Chapter 4

Hattie POV 

"Nothing?!" Lydia screamed when I told her the prince didn't touch me last night. It wasn't a big deal, but she was making it one. The maids too had a look of disbelief on their faces.

"Is that a problem?"

"If the prince didn't touch you last night, that means he doesn't desire your body"

I smiled nervously. "Maybe he was tired"

"I saw the prince's concubine go into his room that same night" I turned to the maid who said it. How can she say that to his wife? I boiled in anger. Her face however did not show any remorse, so it was clear she didn't see what she said as offensive.

"My Lady. We need to prepare you again tonight. Pray to your god he sleeps with you"

"What will happen if he doesn't sleep with me for seven nights?" I ask as the maids removed my dress

"Then he might get a new wife"

My heart stopped. I wasn't supposed to care about that, but it affected me. "Is that how things are done in this kingdom?"

"You don't have to worry about that my dear" Lydia consoled. "If he loves you, he won't have another wife, but what kind of a man would love his wife and not touch her?" 

"The same prince that traveled miles to have me when he could easily marry from this kingdom" I bragged

Lydia didn't say anything as she began the ritual that always took hours. This time more things were done to me. More perfumes, more makeup, a more transparent dress, but my hair wasn't cut this time. 

"When will I meet the king?"

"I'm afraid you can meet any man until you have mated with the prince"

What kind of rules did this place have? Why must they make sex a priority?

I had to wait in my chambers until nightfall and once again I was escorted by the maids to the prince's room.

I knocked and entered even without him telling me to. As soon as I got in, I put on a smile just like Lydia told me to, but Javier frowned at me. He stared at me from where he was seated on his bed, not budging.

"Didn't I tell you when I want you, I will send for you?" 

"Your staff made me come again"

"You follow the orders of the maids, not mine?"

"How can I not, when they seem to know the rules of the place more than you?" I shot at him and he chuckled.

"You can leave," I heard him say. "I am tired. I have been training all day"

I was supposed to scream for joy at that statement, but it hurt me instead. I was now aware of the fact that Javier didn't want my body. It was suffocating. I have never looked this good in a while, but I still get rejected by the same man who accepted me when everyone hated me. I couldn't help but ask myself, "what had changed?"

We repeated the ritual on the third night, the fourth night, the fifth night, and the sixth night. All this while I wasn't allowed to go out of my room.

On the third night, he was gruff and cranky. On the fourth night, he was friendly and surprisingly asked about my day which I was grateful for. On the fifth night, he told me to come to bed. I thought he was going to sleep with me, but he told me to go to sleep instead. I had to sleep with his hands wrapped around me. On the sixth night, I was the cranky one. I was angry he didn't want to mate with me.

Now, this was the seventh night and I had had enough. I told the maids not to get me ready. I got ready myself. I showered and wore any dress I could lay my hands on. My hair was put in a messy bun and I matched to his room.

This time I didn't knock, I barged into his room.

"Javier" I called him by his first name. He stood up from his bed, surprised by my outburst.

"I am here to sleep with you," I announced. He was surprised by my sudden courage. The other nights, I would stand by the door waiting for him to guess why I was there, but this night was different. It was either he initiated the sex or I did.

He walked towards me and stopped in front of me "are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," I snapped. "Why did you marry me when you don't have any plans of having sex with me" 

"You are getting it all wrong" he spoke calmly despite my outburst. "I didn't marry you because of only sex"

"Well the maids think I am not desirable because you have refused to sleep with me for 6 days"

"You are the princess and they are your maids, yet you choose to heed their words?"

"That's not the point" I yelled at him.

"What do you want me to do to you?" he cupped my chin and moved very close to me. All my attitude flew out the window as my body heated up. My mouth suddenly felt heavy.

"I want you to have sex with me" I managed to utter and immediately his eyes darkened.

When I said darken, I didn't mean it as an expression. His brown eyes actually changed from the normal color to deep black. I gasped.

"Strip" he ordered me coldly and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

"Javier your eyes" my voice was shaky. He was scaring me. 

He groaned in frustration. "I said you should strip," he said again and I gulped.

I wasted no time as I began to undo my dress. In a split second, I was naked before him. While I was doing that, his eyes remained the same, pinning me down with an intense glare.

He wrapped his hand around my waist and heaved me closer to himself. His eyes then all of sudden went back to normal, but he didn't stop. He used his thumb to caress my cheek and watched as I trembled under his touch. He was acting differently but I still wanted him. My body craved him immensely. 

I felt his hot breath on my face as he drew closer to him. It didn't take long before his lips found their way to mine. He kissed me passionately and I kissed him back. At that point, all my fears had completely left me and all I could think of was his body inside me.

He broke the kiss and looked at me. "Are you sure you want this?"

That question surprised me. I didn't give him an answer as I continued kissing him. His body felt like a drug, intoxicating me and I couldn't imagine how I would feel if this stopped. I finally had him to myself after he had tortured me for days.

Without warning, he swept me off my feet and took me to the bed. I lay on the bed, naked as I waited for him to resume the pleasure. He began kissing again on the lips but didn't kiss me for long. He brought his lips to my neck and began kissing me there. It went from a soft kiss to a lick, then he began to suck my neck. I was lost in pleasure although it was starting to hurt a bit.

It began to hurt a lot especially when he focused on one spot. I couldn't bear it anymore. I had to stop him. "Javier, you are hurting me" 

He immediately stopped and sat up. I told him to let him know it was hurting, not for him to stop completely. 

"You can go," he said to me. I was taken aback. "And tell them we had sex to seal the ritual" 

I was about to leave, but I couldn't without feeding my curiosity."Did I do something wrong?" I asked.

He walked towards me, cupped my chin, peering his eyes into mine. "No you didn't, I did and I don't think I will ever stop"     

*Did he mean, hurting her?*