The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XXVI

Carolina

I adjust the strap to the five inch gold heals Tori let me borrow. I give myself one last glance in the mirror to make sure everything is in place. My large, bouncy curls cascade down my back loosely. My make up is bold but elegant, particularly around my eyes. My plump lips were painted with dark nude lipstick. Tori really did a good job with my face. I almost can’t even recognize myself. I even put in contact lenses. 

Tori also let me borrow a dark blue cocktail dress she had that she said fit “a little loose on her”. Well, it fits pretty snug on me. It hugs me borderline scandalously around each and every curve. It was an elegant long sleeve dress that came down to my ankles with a deep slit cut at the leg and an open back. A part of me is afraid Elijah is going to make me change. He’s such a jealous caveman. Though, lately, I can tell he’s been trying to not be so...macho. He’s said he’s been around powerful women but he also says the modern day has made it so widespread, he still has trouble processing it. I'm just glad he's taking to the concept of boundaries.

I take a deep breath before grabbing my matching gold clutch and walking into the living room. When Tori looks up to see me, she starts squealing like a school girl. 

“You look gorgeousssss,” she sings. “Where are you guys going for your date?”

“First off, it’s not a date,” I reply. “Second, he’s taking me to some fancy restaurant, which he’s done before.”

Tori rolls her eyes at me. “Clearly this is different,” she urges. “If it wasn’t, why would you go through all the trouble of dressing up?” 

I can feel my face heat up at the thought of how I got into this situation. “Well,” I say hesitantly, “Elijah and I have been meeting up for lunch and whenever he picks a place to eat, it’s always fancy. Yesterday he wanted to go to this upscale restaurant but I told him I didn’t want to keep showing up to these places underdressed. So, he let me pick where we got to eat yesterday on the grounds that he got to take me to the restaurant he wanted tonight for dinner. That way he could give me enough time to dress appropriately...”

Tori gives me a pointed look. “So the man basically asked you to dinner. Like a date. He tricked you into a date,” she states matter-of-factly. 

“For the last time, it’s not a date. We’ve been doing this for the past two weeks. We’re just two friends trying out a nice fancy restaurant,” I explain. 

“Yeah, you’re two friends with unbelievable s****l tension trying out a fancy restaurant,” Tori snorts. 

“Tori!” I whine. I stop when I hear a knock on our door. 

Tori jumps up from the couch she was lying in. “I’ve got it,” she exclaims. Before I can stop her, she opens the door to reveal Elijah. 

He’s in a crisp, white shirt, a form fitting dark grey vest with matching dark grey dress pants, his blazer in his arm. Despite being very formal, he manages to make the look a bit more relaxed by omitting a tie and leaving the first few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, giving us full view of his delicious collar bone. He has his raven locks brushed to the side. I notice in his hand he has a large bouquet of white lilies, my favorite. 

“Hello, Tori,” he nods to her politely. His eyes then travel into the apartment, landing on me. His icy blue eyes start at my feet, slowly raking up my body until they settle on my eyes. A shiver runs down my spine at the feeling of lust and hunger that radiates from his intense look. “Carolina,” he says darkly. My body warms up at his tone. 

I shakily walk towards him, afraid I’m going to fall over. “Elijah,” I respond breathlessly. The edges of his full lips curve upwards into a small smile. Though, the darkened look in his icy blue eyes don’t seem to go away. 

We seem to be in a trance, staring at each other. That is, until Tori clears her throat. Elijah looks down for a moment, before looking back into my eyes, a foreign twinkle present in his. He then hands me the flowers as if he remembered he was holding them. 

“These are for you,” he says a bit awkwardly. For a second, he looks almost bashful. It’s kind of adorable. A smile finds its way onto my face. 

“Thank you, they’re beautiful,” I say. I find myself mindlessly handing the flowers to Tori, who happily brings them into the kitchen, leaving Elijah and I at the front door. 

“You kids have fun on your date,” she calls from the kitchen. 

“Tori, we talked about this,” I protest in annoyance. 

“Actually, I was hoping...this would be...more like a date,” Elijah says slowly. He looks at me expectantly and almost nervously. 

