Highly aware of his presence beside her, Bianca controlled herself for looking his way. She closed her eyes tight hoping to stay where she was and not giving in to her Lykae instincts of attacking this man and kissing him senseless. The way he had maintained his distance from her meant that he respected her wishes, but with his close proximity, she regretted her decision. With a soft whimper, she sank her head in the pillow. Silence stretched in the room, filling the distance between them. Between her wild thoughts and the anticipation of what would happen the next day, Bianca's eyes became heavy and she drifted off to sleep.

As for Brantley… how could he sleep? For thousands of years all he had known was emptiness, which extended all around him. However, with her arrival in the world, he was happy to breathe the same air which she breathed, happy to think that she would come to him one day, just happy… and now that she was with him on the same bed… he didn't know what to do. Suddenly all the emptiness he was surrounded with was filled with emotions as soft as rose petals and as tranquil as moonlight. Brantley turned to the side she was sleeping and he… watched her sleep. He couldn't even blink an eye. She was right there with him, in his bed and he wanted to touch her badly, but he stayed where he was, and stared at the most beautiful thing that had happened to him. A tear rolled out of his eye. The wait was worth it. She was breathtaking, exquisite and surreal.

​​

As the moonbeams fell in the bedchamber and the white marble floor with gold lined tiles shimmered, the room looked ethereal. Brantley got up and untied all the tassels from the posters so that she wouldn't get disturbed by the soft reflections. The white gossamer curtains fell all around them he went back to lie on his side. He flipped on his belly and put his hands beneath his face. A smile appeared on his face when he saw how her red hair covered half of the creamy skin of her face. The longer he stared at her, the longer he yearned to go near her and remove those tresses from her face. He wanted to dig in his fingers in her soft hair and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. At first he controlled himself and then he inched closer, only to see her better.

She had kicked her sheets away and her nightshirt had pooled above her stomach near the lower swell of her breasts.

Brantley gaped. His mind went into a tizzy. He didn't know how or when, but like a moth to the flame, he found himself not even three feet away. And he drank her features like nectar while being washed in her exquisite scent of lavender and warm summer. He couldn't resist. His fingers found their way in her hair, which he brushed past her face. His hands lightly grazed her lips and his body shuddered.

Bianca rolled over and turned her back to him.

It must have become pretty warm at night because her body was pleasantly warmer than usual. She had never awoken this warm ever in her sleep in Bainsburgh ever. Bianca cuddled further into the warmth, not wanting to wake up. The scent of lush blossoms and spice was overwhelming and calmed her and relaxed her even more. She snuggled into the warm, hardness of the bed and a content and satisfied sigh left her mouth.

But she had slept on a very soft mattress and she had sunk almost two inches in it. How did her bed turn this hard? Not only that the bed was extremely warm, hard and smooth beneath her body. And if that wasn't all, the bed had enveloped itself all around her.

Bianca's eyes opened wide and she saw that it was still dark on the outside. A soft knock on the door disturbed her. She saw that the curtains had been untied and they were now hanging around the bed. She remembered not doing any of it. And she realized that she was lying on her bed but on a broad chest that heaved gently. Her cheek was pressed against a broad chest and her stomach against a stomach. A heavy and strong arm was wrapped around her waist in a vise-like grip and the other one was sprawled across inside her pajamas on her hip. And she wasn't wearing panties. His heavy right leg was over her left and the other one was wedged between her thighs somewhere very close to a part that was now hot and wanton beyond words. Her breasts were almost half exposed and pressed against his bare chest.

Bianca's mouth fell as she realized that at some point of time, she must have rolled over on him and used him as a bed. To her acute embarrassment she became aware as to where all their naked skin met. Her mind froze and she didn't dare to breathe. She gulped and then slowly tried to slide from there, but she was grabbed by the fierce force of his arms and moved back to where she was. Bianca's heart skipped a beat. Her pulse kicked and her lightning zapped over her skin, through her veins.

She hoped that he didn't get up because with the way she was on him, it was clear that it was she who had sought him out in the night. And at the same time, how did he end up sleeping so close to her?

Once again she tried to move and this time he pressed her against him and his thigh pressed against her in between her thighs. Whatever coherent thought she had, all vanished. She lifted her head and rested on her palm to look at him and he looked so beautiful, vulnerable and peaceful that her heart went out for him. She studied his features again.

Suddenly a loud knock on the door woke him up and she closed her eyes tight shut in the same position she was in.

The knock on the door pounded again.

Brantley realized his position and he didn't know how the two of them wound up in this position. As he looked at her, he realized that her face had reddened. The girl had shut her eyes tightly to escape the embarrassment. How could he not take advantage of the situation? He squeezed her hip tightly and she squealed.

Bianca, who was scarlet red, caught in the act, slid his body and jumped out of the bed. She hit the bathroom straight leaving a very amused and laughing king of Aztec.

The knock on the door disturbed him and he got out of the bed to open the door. "Hello Holly," he greeted the servant who was for the first time seeing her king beaming like a bright sun and he had a smile on his face.

She bowed. "Good morning Your Highness."

He opened the door for her to enter.

"I have to dress the queen for the wedding. We have only two hours left for dawn to break."

Brantley walked to the bedside table and poured a glass of water for himself.

"Your personal servant, Jed, is waiting for you to dress you up. Shall I call him in?"

"Yes please."

An hour later, Bianca was in the midst of dressing up.