Saving Prince James: A James and Sofia Love Story
Set in an alternate universe, James is now 20 and usurped his father as king and conquered every kingdom to create an empire, but he has lived his years as a lonely king with only power and wealth to keep him company. When Cedric summons a banished Sofia, 18, to the castle to secretly save the kingdoms and James, something stirs in James's heart the moment he sees a grown and blossomed Sofia. Can a banished princess save the kingdoms and a ruthless prince find his way into the heart of a princess he once lost?
Chapter 37: Almost Okay
Sofia
Be my heroes… their mother had said.
Sofia wanted nothing more than to be that. To be everyone's heroes and save the world, but that's a lot harder than it sounded.
But she'll be damned before she thinks of not even trying.
This was a request from her mother, the woman who raised Sofia and taught her everything she knew. She wouldn't be where she is today if it wasn't for her.
Sofia is going to honor her mother and Queen Anne and all the women who've had a piece in molding Sofia as she is today.
She's going to be her hero.
"Okay…" Amber said sadly after wiping a stray tear. "We'll save the kingdoms since you asked." She sighed dramatically for effect.
Then their mother surprised them by pulling all three of them into a hug, embracing her, Amber, and Lucinda as tightly as she could. Like she was trying to give them a hug that would last for as long as she was to be gone.
"You three are so strong and I am so proud," she whispered as she wiped Amber's cheeks. "Queen Anne and your mother, Lucinda, would both be just as proud of you two as I am."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Lucinda smiled. It was a smile that was confident and shy at the same time.
Her mother let out what sounded like a mix between a sigh and a laugh. "Well, I don't know about you three, but I could really use a break from all of this and that," she pointed at the unfinished remains of the clothes. "Why don't I go grab us some tea and snacks and we could all relax for a while on the veranda? Sound good?"
All three young women chuckled and nodded. And while her mother trotted off to the kitchen, Sofia and Lucinda helped Amber clean up the coffee table overflowing with the torn clothes.
Sofia has never in her life felt so weary and tired. It wasn't that she was physically worn out because Fates know that she has had a good amount of sleep to recharge her body, but it was more of an emotionally drained type of tired.
And that… well, that is going to take a lot more than sleep to fix her up.
But she didn't know what to do.
Sleeping was a nice way to make her forget for a while, but it's not permanent and it doesn't make it all go away. It doesn't make the hurting leave her heart. It won't make her tears stop. it won't repair the damages already done.
Anyway, sleeping is just an easy way out and Sofia never does easy.
But how in hell's name does one fix themselves after being so emotionally wrecked? How can one even begin to repair themselves or their hearts?
"Here," Amber said, bringing her back from her thoughts. She handed Sofia the Book of Hyproti while balancing a basket of sewing materials on her hips. "Sorry I took it without your permission."
"I was wondering about why did you have it?" Sofia asked.
"She wanted to open it – even though I told her that it refuses to open for anyone but you – and see if she could find any information on how you can get your thirteen powers," Lucinda said, taking the basket from Amber.
"Didn't Queen Anne say that I need to realize another thing before I can get them?" Sofia asked.
"Yes, but –" Lucinda was cut off when her mother reentered the room with a tray of tea and snacks.
Her mother walked onto the open terrace and placed the tray down onto one of the round glass outdoor tables. "Alright, no more talk about evil men and magical amulets. Let's just go and relax for a minute. We all earned it. You of all people, Sofia."
"We'll talk about it later," Lucinda whispered to her as she followed them to the large glass door.
The veranda was Sofia's third favorite place to be besides the library and her window seat in her room. It was beautifully made of white stone and crafted with small, intricate details of vines and leaves all across the stone rails. But her most favorite thing about it was that it sat over the small courtyard and large vegetable and fruit garden that she and the others had created over the years, which now seemed to have only grown larger since she's been gone, and the vast horizon of forest trees and green fields beyond it.
Every which way she looked, it was the color of evergreen, sky blue, and an array of colorful plants and flowers. And since it was a bit higher than the gardens below, it was like she was standing high above an ocean of colors. She never had to try very hard to forget that she was standing on a stone veranda overlooking the beautiful forest color instead of soaring over a million colors from the ocean of forest color.
That was another personal favorite of hers during exile. To pretend that she was flying over the forest and letting it embrace her.
Sofia took one of the offered cups of hot tea and her fingers immediately welcomed the warmth exuding from it. Her hands clutched the cup tighter, needing to feel something besides this tiredness that seems to be weighing her body down. The moment she sat down onto one of the cushioned chairs at the table, she felt the weight ten times worse on her shoulders and it made her sink and slump into the chair. She looked up into the early evening sky, seeing the colors already beginning to change.
For a moment, she closed her eyes and let it all go.
She didn't try to listen to whatever conversation Amber and her mother were having. She didn't try to focus on anything. She didn't think about what she had to get done or about how her mother is to leave in two days or even about The Evil. She just released all that she held onto.
Her mind was blank to nothing else but the gentle cooing of the nature around them. The soft whispers of the wind. The murmurs of the tree branches dancing. The yips and cawing of the animals at play. Even the hoot and holler of the boys chopping wood in the far corner of the estate's garden.
It was nice being able to just sit there with her mother and sister and Lucinda, tea in hand. It gave her a small moment of peace, an incredibly rare thing for Sofia to have these days.
And Sofia could feel the weight lift off of her the longer she listens to the simple life around her. It wasn't a lot, but enough to relieve her just a bit.
She has been so busy with finding the sources and bringing this man down that she hadn't had time to just take in all that was around her. Sure, she may have had some breaks in between with James, but that was more of her taking in James, not the life and beauty around her.
Not that being with James was bad – it's good. Really, really good – but it did not give her this sense of unity with nature. James gives her peace, but it is a different kind of peace than the one nature gives her. It was a connection to it, just like her connection to James.
Two similar and different things.
Maybe this was it. Maybe this was what Sofia needed to do to repair herself emotionally. Just sitting in silence and take in the natural life of nature.
She felt another bit lift off her shoulder. It isn't a fast and quick method, but it's enough.
"Are you feeling better?" her mother asked. She could feel everyone's eyes on her.
Sofia opened her eyes. "A little."
"Well, you look it," Amber said. "You don't look as tired anymore."
Sofia let out a small, amused chuckle. It was short and more of a breath than anything else. "Believe me, I am more tired than I look."
"Really? Even after sleeping like all day?" Amber looked worriedly at her. "Have you even gotten anything to eat?"
She wanted to say yes, that she had an apple earlier while searching for everyone. But that wouldn't do with Amber and her mother because it was only an apple. And if she were to tell them that, it wouldn't go over well and they might run over to the kitchen to force some real food inside of her.
Dear stars, no.
So what did she do? She ignored the question – it was rude of her, but she just didn't want to answer it – and just got up and walked across the open terrace. She was grateful that Amber didn't press the issue with her and resumed her conversation with their mother, but she could feel their eyes carefully watching her. Anyway, she was going to have to eat dinner later, so why make a big deal about eating now?
