with a team coming in to do our nails, giving us a full body massage, anda facial.

I wasn't a huge fan of having someone else touching me, but once I was able to relax, I thoroughlyenjoyed it. In my old pack, I had never been able to afford a luxury like this. I never even had thefree time to do something like this. I had spent all of my time cleaning up after others and waitingon them hand and foot.

My entire body seemed to melt and by the time they had us laying with face masks on andcucumbers over our eyes, I felt like an entirely different person. All of my sore muscles from trainingand my stress were gone.

I also really enjoyed the day with her. She was genuine, friendly, and a little quirky.

The low hum of meditative music had me dozing off, and my fingers twitched as I fought off thesleep that was calling to me.

“Natalie,” Charlie called out, and I hummed in response. “What has my brother told you about ourparents?