Hello my lovlies! So I see that this story is getting quite amount of attention...more than I expected, if I'm going to be honest. It makes me so happy though that you guys seem to like it!
I don't own anyone affiliated with the WWE...I only own Lucy
Enjoy! :D
When I open my eyes, I'm in the same position I was when I fell asleep, but they land on Drew sitting at a little vanity on the other side of the tent. His stare is on me and it causes me to quickly sit up. I pull my legs up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, not taking my eyes off of the Scotsman.
"Were you watching me sleep?" I ask him, incredulously. A look of appall dances across my face when his features morph into one of guilt.
"Aye, I was; I do apologize. I was coming to tell you that supper is available…that is if you are hungry. You looked peaceful, so I didn't want to wake you," Drew explains to me.
"So, you just decided that watching me instead of waking me was your only other option?!" I question him with anger and horror.
Once again, all Drew can do is share a look of guilt. He looks down at his boot covered feet for a few moments before looking back up at me. The look on his face takes me aback. While it still holds a small amount of guilt, loneliness and pain overpower that guilt. I furrow my brows at him as he continues to look at me…almost as if I were to disappear right before his eyes.
Drew stands up from his spot, "again, I do apologize, Lucia. It's just, you look a little like my late wife, who was taken away from me last year. I guess I just miss having a female companion. I didn't realize how much until you came along this morning. And I miss having someone to share a bed with and when I saw you sleeping there…I just…you looked so beautiful," he tells me and my jaw slightly drops open.
"Once again, I do sincerely apologize. I'll leave you be," Drew adds softly and turns to leave.
"Wait…My King. I–I mean…Drew," I say quietly…shyly. He turns to look at me with a small amount of hope in his eyes. "I am actually, quite famished. I just…men make me nervous," I reveal, embarrassed as my cheeks begin to become a shade of red and I look down at my hands that now sit on the lap of my skirts.
A small smile plays on Drew's face as he slowly, but cautiously approaches the bed, "I understand and I can see they do. But I can promise you, you don't have to be nervous around me. I will not hurt you. I know you probably don't believe me, but it is the truth," he tells me and sits on the bed, next to my feet.
I'm aware of his presence, but I can't bring myself to look up at him. After a few moments of still not meeting his eyes, Drew gently places finger under my chin and lifts my head so he can see my face. I pull my face from his hold and the smile on Drew's face turns sad at the action.
"I'm sorry," I whisper to him. I look away and then look back over at Drew to find a lopsided smile on his face.
"Please, don't apologize. Believe me, I get it and like I said, I know you don't believe me, but you are safe with me. As long as you're under my care, I won't let anything happen to you," Drew tells me and lifts his hand to place on my arm, but stop halfway and drops it back into his lap.
I subtly nod my head at him, but I intend to keep my stone walls up and unbreakable. "Okay," I respond with a small closed mouth smile and Drew's smile grows a little at seeing something other than fear or hate coming from my face.
"Will you accompany me for supper? I'd love to have someone to talk to other than my men, who speak nothing but rubbish sometimes," Drew says, wrinkling his nose and rolling his eyes at his men. The small giggle that bursts through my lips has Drew smiling widely at my change in demeanor.
"I'd like to, but I think I'm going to pass. I don't think it's a good idea and I'm not comfortable with being around anyone," I reply meekly and the bright smile I somehow managed to put on Drew's face, disappears the moment I turn down his proposal.
"No, of course. It was foolish of me to even ask. I'm even more foolish to think that you would have accepted my offer. I'll go grab some supper for you and I'll leave you be," Drew responds, dejectedly.
Drew POV
He was really hoping that she would have accepted his proposition of having a meal with him. Although, Drew should have known better than to think that Lucia would go along with it. She's afraid of not only my men, but me as well, Drew thinks to himself as he solemnly leaves the tent to go fetch Lucia something to eat. The last thing he wants is for her to go hungry.
