The Royal Contract

1128 A second chance to love

She stopped crying, but he could still see her face glistening from her tears. He slowly moved, letting her go, but only to remove his shirt and gently wipe the moisture in her eyes.

Then, he saw her nod. “I know you will never love me. You already said that over and over. And I will never ask you to nor expect it from you.” Then, she finally looked into his eyes and allowed him a preview of what she felt for him. At least, he believed that was what he could interpret from how she looked at him.

“And I also don’t expect you to do the same.” He answered her, not wanting to break her heart. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her.

“I wish I could do that, but it is too late, at least for me.” She said as if she was confessing something. “I liked you since the day I met you. It was a long time ago, which I don’t think you remembered, but you were kind to me.”

In truth, he had no idea what she was talking about, but in fairness, he always tried to help anyone who needed it. So, she could be one of those many that he had done some good deed.

She said that it was one of his father’s parties. Her father took her with him and introduced her to the Count. She was still younger then. Then, her heels accidentally broke just the same time he passed by. He helped her fix it.

“I am sorry if I could not recall any of it.” He said as he tried to recall that particular event in his mind. “Wait!” He suddenly said. “I think I remember now.” He could recall a girl that might look like her.

His memory might be slightly blurry, but he believed it might be her. But she had grown into this fine woman. Therefore, it was hard to recognize her with all the changes.

“That was me.” She timidly smiled. “Now, I am mortified. I still have my horrible braces back then.” She buried her face into his chest, hiding her embarrassment from her past.

.....

“I think you were beautiful then. But not as beautiful as now.” He told her as his fingers moved to her chin and mildly forced her to look at him.

“I know you are just saying that but thank you anyway.” She said, still looking like she was not used to people saying that to her.

“But you are.” He insisted as his eyes searched her eyes. He saw a woman both afraid and fierce, at the same time, beautiful inside and out.

Then, she slowly moved on top of him until she was face-to-face with him. Without saying another word, she lowered her lips to his. It was a quick peck before she closed her eyes and tried again.

Her kisses were hesitant, seemingly unsure of herself. But she never gave up as she tried again. This time, she stayed longer. It was as if she was letting her lips explore what she could do.

He gathered that she was more innocent than he had thought as he finally gave in and took over her efforts. His fingers automatically moved to the side of her face, holding her in place as he deepened the kiss.

Then, one of his hands moved to the side of her body, exploring what it could touch. After a while, he left her lips to move onto her exposed neck, letting his lips savor her soft, supple skin.

“Are you sure about this?” He asked one last time, knowing he did not want to take her against her will. But they were married, and everybody expected this from them.

He would stop if she said she was not ready. Or if she said that this was a mistake. They could always try again when they were both ready. But was he prepared to do this? Could he even call this making love when he doubted love was in the mix?

No.

Maybe he should say sleeping together was the better word. But he did not want to call it just sex since he believed it was more than that.

“Yes,” She answered him with her raspy voice. “I want you so much.” She finally moaned as she wrapped her arms around him. “What about you? Do you want me?” She asked as her eyes looked at him.

He noticed her inhibitions had finally disappeared as her fingers moved around to play with his naked chest. Then, she felt her hand glided down lower into his abdomen as if she intended to explore downward.

He knew he should not stop now because they needed to do this. But he still somehow questioned if it was the right thing. He was still in love with another woman, but Camille was his wife now. His obligation was to her and not the ghost that he had to forget.

“Yes, I am sure that I also want you.” He finally accepted his fate and his obligation.

Without another second thought, he shoved her memory out of his mind and concentrated on being the husband he had signed up for when he married Camille.

He grabbed her decent satin nightgown and pulled it off her body, revealing to him for the first time what was hiding underneath it. He could already tell she also had a beautiful body underneath those clothes, but she was not the type to flaunt them with a sexy, tight-fitting dress.

She always wore respectable but fashionable clothes that just showed enough curves and left the rest to the imagination. But Lance did not mind how conservative she was with her choices. To him, she was the perfect wife.

He just hoped he could learn to love her because she deserved it too. But he was not making any promises that he could not keep. Still, he would not close his heart to her and keep an open mind.

Who knew if fate would give him a second chance to love again?

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