“I need your help again, my friend…” he said before letting out a long sigh. It wasn’t rare for the prince to give me a call and he was right when he said that we are friends. While taking Anthony’s place over the years, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to meet the crown prince. At first everything was very distant and formal between us; however, our relationship started to change when I suddenly received a mysterious invitation from the palace. What surprised me even more at the time was the fact that the invitation was addressed to me as ‘Bradon’ instead of to my younger brother. I had always thought that I was good at impersonating my brother but it appeared that the crown prince was even more talented at telling people apart. Upon our meeting, he could tell that I wasn’t Anthony and my true identity turned up after some investigation. Instead of probing into the reasons why the Vulkan family had a hidden son that sometimes impersonated their only son, the crown prince was more
I could tell that he would rather come along with me and the rest of the men but I felt like he would have a much more important role to play here. “Watch over her and make sure that she stays out of trouble. Make sure she doesn’t do anything reckless,” I instructed sternly. “Will this help make you focus on your work?” Zain asked as he stared directly at me. “Of course. I’ll feel much better knowing that I can trust you to handle things here,” I replied honestly. “What should I tell her?” Zain asked for further instructions. “Tell her that I have some things to deal with and that she shouldn’t wait up for me,” I instructed. I didn’t think that Dahlia would wait up for me and it would come as no surprise if she preferred to have me gone. Zain nodded his head once to show me that he understood. …**Dahlia’s point of view**What time is it now?Is it possible to tell how much time has passed from the movement of the stars in the sky?I must have heard that from somewhere but I co
It infuriated me that he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted without a care about how I felt while I didn’t have the freedom to do the same. It honestly felt like my chest was ready to explore from the tension and frustration that had started accumulating inside. “I’m going to sunbathe…and then I’ll play in the water…then I’ll go for a swim in the pool…” I muttered my plan as my voice shook from anger. **Bradon’s point of view**I managed to wrap up the whole mess and calm down the situation within a few hours which was something that I felt slightly proud of. However, the fact that it came at the cost of a handful of my men sustaining injuries made me feel like I could have done better had I been less hasty. Men getting injured during these kinds of crackdown operations wasn’t abnormal no matter how well prepared we were. There would always be unforeseeable circumstances and dangers. Everyone had to stay on their toes and learn to expect the unexpected. Everyone’s life w
“I’m Sam. Nice to meet you,” he introduced himself before showing me a smile. His sun-kissed tan skin complimented his light brown eyes and hair and I found myself smiling easily in his presence. “I’m Diana,” I introduced myself simply because I believed that he already knew who I was supposed to be. “Shall we get started?” he asked with clear excitement. “Sure…” I replied as I unwrapped the thin shawl that I had around my waist to reveal the bright red bikini that I had on. While in the middle of my lesson, I realized that Zain had suddenly disappeared somewhere. It must have been while I was under water with Sam because I didn’t realize when he left. It did not bother me and I decided to devote my attention to Sam and all that he was teaching and showing me. He was a good and patient teacher and he made sure to strike a good balance between teaching me the basics in words and getting me to try things out for myself. The staff was right in the deep end of the pool being very de
“What were you doing in the water? Were you trying to kill yourself?” he asked with widened eyes. He did mention just now that I couldn't swim. Could it be…?“Bradon, you don’t happen to really think that I can’t swim, do you?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. “You can't…swim…” he murmured.This time I could tell that he was less certain than before and there was an unmistakable look of hesitation and confusion in his eyes. “Listen, I don’t know who told you that I can’t swim but I can. I can swim just fine,” I stated, slowly and clearly. Bradon looked confused and he didn’t seem convinced about the fact that I could swim while I wondered how much longer I needed to deal with this nonsense of his. “I’m not a pro but I’m quite a competent swimmer. Just so you know, I’m not going to simply and randomly drown in a swimming pool, and in case you haven’t realized, I had an instructor with me as well,” I explained while wondering why I had to point out the obvious.H
The wind blew all around us and I could hear the rustling of leaves from the trees close by. The sea wasn’t far off and I could smell the unique scent of the ocean. It was getting dark quite fast but I didn’t want to go back inside until we finished our conversation properly. “You’re right. It’s my fault for leaving you here. Although you seemed to have enjoyed yourself immensely while I was gone, I’ll stick to my offer to buy you whatever that you want,” he said emotionlessly. I was quite surprised that he was freely admitting that it was his fault for leaving me, although I did not miss that he hadn’t exactly offered me words of apology. Then again, I wasn’t dying to hear him say ‘sorry’. Instead, there was something that I wanted but it was something that his money couldn’t buy. “There’s something that I want from you, and lucky for you, you don’t even have to pay to give it to me,” I said as I took a step towards him to close the distance between us. “What is it that you want?
The wind was getting stronger and the temperature had dropped. I knew that Bradon was logically right that we should head inside but my stubbornness had already taken over. “Your hand is cold…” he said to me softly. “Stop trying to change the topic…” I warned. The moment he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it, my words felt stuck in my throat. His lips were soft and warm and their touch on the back of my hand made my insides tingle. Even though I knew that he was doing this to distract me from pushing him for answers, I couldn’t help the way that my chest tightened. It took a lot of effort to stop myself from moaning when I felt the wet tip of his tongue flicking softly against the back of my hand. “Stop…” I said as I tried to pull my hand away.Of course, it was no use. On top of failing to free my hand from his grasp, Bradon rewarded my vain effort by sucking softly on the back of my hand. He looked straight at me as his lips continued kissing and sucking on the back of my
“Anthony did something very similar before. There was this birthday party of one of our mutual friends. We were all invited to the party and ended up going together. I didn’t want to be there but Diana was insistent on dragging me along. I remember I felt like such a third wheel and I hated it…” I said in a light tone as I recalled my memories from that day. Surprisingly, I found it easier to recount the story to Bradon now that I have started. I had no idea why I was suddenly telling him this or why I suddenly felt so talkative but it felt better than the silence that dwelled between us just a short while before. Even more surprisingly, was the fact that Bradon was silently and willingly listening to my tale. “Someone said something that pissed me off and I decided to escape rather than making a scene. I didn’t want to ruin Diana’s date with Anthony, so I just walked away alone into the garden at the back of their mansion. This is going to sound so stupid, but it was dark and I was