A Rose To The Flames

Chapter 22

I push through the pain and sit up. Rowan stands up and helps me do the same. I lean into him and he holds me up.

My father walks up to us and looks at Rowan. "Do you love my daughter?" He asks.

"With all my heart." Rowan replies.

"You better not break her heart, she loves you. I can tell." My father drills into Rowan.

"You have my word, sir. I would never dream of it." Rowan says leaning over to kiss me on the head.

I smile and rest my head on his shoulder. My father takes a step forward. "If he ever gives you trouble, just tell me." He whispers in my ear.

"He would never." I reply.

"Now, you should start training tomorrow, given you're healed. We need to prevent this war as soon as possible." He announces, taking a few steps back.

"War?" I question.

"We received word of all the dark magicians teaming up to rule the world. You're special, Rose. You'll see in time." He explains.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. What's that supposed to mean? Rowan rubs his thumb along the back of my hand.

"I have to go run my kingdom or whatever that means." My father jokes. I roll my eyes and Rowan chuckles. The low rumble cascading all the way up to my ears.

My father turns on his heels and briskly walks away. I turn to face Rowan.

"Want to go to your room?" I ask playfully.

"I mean, it could happen anywhere." He jokes. I playfully slap him, my cheeks burning bright red.

We walk hand in hand to the bedroom he was assigned. It's just as ornate as mine was. I close the door behind up and look up at him.

He looks back at me with a devilish grin.

"What are you thinking?" I fake my innocence.

"Well, maybe we could play a game." He jokes.

I stare blankly. The last person who said that to me was Tyler.

Rowan places his arms on my shoulders, shaking me from my trance.

"Did I say something wrong?" He asks, concern in his eyes.

"No, it's just the last person to say that to me was Tyler." I say looking down. I reach an arm to hold my other elbow.

"Well, we can't have him ruining our fun now, can we?" He teases and I laugh, looking back up at him.

"What did you have in mind?" I ask.

"It goes a little like this." He says and then leans in and kisses me. He picks me up and walks me to the bed where he lays me down. He lays on top of me, putting all of his weight on his forearms on either side of my face.

I wrap my arms around his back and pull him closer. I reach for the edges of his shirt and pull it off. I reach for mine and he gently grabs my wrist to get me to look at him.

His eyes ask the question. I nod. I take off my shirt and he pulls me closer to him. I cling to his back muscles, trying to get closer than we already are, but making no progress as we are already touching.

I reach for my pants and he meets my eyes, silently asking the question again. I hesitate for a second and then nod.

I roll him over and sit on top of him. "Surrender?" I gasp, as I catch my breath.

"I'm not so sure. Maybe I will put up a little bit more of a fight." He jokes.

He rolls me over so that I'm on the bottom. I reach for his pants.

He gently stops me for a second. I look up at him. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asks.

I hesitate, uncertainty crossing my face. He notices and pulls me into a sitting position across from him.

"It's totally fine. We have all the time in the world." He says, smiling.

He lays down and I put my head on his stomach, looking up at the poster frame covering the bed.

I turn to face him and he smirks at me. "What?" I ask.

"Nothing." He says mockingly.

"Oh yeah?" I ask.

I roll over and tickle his stomach, his abs clench underneath wherever I tickle. He laughs and sits up.

"Oh, you're in trouble now." He jokes. I back away from him, not wanting to be tickled. He reaches for me and tickles my stomach.

I squirm and laugh, trying to fight back, but I'm no match for his tickles.

A knock sounds at the door. I widen my eyes at him. I rush off the bed and grab my clothes and hide in the closet.

The door opens. I made it just in time.

"Prince Rowan, oh sorry." A male voice sounds.

"No, you're fine. I was just, uh, changing." Rowan replies.

"Well, I was told to tell you that King Douglas has sent a summon for you and the princess." The boy sounds nervously.

"Thank you, Sebastian. Do you need anything?" Rowan asks.

"Nope, I'm doing just fine, thanks to you." He says, cheerily. I hear the footsteps recede and the door open and close. I let out the breath that I was unaware I was holding and open the closet door.

I look around, but the man is still there and standing by the door is another man. My father.

I slowly retreat back into the closet. "Is that the princess over there?" The man asks Rowan.

I race to put my clothes on and try to get back into the closet.

"Rose!" My fathers voice sounds. I freeze and look over at him. He motions for me to come over to him.

"What were you doing in here?" He whispers into my ear.

"We were talking." I say as I scratch my nose.

"With his shirt off?" He replies.

I turn around to look at Rowan. He still has his shirt off. I signal with my eyes for him to put it back on.

He grabs the shirt and slowly slides it back on. I turn back around to face my father.

"Yeah, he got... hot." I lie.

"We will talk about this later, but we have received new information. The army is marching, they have already overtaken the city region and the desert region. We must begin training immediately. Are you feeling up to it?" My father asks.

Rowan walks next to me, sensing my unease. He grabs my hand and squeezes it lightly to let me know that he is there.

"I'm ready." I simply say, looking over at Rowan with uncertainty.

🥀 A/N 🥀
Wow, things are getting better with Rose. What do you think? If you enjoyed this chapter, please comment and vote :) Stay wonderful!