The Crown's Entrapment

Xenia was still not herself when she and Jayra joined the others to prepare for their journey.

“Remember to act cool,” Jayra reminded her. “You look like a guilty criminal right now.”

Xenia almost answered her friend when Darius came to them. Pulling a horse by its reins, he gave the two a nod as Xenia let out a small sigh.

“Get on my horse, Xen,” Darius said the moment he stopped in front of them.

“But I can ride a horse on my own,” Xenia reasoned with a frown. It felt like a repeated scene, and of course, Darius plainly gave her the same look that he always did whenever it happened.

He obviously wouldn’t take no for an answer, so Xenia let out another sigh as she mounted on the horse without saying much. There was no use in debating anyway. Besides, she didn’t want to make a scene in front of other people.

She inwardly shrugged as she sucked it up. As much as she wanted to avoid him out of embarrassment, she simply couldn’t. Like what Jayra advised, she had to act cool all the way if she wanted nothing between them to change.

Below her, Darius had a victorious smile on his face as he then got up and sat behind her.

“Let’s go,” Darius commanded, and everyone started moving. So far, the weather was nice, and everything was going the same as usual. Although…

“Don’t you feel bad for the horse? It has to suffer both of our weights,” Xenia complained with a pout. It honestly felt good riding just a horse with him, but it still bothered her out of… reasons, she supposed. Like how his skin brushed against hers, it gave her a weird sensation… again.

“You sound mad,” Darius raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like this is the first time we did this, Xen.”

Xenia didn’t bother to answer. She simply stayed quiet, riding along as they went on their way. She would flinch every so often and close her eyes with each bump, and it was a good thing that Darius was unable to see how red she was turning. After all, riding a horse like this was reminding her of how she rode him…

‘Oh heavens! Please stop thinking about it!’ she inwardly scolded herself as she cleared her thoughts, trying desperately to fill them with something else.

Slowly, her mind wandered towards the world around them like how the weather was good. Not so hot, but just humid enough to signify the presence of autumn. Turning her head left, she saw Jayra on her horse riding alongside them. The princess murmured, “How lucky of my mage that she can travel on her own horse.”

“She’s unlucky in not finding her mate yet… or her partner?” Darius interrupted, his warm breath fanning against her ear that it sent a shiver down her spine.

Xenia blinked in confusion. Why did her body always act like this whenever she was around Darius? She simply found it unbelievable how she seemed to like his warmth around her despite her clear apprehension towards him.

‘It’s nothing…’ she reminded herself. She couldn’t help it. She was still in denial, not willing to admit how Darius’s simple gestures around her were affecting her body so much.

Xenia bit her lower lip as she tried to clear her thoughts once more. Still, she found it hard just to calm her body from Darius’s closeness alone. His masculine and familiar scent constantly lingered in her nose, his manly body almost hugging her from behind making something pool inside her stomach.

Ah! She needed something to distract herself, or else she might as well go crazy!

“What’s wrong?” Darius suddenly asked.

Holding her breath, Xenia murmured, “Nothing…”

Darius simply scoffed behind her.

“Relax, Xen. Like I said, it’s not like this is the first time we rode on the same horse,” he reassured, leaning closer to her as he cooed into her ear. The closeness made all the hairs on her body stand up, his lips practically brushing against her hair as she stilled herself.

“You smell so good…” Darius hummed. “I’m not even sure if I can last for thirty days without touching you…”

Xenia’s eyes widened in shock. She knew that Darius was blunt, but she didn’t expect him to be this bold towards her. And did he just bury his nose and lips in her hair? Even now, she felt him holding a strand of her long hair, gingerly running them through his fingers as if feeling for its softness.

“Stop that…” Xenia nervously whispered.

She closed her eyes, silently uttering a chant she remembered to calm her nerves down. It didn’t help, however, not to mention how Darius seemed to be dedicated to torturing her with his words.

“Do you know how much you affect me? How me being close to you is torturing me?” he throatily groaned. “You smell so good… And your long brown hair turning bronze in the light like this looks so lovely, Xen. I just want to bury my face all over your body…”

Before she could react, her body suddenly froze when she felt Darius’s one arm snake its way around her waist. She couldn’t do anything as she felt his face lean closer, his chin resting comfortably on her shoulder as he hummed.

The princess was inwardly seething. Was he even allowed to be this confident now that they were about to marry?! She wasn’t used to this kind of skinship at all! But then… The memories of what they did that night pervaded her senses… They’ve kissed… and he already touched her in places that she…

‘Dammit…’

Xenia closed her eyes, comforting herself in the fact that Darius was still considerate enough not to remind her about that night. That even though she was the one who took all the initiative for them to be intimate, he was still a decent enough man not to rub her act all over her face.

“This is the most comfortable ride I’ve ever had in my life, Xen,” Darius let out a content sigh. “Having you here so close to me… Hugging you like this… I’m just afraid that this wouldn’t be enough, and that my greed to have more would eventually take over all of my rationality.”

“I guess the Mate Pull is that strong, huh? Too bad I don’t feel the same thing,” Xenia awkwardly chuckled. It was false bravado. She needed to keep her cool, and for some reason, she didn’t want to admit defeat against Darius yet.

She wanted to keep her pride intact, and she reminded herself once more that to Darius, she could be nothing more than a bargaining chip for his kingdom’s welfare…. Well, that, and a toy for him to satisfy his carnal desires…

She blinked at her own thoughts. She was fully aware of how the Mate Pull worked, and the strong carnal urges one would experience towards their mate was… something…

Her face reddened at that sensitive thought.

‘Don’t let it set in…’

Keeping her silence, Darius seemingly kept quiet, and Xenia could only thank her luck for uttering the right words to shut him up. Although, while he did stop talking, she could still feel how his arm around her tightened. Digging in, she held her breath and pressed her lips in silence, concentrating hard not to get affected by Darius’s warm body brushing against hers.