Emma pov
"Luke, where are you taking me?" I giggle as Luke leads me through an unknown door.
"You'll see, just be patient!" He takes my hand in his and we walk to what looks like a stable house. Ever since I turned Michael down, my friendship with Luke has been different. We're almost never apart and when we are, I wish to see him. I've become so reliant on him and I'm afraid of what might happen if he were to suddenly become cold towards me again. When we get close, the air around us becomes heavy. Luke covers my eyes as we walk into the stables. He places his other hand on the small of my back so he can lead me to wherever we're going.
"Is this the part where you kill me so you can have the study all to yourself?" I joke.
"No, I'm doing that next week," he laughs, "Today, we're going on an adventure!" He removes his hand from my eyes, revealing a beautiful horse. In the side pocket of its saddle was a blanket and there was a basket strapped to the other side. I cheered at the thought of riding again. I had a horse back in France and I took her out nearly every day.
"What's its name?" I ask Luke as I stroke the horse's mane.
"Philip."
"Is he your horse?" I ask as Luke helps me up onto the saddle.
"Yes, he was an 18th birthday present," he says, patting the horse fondly. Luke sits behind me and snaps the reins, signaling Philip to go. He trots outside and starts along a shaded pathway.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"Remember the lake I told you about?" he says. I nod, thinking of the day he told me about when he almost drowned as a child.
"I wanted to take you there before it gets too cold," he explains. I look up at the sky and see dark storm clouds.
"I think it's going to rain," I frown.
"Not till later in the day," he assures me.
Seconds later, a huge bolt of lightning fills the sky, followed by thunder so loud that I had to cover my ears. The noise spooks the horse and he starts running off of the path and into the forest. Luke tries every command I can think of to get Philip to slow down, but the thunder and lightning continues and the horse is beyond control. His speed increases by the second and soon we are very deep into the forest. Luke frantically snaps at the reins for a while but gives up hope.
"We're going to have to jump off," he says to me, struggling to be heard over the sound of thunder and horse hooves.
"Is there no other way?" I panic at the thought of jumping off at this speed.
"No, the farther we let him run, the harder it will be for anyone to find us out here," he says. First the grabs the basket and blanket, throwing it down. Before I even know what's happening he grips my waist tightly and throws us towards the ground. We land in a pile of leaves and although the fall was painful, I don't think I broke anything. We both groan from the ground and lay there for a few minutes to catch our breath.
"Are you hurt?" I ask Luke, knowing he took most of the impact for me. I sit up slowly to look at him. Physically he looked fine.
"I'm alright. Are you?"
"My head hurts a little, but I think I'll be fine."
"Good, we need to find the basket. It has food in it," he starts to search through the dense forest for the basket.
"Can't we walk back?" I ask nervously.
"I'm afraid we'd get more lost than we already are. We'll have to stay here overnight till someone finds us."
...
I lean in closer to the fire Luke built, trying to warm up. It was surprising that Luke even knew how to build a fire. Being raised in a castle where everything is done for you isn't exactly the best way to learn wilderness survival skills. I shiver as a drop of cold rain fall on my shoulder. The thick trees serve as a good shelter from the rain, but the storm still makes its way through.
"Are you cold?" Luke questions, concern on his face. I shake my head no, but my chattering teeth tell him otherwise. He wraps the blanket around me tighter, then pulls me into his side. I snuggle into the warmth he provides. Suddenly all of the fears in my mind are blurted out of my mouth.
"What if they don't find us tomorrow? Or the next day? What if we get eaten by wolves? What if-" I work myself up so much that I'm on the verge of tears before Luke interrupts me.
"Hey Em, calm down. It's going to be okay, darling. I promise," he says soothingly.
"I can't, the woods scare me! It's too dark and there could be anything out there."
"Then think about something else. What would we be doing right now if we were home?"
"We would be in the ballroom. I would be reading a book while you get shitfaced drunk," I chuckle.
"Hey! I would be drinking responsibly within reason," he counters.
