Alexei saw that Ingrid's attention was over his shoulder and looked to see what had captured her gaze so fully. It pleased him to see Pavel and Liz like this, especially in spite of the pressure that was being piled upon them. With a soft laugh, he returned his gaze the the blonde princess.<br/><br/>"He cares not for the fact that she is incapable of providing him an heir," Alexei commented, a bit surprised to see the blue eyes staring into his dialate slightly. Her breathing escalated....she seemed to be scared of something. He wracked his brain to try and figure out the correlation of what his family members were doing, and why on earth that would frighten Ingrid. His own eyes widened when she looked away, as realization slammed into him. Princesses sent into an arranged marriage like this were pure....but surely she had been kissed, at least? Touching her chin, he steered her gaze back to his. Slowly, he leaned forward, slowly dragging his lips back and forth over hers until she instinctively followed. Gradually, he increased the pressure on her mouth, still taking great care not to push her too far, too fast. Pulling back slowly, he smiled. "There, Ingrid....that's nothing to be scared of, is it?"<br/><br/>He waited patiently, as she started to calm herself. Alexei wasn't exactly surprised when her eyes locked onto the scar on his throat. What did surprise him, was that the shy princess found it within herself to physically reach out and touch him. When she quickly drew her hand away, he captured it in his larger ones and drew it back to his neck, pressing her palm against the scar.<br/><br/>"I'm a soldier, my body is riddled with scars," he wanted there to be no more surprises for her in that regard. The act of making love would be all the surprise she could deal with on their wedding night. "If you wish to touch me, touch me," they were in this arrangement together. Besides, if she showed a little boldness in the future, things could get *really* interesting.<br/><br/>