She leaned against the stone railing with her cup in hands and stared off at the small courtyard, relishing not having to talk or say a thing. And while she was enjoying the beautiful sight before her, her eyes couldn't help but immediately find James. It was like a natural habit for her to do now.
But the moment she laid eyes on him, that was where everything stopped for her.
She watched as he roughly split a log in two with one strike of his axe.
Or at least, that's what it seems to be what he is doing. She couldn't really tell because she was a bit distracted by the fact that he was shirtless and his chest was glistening with sweat and – dear stars, those muscles….
Sofia didn't even pay attention to Hugo and Edward next to him, who were also shirtless and sweaty. But they didn't and couldn't capture her attention like James did. She only had eyes for him. They were handsome men in their own right, but there was something so delicious about James right now that Sofia couldn't do anything else but watch him try to show Hugo and Edward up.
She could hear their laughter and James's taunting of Hugo all the way up on the terrace. It was nice to hear after everything, but oh, bless the Fates, James looked so perfectly good right now.
So, so good.
The way his muscles on his broad shoulders moved as he raised his axe again. The way his biceps and triceps flexed as he gripped the wooden handle. The way his chest expanded as he took in one deep breath before striking the second log with a single blow. The way the sweat was rolling and dripping off of him, running down the center of his chest and reaching a particular v-shaped dip on his torso.
Oh, stars.
The way the sunlight was making him shine…. The way he would run his hands through his sweat-slicked hair, giving Sofia a better view of everything….
Did he suddenly look bigger to her? Since when did James's muscles grow so big? And so hard-looking?
She did just see him shirtless in her grotto, but his muscles did not look like that. She would know if his muscles did suddenly decide to grow larger and make it so hard for her to not jump him right here and now.
Oh who cares, why was she worrying over why or how his muscles get so big. Sofia just wanted to touch him. To run her hands up and down that ungodly chest of his and kiss it. Every inch.
No.
She wanted to grab him and take him back up to her room and finish what they started in her grotto. And this time, she had no tail. So, she could give herself to him. All of herself.
And she could have him. All of him. Every little piece.
No restrictions.
No holding back.
No –
"Seems like you are enjoying what you're seeing here," Lucinda suddenly appeared at her side, making her jump. She followed Sofia's line of sight and smirked back at her. "Like, really enjoying it."
Sofia looked in another direction in an attempt to hide her blushing. "I-I don't know what you are talking about. I am simply taking in the natural beauty of the courtyard."
"Yeah, 'natural beauty' alright," Lucinda cackled softly at her. She felt her blush grow hotter and reach behind her neck. "Oh, lighten up. I already knew about you and James even before you two told me about it."
"Yes, but there's not need to poke fun at it," Sofia cocked her brow at her. That only made Lucinda's witchy laugh grow louder.
When it finally died down, Lucinda said, "you know, that love-sick pup of yours did not leave your side all night and nearly all day?"
"Really?" Sofia looked back at James. "But he wasn't there when I woke up earlier."
"Trust me, he would have stayed there all day if he could. You were crying so hard that you didn't even notice him carrying you up into your room and tucking you in. You knocked out so fast that he was worried that you might have fainted from exhaustion or something. He didn't want to leave your side. Refused to, really. He didn't even shave when Amber told him to. It took a lot of convincing from your mother and some threats from Amber to make him leave. He needed his own rest too."
"So, why is he out there chopping wood and not resting instead?"
"Well, after he grabbed some food, that idiot went back to just sitting in your room, waiting for you to wake up. He refused to sleep. When we kicked him out for his own good, he would just end up sitting outside your door. And I swear to the stars, he is just like a puppy. I think I even heard him whimper." The way Lucinda rolled her eyes was over the top. Sofia could tell that Lucinda was pushed to her limit with James today. She was sure that James must have been pestering her all day just to get her to let him remain beside Sofia.
And Sofia didn't know who to feel sorrier for. James or Lucinda?
She heard Lucinda let out a sympathetic sigh. "That idiot was afraid that you were never going to wake or worse. I mean, you did push yourself by going nearly two days without any sleep and with all that has happened. He was pretty scared that all of that might have done something to you. I guess he never really got over your coma incident."
No… I guess he didn't.
"Anyway, your mom and I came up with a way to distract him. We both baited James and Hugo into a little 'healthy' competition of seeing who could chop the most wood the fastest. We played right on their egos and macho-ness. Edward is out there just to keep them from fighting. I don't think they fought once today, though."
Sofia laughed. If only she was there to witness all of that. She could only imagine how that went down. Sofia could literally hear the many, many taunting coming from James's mouth.
"He's only been away from your side for a couple of hours now. I'm surprised he even made it this long. I was afraid he might break down your door when we tried to lock him out here for his own good."
"I'm pretty sure he would," Sofia giggled. "It won't surprise me if he did."
"We had to lock him out. If we didn't, he would have only returned back to your side after a minute or two," Lucinda shook her head. "That boy of yours can't even handle being a foot away from you."
"Yeah, that sounds like James." Before she even knew it, her laugh was fuller and almost back to its liveliness. There was almost a tear or two from how much she was laughing.
"You have some power over that boy, Sofia. Honestly, how you deal with him like that?"
Luckily she didn't have to answer her question because of James. Well, James's shout.
"Sofia!" he shouted happily. Even from where she was standing on the veranda, she could see him smiling so brightly and widely.
It was hilariously adorable. Only James could smile like that and be so charmingly cute.
James dropped his axe and ran to her. All the while keeping that big smile on his face. He ran so fast that he left Hugo and Edward in the dust within minutes, and he did not even bother to grab the shirt that was on the ground beside him. He got to the courtyard in one blink of an eye and at the bottom of the short flight of stairs in another, leaving her without even a second to move or think.
He didn't even bother to take the stairs to get up to her. Instead, he chose to jump the railing she was leaning on and landed right in front of her. He looked breathless but so happy at the same time.
And he did not waste a moment to wrap his arms around her and hold her tightly. "Sofia…" She could hear the smile in his voice as he whispered it into the crook of her neck. Hell, she felt it.
Literally. The stubble on his face tickled her skin whenever he moved his mouth.
"Sofia… Sofia…." With each time he said her name, he squeezed her tighter. It didn't seem like he was capable of saying anything else but her name. "You're awake…" Never mind, she was wrong.
The way James said that made Sofia's heart pang a bit painfully. She was reminded of how he held onto her when she first woke up after her coma. And no doubt her long sleep must have reminded him of just that, especially after what Lucinda just told Sofia.
This all must have been one large flashback for him. Reminders of those week waiting for her to wake, weeks of fearing she might never open her eyes. That he might lose her.
He must have been so worried.
But judging from how tightly he was holding onto her and how deeply he was digging his face into her neck and… how badly his arms were trembling… he was more than worried. He was frightened. Really frightened.
There was pain behind that smile of his….
Oh, James….
Her natural need to comfort him spurred. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stroked his sweat-coated hair. "Shh, shh. It's alright, it's alright. I'm fine, James."
His arms squeezed her harder, like he was making sure she was real and not some figment of his dreams. Like just holding her made her real to him and her holding him back relieved him of his nightmares.