"Yeah, I'll remember that the next time I have to practically carry you back upstairs while you laugh in my ear about ponies," I reply. We have a good laugh about that one.
"Let's dance," he says, getting to his feet and holding his hand out to me.
"Out here? In the middle of nowhere to no music?" I look at him questioningly, but I take his hand nonetheless.
"Sure, why not. Besides, the movement will help to warm us up," he starts to hum a soft tune and we slowly sway back and forth. His sapphire eyes sparkle in the fire light. His nose ends in a cute little point, which I've noticed is a Hemmings trait. The color of the sun is replicated into his hair. In fact, that's what he is to me: my own personal sunshine in this place where clouds block any light. And from the way he looks down at me, I can tell he feels the same about me. He gazes at me like I'm the most important thing in the world. More valuable than the rarest jewel, more delicate than the a set of china, more beautiful than a butterfly flying into the sunset, and more radiant than the moon itself.
I rest my head on his shoulder, trying to hide my blush from the rush of feelings. He continues to hum and I close my eyes, only focusing on his angelic voice and the swaying of our bodies.
"Emma?" he breaks the silence, his voice deep.
"Mhmm?" I mumbled, looking up at him once again.
"May I kiss you?" his words don't surprise me, he must be feeling the same pull I do. The invisible force that is urging us to come together. I nod quickly, biting my lip as he leans in. When our lips finally meet, I feel like I've never felt before. An unexplainable feeling courses through my veins. I can feel my heartbeat and my blood pulse. His lips taste like a sweet wine and something else I can't describe. Eventually we have to come up for air, but I immediately miss the feeling of his lips against mine. His forehead rests against mine, his nose touching my own.
"Well that was-" Luke starts but I interrupt him by throwing my arms around his neck and attacking him with another kiss. He kisses me back enthusiastically at first, but pulls away after a moment, making me pout.
"Don't worry princess, we'll have plenty of time for that later. But right now I think we should go to sleep before the fire dies out," he gives me one final peck on the lips.
That night we sleep up against a tree. The ground was my bed and his chest served for a very nice alternative pillow. His heartbeat and the sound of his steady breathing lull me into a heavy slumber.
...
I sighed contently as I sat in the warm bath my handmaidens had drawn for me. After riding a wild horse, sleeping in the dirt, and being woken up by the pounding hooves of twenty guards' horses; the soothing water was very appreciated. It turns out that most of the castle staff was out looking for us last night. They didn't find us until morning, as we were very deep in the forest.
Queen Liz was a mess when we got back, crying and scolding us at the same time. But once she saw that we were holding hands, she suffocated us with hugs. Queen Liz seemed to know our relationship became something more than friends last night. Although I'm really not sure what we are now. To me, we shared something meaningful and special. With Luke I feel things I've never felt before. But Luke kisses girls all of the time, he has invited countless girls into his bed. I doubt a kiss shared with an inexperienced virgin meant anything to him.
I decided to go to bed early, as I was exhausted from the events of the past two days. Just as I was about to crawl into the silky sheets, one of the maids knocks on the door.
"Madame, Prince Luke requests your presence," she says. I wearily walk away from my inviting bed, through the study and into Luke's room. Luke sat on his bed wearing a mostly undone shirt.
"You requested my presence? You know my room is only ten feet away right?" I ask, sitting next to him.
"Yes but your ladies in waiting are in there with you and I wanted to see you alone," he says, bringing his hand up to cup my cheek.
"Why?" I inquire, although by the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice, I know what he wants to do.
"So I could do this," he says bringing his lips to mine. I smile into the kiss and we stay like that for what feels like three hours and three seconds at the same time.
"Luke," I say softly against his persistent lips.
"Mmhm?" he mumbles.
"I wish I could sit here all night and kiss you, but I'm incredibly tired and I need to sleep," I pull away from him unwillingly.
"Then sleep in here with me. After all, this is technically our room," he pleads.
"Alright," I agree hesitantly, "Nothing but sleeping though Luke, I mean it." He grins devilishly and pulls me into the covers.
"Alright princess, we'll 'just sleep' for now."
