"Joaquin."
Aries shot Joaquin, the crown prince of the Maganti Empire, a side-eye. The corner of her lips curled up, biting it slightly to suppress it from stretching.
"What a lovely name," she praised modestly. "Even as slow-witted as I am, the name fits the person who carries it."
Exalted. That was the meaning of this proud one's name.
"Not as lovely as yours." He shrugged, stretching his arm over the settee's backrest, flashing her a playful smirk. "Although I heard you were known by your first name in Haimirich, not by your second name."
"Would you like to address me in the name everybody calls me?" her brow arched as she held the wineglass before her lips, eyes on him.
Aries watched the side of his lips stretch. No matter how she genuinely abhor this man who was breathing the same air as her, she couldn't deny that his looks were pleasing in the eye.
Joaquin had this face that would make others immediately trust him. His charming and seemingly harmless smile was the greatest lie one would see. She fell for this gentle face in the past, thinking he was a kind person and could be trusted. That was one reason they became friends, aside from his 'likable' personality, which turned out to be lies.
Joaquin... this man reminded her of the phrase "too good to be true." He was the perfect representation of that.
"No one calls you Circe?" he tilted his head, halting her train of thoughts.
"Guess." She cast him a knowing look before sipping from her wineglass. Her eyes remained on him, keeping her gaze that had a touch of 'desire' fixed on him.
His mouth fell open, tapping his fingers simultaneously against the top of the backrest they were sitting on. She hadn't done anything but look at him and indulge with him, but the sexual tension between them was distinct.
"This frail seduction... I am a little frail, Circe," he confessed in a dark, brooding voice. "I can see myself standing right under your thumb soon."
"Oh, you." Her waves of lovely chuckles resonated, leaning forward to pour herself another glass. "Blame it on the wine."
Joaquin's eyes narrowed until they were partially closed, watching her fill the glass before she cast him another quick look. She simpered and shook her head, picking up the glass once again.
Elegance was what screamed her every little movement. Even her brief glances shrilled sophistication. He couldn't expect anything less from the proud princess of the Vandran Clan.
She still looked exactly like Aries, but they were surely poles apart. This Aries was... more. Unlike his missing war trophy, this woman not only knew her value but was also wise in how she emphasized it in a roundabout way.
The Aries he knew also knew her value... which she regarded higher than the heaven when it wasn't even that much. There were still doubts in his heart, no matter how huge the difference was.
"Don't drink too much," he reminded her as she chugged down a mouthful of wine. "You'll break my heart if you sleep on me on our first night."
"Frail-hearted, are we?" she humored, touching her flustered cheek with the back of her fingers.
"Is this perhaps your first night with a man?" he inquired out of the blue, knitting his brows when her breath hitched for a split second before flashing him a confident look.
"Guess," she returned humorously, hiding the 'shameful' truth behind her playful countenance.
"Hah... how cute." Joaquin rocked his head, chuckling. Her reaction told him the reason she was drinking over her limit was to squash down her nervousness.
'It will be a waste if she turns out to be Aries,' he thought, setting his deep-set silver eyes on her. 'She was quite fun to indulge with. It's amazing how she had pressed a few nerves but isn't as offensive as I thought she would be.'
"With how proud my wife... is there a man worthy enough to hold your hand?" he humored back, leaning forward to take a closer look. When his face was only a palm length away from her, he smirked.
"Stunning. I am one lucky man."
Aries, who was leaning back, faced him squarely. She only stared at him for a second, raising a finger between them. Guiding it to his face, Aries traced his jaw down to his chin.
Her face was painted with red at the consumption of the wine mixed with a special ingredient, aphrodisiac, which added allure to her shimmering olive eyes. She fluttered her eyelashes ever so tenderly, staring at him straight in the eye.
Joaquin's jaw fell open before clenching his teeth mildly when she licked his earlobe. His silver eyes glinted, watching her draw her head back to reveal the mischievous smirk plastered on her face.
He bit his lips. "You never fail to amaze me..." his hand crawled and snaked around her lean waist. As his lips were an inch apart from hers, he added under his breath;
"... Aries."
His palm felt her body, anticipating any sort of reaction from her, but to no avail. All he felt were her hands slowly creeping up his neck, her fingers wrapping around them.
"Call another woman's name next time and see what happens," she warned, making him chuckle before he claimed her lips hungrily.
The hands wrapped around his neck didn't hinder him from taking what he came here for; her. If anything, her actions after testing her only increased his desire to know how far and deep he could go before she tighten her grip.
He pulled her waist with his arm, adjusting his position with his knee on the surface of the settee. His other hand buried in her hair, lips locked with hers, guiding her down until her back comfortably lie flat underneath him.
It had been a while since he felt this arouse with just one woman. The taste of her mouth that had the lingering taste of the wine, her increasing body heat under his palm, and initial moans into his mouth, sent electricity to the ends of his nerves.
He slipped his hand under her silk nightdress, making her bite his lips until it bled. But the taste of iron in their mouth only added to the building tension in his arousal.
"You..." he panted into her mouth, caressing her curves with his palm until he cupped her breast. Aries couldn't stop the moan from escaping her quivering lips.
Joaquin glanced at her reaction and... it was enough to drive him mad. With that face giving him this kind of look that 'that' Aries never showed him, it left him wanting to see more.
and when she called his name, "... quin," with a craving tone, his eyes darkened.
"Fucking hell," he whispered and bit her lips until they bled, drunk with lust.
*
*
*
"Call another woman's name next time and see what happens."
When those words slipped past her lips, her eyes glinted as he closed in to claim her. But alas, an inch before his lips could touch hers, Joaquin's head landed on her shoulder, fast asleep.
The side of her lips curled up, looking around at the thin fog from the scented candles. Aries carefully guided his head on her lap, stroking his hair, staring at him with lust... lust to take his life in the most torturous and painful way possible.
"May you please me well in your dreams, Joaquin." Her voice was alluring and deadly, smirking as she leaned back and closed her eyes to rest them for a bit, inhaling the lavender scent filling the chamber, which Gertrude avoided inhaling.
"Mhm... reminds me of the greenhouse."
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading experience