2018, December 4th

Caines, Terres Somnia (Aaron)

“Fuck!” I screamed in agony.

“It was only for a brief moment. Just a little jab. You will be okay.” Zoey justified her actions to me as she lifted her 4-inch heel off of my shoe just as Jesse was slamming the brakes on the car.

Jesse whipped his head back, panicked. “Are you okay, Your Highness?!”

“Fine,” I grunted through my teeth.

Zoey was out of the car before I could recover. My grimace soon turned into a smile as I watched Zoey’s younger brother, Bart, take his sister’s hand and try to lead her off like she was a naughty schoolgirl. Zoey, however, was done taking orders. She marched her way right up to the gates. The guards bowed.

“Open it up,” she demanded.

The guards looked sheepishly at Bart, who was standing behind her.

“I, Lady Zoey Arden, demand that you open the gates right now!”

No one could have been more surprised at her words than Zoey herself, but both Bart and I were watching her now, stunned.

“My Lady!” Both guards bowed and did as they were told.

The gates began to open. The guards looked at each other nervously and then back at Bart. Bart was watching Zoey, who had turned back around. She hesitated for a moment, before marching right out the gates.

Bart dropped his folded arms and stepped up to the men, who again bowed. “My Lord.”

“You’re both fired. Get out.”

“But Lord Bart!” one of them began.

Bart, however, had lost interest. He had more pressing concerns. Any moment now, our fathers would both be there with a dozen soldiers following at his heels. Would he send a car after Zoey himself? Caines was a big place for a small-town bumpkin like Zoey. The aristocrat wore an annoyed expression that intensified when his eyes met mine.

Bart made his way up to my car.

“Get out,” Bart said flatly.

“Quite fond of those words, aren’t you?” I quipped.

Bart opened the door of the car and, hovering over me, he said, “If so much as a hair on her head is harmed, I will personally make it my mission in life to see you lose the crown.”

I laughed. “I didn’t think you wanted to be a prince, Arden.”

“I have no interest in your crown, Your Highness. We both know, though, that you weren’t exactly daddy’s first choice.”

I flinched. The kid had caught me off guard. I was never caught off guard.

“The word is that the House of Beaumont has a new duke.” There was something in the way Bart spoke. He was enjoying the irritation on my face, clear evidence that he had struck a nerve. He leaned in closer. “I’m sure you know him well, Your Highness. Duke James Beaumont,” Bart said, slow and deliberate.

Two virile men locked eyes and glared fiercely. Belatedly remembering my mask, my face relaxed into a smile and I gestured towards the seat next to me.

“What is your game, Arden? You can’t seriously want me for a brother-in-law.”

Bart took a seat, staring straight ahead. “Did you know that despite not being the royal family, the House of Arden has greater political influence over at least half of Terres Somnia than the king? Such influence means that the people trust us and because of that trust, they do business with us.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, yes. The Arden empire is one of the richest in the world and second only to that of the House of Maine in Terres Somnia. I am aware.”

Bart loosened his tie and sat back to look at me. “So, there’s not just fluff between your ears. It seems you do read.”

“I’m not marrying her.”

“Let me be clear. She is not some hostage. I will not allow any of you to force her into anything.”

“My, my, tough Bart, looking out for his big sis. Cute.”

Bart grabbed me by the collar. “If you go after her and treat her like a plaything, this marriage will never happen. In fact, I will consider it a declaration of war. I will take your crown from you, one way or another. I will break you.”

Bart did not waver. He might have been the younger one of us two, but Bart boasted a bigger build and smarts to rival my own. He would not hesitate to make good on making himself a nuisance. Nonetheless, I wasn’t about to show weakness to an Arden.

I shoved Bart back. My pulse was racing, the air thick and suffocating, but neither of us blinked.

Maintaining my cool, don’t care demeanour, I threw up my hands in surrender and pointed out, “What do you want me to do? Our dads have practically signed the marriage licence already. I can’t just tell the king no.”

“No, I suppose that might require some balls.”

“You have no idea what it’s like being me,” I snapped.

“And you have no idea how to treat a woman like she’s human. She’s not like one of your usual girls. She is stubborn, headstrong and smart. This whole bad boy thing is not going to cut it.” Bart got out of the car just as swiftly as he had gotten in. “Cheer up Aaron, this is the part you are good at. Find the girl, get her to like you.” Bart turned his gaze on the driver.

Jesse bowed quickly. “My Lord.”

“Make sure he finds my sister and brings her home. You have until sunset. I will stall until then.”

“And if I don’t?” I asked defiantly.

Bart’s face took on an eerie, aristocratic smirk. “If you don’t, I’m sure the king will love meeting Duke Beaumont.”

For reasons Bart Arden could not understand, I was more shaken by the brat than I would ever admit. We had barely left the Arden estate when I saw her. Her face was red from the heat, but she was stomping along, no doubt regretting her decision to leave, but probably too proud to go back.

Not that I had any right to judge. The stupid kid had been right, after all. I didn’t have any stones. I had been meaning to ask for Emily Maine’s hand in marriage as a prince, because I knew I could not do it as just Aaron. No doubt the candle she held for my brother was still burning fiercely, even if I did sometimes manage to make the flame flicker.

James was back, too. Did Emily know? Of course, she knew. I never thought my brother would set foot in Terres Somnia again after he and his mom Cassie fled the country five years ago, but he was back after all.