Of his greatest fear: losing Sofia.
James pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against Sofia's. His sweaty forehead was a welcome to how hot her skin suddenly was. She met his eyes and was immediately taken aback by them. She always is whenever she looked into James's eyes, and this time is no different.
They're always so open and unguarded whenever he looked at Sofia. She could see right into him. Read him like he was an open book. Know what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
This, Sofia believed, is what it means to be soulmates. To have this unique and unbreakable connection with someone and know them from the inside-out, yet still be able to learn new and wondrous things about them every day.
For someone to be one's anchor to this world but also be able to make them feel like they can fly.
To be one's dream and reality every day.
This was James to Sofia, her soulmate. Her true love.
Sofia has never felt luckier than she did right now. She found her soulmate, something everyone wishes for every day.
"Sofia…" he said again.
"Shhh, I'm alright. I'm alright," she stopped him. She placed both her hands on his cheeks and watched as his eyes fluttered closed at her touch.
Sofia got lost in their moment – a much needed moment they did not get to have in a long time since leaving her grotto – and her fingers couldn't help themselves and started to stroke his cheeks. In return, she felt James's fingers play little circles on her back, sending warm shivers through her body. She smiled at how James just couldn't help himself.
But of course, like all good things, her moment had to end. It was actually pretty short-lived because she heard three, very distinct coughs.
Oh. Dear. Stars.
A blush like no other burned Sofia's cheeks and spread like wildfire on her. Her entire face, her neck, her ears all burned. She was sure that her own shoulders were blushing.
Sofia remembered where they were and who exactly were there.
She tried to pull away from James, but his arms did not budge. He did loosen one of his arms on her, though, when he straightened and composed himself, but he refused to fully release her. James actually clamped down one of his arms on her waist and tucked her closely into his side.
Curse the Fates, Sofia wanted to hide. She was so mortified to have caught herself in a moment with James in front of her mother and Amber and Hugo and Edward – wait. Since when did those two get up here? Lucinda, she was okay with because this has been done multiple times in front of her.
But not her mother or Amber! Not Edward!
And definitely not Hugo! Who, by the way, was looking at them with an expression Sofia can only describe as very unhappy, but not entirely upset either. It was sort of bordering on the lines between sad and neutral.
If she could, she would bury her face into James's chest, but it was coated in sweat. From afar, his sweat was a good thing because it made him look incredibly sexy. But up close like this, it just made him smell really badly. Sofia did not want to smother her face in it. That is just disgusting.
"Why didn't you two tell me she was awake?" James surprised her at how angrily he was glaring at Amber and Lucinda. "You promised me that if I went outside, you would notify me the moment she woke up."
"Oh, details, details," Lucinda waved dismissively at him before sipping her tea like nothing was wrong. "She's up, right?"
"That's not the point." He looked humorlessly at Lucinda.
"No, but one point should be as to why you are not wearing a shirt, James," her mother said with her hands on her hips. "I told you to keep yourself covered because it's still pretty cold out here and you can get sick."
James looked down at himself like he was just discovering that he was without a shirt. "Huh…" Edward came up and handed him his shirt. "Oh, thanks," he said as he finally let Sofia go to put on his shirt.
But, when Sofia tried to scoot away just an inch because James really does smell – it was a really bad, stinky and odorous smell – he just grabbed onto her again.
And don't think no one noticed it. Her mother tried and failed to stifle a laugh behind her hand. Lucinda just rolled her eyes at him.
"Why were you even without a shirt in the first place? All three of you to be exact." Amber mimicked their mother by placing her hands on her hips. Her tone sounded like she was talking to a bunch of toddlers who were caught doing something wrong.
And yet, despite her patronizing expression, Sofia could see a blush creep up on Amber's cheeks when she looked at Edward.
"It's hard trying to chop wood when you're wearing a shirt that isn't your size," Hugo said. Sofia could see that he didn't even bother to button his shirt and of course, James did the exact same thing. Worse, Sofia could swear that they are flexing their stomachs really hard right now.
Boys….
They might as well have been two stags ramming their antlers together. Edward was the only sane one who had his shirt on properly.
"It's not our fault that we're a bit larger than all of the butlers here," James said.
"Yes, but it will be your faults if and when you three get a cold," Amber rolled her eyes. "Sofia, talk to that idiot of yours."
"I'm not in this," she mumbled, turning away in a vain attempt to hide her mortified face. She could still feel her face burning.
James just laughed at her and kissed the side of her head. If that was his way of trying to lessen her embarrassment, it did not help in the slightest. It only made her blush burn hotter.
"I didn't want to take my shirt off, but it really was hard to move in that shirt," Sofia heard Edward say lowly to Amber. He looked as though he was afraid that Amber was upset with him.
Amber smiled fondly up at Edward, almost like she couldn't help herself but smile at him like that. It was a short-lived smile that vanished as quickly as it appeared. She then surprised Sofia by how quickly she dropped her attitude and sighed. "It's fine. Anyway, I doubt it was you who took off his shirt first. Right?"
He shook his head. "It was James."
"I knew it." Lucinda coughed not so subtly behind her tea cup. "You owe me a cookie, Your Majesty."
"Freshly baked or a day old?" her mother laughed.
"Freshly baked," Lucinda sipped her tea again.
"Mom!" both Sofia and Amber shouted.
"What? It wasn't like we were wagering money," she nonchalantly shrugged. "If it's any consolation, I didn't bet on Sir Edwards." The corners of her lips were curling into a playful smile.
Lucinda is a bad influence on her mother.
"Oh, my gosh, that's not the point!" Sofia and Amber shouted again.
Lucinda and their mother laughed together. Sofia and Amber hid their faces into their hands. Hugo and James finally buttoned their shirts. Edward… well, he just stood closely to Amber.
"I'm sorry, dear," their mother said through her laughter. She did not sound sorry in the slightest. "But, you two are just too easy to tease."
"Especially you, Sofia. You and James make it really easy," Lucinda cackled. "I mean, look at what happened earlier? He freaking ran here faster than the speed of light the moment he saw you."
"He really is a puppy. A golden retriever, more like," her mother continued to tease.
Lucinda is a really bad influence.
When their laughter and teasing finally died down – and that took a long while – it was close to sundown and Baileywick and the others had returned with the supplies and groceries.
They all gathered into the grand foyer with seven large trunks and boxes which were for her mother and the servants to use when they leave and three smaller chests full of clothes for the boys. Most of the things they brought home were groceries and food, but other stuff were items like the many rolls of colorful and diverse fabric most likely for Amber, new sewing kits and tools – again, most likely for Amber – and many new garments for the girls.
Well, undergarments for Sofia and Amber and new clothes for Lucinda. Their mother had ordered for them because it seems that their old ones they left behind months ago were too small and too old for them now. The new clothes for Lucinda are because she is going to stay here with them too since she couldn't just leave Sofia and the others to their devices once their mother is gone. This was at their mother's wishes.
Apparently, their mother trusted Lucinda more than she trusted Sofia.
