Their Princess

Chapter 55

Eli spank my butt playfully. “ Scoot over, Princess.” Whining I shift my body to make space for him on his bed. 

“ What do you think they're talking about?”

“ Who?”

“ You know who I'm talking about, Eli. Tell me.” I whine and press my face on his abs.

“ I don't know, Princess. There are a lot of things they can be talking about. But right now I don't want to talk about them. I want to talk about you.”

I smile brightly at this. “ Okay.”

“ Why don't you want a ceremony? Is it not common in your culture?”

“ There are a lot of ceremonies held in our culture, but there is no compulsion to it. Eli, I don't want to cut my hair. They don't grow fast.”

“ If you don't want it, then no one will dare. Besides, I like your hair this way.” Eli picks a strand of my hair and starts to play with it. Scooting closer to his face, I peck his cheeks. 

“ I want to talk about you now.” 

“ Me?” I nod my head at him. “ Okay. Go ahead.”

“ What kind of girl would you like to date….. uhh … court?” 

“ Hmm…. Let's see. Someone who is soft, caring, brave and….. smells good. Yes, that's a compulsion. She definitely has to smell good.”

“ But what if she doesn't, Eli? I mean, we all have a different preference for scents. What if that girl is soft, caring, and brave, but her scent is not good. What will you do then?”

“ I back off.” He shrugs, still playing with my hair. Then I ask the question that I've been wanting to ask for so long.

“ Do you like my scent, Eli?”

At this, he looks me in the eye with pure burning desire in them, making me gulp in nervousness. “ I don't like it, princess, I'm addicted to it.”

“ What if the girl you court doesn't smell as good as me?” He brings my face closer to his.

Caressing my face lovingly with his fingers, he says. “ Princess, what makes you think I will court another?”

I shrug, playing with his shirt collar while avoiding his eyes. But he forces me to look him in the eyes. “ You know you can talk to me about anything. I will never judge you. Tell me, baby. What's going on in your mind?”

Hesitating, I choose my words wisely. I don't want to make a fool of myself. Although I know Eli will never judge me, I still want to keep my heart safe from another blow.

“ It's nothing special, Eli. I thought maybe you want to court someone like Zed.”

Eli frowns. “ Zed is not courting anyone, princess. He is just fooling around like any guy of his age. Besides, I don't plan on courting anyone when I have a princess to take care of. And if what I've heard is correct, then I have to do a lot of work to keep the princess happy. Since they are quite moody these days.”

My mouth falls open with his admission. I sit up and cross my arms on my chest. “ I'm not moody.” I say, glaring at him.

“ Whatever you say, baby.” His lips twitch at the end, giving away his play.

“ You're mean, Eli. So mean.” I huff and lay my head on his chest. His chest vibrates with his laughter.

“ Oh. My sweet girl. When would you realize what you mean to us?”

“ What……”

“ Shh… go to sleep now. We can continue this conversation tomorrow. It's already midnight. I will carry you to your room. Okay?” I hum in reply and fall asleep only to wake up in my dark room. 

Eli might have tucked me in my bed. But that fact didn't wake me up in the middle of the night. It's the slow footsteps that are approaching my bed that has me on alert. 

What should I do? Should I scream? Or look back at the person. 

Before I can decide my course of action, a hand covers my mouth and tightly holds my hands in his one hand.

I would have guessed who the scent belonged to, but my mind has crossed that boundary. It's in full panic mode. I try to shove, fight, and throw a punch at him. But nothing hits him to stop him in his tracks.

I realize my defeat is near when I see him nearing his car and out of the castle. Not even a single guard is around. Where the heck are they when you need them the most?

I try to remove his hand from my face, but he isn't having it. It's too dark for me to see his face, but I can feel him panicking. His hands are shaking but are still firmly gripping me. 

Tears of fear and frustration fall from my eyes. I don't want to be taken away from Daddy again. Rey will lose his mind, and my Eli will be so scared. And Daddy. I don't want to think how much panic this situation will bring to him.

So I fight and fight harder. Landing a perfect blow to his crotch, making him groan in pain. He falls to his knees, and I use the back of my head to break his nose.

Then I scream from the top of my lungs because this man isn't letting me go this easily. 

“ DADDY!!!”

“ REY!!”

“ EL….”

His hand is suddenly on my mouth again. But before he can step toward his car. Horns start to blare loudly, thankfully. 

But my kidnapper isn't giving up easily. He gets up and composes himself. But instead of running for his life, he throws me in the car with himself and starts to drive.

I can't believe he is risking his own life when he can already see the guards coming toward the vehicle with deadly frightening weapons. The only reason they haven't used them is me.

“ Sh*t. It's too late.” I nod my head but stop when I realize who the voice belongs to.

Why would he do something like that?