Ruen looked at her with eyes burning every fiber of her being. He leaned against the door frame and said, “A minute it is then,” crossing both his arms while waiting for her to respond.
Lianne clenched her hands into a fist, conjuring up enough strength to confront the King despite his taunting gaze.
What was wrong with her now? She was stubborn already to seek an audience with him, but it was as if all her resolve had weakened just by the mere sight of him standing there, so close, so attractive, and so inviting.
Her eyes betrayed her as it perused the length of his bare chest. He was wearing his nightclothes just like her. Simple to say, they were both informally dressed.
With this realization, her body suddenly turned hot, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. This reaction only convinced her how vulnerable she was to this kind of attack of her senses. She couldn’t criticize Ruen with this though, as it appeared his lack of clothing was unintentional. She was the one who visited him unannounced in the first place.
In the end, there wasn’t any word that came out of Lianne’s mouth, though the King waited for her to speak noting every second that passed by.
“I don’t like to dally so much in front of the door Princess, so if you could hurry up, that would be good,” Ruen firmly said, mocking every second that passed by.
With this, Lianne blinked a few times, a feeling of irritation and regret came surging up in an instant.
She knew she was stubborn, but he was contemptible! He was just too full of himself. By just those words, she knew she made a mistake coming to his chamber.
Why was she feeling sorry in the first place when amidst the fact he saved her from danger that time, he was still the apathetic man she already knew.
“How could you act like that!” Lianne shouted. “To think that I gathered so much courage to come here just to apologize to you! I have admitted to myself that I have misjudged your actions. Was I wrong to think then?!”
“I don’t need your apology,” Ruen answered, acid dripping from his voice.
His brown-green eyes looked cold and unwavering. From leaning against the door frame, he stood straight as if ready to direct another blow of callous words on her.
Lianne routed her gaze on the floor with brows furrowed and jaw clenched. Then, she shook her head. With his unyielding attitude, she knew full well there was no reasoning with him anymore. If he didn’t want her apology, then who was she to care? All she had to do now was to walk away.
She awarded him a sharp disappointed look and thereafter turned her back to exit, but in a swift move, Ruen’s arm snaked around her waist.
Lianne gave out a yelp, but couldn’t do anything other than this as she was pulled inside his chamber like a mannequin. As if she didn’t weigh anything at all.
There was so little time for her to react before she was pinned against the door as it closed, ultimately confined by the wood and his body.
Ruen cupped her mouth before she could shout leaving her gasping for breath, the same way he did when they were hiding in the dark forest from Duke Conrad. But with the way it was all going, Lianne immediately recalled what happened in her room; recalled every last bit of passion he had showered on her through his kisses.
Panic rose inside her as she tried to push him away, but Ruen was able to subdue her without difficulty. She protested, but her cries were muffled once again.
***
The King’s receiving room was darkly lit by the fire on the hearth. The air around them was warm and moist as opposed to the outside hall.
There was a faint musky jasmine-like fragrance all over the room that Lianne could instantly notice, it was the same that time then when he was fighting for his life and she was sitting nervously beside the fireplace. The smell was all too surreal for her.
“All I need now is you, Lianne,” Ruen started, softly uttering the words on her ear. “Not your apology, not anything else. Just you. Why are you tormenting me like this?”
Lianne noted everything he said. ‘Why did his voice sound so pleading?’ she wondered. As if he was truly suffering because of her.
She felt a tingling sensation as his fingertips started tracing her lips. She deepened a breath and closed her eyes as he continued to trail them down her neck.
She knew he could do the same thing to her again. She knew that he can violate her again against her will, but why does she feel she was safe under his hold?
“All throughout my wakeful life, and even in my dreams, you are ever so present tormenting me. You won’t give me rest. Why Lianne? Aren’t I supposed to be devoid of emotions?!”
His words effectively reverberated in her mind. In just a moment, his coldness had turned to warmth.
‘Was his earlier actions just a facade to hide his feelings?’ she contemplated. Truly, Garlow had trained him well.
She didn’t understand why, but she felt as if crushed by his words. Was she supposed to know the answer to his question?
No.
But she hoped she did.
Ambivalent by what Lianne should feel, she couldn’t respond to him even one word. She stared at the ceiling with her mind blank from any reasoning. All she could feel now was the warmth of the room and his mouth close to her lips. His nearness intoxicating her.
“Stop,” the princess at last finally spoke, her single word stern and pure. She averted her face away from his and lowered her eyes on the floor. “I don’t want to stay here any longer. Please let me out. I want to go to my room now.”
