Chapter 24. It is You, I want...
The water suddenly felt ice cold at the alpha king's announcement.
I muttered curses infinitely in my mind, not wanting to follow him. Being with the alpha king inside his bath awakened a lot of emotions in me that I didn't even want to acknowledge.
However, if it means gaining his affection (since it was already my goal when I stepped foot into his kingdom), will I fathom doing it? Besides, it was only a bath, right? There was nothing dangerous about that unless something happen between us, which would be far from the reality now. "Well...why are you suddenly silent, River? You're usually full of sarcastic remarks and rebuttals. Did your tongue finally decide to retreat?" he asked, snickering.
Going into the bath was not a problem. It was me. I did not know what I would be doing during that duration. Aside from that, so far, he was not yet doing anything against my will.
Clearing my throat and refusing to be intimidated, I said, "It's nothing like that, Your Majesty."
His scowl deepened, yet he was still handsome in my eyes. Whatever he did or the facial expressions he did, there was nothing hideous about it.
I swam a little further away from the alpha king which made his eyebrows straighten even more. Not the right move, given my goal, but I had to think more. I had to know how long I was willing to do just to gain his affection.
“Your Majesty, I think your other group of slaves is fit for what you want,” I suggested, averting my gaze. "They can perfectly do the job well, Your Majesty. They can do more than me."
Not wanting to talk with the distance between us, he swam towards me while I backed away until my back hit the cold.
"I meant nothing to harm, Your Majesty. I am merely suggesting.”
"Are you? Why did it seem like you were trying to distance yourself? The last time I remember back at your pack, you were eager to look for a man and would even offer yourself to him for that tiny little favor of revenge,” he said, taunting me.
Then he lifted his hand and caged me, leaving me no choice but to be near to him and see him straight in his eyes. The smell of shampoo coming from his hair knocked me off and the way he stared at me looked like he saw straight through me. As if I could not hide anything from him.
The bath seemed too small for the two of us. I looked at the ground, tempted to leave him alone.
I should have pretended I was asleep when he came back earlier.
I leaned away, careful not to make our skin touch each other, or 1 will feel the bolts of electricity towards us. And above all, I did not want his manhood poking at me.
"Why would you force them on me? It is you I want, River,” he said, almost purring like a cat.
It is you I want.
The words kept ringing in my mind as I digested the weight of those words.
I knew it was nothing to him, and I should treat it the same, but the foolish side of me, the one who believed in love and attraction did not.
"Y-your Majesty...are you drunk?"
He released his breath right into my nose and I sucked his breath as if as a habit. His breath was not stinky but smelled like eucalyptus.
Lifting his hands filled with bubbles, he brushed my cheeks with it, and instantly shivered at his touch. It went down and down traveling to my bare shoulders leaving me gasping in anticipation even if I should not feel any of that.
I was a servant of the alpha king and it is not my duty to respond to his touches, but what was there some kind of emotion settling in my chest, restrained, as if it wanted to be out in the open?
I'm not drunk with anything but tiredness. We are here to do something against that.”
I chuckled nervously and dipped my body more into the cold water.
The need to hide and run away from the alpha king grew stronger at each moment. Getting near him like this was getting dangerous.
"There's no need to seduce me, Your Majesty.” putting his hands on both of my shoulders, he lifted me, earning me a gasp from my lips, and crossed my arms in front of my chest.
"Is this seduction for you? Wait until I do it correctly, River. We are only talking.”
Talking? This was another level of talking! Talking did not mean awakening a dangerous emotion in my mind!
"Can you let me go, Your Majesty?"
He did, to my dismay, and swam away from me, putting enough distance between us. Thank you very much, I could not think clearly, without him affecting my emotions
"Out. Ready my clothes," he ordered, not meeting my gaze.
I beamed, finally free from him, and scampered away from the alpha king even though I was soaking wet. I called the twins, and the two helped me dry myself and prepared the necessary things for the alpha king
I thought the alpha king would be done after a couple of minutes of trying in his bath, but he did not. I urged the twins to go back to their quarters and let me wait for him.
When I could no longer stay still, I stomped my way to his bath only to find his eyes were closed, his breathing shallow, and let out a soft snore and then. One of his hands was on the handle so that he wouldn't slip into the bottom of the tub.
He was already two hours long staying in that freaking tub! Wasn't he cold by now? And who in his right mind would sleep fully submerged in the water? What if he drowned by accident?
Shaking my head, I strolled towards him and tapped his shoulder. "Your Majesty," I called him.
He stirred, and glanced up, his eyes hazy. He was staring at me, but not staring at me. If that made sense.
"Zenith."