Sofia and Amber did receive some new clothes too, but not that many because Amber liked making her own clothes. Promptly after learning how to sew correctly, Amber had taken a liking to making her own clothes because it gave her control over how they would turn out. And Amber adored control.
The new clothes for the boys were mostly plain and basic, much like a commoner's, but some were tastefully colorful that gave their drab new wardrobe some life. Baileywick said they were all lucky that he could tell what kinds of tastes in clothes they had and even luckier that the shops had all their sizes in stock.
When Amber had seen it, she made sure that they all knew that she was not going to clean any of their new clothes and underwear. That only made Edward blush so fast that Sofia almost thought he had a fever.
But besides the new clothes, Sofia also received a new book from Marie and Abby. It was an anthology of poems by poets Sofia vaguely remember hearing of.
"Oh, thank you." It made Sofia really happy to have this. It was just a normal book, but it gave Sofia some sense of normalcy in her very strange life.
"It's not much, but we hope that it can at least make you smile again, Princess Sofia," Marie said.
"We never liked seeing you sad, Princess," Abby gently patted Sofia's cheek. Abby was a thin, middle-aged woman who was the opposite of Marie's short, plump figure. She had long red hair while Marie had short black hair in contrast to some of the gray strands.
"Thank you," she said again, hugging them and the book.
"Oh, dear, you reek! What did you do today? Roll in the garden's manure?" Abby pinched her nose and stepped a good foot away from Sofia. Marie did the same.
"That would be James you are smelling on her," Amber said as she passed by them with her new fabric and sewing tools in her hands. "He hugged her after chopping wood."
"Stars, go wash up. You can't remain smelling like that the rest of the night," Marie said, fanning the air like it would make the smell go away.
"And certainly not for dinner," Abby added.
"Oh, speaking of dinner, we should get into the kitchen and prepare the food before the newbies claim our kitchen," Marie shot a look at the maids who were still bringing some of the groceries. Knowing that look and knowing Marie, who loved having control over the kitchen, they must have tried to take over the cooking and that instantly made them bad in her eyes.
Over the years, Sofia and Amber had learned many culinary things from Marie and Abby, but they have never tried to take over the cooking. That was the number one rule they taught Sofia and Amber and Sofia had never tried to test that rule.
"Now, shoo, shoo. Go clean up and find a place in that bookshelf of yours for that book," Abby behind her as they both rushed off in direction of the kitchen.
After taking a sniff of herself and regretting it, Sofia did as she was told and hurried upstairs. She found her new things already put away and her bed made when she reentered her room.
Sniffing herself again, Sofia figured she might as well take a bath instead of just cleaning herself at the wash basin with a cloth and soap. The smell was too bad for that. A bath was necessary. So, after turning on the hot water and waiting for it to fill the tub – the plumbing wasn't the greatest and it was still very slow to get hot water up onto the second floor bathrooms, but it was a lot better than it used to be - Sofia free herself out of her smelly clothes and let her hair down from its ribbon. The smell was so bad that it even seeped into her shift underneath her blouse and outer corset. In nothing but her dressing robe, she decided to waste some time and find a place in her full bookshelf for her new book.
Sofia had just managed to find one when James walked in. He had his small chest of clothes in his arms. She was surprised he was even able to hold it in one arm. The chest may be smaller than the others, but it still looked very heavy in Sofia's eyes. It seems that chopping wood had done him some good today.
But why was he even holding it? Shouldn't have one of the butlers brought it up one of the guest rooms for him? She was sure one of the rooms should have been readied for him.
"Oh, there you are," he said after shutting the door and dropping the chest down near her wardrobe. "Why are you even in here?"
"Well, thanks to you, I have to take a bath," Sofia said as she stepped down from the step-stool that she used to navigate the high shelves of her bookshelf.
He just laughed as he sat down on the large wooden trunk that was at the end of her bed. Nothing much was in there except for more of her books that she couldn't fit into her bookshelf. "Because of my sweat?"
"Yes." She gave him a look as she walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a new and clean outfit. "Do you know how bad you smell, James?" she said behind her as she walked to set down her clothes in the bathroom.
"Well, technically no, because this is my own body odor. I'm used to it," he said. She felt him watching her as she came out of the bathroom and moved about the room.
"Something ought to be done about it because Abby and Marie both said that I reek and I agree with them. I smell so bad that I need a bath, James." She stopped where she was, which happened to be within arm's reach of him, and crossed her arms. "Which reminds me, you should go take a bath of your own."
"I don't think it's that bad."
"Yes it is."
"No it's not." He laughed some more. It was low and husky and it made Sofia's heart jump.
It is always nice to hear James laugh, but this time was different. Yes, she heard his laughter when he was chopping wood, but that was mixed with Hugo's and Edward's and it was more of James's taunting than anything else. Hearing it close like this after everything they've been through, after all the pain and struggles, was more intimate and so much better.
Sofia was surprised to hear him still laughing. Sofia may have lost Queen Anne, but James lost his mother. Twice. How he was able to still smile and laugh after all of that was astounding. He is a lot stronger now than she has ever seen him to be.
This was the James she wanted. This was her James, unguarded and still so brave. And all hers.
He has grown so much since she's returned back to him. Every day since the very beginning, when she still believed that all she had to do to save the kingdoms was to bring the light back into James, he has grown and become so courageous and intelligent and mature. He has proven to her many times just how capable a man he is.
And that made her so proud of him.
James's expression quickly became worried when Sofia didn't return his banter. He reached out to her and pulled her so close to him that she ended up standing between his legs. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, just deep in thought."
"You know that's not what I meant."
The way James was looking up at her, the way his eyes bore into hers and was able to read every little thing she was feeling and thinking, made it hard for her to even half-truth her way out of it like she did with her mother and Amber. "I'm… getting there, James…. I'm almost okay." Sofia's voice became a whisper. "I'm still really tired and a bit hungry and now I smell really badly, but I'm getting better. Anyway, I should be the one asking you if you're okay. You did just lose your mother again."
"I'm… getting there too. It hurts to know that she's really gone, but not was much since she had been watching over me for so long," he said honestly with a sad mournful smile. "Anyway, I was more worried about you."
"But I'm more worried about you too. She was your mom and you lost her twice."
"You lost my mom just like I did."
"Yes, but I didn't know her like you did."
"But you loved her like I did. She meant the same to you as she did to me."
"But –"
"Okay, we're just going around in circles here." he stopped her with a finger to her lips. "Can we just agree that I was worried about you as you were worried about me so we can just kiss and end this?"
Sofia laughed. It was so like James to ask something like that.
He dropped his finger and she saw his smile again.
But his smile did not reach his eyes and it didn't last for very long. It was hollow and it hurt Sofia's heart to see such an empty smile on his face.
His smile quickly vanished and his head fell forward to her stomach. He clutched Sofia tighter around her belly and buried his face into her. "I was so scared, Sofia," he said into her stomach. She could feel his warm breath brush her skin underneath her dressing robe. "I-I've never seen you sleep for so long… and the only time that I did was when… y-you were –"
He was trembling again.
