Aleksandra woke the next day feeling warm and heavy. It was hard to pry her eyes open at all. She just wanted to snuggle into the blankets and fall back asleep. But then her warm and heavy feeling started snoring.

Her eyes popped open and she looked down, only to see Aulfr practically engulfing her small frame with his large body. She would have started panicking, but she knew he was just sleeping. Even she gravitated towards anyone she shared a bed with, be they male or female. But she felt like a child compared to him. She could vaguely recall leaning against him when he'd come to bed, so she supposed she'd started it.

He was wrapped around her, a leg thrown over both of hers, a muscled arm snaked around her waist. His head was a warm weight on her chest, too close to her breasts to be comfortable, but she didn't want to wake him. So she sighed and settled in, even bringing a hand up to run her fingers through his hair. Once again, she was surprised at how soft it was. It was so at odds with the hard man it belonged to. Although he seemed soft as a featherbed laying all over her like this, his cheek squished and clothing all askew.

What were her feelings for him, she wondered? And his feelings for her? She already knew he had the same desire for her as most men did, but he wouldn't act on it unless he were Oberjarl and she consented. He had some measure of respect for her and what she'd gone through. He was still a ruthless warrior and a brute, which she wouldn't ever forget. But did his feelings for her run deeper? She'd heard from the servants that no one ever approached him unless ordered to, and to touch him was something unheard of. Mostly because he made it clear that wasn't something to be done. And yet he let her get away with just about all of it, including her tame little backtalk.

How did she feel about him? He was a man, which would usually be enough for her. But she'd shared his bed, changed clothes in front of him, had had a full-blown panic attack in front of him. He'd seen her drunk, terrified, happy. He knew more about her than anyone else in the world. He knew everything. She didn't really enjoy that last part, but it wasn't anything she could change. She was horribly confused by all of this. She actually enjoyed the way they were tangled up, and the warmth and comfort of it. At the same time, she felt trapped by it, by his body almost completely covering hers. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to be like other women, flattered by men looking at her and complimenting her. She didn't want to hate desire.