Royalty Overnight

20: The Motel

Nakita watched as everything began to soak in water. Her hair, her clothes. Everything.

However, the water couldn't soothe the fiery anger burning within her. They were in the middle of nowhere; the car had broken down, and there were no mechanics by this time. They were stranded.

Nakita's body began to tremble; not from the cold rain, but from a deep-seated anger. She was furious that things were going sideways. Nothing was going according to plan, all she wanted was to avoid Maalik as much as possible because every time she looked at him, it made her heart ache. Every. Single. Time.

"This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous," she muttered under her breath, already feeling her soaked clothes clinging to her skin.

Maalik handed her two bags. "There's a motel 25 minutes from here."

She watched him as he started to walk away from her.

After 20 minutes of walking, they finally saw the motel from a distance.

They both entered there and it was packed. People came in because of the heavy weather outside.

Nakita first reached the reception to find any available rooms.

"Good evening, madam. How can we help you?" The female receptionist smiled at the couple.

"Hello, I want to know if there are any available rooms."

"Alright, please wait a moment." The receptionist's gaze moved down to the screen. "There are two single bedrooms left."

Nakita was happy that she could be on her own even for a night. "Perfect, we'll take both."

Before the receptionist could book them, Maalik decided to step in. "We are booking one."

Nakita turned to look at him in disbelief. "What? Why?"

"There's no need for two. We are married." He lowered his voice so only she could hear.

"But I want to sleep in another room."

"Nakita, someone else would need that room more than we do."

Unbeknownst to them, while they were arguing concerning the rooms, a customer came to ask for a room and was booked by a male receptionist.

Eventually, after a few minutes, Nakita won the argument. She then turned to the female receptionist.

"Have you made a choice?" she asked, looking between them.

"Yes, we are taking the two rooms?" Nakita said.

But the male receptionist chimed in. "Sorry to interrupt. Someone has taken one of the two rooms."

Maalik looked at Nakita, a smug look on his face. "One room it is."

Maalik was given the keys but Nakita took the keys from passive aggressively and stomped to the room.

The place was small. There was a furry carpet and bed, way too big for the limited room. But it would do for the night.

Nakita dropped the bags needed and turned to Maalik. He had just entered the room and he had to bend his head only a bit to pass through the door frame with no harm.

She could help let her eyes down his body. His dark wet hair curled at the tip went past his brows; he then brushed them back, his calloused hand making sure it didn't fall on his face. His hand...

His soaked clothes made his body visible and more appealing to the eye when he flexed his muscles because of the weight of the bags. His muscles...

His deep skin almost glowed with rain drops running down his jaw and neck, disappearing into his shirt. His dark sharp eyes that always left her spellbound and speechless. His eyes... they were looking right at her.

Once she realised what she was doing, she turned away. "I... I will be entering the bathroom to change. In the meantime, you change your clothes as well." She didn't wait for an answer as she hastily grabbed a nightdress.

Maalik watched when she almost ran into the bathroom, frantically skittering around like a mouse, before she closed the door shut and even locked it. Like she didn't trust him or herself from peeking to catch a glimpse.

Nakita caught her breath once inside. She looked at the small mirror and saw she was a mess. The wind and rain had no mercy on her.

She peeled off her dress that clung to her skin before putting on her warm nightdress.

Nakita went to the door and knocked loud enough to make sure he heard.

"You can open it now."

She unlocked the door and cautiously looked out. And sure enough, Maalik was dressed in his night clothes.

"We won't be able to make it to the event on time if we head to the hotel first," he said. He looked through his luggage to find his suit. "You should start bringing yours."

"Right..." She went to her bags that she made sure were on the opposite side of the room to avoid any further proximity.

Once she brought the dress for the event tomorrow, Nakita turned to face the bed and saw Maalik already laying there. He was making himself busy by reading.

She then turned to the carpet on the floor and decided to sleep there instead. Thankfully, she took a blanket, as she prefers using hers rather than the hotel's.

She tightly wrapped herself up in the blanket, not wanting to actually touch the carpet. Who knew the amount of dirt and germs that were in it.

"And why are you sleeping there?"

Nakita had to squirm to the right to see him looking down at her from the bed. "Because I prefer staying here."

"And why is that? You don't trust yourself around me?" He raised a questionable brow.

"I'm rather quite comfortable sleeping on my own, your grace."

He hummed like he was deep in thought, his gaze still fixated on her. "Are you probably covered up?"

She frowned at his question; it was asked out of nowhere. "Yes, I am. I made sure of it, in fact, it is difficult to untangle myself."

A small smile touched his lips. "Good."

Suddenly, Maalik stood up and walked toward her.

Nakita could only watch in shock as he carried her and went back to the bed.

He then lowered her to the bed. He did his best not to chuckle as he found her adorable being swaddled like a baby, staring up at him with her big concerned eyes.

"Your grace, what is this?"

"What is what?" Maalik then entered the covers.

"I want to lie on the carpet."

"And I want you to be here. The bed is comfortable, don't you think so?" He reached the nightstand lamp and switched it off.

Nakita remained silent in the dark, subtly throwing glares in his direction before closing her eyes.