"I know, I know. Shh, shh," Sofia tried to soothe him. "I'm sorry James."
He shook his head while still pressing his face into her stomach. "No, don't be. It's not your fault. With everything that has happened in the last two days, I don't blame you for wanting to just sleep it all off."
She curved her body over him. "But it made you worry."
"I just couldn't help it..." Sofia could literally hear the traumatic pain etched into each word as he spoke.
"Lucinda was right… you haven't gotten over my coma incident, have you?"
James didn't reply for a beat. "That is the last time I ever talk to her again," he muttered in an attempt to not answer her question.
But Sofia didn't take the bait. She lifted his face by his chin so that he looked at her in the eyes. His stubble felt rough against her fingers. "I'm being serious. You haven't, have you?"
He looked away. "No." The pain and fear in that one word he spoke was obvious and clear a day. She could see it in his eyes even if he is trying to hide it away from her. She could feel it in the trembling of his arms.
Oh, James….
"Sometimes… I'm afraid that if I look away from you for just a second, something bad will happen and you'll disappear. You'll go away and I'll never be able to bring you back. That you'll never wake. I'll never be able to ask you my question. I'll never be able to hear you say 'yes.' I'll never be able to hold you like this ever again."
If it was even possible, her heart ached and raged at the same time. It ached for James and all that he's been through. It raged at the man who made James go through this. "Oh, James…."
"I know that it's stupid for me to feel this way –"
"No. No," she stopped him. "It's not stupid. It's reasonable. You have every right to feel this way."
"But I don't want to feel this way. I hate feeling like at any moment now, I could lose you and –"
She stopped him again, but this time with a kiss on his forehead. She could taste the salty dried sweat on him. "I know you don't, but sometimes the best way to make it go away is to just feel it until it does."
"How do you make it go away faster?"
The emotions she heard behind his words made Sofia want to cry for him, to laugh and sing for him as if it could make his pain go away.
She stroked his hair back. "You can't, that's the sucky part of it. Feelings and emotions have to run their course before they can really fade."
James's eyes looked clouded with so many emotions. It was as if he was in conflict with himself, like he wanted to believe her words and to accept his feelings as is, but he didn't want to feel this way. He didn't want to always feel that she might slip away from him so easy. He wanted to feel secure in their relationship, that she'll always be there.
Sofia couldn't fully understand his fears or emotions because no one can really understand another's emotions; they can only empathize, but she knew well enough where he was coming from. Her emotions have always played at her like little nips and bites of annoying needles, that was the very reason why she buried them for so long, but taking her own advice, she had to let them into her in order to make them go away.
She wanted the same thing as James, to feel secure and reassured. In fact, she's always had it. She's always felt this whenever she was with James. But… that was because of James. That the only way she was able to feel that was when James always told her he loved her, that he was always there if she ever needed him, that he wanted to be there beside her through it all.
He has put so much effort into always showing his love for her and constantly telling her it that Sofia never had to worry about the security of their relationship. Even without knowing that they were soulmates, he has always shown it.
It was time for her to do that same. It was her turn to return the love and affections he has always shown her because sometimes just feeling the love isn't enough. An effort has to be made on her end too. It's only fair.
"But," she kissed his forehead again, "you'll never lose me, James. Okay? You'll never, ever lose me."
A familiar boldness ran through her veins, something Sofia has gotten very acquainted with since she's fallen in love with James. Something she very much enjoyed having around with her whenever she and James were alone.
She kissed his scruffy cheek.
"What was that for?" he asked her.
"That was for worrying about me." She kissed his other cheek. "And this is for staying by my side all night."
"I like that," he said, his voice becoming deep and gruff.
She kissed his lips. "And this is because you still think you might lose me."
"I might need another kiss just in case," he said, his tone darkening into something that excited Sofia.
She smiled teasingly at him. Already she could tell that James wanted to end this conversation and get to the part where they just "kiss and end this."
But she didn't. Sofia wanted to have her fun.
She leaned in as though she was going to return her lips back to his, but just when she was centimeters away, she turned and began to pepper his jaw with small kisses. The stubble tickled her lips and the heat of his salty skin burn it.
His eyes fluttered closed.
"These are for not fighting with Hugo today. Lucinda told me that she hadn't seen you two fight once today even though you both had an axe in your hands," she said in between the kisses.
His head fell back. "I need to remember to thank Lucinda later."
She kissed him behind the ears. "This is for working so hard today. Shirtless."
His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. There was no witty retort. It seems like he wasn't capable of talking anymore.
"This is because you asked so nicely for a kiss earlier." She kissed his lips again.
But this time it lasted longer than the other ones. She didn't want to stop and it seemed like James didn't either.
They both felt it.
The igniting fire. The familiar, all-consuming passion.
It returned at full force.
The moment the kiss lasted even a second longer than the others, James put his full weight into it. He crushed her to him and lifted her up so that she straddled his lap. She dug her fingers into his hair and heard him moan into the kiss. He pulled the shoulders of her robe down and she smiled into the kiss.
So did he.
Her fingers couldn't help themselves and began to unbutton – more like rip open – his shirt. The very shirt Amber and her mother were so adamant about him having on. Sofia just wanted it off.
Now.
James must have had the same idea as she because no sooner could he have shrugged it off and tossed it behind her. Then, as he began to trail his lips across her collarbones and up her neck, he pulled her robe down even further to expose her entire bare upper half. She slipped her arms free of the sleeves and returned them back around his neck and into his hair. James was very generous on leaving as many kisses on her bare skin as possible.
Another moan escaped James.
And a whimper escaped Sofia.
He wrapped his arms around her and fused their bodies together, pressing them so tightly together that Sofia was sure that not even a molecule of air was between them. She felt his hands begin to explore her back, caressing each vertebra of her spine.
A shiver ran through her – no more than a shiver.
It was something much more blissfully delicious to have been a shiver. It did not run through her body. It crashed through her, overwhelming her to a point of madness.
Fates help her, she wanted him. Now. Right where they were.
James's lips down moved downward, to the center of her chest and over her heart.
A second whimper left Sofia's lips.
She needed to kiss him.
Sofia took his face into her hands and found his lips. James replied eagerly to her need.
Their kissing became more frantic and rough. She nudged his lips with her own, begging them to open wider than they already were. He deepened the kiss even further.
As their tongues met and began to play with each other, Sofia's control almost snapped. It was barely hanging on by a very, very, very thin thread. She was just about ready to let him take her when James broke the kiss.
She pulled back to look at him. They were both panting. His chest was heaving fast, like he couldn't get air into them fast enough. James's eyes were so wild and hungry, there was so much desire swimming in them. A very different change from the sad, painful look he had on earlier. Sofia was sure her own eyes matched his.
If not, even more so.
"Still need another kiss?" she asked teasingly. Or at least she hoped it sounded teasing. She felt a bit unsteady to even talk correctly, as if she was drunk on his kisses and it made her incapable of even talking coherently.
"Damn right I do," he growled just before he crushed their lips together. Her heart jumped excitedly.