Zoey sat down on the pavement, her legs crossed and screamed, “What is this fresh hell? It’s the bloody middle of winter!”

I started as her screaming pulled me right out of my brooding. We had been following her for a good half hour from a safe distance. I watched the sweat drip down the side of her face. She was right. It had been an uncommonly hot day for this time of the year. With a cocky grin, I got out of the car.

“Your Highness,” came Jesse’s voice from the driver’s seat.

Right, Jesse was here. What a pain.

“Wait here,” I ordered.

“But Prince Aaron–”

“I won’t be long.”

Zoey opened her eyes as an umbrella suddenly came into view above her head. Then, seeing who was holding it, she groaned.

“Dude, seriously, just go away.” She sighed. “Not marrying you, not marrying anyone. I haven’t even spent a minute alone with the person I actually came to see.” Zoey seemed tired. Her guard was down and the words were coming out of her mouth freely.

“And who might that be? Should I be jealous?” I smirked. I liked looking at her. Despite the many concerns I had, looking at her made me feel light somehow, like the version of me that most people thought I was.

Zoey got up and started walking again. “I have a life, you know? I’m starting my PhD soon. I have a mom. I have–” Here she fell short. With a depressed look, she was on her way back down again when she felt something being pressed into her hand. It was the handle of the umbrella. When next she knew, she was being held in my arms.

“Hey! Put me down,” she complained, kicking and screaming.

I looked into her face and smiled again. It might not be so terrible to look at this face forever. The thought came with guilt. I banished the latter immediately.

“Hold the umbrella upright. You’re going to burn that beautiful skin of yours.” I tightened my grip on her under her knees and she drew a deep breath. “I’m not so bad to spend time with, am I?”

Zoey didn’t answer. She did, however, stop kicking and screaming. Bravely, she looked up at me then and it was the wrong thing to do. I laughed at the innocence of her shock. It seemed she had finally realised that I was carrying her. My hands were on her thigh and around her waist as I held her. It was the hand under her knees, on her thigh that seemed to be making her uncomfortable.

My fingers crept up an inch, but then I thought better of it, hearing Bart’s words echo in my head. It had to be different with her. I didn’t want to scare her away. I put Zoey down on a nearby bench under an old tree. I disappeared for a moment. She watched me buy two ice-creams from a guy on a bicycle. The man recognized me. He was all smiles and refused to take my money. So I slipped a few notes into the man’s pocket as I distracted him with light banter.

Zoey gave me a look of exasperation as I pulled the all but forgotten hoodie up over my head. I dropped next to her and handed her the ice-cream, still in its wrapper.

“If this is a proposal, the answer is still no,” she said, but she took it.

I watched her sit crossed legged on the bench as she started on her ice-cream. “Well, not a proposal of marriage, but I suppose a proposal of sorts.”

As I was having a bit of a time figuring out how exactly you unwrap the cone, Zoey took my ice-cream and replaced it with hers. She then set to work, ripping the wrapping off of my cone. It was very unladylike and bold of her. I liked it.

“Well, what is this proposal, then?” she asked, licking the new ice-cream eagerly.

I looked at the cone in my hand and, seeing that she had no intention of giving mine back to me, started eating. “Go out with me.”

Zoey swallowed a big chunk of ice-cream and jumped up and continued jumping up and down.

“What is it? Are you okay?” I asked, holding onto her wrists as I stared into her face.

“Again with the touching,” she mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

Again, she jumped, this one higher than the previous ones.

“So cold! Brain freeze!”

“That’s what you get for shuffling it all down like that.” I laughed, pulling her towards me.

“Pretty sure this is at least a third date thing,” she said in a small voice.

I pulled away, letting my hands linger on her arms as I rubbed them up and down.

“Depends on who the date is with,” I said sexily, looking into her round eyes as we shared a moment.

But the moment ended just as quickly as it came.

“No,” she said flatly. “But thanks for the ice-cream.”

“Damn, she walks fast.” I grabbed the umbrella and ran after her. “At least let me drive you back to the Arden mansion. Everyone is sure to be worried, and you can’t exactly walk back to Rosa.”

Her face fell. Of course she knew she couldn’t walk home. Rosa was a good 16-hour drive away, never mind walking.

It turned out that we had somehow come back the way we’d come. Jesse and the car awaited us in the distance.

“Tell you what, Your Highness. If you carry me back to the estate, I will go out with you.”

She was the second Arden to catch me off guard today. I looked back at the car as I deliberated.

Zoey gave a snort. “Shall we take the car then, Your Highness?”

“One sec.” That bit of sass sealed her fate. The gloves were coming off.

With a determined look on my face, I jogged over to Jesse and we struck up a conversation. Jesse protested heavily, but eventually gave in. On my jog back, Jesse shook his head, got into the car and drove off.

Zoey’s face went pale. “Where is he going?”

“We won’t be needing a car if I’m going to carry you home, now will we?”

Considering my options carefully, I thought about her reaction to my hand inching up her skirt and remembered how that slight movement had made her go limp in my arms.

Deciding to play it safe, I was soon squatting with my back to her when I heard her laughter fill the air.

“You must be joking,” she said, through persistent laughter.

I got up, turned around, reached out, and started twirling one of her golden locks around my finger. “Would you prefer I carry you like before, princess?” My face was the personification of seduction.

Zoey gulped. “Just turn around already.”

 

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Thank you so much for reading the first five chapters. Read the full version on Inkitt 

https://www.inkitt.com/stories/romance/1102010