Villainess Loves

Part 40

Mary quickly catches his teacup and wipes the spill he made.

"Ummm." I look away.

"No, she asked me to be her lover to help persuade King Drayden to end the engagement." Henry chuckles at my rapidly red face.

"What? Pretend lovers?" Bella realizes.

"Henry, SHUT UP!" I grab Henry's collar. He laughs at my embarrassed face.

"My lady, your reactions are very funny." He says.

"Be quiet!" I say through gritted teeth as I shake him. He laughs harder as I don't have enough strength to even make him budge. Darn those amazing muscles! He also still smells nice even after riding horses earlier!

"My lady, it has already been revealed. You don't need to overreact." Mary sighs.

"ARGH! This is too embarrassing! Why did you have to bring it up." I groan, leaning back a little. Henry wraps his arm around me to keep me from falling.

"But you did, Annelise." Prince Orion tilts his head in confusion. I try to burn a hole in his annoying head. This guy.... GRRR!

"Ha ha! I didn't think you wanted to talk about it, but you brought it up yourself, my lady." Henry tries to stop himself from giggling. I can feel his chest rumbling as he laughs his head off.

"You corrected Bella!" I frown at him, trying to ram him in the chest with my knee. It doesn't work very well because I'm not flexible and instead I fall into his arms, almost smacking my face into his sturdy chest. He catches me before my face hits him and repositions me in between his legs.

I just realized what kind of position I'm in and my face heats up.
"Oh, just get a room, why don't you?" Mary grumbles. Bella blushes at our close proximity.

"Hey, hey! It wasn't on purpose!" I complain as I push against Henry to break free but he grips stronger on my waist and prevents me from budging him.

"Don't move, my lady. You'll fall." Henry says.

"Ahhh, just let me fall then, that way I can avoid this embarrassment." I try to pry his fingers off of my waist. His touch is burning and I can't help but focus on the feeling of his fingers.

"Annelise. Are you sure that you and Henry aren't dating? You guys look like you're dating." Prince Orion sits back down and stares at us.

"What, and the actual parties don't even know that they are dating?" I say exasperatedly and sit back down. Henry lets me turn around so I'm facing everyone but I remain inside his arms.

"To clarify, I invited Henry to be my pretend lover so that King Drayden wouldn't be able to refute if both sides are interested in someone else. I didn't know he would agree to end it. But he did misinterpret my words. I really am not interested in Prince Orion anymore so I don't really want to continue to be in a relationship with you." I say to Prince Orion, crossing my arms.

"I see. Then do you like Henry, Annelise?' Prince Orion asks innocently. Mary and Bella lean in. Henry's grip tightens and I glance up at him.

"?" I look at him. His raven black hair glimmers in the afternoon sun and his dark eyes peer straight into my soul. I gulp. He smiles slightly at me.

"What's your answer, Lady Annelise?" He says softly.

"Ah, um." I start to stammer.

"Why is she acting all weird? I just asked a simple question." Prince Orion whispers to Mary and Bella, who are holding their breaths, watching the show.

"Lady Annelise gets flustered when confronted by someone she likes." Mary whispers back. "Oh." Prince Orion mumbles. Hey! Isn't that just telling him the answer?? Henry smiles wider at Mary's whisper.

"What is your answer, Lady Annelise?" Henry repeats his question, slowly. I suck in my breath at his sultry voice. Geez! Why are you guys all pressuring me to do something I don't want to do?

"Um, ah, uh." My voice is struggling to come out. I feel my heart racing and Henry doesn't help as his hands slowly wrap around me tighter, even more than I thought possible.

I squirm, trying to look elsewhere but I'm surrounded by stares. I cave in.

".......yes." I squeak, my face bursting into flames and I try to bury my face into Henry's chest to avoid the widening eyes.

"Yes, what?" Henry drawls, pulling in my body so close, that I can feel his warmth and the rapid pattering of his own heart. I can feel his breath quicken up as his face moves closer to mine in anticipation of my response. Ughhhhhhh. I feel incredibly overwhelmed. My brain barely processed his words as I am still in processing my own statement. I try to take a deep breath to calm my heart that's moving a thousand times faster than normal. My vision blurs slightly as I feel my body burning even more than before.

"...lise?..... Annelise!" I hear Henry's shocked voice fade as I black out.