He began to kiss her more deeply than he's ever had before. His tongue dipped back into her mouth and his fingers started to crawl up the length of her thighs.
Sofia could taste the last of his restraint and self-control beginning to break just like hers. He was losing himself, she could tell. He was shaking and even murmured her name on her lips in an almost desperate plea. The passion and desire on their tongues and between their lips is overwhelming.
They were pushing this far, a lot farther than they've ever gone. A lot closer to where they wanted to be.
He wanted to take her, she knew, and she wanted to let him.
His fingers traveled up to her bare hips underneath her rumpled robe and she felt him still.
The kissing immediately stopped.
Maybe it was because her mind was very drunk from the incredible kissing or who knows what, but Sofia was confused. She wanted to know why he stopped kissing her.
"Sofia," James sounded hoarse. And that made Sofia want to kiss him all over again just to keep it that way.
She loved hearing him say her name like that. She wanted to hear him say it again. "Yeah?" She leaned in to kiss him again, but he pulled back.
His eyes weren't as glazed as they normally are whenever they kiss at an intensity like just now. There was still a lot of passion and desire swimming in his green eyes, but there was also something else.
"Are-are you naked underneath this robe?" he asked. What a strange thing for him to ask at a time like this.
"Yeah," she shrugged absently. Sofia was done with this conversation. She wanted to get back to what they had started back at the grotto and what they were really close to doing right now.
She leaned in to restart the kiss, but again James pulled back. "No, wait. I can't."
Sofia snapped out of it. "What?"
"I can't." He took a gulping breath. "Not like this. Not right now."
She was wrong. He didn't want her.
"I'm sorry, I can't." She wished he would stop saying that.
Sofia scrambled off of his lap and took a few steps away from him. She suddenly felt very self-conscious. She was too exposed, too revealed. Sofia tried to cover herself with her robe, but it was such a tangled mess on her hips that all she could do was pull it up enough to just hide her chest.
"You don't want me anymore?" There was a hitch in her voice.
"What? No!" James stood up and closed the short distance between them. "No, that's not it. I swear that's not it. Now is just not the right time. Sofia, you and I both had one hell of a last few days and we're both not in the right mindset to do that right now. Believe me, I want you. I mean, really, really, really want you. You don't know how badly I want to just put you on that bed and take you right now."
"Then take me," she said. What did any of that had to do with what they wanted?
He shook his head and put some space back between them. "No. I can't. That wouldn't be right. This isn't you talking. You're not emotionally ready. I mean, you just said so yourself that you're not okay right now. You have been crying for days, Sofia. We're both still so emotionally messed up."
She opened her mouth to argue back, but she knew he was right. Her emotions were still all over the place and she still felt like she could break down at any moment now. Hell, she was sure she would end up crying because of spilled milk. Literally.
Even if she hated to admit it, Sofia was still so fragile.
James was right.
No matter how badly she wanted him, now was just not the right time. She just wasn't ready yet.
"And I know for a fact that if I were to take you right now, you and I would end up regretting it later." He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Sofia I want to take you when you're really ready. When you're you. I want to be able to love you when your heart and head is in it. Not only your body. This isn't about not wanting you – because believe me, I do want you. Every part. I've wanted you the moment you stepped back into my life. If all of this," he gestured around the room as if it held all of their problems, "wasn't going on, I really would take you right here and now. On the bed or not. I wouldn't be able to hold myself back. I would love every part, every inch of you. But I want to have you when you and I aren't so screwed up. I want to be able to take my time with you and love you properly."
His eyes looked at her with so much sincerity and vulnerability that Sofia's heart almost repaired itself right here. Almost. And only a small part. His words, on the other hand, made Sofia melt. They held so much honesty and showed so much at what laid in his heart.
He was so open right now that she was able to read every emotion in his eyes and his heart. He wanted her to believe his words and not hate him. He wanted her to look into his eyes and not run away or cry from what she saw.
This was her James again, with his heart laid bare before her. It was stripped of every piece of armor he's used to steel and hide it over the years. Unmasked and unveiled. Unprotected. Because, despite it all, despite not going forward, she still had his heart and he left it for her to do with as she pleased.
She couldn't believe that he was still able to give her his heart like this even though they were in this situation. James was giving her too much and she honestly did not deserve it. She didn't deserve a great man like James. But she had him, he was hers, and she is the luckiest girl in the world.
She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I swear I didn't mean to. I was just trying to stop something that I know would end up hurting the both of us. I love you so much, Sofia, that I had to stop us."
Sofia took one tentative step towards James. He didn't step back. She gently took his hand and placed it on her cheek. "Okay."
He leaned his forehead back down onto hers. "Okay?"
"Okay. You're right. I'm not ready."
"And you don't hate me for stopping us?"
"No. In fact, I'm kind of grateful."
"Good," he kissed her softly. It was short, but still very sweet. "Now…" He looked down at her and she saw his cheeks turn a deep red, "I think I better go before I do something stupid. Maybe I should take that bath like you said. I cold one," he laughed nervously as he went to go pick up his things.
"Bath?" That reminded her of something…. "Bath! I left the water running!" Sofia ran into her bathroom and turned the faucet off as fast as she could. To her luck – and the gratitude that the estate's plumbing was very old – the water was just near the edge of the tub when she stopped it. It didn't overflow.
"Everything alright?" James peaked his head in. She saw that he had his shirt in his hands.
"Yeah. I'm really lucky that the bath didn't overflow."
"Well, um… I'm going to get going. There's um…." He coughed uncomfortably. "I just need a bath." He blushed and couldn't look her in the eyes.
James was about to turn away when her mouth spoke before her brain even registered that it did. "Stay. Take a bath with me."
He stopped and froze in the doorway. The shirt in his hands dropped to the floor. And for the first time today, Sofia couldn't read his expression. There was shock, she was certain about that, but there was also another emotion she couldn't understand because he was trying to hide it.
Her heart beat wildly in her chest and her hands were shaking so badly that she clutched the robe to make it stop. She did not mean to say that, but maybe she did. If they couldn't have the intimacy of being fully together, maybe there was another way for them to have it without having to give themselves up in that sort of way.
There was a new kind of boldness that surged through her veins now. And it was a frightened one.
"What?" He sounded just as scared as she was feeling.
"Take a bath with me."
"Sofia, I don't think –"
"It's not going to be like that. There won't be any of that, I promise. Just stay… please?" She looked down at her bare toes on the cold tile floors of the bathroom. "I promise that nothing will happen." Sofia was rambling now. "I mean, you don't have to stay if you don't want to, but it would be nice if you did…. I just… I just don't want you to leave yet."
She could hear her heart beating so fast in her ears that it sounded like it was attempting to fly out of her chest like some baby bird leaving the nest. Her face was burning hotter than when the others had watched her and James have their moment earlier. And it certainly wasn't because of the steam from the water filling the small bathroom.
The mirrors were fogged and blurred, but she could still somewhat see their reflections standing there in the silence of the bathroom. James in the doorway. Sofia beside the bathtub.
Sofia didn't realize she was even holding her breath or biting her lips until James finally spoke. "You're serious? You want me to?"
