Layla's childhood was as ordinary as a daughter's whose mother had passed away early in her life could be. Growing up surrounded by a dominant presence of male figures in her life, she turned into a strong, courageous individual, prepared to tackle...
She created a tiny space between two of her fingers to peek at him. "You won't laugh at me?" she mumbled behind her hands.
"Of course not, Layla-bug! I'll even reward you with your favorite cupcakes if you call me that again," he said, throwing a wink her way.
A small laughed escaped from Layla as she reached to hit his arm. "You idiot! The bakery you work at belongs to my father! I can get those cupcakes whenever I want."
Julian shrugged and suddenly his eyes lit up, almost as if a new idea occurred to him. He glanced at Layla and smiled mischievously, taking a few steps her way.
Knowing he was up to something, she took a step away from him, only to find herself back at her previous position: trapped between Julian and the stable's door.
He leaned closer again, but this time, Layla tried to act unaffected by him. He smirked at her and disappeared from her sight as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Layla's entire body stiffened as his nose grazed the skin behind her ear, making her shudder.
"How about a kiss as a reward then?" he asked, huskily.
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The Royal Mark : CHAPTER TWENTY
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"Or how about you back the hell away before I make you?"
Julian immediately pulled away from Layla's smaller frame and shot her an inquisitive look. "Sweetheart, what just happened to your voice?" he asked, thrown off-guard by the tone of Layla's voice more so than the harsh words that were spoken.
Upon meeting her gaze, however, Julian knew that something was wrong; Layla's face was drained of the very little color her pale skin complexion held, and her eyes were wide open, causing Julian to frown at her.
His lips parted as he thought he might've startled her with his words. After all, they had not exactly kissed yet with Layla feeling slightly unsure and pulling away every time he got too close to her. Julian couldn't help but want to be near her to make up for all the lost time, but he did understand that he would have to be patient with her if she wasn't too sure about this.
He gently placed a warm hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to relax. He expected her to react to his touch, but his gesture did little to calm her nerves. It was only then that he noticed that her gaze was not quite meeting his. Instead, her eyes seemed to be fixed on something behind him.
Julian slowly shifted sideways, turning his body to see what had held Layla's eyes, only to have his expression mirror his girlfriend's. His mouth dropped open, although no words came out. It then dawned on him that Layla wasn't quite afraid of something, but rather of someone.
He was also able to put two and two together as he figured that Layla, despite being shy, was not the one to ask him to back away from her.
Oh, no.
The voice who'd told him to do so was much deeper than Layla's sweet one and was laced with an angry undertone he'd failed to notice earlier. As if all the odds in the world were against him, Julian found himself face to face with who was probably the last person on Earth he wanted to see at that moment -- or ever again for that matter.
Layla was as transfixed as Julian, while she slowly took in the individual ahead of her, almost as if she wanted to memorize every last detail of their appearance before being pulled out of a dream.
A single word escaped past her lips, slowly getting carried away by the wind and freezing Julian to the core of his being.
"Liam," she breathed out, her voice lower than a mere whisper.
Somehow, the lone word reached the ears of the brunette who stood straight, facing the couple with his arms crossed in front of his chest and an undecipherable look on his face. His hard gaze morphed into a look of relief and happiness as he tore his eyes from Julian's frightened gaze to meet Layla's.
"Hey, baby girl. Missed me?" he asked, offering her a smirk along with a wink.
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IMPORTANT Author's Note!
Hello there!
First things first, to those who have been following this story closely, I need to apologize for not updating sooner. Life got to me, and let's just say my mental state was not at its best. I also spent too much time editing the older chapters over and over instead of releasing new content.
Yet, I came to a life-changing conclusion after reading a short book by the author of The Cupid's Match series on Wattpad. I didn't need my story to be absolutely perfect. I personally write for fun and therefore I should focus on finishing a first draft before even starting editing!!
I felt the need to re-read the older chapters and edit them is because I don't remember most details (eye color, hair color, etc.). So,if I write something new that is highly inconsistent with stuff I might've said earlier, PLEASE point it out to me! It would help me a lot!
As such, I would like to make a non-committal declaration: I shall TRY to update at least once a week! Chapters might not be as long anymore (this one was exceptionally short because I wanted to publish this and get it out of the way before I start writing again, so sorry!) since my main focus is to get the story to progress.
That's it! Thank you for reading all of this! To thank those who have been supporting my work, comment the name of one of your stories that you'd like me to check out and I will! Might also add it to a list of books on my profile if I truly love it, and I will give you feedback too if you wish!