He hardly knows her, but Drew already feels this pull towards Lucia. No doubt is he attracted to her, but he knows that it's going to take time for her to come around. And even if she does, that doesn't guarantee that she'll feel the same way.
"My King, is everything alright?" One of my soldiers, Dolph asks.
I look at him with a troubled expression, but I try to not let it show. My men don't need to know that I am internally fighting myself because of a woman I don't even know.
"Aye. Everything is just fine Dolph. Nothing that needs to be worried about," I reply and continue to make my way towards the food.
"Is it about that new female that came into camp today? All the men have been talking about her," Dolph tells me and this catches my attention in an instant.
I stop in my tracks and turn to him, "talking about her, how?" I ask, my tone leaving no room for argument over the issue. If they have something to say about Lucia, they are going to have me to deal with.
"W–well," Dolph starts off with a stutter. Good, if I can make my men afraid of me, they'll know not to mess with me. "Most of them were just talking about her beauty, but others were making wages on who could bed her first, My King. I can assure you, I am not one of those men," he tells me and rage fills me faster than the spread of a wildfire.
"I know you're not, Dolph. But with this new information coming to light, I want you to spread the word that come morning, I want every last one of my men in line. A message is going to be delivered and they best not disobey it; otherwise there will be consequences. And they will not be pleasant," I say, my tone hard and Dolph nods his head firmly before walking off.
I'll be damned if I allow any of my men to go near Lucia, let alone touch her. With this new bout of information, Lucia is not going to like what I have to tell her…and I'm going to like having to deliver it. The fear she already holds is going to increase tenfold and I don't know what I'm going to be able to do to keep her calm. She barely even tolerates me.
I quickly and quietly grab food for Lucia and myself, giving off the aura that I am not to be trifled with. I'm usually not quiet, so it's getting them to look over at me with suspicious curiosity. I can also see that it is putting them on edge…good. Let them squirm where they stand.
I make my way back to my tent and slowly enter so I don't frighten Lucia. She looks up in fear as I catch her looking around, her hands on one of my books. She quickly places it back onto the table it was on and wraps her arms around her body. I've come to learn in the short time I've known her, it is her way of shielding and protecting herself from potential harm.
"I'm so sorry, My King. It–it caught my attention. I shouldn't have been snooping and touching things that aren't mine. I'm sorry," Lucia says in a panic, her eyes wide as she back up towards the corner. She trips over her own feet as she tries to widen the space between us and she falls to her rear.
Lucia winces at the pain of impact, but ignores it as she continues to scoot herself further away from me, fear literally radiating from her eyes. My eyes widen at her fall and I quickly put our food down.
"Lucia!" I call out and not thinking, hurry over to her, only for Lucia to cower and cover her head with her arms in fear of being hit. Pain and anger flow through me at her defensive reaction towards me. Pain for seeing so much fear in one person's eyes that doesn't need to be there and anger towards her father for even laying a hand on his own daughter and have her fear every man she comes across.
"Please don't! Don't hit me. I'm s–sorry. I didn't mean to touch your belongings. Please, don't hurt me," Lucia whimpers out in pure terror and the sight before me breaks my heart.
I kneel down in front of her, placing a gentle hand to her forearm that shields her head, "Lucia, sweetheart. I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay that you touched my book. I'm not angry at you," I tell her softly, so I don't frighten her more than she already is.
Lucia doesn't budge from her position and her body begins to shake. What has her father done to her to make her fear men so horribly? I'm going to spend everyday convincing her that I am not her father and that I will never hit her. No matter how angry I may become at her. That is, if she decides to stay.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Lucia whispers, her voice raspy from crying, "please don't hurt me," she continues to plead. Her fear is so palpable, it's almost as if she doesn't hear me when I speak.
"Lucia, love, please. I'm not going to hurt you; I promise. Just please let me see your beautiful eyes and you'll see that I'm not mad at you," I beg her.
I release my hold on Lucia's arm and back up a little to give her space. Hands shaking, Lucia slowly pulls her arms away from her head and looks up at me from her coward position on the ground. I provide her with a soft smile, letting her see in my eyes that she's not in trouble for touching a lousy book.