She wordlessly nodded, still biting down on her lips. She didn't trust her voice anymore to even say "yes."
James slowly walked into the bathroom. His footsteps echoed on the white tiles as he made his way towards her. "Are you sure?" He looked her in the eyes with such an intensity that it almost stole the air away from her lungs, and yet his voice shook like he was scared to death at where this might lead them.
"Yes." To her own ears, it sounded more like a huff of a breath instead of an actual vocalized word.
He tentatively took her face into his hands, like he was afraid that just one touch of her skin could fully break his resolve and make him lose control despite everything he just said. It was a very shy gesture, so unlike the confident James she was used to but very much like the puppy everyone described him to be.
Again, she couldn't read his expression, but the longer he continued to hold her face and stroking her cheeks with this thumbs, Sofia was able to catch glimpses of what he wanted to do but was trying to hold himself back.
"I'm only human, Sofia. My limits can only handle so much, and this…" he took a shaky breath, "this is testing them really, really hard. You are testing them really hard and I think I am going to fail."
To her shame and joy, Sofia found his confession really exciting.
His hands fell down to her waist. He squeezed her hips ever so slightly as he looked her in the eyes, silently asking for her permission to undo the knot of her robe.
She nodded.
Without breaking eye-contact, he smoothly untied her robe.
"If things go too far, stop me." He opened her robe and circled his hands around her waist, pressing her close to him. Her hands were now the only thing holding her robe up. "Because what nearly happened out there just about broke the last of my control despite what I said. I said that for myself just as much as for you. So, I am going to need you to stop me when I lose it. Okay?"
She rose on her toes and lifted her arms to wrap around James's neck, letting her robe drop to the ground. James sucked in a sharp breath.
"Okay," she whispered as James lifted Sofia up and her legs automatically found their places around his hips. In his arms, Sofia was immediately caught by the gems of his green eyes. And she found it that she did not want to look anywhere else.
Sofia heard the buckle of his belt hit the ground along with the rest of his clothes. Then the sound of the door being kicked shut and locked. He did it all while not looking away from Sofia and keeping his arms tightly around her.
Then he finally kissed her.
But this time, the kiss wasn't fervent. There was no urgency or hot-blooded desire coursing through it. It was tamer, but so much more intimate than earlier.
Tender. Delicate. That's how she would describe it.
She got lost in the kiss, forgetting everything but how wonderful it felt to be like this with James. Bared and naked, yet so covered by him. It overwhelmed her senses, making it hard for her to think about anything but this moment. This perfect, perfect moment.
This was the intimacy she was yearning for.
No, James did not take her like she had wanted earlier. No, she did not get to have all of James.
But there was this gentle intimacy and warm passion that floated in the air around them that is highly different from what she felt earlier.
It was in the way his big, strong arms felt as they held onto her. The way his soft lips moved so sweetly against her own. The way their bare skins felt against each other.
It was in the way he touched her cheeks and looked at her with so much love. The way he is trying to restrain himself for her sake. The way he says her name so desperately as they continued to kiss. The way he said he wanted to love her properly someday.
It was in how he looked into her eyes, so raw and open, as they lowered together into the hot bathwater.
Sofia understood it now. This intimacy she wanted isn't on a physical level. It is on an emotional level.
It is only in the heart.
This intimacy was the surging of the bond and connection between her and James. The way they understood each other like no one else could. The way just their closeness is able to ignite so many feelings.
Some water had spilled over the edge, but not enough to warrant concern when it came time for one of the maids to clean. His arms loosened once they were in the tub. Sofia floated back a little to give themselves some much needed space or else – and in a bathtub that was relatively too small to even hold two people, that wasn't saying much – she feared, they might get too heated again and go too far. She didn't want to push James to where he didn't want to be.
There they were, in a bathtub together. Bared.
And all they did was stare at each other in silence.
They were treading on unknown area of their relationship and she did not know what to do.
Sofia could see his chest rise and fall steeply even though they did not kiss as passionately as earlier. His hands were in his lap under the water, palms up. Yet, in the clear water she saw it twitch like he wanted to go back to holding her again but didn't because he was trying really hard to control himself. The sounds of their breathing and the lapping of the water at the tub's edge was the only thing that could be heard.
Then James broke it.
He reached out and took her hand in his, pulling her back to him but not to where they touched again. He kissed the inside of her wrist. "Only kissing."
She could tell by the strong, wild and earnest look of his eyes that he was struggling to not want too much, but was trying to take it slow.
The same can be said about Sofia. She wanted that kiss to be somewhere else. She wanted the distance gone and to touch James. But she didn't out of respect for what James wanted.
"I promise, only kissing," he whispered, and she noticed a familiar, confident gleam return to his eyes. Her devilishly charming James was back to normal. "Now, where those kisses are going to be, I can't make any promises."
Sofia blushed and laughed at the same time. She was grateful to James for trying to lighten the mood and intensity between them.
Yeah, James was back to his usual self.
"Come here," she said, opening her arms to him. James gladly went into her arms, letting her curl arms and legs around him. They sat in each other's arms while facing one other.
It seems that he was okay enough to let her touch him without fearing that she was pushing him too far. His smile was free and gleeful again. A bit cocky and lopsided too.
Now that things have lightened between them, Sofia could finally get started on that bath of theirs.
"Close your eyes," Sofia ordered.
James narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "Why?"
She rolled her eyes. Why else? What did he think they were in the bath together for anyway?
"Because we really do need to bathe, James," she said. "Dinner starts in a couple hours and I don't want to go down there pruny as a raisin because we were fooling around in the bathtub for so long." Sofia reached over to the basket that held all the soaps and body care. "Now close your eyes."
He did as he was told, but with a cavalier smile. If it weren't for that smile of his, Sofia would have rewarded him with a little peck.
Oh, well. Too bad for him.
Sofia wet and lathered his hair and began to scrub his head clean. "Your hair has gotten so long," she remarked. James's hair wasn't that long, but long for him since some have started to grow over his ears. "How long has it been since you've had a haircut?"
"I don't know, maybe two months or so?" he said as she started to rinse his hair. "It's hard to keep track nowadays since you've come back. I've sort of found myself preoccupied with some other things."
Now, Sofia would have blushed at the way he said "other things," but she didn't get the chance to. At the end of his sentence, James gave her a sly smirk before she felt a pinch on her hips.
"James!" She smacked his hands, but that only made him laugh heartedly and hug her closely.
"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself."
"Of course you couldn't." Sofia didn't try to hide her sarcasm.
"What can you expect, Sofia. We're taking a bath together. You're like this," he gestured to all of her, "and I am like this," he gestured to himself. "We're naked and in a tub together."
"I expect," she said, holding his chin so that he looked her right in the eyes, "for you to behave because I trust you."
His eyes immediately widened and warmed at the words "trust" and he smiled gently. "Okay."
And from there, James did behave. He let Sofia wash what she could before he had to do the rest by himself, which was everything below the hips. As she washed him, Sofia saw the childish look of ease and content in his expression. He looked so lazy and comfortable. It was like he was in paradise and could have stayed like that for the rest of his life.