I blink at him in slight shock. “O-okay,” I stutter, my face heating up. 

“See,” Tori yells from the kitchen. “Like I said, have fun on your date. Don’t do what I wouldn’t do.” 

I just roll my eyes while Elijah lets out a chuckle. “Shall we go?” He asks as he offers his arm. I gladly take it as he leads me outside to his car. I can see he’s decided on driving me around in his Porsche tonight. 

The conversation on our way to the restaurant is light but you can feel this thick tension between us. It feels weird because I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way around him before. I feel butterflies in my stomach and something else. But it’s not a bad feeling. It’s not like the times I’ve felt scared or uneasy around him. I think I’m long past that. 

Elijah pulls up in front of the restaurant. He turns to me for a second, and gently grips my hand. “Stay here,” he whispers into my ear. He exits the car, comes around and opens my door. He gives me a lopsided grin as he extends his hand out to me. I take it, letting him pull me out of the car. 

“What a gentleman,” I tease as he closes the door behind me. 

Elijah places my hand on his arm again before handing his keys to the valet. “I try,” he says cheekily. 

He leads me into an elegant looking building decorated with beautiful lights and what looks like a rooftop garden. When we walk into the restaurant, we are greeted by a young, friendly hostess—well, more like Elijah is greeted by the young, friendly hostess. She almost seems too friendly. 

The second she sees him approach her, she straightens her posture, puffs out her chest, unconsciously runs her hand through her hair, and flashes him a million dollar smile. I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. 

“Reservations for-“ 

“Elijah Seka, I know who you are,” she says breathily while batting her eye lashes at him. Elijah’s eyebrows shoot up in question. My lips downturn into an annoyed scowl. As if feeling my slight agitation, Elijah places his free hand over my hand that is resting on his strong arm. His fingers gently caress mine as if to comfort me. The slight tingles I feel as his finger tips brush against my skin does make me feel less like telling this woman off. 

“I assume my table is ready, then?” Elijah says, a slight edge in his voice. This makes the woman’s flirtatious smile drop a bit. Her eyes then move to me and her smile drops completely before being replaced by a scowl. She then clears her throat and presses her lips into a straight line. 

“Yes, your table is ready, sir,” she says through clenched teeth. She gives Elijah a fake smile before leading us to our table. I could have sworn that she had sent me an eye roll before turning her back to us to take us to our table. I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on that though when I feel Elijah bring the hand he’s been caressing up to his lips, placing a tender kiss. My eyes immediately find his and I blush under the intense gaze I find myself under. The fire in his eyes almost makes my legs turn to jello. 

We’re seated at a private area on the upper level of the restaurant. This leaves us somewhat secluded but also gives us a great view of the beautifully decorated lower level of the restaurant. Elijah waves the hostess off as soon as we make it to our table. Like a gentleman, he pulls my seat out for me before taking his seat in front of me. I nearly jump when I feel his warm knee bump up against mine. I feel his long legs adjust so they are stretched out on either side of me. For whatever reason, feeling his form somewhat surround me makes me feel protected. 

Elijah’s long fingers wrap around my small hand. His thumb rubs against my palm before he brings my hand up to his lips, pressing gentle kisses on each knuckle. Shivers run down my spine at the feeling of his soft lips making contact with my skin. He then stops for a moment and let’s out a humorless laugh. “I’m such an i***t,” he says suddenly. 

I look at him in confusion. “What? Why would you say that?” I ask curiously.

“I’m an i***t because I forgot to tell you that you look like a radiant angel tonight,” he says lowly, his eyes making contact with mine. 

I’m left speechless as my face heats up at his compliment. I can feel my mouth open as if I’m going to say something. But when I don’t, I immediately close it. A small smile starts to spread across Elijah’s lips. 

“You look ravishing, love—a vision. How could I not say how beautiful you are?” He continues. His sweet words aren’t helping with my intense blush or my quickening heart rate. “I’m not going to lie, I’m torn. A part of me wants to show you off and let the world know that you’ve agreed to be my date tonight. But another part of me wants to take you away and hide you from all the thirsty looks these men are giving you. If we weren’t at a private table, there would be nothing stopping me from ripping the heads off those men that were staring at you as we were being led to our table.” 

