Playing The Alphas

Chapter 85: The Surprising Night

SAMANTHA

After I had been fully dressed, Joanne wrapped a thick jacket around my shoulders. She adjusted the collar and smoothed the sleeves and then she stepped back to admire her work.

"There," she said with a satisfied nod. "Now you are ready."

I did not feel ready. My heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears and my hands were cold and my legs felt like they were made of wet paper that would crumple beneath me at any moment.

Joanne took my arm and she led me out of the penthouse and down the corridor and past the guards and past the servants and past the paintings of wolves and moons and ancient battles that lined the walls like silent witnesses to my fear.

We stopped in front of a large wooden door that was carved with intricate designs of flowers and vines and birds in flight and the craftsmanship was so detailed that I could almost hear the birds singing.

Joanne knocked on the door. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

The door opened and Darlington stood in the doorway wearing a simple white shirt and loose trousers and his feet were bare and his hair was slightly messy and he looked nothing like a prince in that moment, he looked like a normal man.

"Good evening, my prince," Joanne said as she bowed her head in deep respect. "Miss Samuels is here."

Darlington nodded and his eyes moved to me and his gaze was serious and soft and nice and calming all at once and then he smiled and said, "Come in."

I hesitated.

My feet would not move and my legs were heavy and my face was flushed with heat that I could feel creeping up my neck and spreading across my cheeks and I could not help but feel shy and embarrassed and terrified all at the same time.

Joanne beamed at me with an encouraging smile. "Do not just stand there, miss. Go to him."

She gave me a gentle push and I stumbled forward and I stepped through the doorway and into his apartment.

Darlington closed the door behind us and the soft click of the latch sent a shiver down my spine.

The inside of his apartment was beautiful and it took my breath away. Bright pastel colors decorated every surface and soft yellows and gentle pinks and calming blues created an atmosphere of warmth and peace. The furniture was plush and inviting and the curtains were sheer and light and the walls were covered in paintings of flowers and forests and peaceful streams that seemed to move in the flickering candlelight.

It was warm and inviting and cozy.

Exactly like him.

Yet despite the cozy surroundings, I could not shake the twisting in my gut that made my stomach churn and my hands tremble and my heart race with every breath I took.

Darlington turned to me and his expression was tender and filled with concern. "Why is your face so red?" he asked with genuine curiosity. "Is it too hot for you? Do you want to take off your jacket?"

The thought of what I wore underneath the jacket—or rather, what I did not wear—made me incredibly anxious. Joanne had dressed me in something thin and revealing and barely there, something that was meant to please a prince and nothing more.

I shook my head quickly and the motion made me dizzy. "No," I said. "It is not warm. I am very, very fine."

Amused by my response, Darlington’s smile deepened and his voice grew even more gentle and soft. "Do not be so tense," he said. "It is just the two of us tonight. At least my brothers are not here to disturb you."

The fact that we were both alone did very little to soothe my nerves and if anything, it made me more anxious than before. I found myself avoiding his gaze and I looked at the paintings on the walls and the flowers on the table and the soft carpet beneath my feet.

Darlington noticed my hesitation and he chuckled, a warm and genuine sound that seemed to fill the entire room. "Please," he said as he gestured to the sofa. "Have a seat."

I nodded and I walked to the sofa and I sat down uneasily with my back stiff and my hands folded in my lap and my knees pressed together like I was trying to make myself as small as possible.

Darlington walked to a small table and he poured a glass of juice that was a deep shade of amber and he brought it to me with a gentle smile. "Here," he said. "Try this. It is good."

"Thank you," I replied as I took the glass from him and brought it to my lips. I sipped the juice and it was sour and tart and the icy sensation was a small comfort that helped to calm my racing heart, if only just a little.

"You are welcome," Darlington said as he settled beside me on the sofa.

He kept a respectable distance between us, not too close and not too far, just enough space for me to breathe and feel like I was not being suffocated by his presence. His voice was soft and gentle and it wrapped around me like a warm blanket.

"I know you think I am going to turn into a beast like my brothers," he said. "Well, do not be shy. I will not. Today is not the full moon, so you are free."

What of the full moon comes? I asked myself silently. But I could not bring myself to say it out loud and I kept the question buried deep inside my chest.

Then Darlington stood up from the sofa and he walked around to where I was sitting and before I could react or even understand what was happening, he swept me off my feet and he lifted me into his arms and he carried me across the room.

I gasped and my hands grabbed his shoulders and my heart pounded so loudly that I was certain he could hear it.

He laid me down on the bed and my body tensed and I braced myself for what I thought would come next.

But then he picked up a pillow and he hit me with it.

I blinked in confusion. "What?" I asked.

He hit me again, softly and playfully, and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes that I had never seen before.

I stared at him with wide eyes and my mouth hung open in shock.

"Fight back," he said with a grin.

"What?"

"Fight back or I will keep hitting you."

I grabbed a pillow and I hit him back without thinking and the impact sent feathers floating through the air.

He laughed and it was a genuine laugh, warm and free and nothing like the cold and distant laughter I had heard from his brothers.

I hit him again and this time I put more force behind it and he dodged and he hit me back and we went back and forth like children playing in the snow.

Pillows flew and feathers scattered and laughter filled the room and I was shocked at first because I did not know he was this playful and I had never imagined that Prince Darlington could be anything other than serious and composed.

"Prince Darlington," I said between laughs.

He shook his head and his smile was bright and warm. "Call me by my real name," he said. "Darlington."

I paused and I looked at him and his eyes were soft and patient. "Darlington?" I repeated.

"Yes. Just Darlington."

I smiled and I felt something warm bloom in my chest. "Okay. Darlington."

He hit me with another pillow and I hit him back and we continued our playful battle for what felt like hours.

"I used to do this with my brothers," he said as he caught his breath. "When we were children, before everything changed."

"What changed?" I asked.

"The curse and the beast and the expectations," he said. "We stopped being children and we stopped playing and we stopped laughing."

"Until now?"

He smiled and the smile reached his eyes and made them sparkle. "Until now."

I felt something shift inside me and the fear was still there and the anxiety was still there but something else was there too, something warm and safe and wonderful.

"You are not what I expected," I said.

"What did you expect?"

I paused and I thought about all the stories I had heard about the triplets. "I expected someone quiet."

"I want us to get ..familiar."

"And now that you have me here, what do you want to do?"

He smiled and the smile was soft and tender. "I want to get to know you," he said. "I want to hear about your life before all of this and I want to learn what makes you laugh and what makes you cry and what makes you happy."

I was spinning. Was Darlington really peering? Wanting to know my private life?