To Bewitch a Devil

59 Giving in

Zavian stood in the middle of the room as what he had just done played in front of his eyes.

He finally gave into this lust. He had yearned for her, painstakingly.

He had tried to control himself all this while, but the moment she stared into his eyes, like she was staring right at his broken soul, he lost it.

Zavian did not know how much he had missed her touch until that moment. Her lips tasted the same, her body, her touch...

He couldn’t hold back. He couldn’t stop.

If she had not stopped him, he wasn’t sure he would be able to hold back.

Zavian brushed his hand through his hair as he picked up his coat and walked out of the room.

...

Neera forgot that she had to meet with Axel that evening, she basically had nothing to do, so she slept off. When she woke up, she realized it was already dark.

.....

“Goodness!”

Neera exclaimed as she stood to her feet and ran out of the room. When she reached the gardens, her footsteps faltered as her eyes looked about for him.

He was nowhere in sight and she wondered if he had left.

Suddenly, she saw him and heaved a sigh of relief. She owed him one; and if she did not meet him this time, she would have to meet him again, and she did not want that. Meeting him often would put her in trouble with the king, and she did not want that.

Axel was standing by a flowering tree when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw her and waved. Neera smiled softly and walked to him.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, your majesty.” Neera apologized, bowing her head.

Axel smiled, waving his hand in front of him; “It’s fine. I thought you were not going to come, I just came to try my luck.”

Needs thinned her lips, pushing some strands of hair behind her ears.

“This is for you,” Axel spoke after some seconds as he stretched his hand to her.

Neera’s eyes widened when she saw the bracelet in his hand. It was a beautiful shiny bracelet, that reflected the full moon’s light.

She did not know precious stones, but the bracelet was adorned with stones that Neera could tell by just looking that they were rare and precious.

Moving an inch away from him, she shook her head.

“I cannot accept this, Your Majesty.”

Axel’s face fell, “why?” He asked, and Neera just shook her head.

“I just cannot accept it. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

Axel laughed when he saw her expression, then he smiled;

“Are you worried that it would draw attention to you? You do not have to worry, it is not very pricey. Besides it’s small, no one would notice it on your hand. Just have it, you can do whatever you want with it.”

Axel spoke, this time, he did not wait for her reply, he took her right hand and put the bracelet on.

Neera wanted to take it off her, but when she looked at her hand, she saw it was pretty, and she paused.

Maybe she should be greedy just this once; she thought, biting her lower lip as she stared at her hand.

“Thank you.” She smiled. Axel beamed when he saw that she was not taking it off.

“Let’s sit.” He said, pointing to the carved chair made of stones. Neera hesitated; it was already late and the king might come looking for her, she did not want him to start asking questions, but she was already here, it was better she heard what he had to say and ended everything now, so she would not have to come to him again.

Walking to the seat, she sat down beside Axel. After she was settled, Axel turned to her;

“I was wondering, which kingdom are you from?”

Neera smiled weakly when she heard him; “I will prefer not to talk about it, it’s not something I want to talk about.

There was silence after she had spoken and Axel nodded; “You can let me see your thoughts if you don’t want to talk about it, I really want to know you.”

Neera quickly shook her head, if she let him, he would see the part that the king was trying to bring Delilah back. She couldn’t risk him seeing that;

“No, I can’t.”

Axel stared at the girl and then he smiled; “It’s fine, I guess you are not yet comfortable with me.” He said, his expression looking sad.

“Well, I’m the second Prince of Darstun. I’ve not had much on my shoulders because of my brother, the Crown Prince. I have three sisters, Lyra is the second. The first is married and the last does not want to marry.”

Neera listened quietly; she was not interested in the topic but since she did not want to talk about herself, it was only fair that she listened to him. As though Axel remembered something, he asked;

“Are you close with the King?”

The question was out of nowhere so Neera turned to him in surprise;

She would have naturally replied no, but the events of that morning came rushing back to her, and she thinned her lips before she shook her head;

“No, why do you ask?”

Axel’s eyes fell on her dress and then he looked at the shoes on her feet; Lyra was correct, she was not dressed like a servant.

Axel smiled, “Nothing, I just thought that since you had a striking resemblance with his wife, he would not want to keep you out of his sight. But I’m glad that’s not the case.”

“Oh...” Neera replied, looking at her feet. They were not close, he was just attracted to his wife’s body.

Neera had struggled not to think about that morning, she just wanted to put it behind her. She just wanted the thought to disappear as if it never happened.

She knew he mistook her for his wife but still it was her lips he had kissed.

“Can you meet me here tomorrow?”

Axel asked bumping Neera from her thought. She looked at him and shook her head;

“I can’t. I cannot continue seeing you., your majesty.” She said;

“Why? Is anyone bothering you? Why are you afraid?”

Neera’s head fell; “No, no one is after me. I just can’t, I’m sorry.”

“I meant it when I said I wanted you. We can go back to my kingdom if you accept me. You’ll be happier and live like a princess.”

For a second, Neera was tempted; she really wanted to say yes, she wanted to run away with him. But could he protect her from the king?

Could he?