“Elijah...” is all I’m able to breathe out as my brain is still reeling from his sweet words. He lets out a chuckle as he places my hand back down on the table, but he leaves his large, warm hand over mine. 

In that moment, a waiter comes in, placing menus in front of us. “Welcome to Le Royale. My name is Kaleb, I will be your server tonight. May I start you two off with something to drink?” 

Elijah looks at me expectantly. He wants me to go first? I manage to pull myself out of my daze long enough to respond to the waiter without looking like a complete i***t. “Water is fine for me,” I say while clearing my throat. 

“Same for me,” Elijah adds. “Also, bring us a bottle of my favorite wine. And you already know my usual order.” 

Kaleb gives Elijah a nod before turning to me. “Would you like a minute to go through the menu?” He asks politely. 

“Um, yes please,” I say timidly. He gives me a nod before taking Elijah’s menu. 

“I’ll be back in a bit with your wine, your highness,” Kaleb says with a slight bow to both of us before leaving. 

“Your highness?” I ask, turning to Elijah. 

“My company owns this restaurant. I like coming here so I took the liberty of integrating my followers into the staff,” he says with a shrug. 

“So that would explain how they already know your usual,” I comment, “Is this your favorite restaurant?”

Elijah has his eyes on our overlapping hands. He seems almost timid as he gives me a nod. “This was the first restaurant I came to when I first arrived to New York. Lorenzo taught me modern table manners here. I make a habit of coming here once every two weeks, sometimes even once a week. I really wanted to bring you here. I hope you like it,” he replies bashfully. 

I move my hand so I can entwine our fingers together. “I already do,” I assure. Elijah looks up from our hands and gives me a soft smile. I can feel my heart skip a beat at the look he’s giving me. 

I clear my throat. “So I should assume the hostess is not one of your followers,” I joke. 

Elijah lets out a snort. “No, she’s not. My followers know better than to disrespect their future quee- I mean, my guests.” 

“Right, your guests,” I repeat quietly. Am I okay with just being his guest? I’ve been his guest for the past three weeks now. We’ve gotten to know more about each other. Yet it feels like there’s more between us. And I can’t tell if I’m scared or excited about that. 

Kaleb eventually returns with the wine and takes my order. I’m not one for drinking but Elijah let me try a sip of wine from his glass and I couldn’t help but pour myself some. The rest of the meal goes smoothly. Each course is amazing—I can see why Elijah likes eating here. In between courses, Elijah would place gentle kiss on the back of my hand, my knuckles, my palm and even my wrist. He’s doing that right now just as the staff removes our empty dessert plates. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were more interested in eating me tonight than the food,” I laugh. 

Elijah’s icy blue eyes shoot up to meet my green eyes. For a second, they flash an intense red before returning to their normal color. Heat erupts throughout my entire body. I unconsciously press my thighs closer together. 

“Well, can you blame me? You look absolutely delicious, my love,” he purrs. I’m on the brink of melting into a puddle. Is this what it feels like to swoon? 

I abruptly get up from my seat and Elijah raises a brow at me. “E-excuse me, I’m going to go to the bathroom for a quick second,” I stutter. He runs his hand up and down my forearm, giving me a nod. 

“Take as long as you need,” he says with a smirk. My face heats up and I slap him on his shoulder as I pass by him. I can hear him let out a laugh behind me as I make my way away from our table. I hurriedly go down to the lower level and into the women’s bathroom. 

I let out a sigh as I take in my appearance in the bathroom mirror. That man is going to be the end of me. What’s wrong with me? Why is this different than the lunches we’ve had together? I’ve been a blushing mess all night. I’m never a blushing mess! At least, not before I met him. I take a few breaths, my skin tone going back to its normal tan color, finally ridding itself from the slightly pink tint of a blush. I touch up my makeup, especially my lipstick. Two can play his game. I might not have the experience or natural charm but I am stubborn so I will damn well try to make him feel breathless and hot and bothered. 

I march out of the bathroom with my new resolve. But before I can make it that far, I bump into the last person that could have been on my mind. 

“Carolina?” 

“D-David?”