"My... libido."
Abel smirked as he watched Aries snap out of her half-conscious state. Her brows wrinkled at the center, blinking twice to make sure she was seeing things correctly.
"Abel?!" her face brightened up and her eyes twinkled with excitement.
"The one and only." His smirk stretched, raising his brows, and puckered his lips towards the dagger. Aries snapped her eyes as she jolted back, still saddling him. She grimaced when her eyes landed on the dagger and his hand wrapped around its blade.
"Sorry," Aries awkwardly smiled while Abel grinned playfully.
"Oh, darling. My heart is in deeper pain than my hand," he expressed dejectedly, pinching the dagger's tip while he opened his other hand. "How can you not know it's me? I don't think this is true love."
"I never said I love you."
Abel blinked once before he snorted. "Then say it."
"If I refused?" she grinned playfully, biting her lower lip to stop it from stretching.
"Then more fun." Without a second hesitation, Abel held the dagger once again to pull her down. Aries gasped when the dagger landed one inch from his temple. Her heart skipped a bit, but before she could process what had just happened, his hand crawled on the back of her head, pulling her down.
"Playtime," he whispered before lifting his head to close the gap between them.
Aries's eyes dilated when her lips smashed against his. She snapped back to the current lapse when he bit her lips, devouring her hungrily. Her eyes softened before they closed slowly, melting into the safety of his embrace.
"Abel," she whispered, grinding her hips against his bulge. "I thought you said you won't see me off?"
"I missed you," he moaned his excuse into her lips, flipping their position, keeping his hand on the back of her head. But before he could hungrily take her, Aries patted his shoulder blade.
He frowned, pushing himself a bit to look at her. "What?" he tilted his head slightly.
"Your hand," she muttered, glancing at his wounded hand that was on the sheet.
"It's fine. Let's con..." Abel rolled his eyes, about to continue what they should be doing, only to trail off when she raised her finger to his lips.
"Abel." Her voice modulated as her eyes widened. "Let's treat it first, alright?"
Abel stared at her with an unresigned expression, but in the end, he simply sighed and clicked his tongue. "Fine."
He pushed himself off of her, her hand on his chest as she also sat up. Abel cocked his head back, sitting on the edge of the mattress, fluttering his long and thick lashes lazily.
"Make it fast." He breathed out as he held his bleeding hand to her.
"Are we in a hurry?" she asked after ringing the bell to call for Gertrude. "How did you even follow me? Lord Isaiah should be watching you."
Abel averted his eyes and spoke. "Isaiah is a bad influence. He was the one who prepared my steed to follow you."
"Your Majesty." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, searching for his elusive eyes. "You're not planning to ask me to stay, are you?"
"Of course... not!" he gasped dramatically. "But if I do, will get angry?"
"No."
"Really? Should you stay, then?" he arched a brow while the side of his lips stretched. Aries studied his face for a second before she shrugged.
"Should I? I sort of think the journey is quite boring. I mean, Gertrude can't even join me in the carriage, Minerva can't see me, and basically nothing else to do than sit inside the carriage all day." A deep exhale slipped past her lips, shaking her head mildly. "I need company, needless to say."
"Then your company is here. Perfect." He batted his eyes coquettishly, charming her with his devious smirk.
Aries glanced at him and then tilted her head. "You?"
"Don't you want me to?"
"How about Haimirich?"
"Wasn't this Conan's main purpose? So I can go anywhere and anytime I want without worrying about Haimirich?" Abel argued in a matter-of-fact tone, shrugging indifferently. "He should step down if he can't do that."
Her mouth opened and closed, but her words were stuck in her throat. In the end, Aries just shook her head lightly and glanced at the door when Gertrude knocked and peek her head in. Gertrude's eyes dilated upon seeing the emperor, but Aries didn't give her a chance to speak her formal greeting when Aries asked for a first aid kit.
"Take that off before I cut your finger." Aries's brows furrowed as she set her eyes back to him, only to see him gazing down at her hand — at her jade ring, to be exact. When he snapped his sharp eyes up at her, a glint flickered across them.
"Just the sight of it angers me. We all don't want that."
Aries raised the finger with the ring in front of her. She pressed her lips into a thin line, eyes on it. She stared at it for several seconds, making Abel quirk a brow. When she raised her gaze over the finger and in his eyes, a subtle smile dominated her face.
"I can't lose this jade, Abel." Her eyes fluttered ever so tenderly, gaze falling back on the jade ring around her index. "This... jade is my constant reminder it witnessed everything and when I say everything... every single thing they had done to me and what they made me do."
Her chest moved in and out heavily, holding his gaze with her eyes sharpening. She didn't want to take it off now, afraid she would lose it before it could fulfill its purpose.
"Huh... how annoying." he clicked his tongue, but he only rolled his eyes and didn't force her. He had been compromising all this time, so what's another time he would adjust for her.
"Abel." Aries cajoled and moved closer, sitting beside him, and slipped her arms around his torso, the side of her head against his shoulder. "I'll just cling to you like this so you don't see it. Is that alright with you?"
He glanced down with a mild frown. "Shame on you, Potato. How dare you play with my innocent feeling without remorse?" she snickered at his accusation, but Abel didn't whine about it again.
Her first night after her wedding turned out to be phenomenal. Although the man she married today was someone she loathed to the core, the man she spent the night with was magical.
A fair trade.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m