Then it was James's turn to do the same.
But truth be told, he didn't do as well as Sofia had.
When he washed her hair, James started out well, but it didn't end there. Because Sofia did have a lot more hair than him, James kept getting his fingers tangled with her strands as he tried to scrub it with soap. He could only do so much before Sofia just stopped him and washed the rest by herself.
As for her body, he was a lot gentler, but James kept getting so flustered when trying to wash her chest that Sofia ended up just cleaning her entire body herself. Apparently, James sucked at being able to clean. And because Sofia was so ticklish, he ended up just tickling her more than washing her. That led to some tickling wars and ended in many sloppy, soapy, and wet kisses.
Yet, all the while, it was fun taking a bath with James.
All they did was talk.
And it wasn't even about highly complex subjects. No, it was simple, almost idiotic things.
They talked about simple things like what he did all day and who won the wood chopping competition – it was Edward – and exchanging what Lucinda told the two of them. They talked about who would win in a fight, Edward or Hugo – Sofia chose Hugo because he was a trained streetfighter and knew some dirty tricks. James chose Edward because he just didn't like Hugo – and other idiotic things that didn't make any sense to her nor was it worth mentioning. It was all so normal. They talked like they normally would have outside of the bathroom.
It was very peaceful and relaxing just doing nothing but talking and washing themselves.
And not once did she worry or fret about pushing James to his limit or wanting to further what they were doing. She didn't feel the lack of intimacy because they already had it. Just being able to just have a normal conversation ass-naked without having to worry about feeling self-conscious or wanting to take each other in bed.
That was the intimacy she craved and received.
When it came time for them to get out before they got pruny, James was too reluctant to leave the bath. Sofia had already gotten out, but James remained because apparently, it was too cold for him to leave.
Now, Sofia could have easily tricked James into coming out of the bath, all she had to do was tease him with a kiss or two, but there was something so adorable in how he sank lower into the water until only left half of his face remained wading about on the water. He even began to blow bubbles in the water through his nose. It didn't help that he was such a big guy in a small tub that his knees or toes stuck out when he sunk into the water.
So, what else could she do but just leave him be for a while? Let him have his fun. Anyway, she liked seeing him play so childishly in the water and with so many soap bubbles around him as she dried off.
When she finished and had wrapped a warm towel securely around herself, she trotted off to her vanity for her creams and lotions. But when she was sat down at her vanity, she noticed James in the mirror watching her.
He was still half a head deep in the water, but that didn't hide how obvious he was watching her. That and the fact that she saw how red his face was and she knew it wasn't because of the water. The hot water had become lukewarm while they were still in it together.
His brows pinched together like he was thinking or frustrated. It could be either one, really. Then he blew more bubbles into the water and sunk in deeper.
"James, I think you need to get out," she said after applying her face cream. "You're going to get wrinkly."
He just glanced at her and blew another bubble.
"I'm serious, James. Dinner is in half an hour and we're both still not dressed. You're not even out of the tub."
He fully dunked his head in.
Sofia quickly got up and rushed over to the tub. She looked in and found James holding his breath under the water and staring up right at her. She crossed her arms and glared at him. "James. I'm not playing around here."
But he didn't seem like he was going to listen.
So, she just reached into the other end of the tub and pulled out the drain plug.
At the sound of the water draining, he quickly reemerged. "Okay, okay. I'm out. I'm out," he said as he wiped the water from his face. "I only needed a moment or two."
"To what? Drown?"
He coughed awkwardly. "No. Anyway, can you hand me a towel?"
Sofia rolled her eyes at him and threw him one from the rack of towels as she returned back to her vanity. She heard him climb out of the tub behind her as she finished applying all of her lotions.
Honestly, why did he make it such a big deal to not come out of the bath? She fumed as she massaged in the last of her lotions. Was he trying to make himself late to dinner? And what did an extra moment in the water had to do with any–
But her mental ranting stopped when she felt a pair of arms circle around her from behind and a kiss be planted on the top of her head.
She looked in the mirror and found a dripping wet James in nothing but a towel wrapped low around his hips and one around his neck. He must have gotten a second one from the rack.
Now, this was a more glorious sight than when he was shirtless and had sweat running down his body. This was James in a towel with water dripping off of him like diamonds and his hair was slicked back in a very attractive way. It didn't hurt that the water didn't make him smell like the sweat did; in fact, he smelled clean. And that the fact that he hadn't shaved for a few days now and the stubbly scruff around his face made him look very rugged and sexy.
"I didn't fail," he said with his chin on her head.
Sofia chuckled, remembering what he had said before they got into the bath together. "No you didn't. I think you passed with flying colors."
It was James's turn to laugh. He leaned down and kissed her once before surprising her by lifting her by the waist and putting her on top of the counter of her vanity.
"James!" Sofia exclaimed, a bit embarrassed. She honestly didn't know why she was embarrassed by that act; James has done many other worse things than this before.
She was just about to scold him when he suddenly rested his head on her shoulder. Both of his hands were flat on both sides of her and he stood between her legs, trapping her where she was. So, she couldn't shimmy away even if she wanted to. Which she didn't because the way he laid his head on her shoulder made her worry about him.
"Do you remember your promise to me? Before we snuck out of the castle to go to Lucinda a few nights ago?" James's voice was so tiny and fragile, almost like that of a lost young boy.
Promise? With all that has happened in the last few days, that night felt like it happened years ago. Nothing rang a bell with her about a promise, so she had no idea what he meant by that, but the question sounded rhetorical so she didn't answer.
"You promised that if I helped you successfully sneak in and out of the castle undetected, you would say 'yes' to whatever I'd ask you. Do you remember that?"
"Oh yeah… I do. Why?" She took the towel around his neck and started to dry his hair before he caught a cold.
"Do you remember what I promised you?" Again, that question sounded rhetorical. "I promised that I would ask you a really important question the moment we beat this man and save the kingdoms. Do you remember?"
"Yeah…?"
He caught her hands and looked at her. And those eyes of his... Sofia didn't know how to explain it but was like they were wild and storming in the most sincerest way possible. "Well, that first promise is a bust since Hugo ratted us out and the smoke monster made us lose time. And now I'm changing my promise to you."
"Okay…?"
"We're so close to beating this man, but I don't think I can wait until we do to ask you this."
"Ask me wh –"
"Marry me."
Chapter thirty-seven! Whoo!
SURPRISE! I gave you all a second chapter this week because I am so grateful to you all for sticking with SPJ through all my many hiatuses. Thank you for being so patient and such wonderful readers! You guys honestly make writing this story so much fun.
Now, as you can see, this chapter was fill to the brim with JamesFia moments. I wrote it for all the readers who are really passionate about James and Sofia's progressing relationship. It doesn't further the plot, but it does further their relationship, as you can see by that ending. Will she say "yes"? Will she say "no"? Who knows, you'll just have to wait until next chapter.
I really do hope you guys like this chapter and review it, telling me what you all think. I do take away from your reviews and use them to edit my future chapters.
Read, review, etc.
Thanks :)