The Desert Alpha's Mate

CHAPTER 11-THE VINDICTIVE LADY

Eleanor's face flushed when Prince Badr suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. The prince couldn't stop himself; his face was red, and his eyes watered while he clutched his stomach while laughing.

He was having a fit while Eleanor's demeanor gradually changed. She unconsciously lifted one eyebrow at him, and her lips pouted. She crossed her arms in her chest and slowly tapped her foot while she waited for him until he finished cracking up.

The scowl on her face didn't go unnoticed by the prince, as he tried his best to stifle his laugh. He was coughing and heaving from trying to suppress it. With a square cotton cloth that he always brought all the time, he wiped his teary eyes. He tried his best to compose himself, while Eleanor's scowl remained firmly in place.

"Are you done making fun of me, Your Highness?" Eleanor finally said to the prince when she thought that he had already recovered from his fit. He clenched his jaw tightly to prevent himself from laughing again.

Somehow, Eleanor couldn't help getting annoyed at his reaction to her 'lack of knowledge'. 'Do I look that hilarious?' she thought. 'He enjoyed my ignorance and dumbness, what a jerk of a Prince,' unconsciously, she began tapping her fingers on her arm.

Prince Badr was still attempting to suppress his sniggers. He exhaled and coughed a bit before he spoke. "I am sorry, My Lady. I couldn't help but tease you a bit," he said, still trying to keep a straight face, "you were so uptight and serious when you were with me. I just wanted you to feel relaxed in my presence."

"Do you think it worked on me, Your Highness? Do you think that making fun of my ignorance of your laws and threatening me with your position will help me feel at ease in your presence?" she asked him, one eyebrow still up while looking directly at the prince. She straightened her posture to make herself look taller as if it would help her not be intimidated by the prince's height. Although she needed to extend her neck and look at him with her chin up, she looked at his two brown orbs directly still, without even blinking. Ignoring the strange feeling that she felt in the pit of her stomach whilst staring directly into his mesmerizing eyes, she firmed up her gaze. She needed to hold her ground to show him how annoyed she was.

"No, I mean it was wrong of me to use my title just to tease you. I am sorry, forgive me, My Lady," the prince said, looking at her sincerely. Her heartbeat skipped a beat, her breath hitched, and her knees buckled a little because of his intense gaze on her. The way he looked at her could melt every lady's, stone-hard heart. Eleanor tried her best to compose herself and not give away how much she was affected by the prince's stare.

Those two deep brown orbs were drowning her, she was swooning, 'No, no, no, no. You shouldn't fall for his charm, Eleanor,' she coached herself. Shaking her head so she could break his power over her. 'You should be firm, you should hold your ground, don't fall in his charm,' she recited repeatedly in her mind like a mantra. Trying to convince herself so she wouldn't falter and break her stance. 'What if...' An idea popped into her, and she decided now that it was her turn to tease the prince. If he could make fun of her, she would do the same for him. 'Payback time,' she said inwardly, smiling to herself.

"I am sorry," she heard him say to her awkwardly, giving her puppy eyes, "but also, I wanted to say thank you. This is the first time in a very long time that I have laughed this hard," he said sincerely. Suddenly, his smile was gone, and although there was still a hint of playfulness in his eyes, his face straightened. Eleanor was stunned when she saw the look of pure adoration in Prince Badr's eyes. 'Does he really adore me?' she thought. The beating of her heart became faster than usual, she could almost hear its thumping and she thought that it might burst out of her chest literally. Eleanor was now having second thoughts about whether she would retaliate by teasing the prince because of the way he looked at her.