“No,” Ruen replied, “you will not go out of here.”
She immediately shook her head. “You know I can’t do that! Please, Your Majesty, let me go.” She looked at him with pleading eyes.
Ruen remained silent.
Lianne held her breath when she felt his hands trace her back in a sensuous way. Her face flushed a deep red when she felt the sensation.
“Ahh!” A quick gasp escaped her mouth. A gasp both of pleasure and fear.
“No, don’t do this again. Please, Ruen, don’t make it any harder for us!” she cried out, shoving his hands off of her.
Ruen in effect took both of her hands on each side, keeping it still against the door, making her vulnerable to him.
“You don’t even know how much restraint I have to build up every damn time you are present, Lianne. How much more when you are standing in front of my chamber door!” Ruen voiced out.
“My intentions are pure in coming here. I don’t have a cause to think of it otherwise,” Lianne replied as she averted her eyes away from his.
But she knew he was right.
What he said was the truth. She really did cause this situation in the first place, wearing nothing but a robe to cover her nightgown.
Ruen saw the hesitation in her eyes. He couldn’t bear to look at her once more without being tormented in return, but his self-restraint had already betrayed him.
“Please just let me go and I will get out of this room without delay,” the princess once again requested, but the King shook his head, denying her right on.
“No, Lianne. I will not let you go,” he said in a soft voice, “not now, not ever.”
His face lowered into hers just as both of his hands palmed her cheeks, guiding her face to meet with his.
Lianne wasn’t quick enough to protest when their mouths met.
Ruen felt her lips tremble and he felt her stiffen, so he pulled her closer to him and gently, ever so gently explored her mouth.
The princess was stunned by it and tried to struggle. However, she knew she’d be a fool if she were to deny such bitter-sweet ecstasy. Despite her sane self telling her all the reasons for their kiss to stop, she couldn’t deny that he was already intoxicating her, and fast. She couldn’t deny that deep inside, she wanted to taste him again.
His lips were moist, with a taste of sweet wine in its trace exactly what she’d expected on a man who had just celebrated his coronation day.
Lianne’s willpower, her defenses, her reasoning gradually started to crumble. Then, at last, she responded to his kisses and Ruen instantly knew she was slowly ready in yielding herself to him.
He traced the curve of her waist and was able to receive a weak moan from her when he found his hands on the underside of her breasts. A small curve of his mouth appeared, pleased with her reaction.
He then brushed the silk robe out of her shoulders and it dropped easily to her feet, leaving her only the voile nightgown she wore.
Lianne was well aware of where this was going. At first, fear had gripped her and the uncertainty of the future, but those two had easily vanished and was replaced with one emotion alone: longing.
All of her principles, her hate, her distrust, her confusion had now blurred. She couldn’t think straight. The desire that Ruen had ignited inside her was strong enough that her willpower could never break.
Ruen continued to caress her neck, licked, and sucked the skin there that ultimately left a radiating sensation all over her body.
Then without hesitation, he worked his way down, down to her cleavage and into her pink, aroused nipples. The touch of his mouth felt exquisite, she admitted to herself. And oh what a discovery it was for a woman who was untouched.
She reached up, unable to contain herself, and allowed her hands to feel the solidness of his back muscles. If in the past, she had well assumed Ruen was a man of form, now she had confirmed it.
“Ahh…” she let out another moan, this time louder.
Ruen heard this and took it as an invitation to taste her more.
“Lianne, yield to me,” he stated, his warm breath fanning her taut nipple.
Oh! What a sweet temptation it was.
He continued to cup her breasts, kneaded it, poured his fervid attention over it, and created the wildest sensations she had never felt.
“Yield to me,” he asked once again.
Lianne shut her eyes and pressed her head against the door.
“No… no, Ruen. I can’t,” was her quick answer, a bit of sense coming to the fore, but she shook her head, “I… this… no. Ruen… ahh!” she continued, but now she sounded confused. She arched her back as he moved to claim her neck again, creating a rippling sensation from her neck down to her abdomen. It was dizzying but in a delightful way.
“You’re mine, Lianne. Only mine.”
If she could have fought it out, she would have, but she felt like she was melting; every ounce of energy in her body felt being sucked out as his lips touched her skin, as he venerated her, and admittedly, made her feel not just like a woman, but a Goddess.
Her next words, whatever it was, came flying out of her mind when Ruen lifted her up. She didn’t protest nor did she jump out of his hold. She hooked her arms around his neck and watched as he brought them both to his unlit bed chamber.
She knew exactly it was the point of no return.