Chapter Eighty-Four: Morning run
1313 Words
It was annoying on more counts than one.
The game never publicly shamed the heroine for having a harem, yet, like wildfire, all the tabloids made mention of the kiss; in fact, they made it seem as though she had been cheating on the prince all this time.
‘Is this part of what Arusei said about the stage coming to me? But how would the instances interconnect?’
‘s**t, it’s too early for a press statement, so I don’t think I’ll get answers to my questions anytime soon.’
‘Aargh! I should have told Arusei sooner that I couldn’t see what she saw on the screen!’
I shook my head to clear the fuzz of my thoughts, but it persisted, if only because the first prince was jogging beside me.
“I told you to jog with Breca and Sir. Tagen. Why must you match my pace? Your breathing is annoying.”
“I hope my child doesn’t inherit your mouth.”
“Gods, can you imagine if they inherit your audacity instead? I’d rather my mouth.”
He chuckled, a delightful sound that nearly blocked out the noise of the ocean waves beside us.
Gods, but the spot was perfect for a picnic, and on such a day, with such a view, my worries no longer dominated.
A bead of sweat trickled down my face, and a hand gripped my forearm to slow my pace to a halt.
“That’s enough exercise.”
The prince uttered with a deep frown.
“What do you mean ‘that’s enough exercise’? I am not tired.”
“We have jogged long enough, and the coastal heat will only increase; it is time to rest.”
“With all due respect, your highness, I know exactly when my body is tired.”
“It is amazing how both you and your staff use that phrase dismissively. ‘with all due respect’? Where is the respect there? Is it just not a protective statement.”
“Does respect mean I have to take your option?”
“It certainly does not mean you discount it.”
“Hah! Well, then, I guess you are right. It is a protective statement.”
I turned to the open beach and stretched my muscles in preparation for one last stretch.
“Can’t you do something else? This is the second trimester; you need to adjust your training regiments.”
“The first month of the second trimester, I think I can afford some extra minutes of working out. Now, could you stop talking to me? You are ruining my vibe here.”
“Vibe?”
“You know, my rhythm?”
I winked, then turned on my heel to resume my run when he matched my pace once again.
“How did you do it.”
Against my better judgment, I answered him.
“Do what?”
“Get pregnant after having consumed birth control. I am thinking of suing the company for all they are worth! I mean, if it’s a possibility, is that not false advertising? Or are you an exception? One immune to the laws of human biology.”
I said nothing, merely monitored my breathing and silently wished I would have purchased music crystals.
They worked similarly to ear pods; only these were attached behind the ear to minimise ear damage.
“Did you spit it out afterwards?”
Again, I gave no response.
“After you put me to sleep then sneaked out the window like a common-”
“Oh, look! The resort!”
I chirped, then pointed delightfully at the back entrance sign.
‘ Welcome to Coral Resort’.
The sign sat in a bold blue that near matched the ocean.
Standing near the gate and under the large sign was an arguing Breca and Tagen.
Yet, despite their current activity, they still held in their hands conned ice cream.
“You have got to be joking.”
I murmured, then slowed my pace to a halt to catch my breath before heading to break their current fun in favour of following the laid-out schedule.
“Are you not going to share your big bad plan now that you have almost married into the royal family?”
The prince’s persistent voice rang through.
“Tell me the truth, countess, I can’t let you go now, we have a deal. You have me. Hook, line and sinker.”
“I swear to high heaven.”
I said the words under my breath, then inhaled deeply.
“Swear what?”
He asked in the same teasing tone as before.
“You asked me to marry you, not the other way around. I was content with-,”
“With what, countess? Content with what? With my child becoming a bastard? With my child having to bear ridicule from your mistakes? Tell me, countess, what were you content with? Enlighten me? Show me the way to your brilliant deductions.”
He took a step near me.
“My…the prince sure is skilled with his insults. I wonder if you can tell bedtime stories with a similar tone; oh wait…you plan on starting a new family, making this entire arrangement as useless as the night we spent together.”
I did not back away from him but neared as well. I will not let him intimidate me.
“You wanted me; you seduced me!”
I could smell the sinfulness of his cologne entangled with mild sweat.
The intensity of his amber eyes grew, but all it served to do was flutter the butterflies in my belly needlessly.
“Yet when push came to shove, I was willing to leave and get my fill elsewhere. So does that really mean I wanted you or the part attached to you?”
“Maybe you should have left; we wouldn’t be here today if you did.”
“Says the man who pinned me to the door.”
His gaze dropped to my lips, and perhaps I could blame the recent jog, but…our breathing was out of sync, laboured and… enamouring.
I couldn’t tear my gaze from his; rather, I did not want to.
“….sa!”
He swallowed, and the sexy lump at the front of his throat bobbed with the motion enticingly.
I wanted to run my fingers through his wet hair and my tongue across the motions of his throat…then bite the sweet swell of his hardened muscles.
“…sa!”
Oh…but what a dangerous feeling.
Something as explosive as this should never exist.
“…sa!”
He leaned in, or I did; I could no longer tell where we parted or where we met.
“Hafsa!”
The call of my name jolted me back to reality, startling me into taking a deep breath and pulling away from him.
“A- hmh!”
I cleared my throat noisily.
I did not want to- no, I could not meet his gaze anymore, at least not without a cold shower.
“Uh…”
With no explanation forming in mind, I turned towards Breca only rather than Breca, it was a beautiful, cocoa-skinned woman with black frizzy hair waving her hands ecstatically.
“Hafsa! Over here!!”
‘Alivai’
She was loud, as though she meant to compete with the sound of the ocean waves crashing into each other.
She was in a bikini, the swell of her stomach long undeniable, yet she looked too beautiful and well put together for questioning.
The man standing beside her had blue eyes and dark, wavy, wet curls as though he were fresh from the water.
He, too, was in swimwear, black and blue trunks, and despite Alivai’s rigorous waving movements, his hand did not leave the small of her back.
“Hafsa?”
The first prince repeated questioningly, taking my attention from them to the actual issue at hand.
- Writer