"See? I'm not mad at you, beautiful. It's just a book. I could care less about it. What I do care about is making sure you're safe and that you don't fear me. I know that's going to take time, but you will see," I tell Lucia.
She slowly, but cautiously gets into a sitting position, but keeps herself closed off and as small as possible. "Now, are you alright? You fell pretty hard," I ask Lucia, holding my hand out for her to take so I can help her to her feet. She eyes it with uncertainty, but I smile and motion for her to grab it. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help you up off of the dirty ground," I reassure Lucia.
Vigilantly, Lucia takes my proffered hand; gently, I wrap my larger hand around her small one and help Lucia to her feet. She quickly tugs her hand back, effectively breaking all physical contact.
"Thank you…for helping me up," Lucia says to me, somewhat reserved. She looks up at me, then over at our supper and her stomach growls in the silent space that surrounds us.
I chuckle at the slightly embarrassed look that crosses over Lucia's beautiful face, "let's get you fed; I know you're hungry," I tell her and she nods her head with a shy smile.
"Thank you," Lucia replies quietly.
"You're very welcome, love. Do you still wish to be alone?" I ask her, hoping that she'll say no. I really do want to spend more time with her. Not only is Lucia beautiful, she is intriguing and unique. Never have I come across a woman quite like her. Then again, I've never met a woman who is so terrified of the male species.
It looks like she is contemplating her decision, until she looks up at me, "stay and eat with me?" Lucia asks, then adds, "only if you want to. I don't want you to feel that you need to," she tells me.
I smile widely at her, "I'd love to, but if you don't mind me asking, what made you change your mind?" I ask, moving back around to the opposite side of the bed. I sit on it and motion for Lucia to do the same. She looks at me questioningly, but sits down anyway.
I hand her a plate and grab the other for myself before taking a bite of chicken. Even though she is famished, Lucia doesn't touch her food yet. She is quiet for a few moments until she answers my previously asked question.
"I…I'm not quite sure why I did, but you're the only one I've conversed with since being brought here. I've heard nothing but horrible things about you, however, you've been nothing but kind to me. I still don't trust you and I hope you can understand why," she explains to me. While her answer hurts, I do understand why she doesn't. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn't trust myself either.
I give Lucia a small smile, "I do understand, take the time you need," I tell her and she returns my smile. She really is beautiful and I hope she knows how much she actually is.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Lucia asks, shyly.
"My apologies. I didn't mean to stare and I don't mean to be so forward, but you're just so beautiful," I reply. Lucia's cheeks burn a bright red and she looks down at her food.
"You are too kind, My King, but I am not beautiful. I'm just an average female, living a boring life," Lucia tells me and my eyes widen at how blunt and sure she was by her answer. Then it made sense as to why she would say that about herself.
"Let me take a wild guess and say that your father told you this nonsense?" I ask her and Lucia looks up at me with sad eyes and nods her head. Looking down, she rips off a piece of chicken and places it into her mouth before slowly chewing.
"Well I'm telling you right now, that your father is a damn fool and doesn't know what the hell he is talking about," I tell Lucia with nothing but truth behind my words, "Lucia, you are absolutely beautiful and please don't let anyone tell you differently," I say and she looks at me with curious eyes and disbelief.
"But you're the king and I'm just another one of your people…a nobody. How could you possibly think I'm beautiful?" She asks me and my anger towards her father continues to grow with every verbal blow Lucia says about herself.
"Stature means nothing, Lucia. Yes, I may be king, but I am still human, just like yourself. You can't help who you are or become attracted to," I tell her, hoping she'll understand where I am going with my explanation. I watch Lucia, engaging her reaction as her brows furrow at my comment. I know she's figured it out when her eyes go wide and she looks at me with shock and horror.
"N–no, my king. You can't," Lucia tells me and shakes her head, as if the thought of someone being attracted to her is absurd.
I fight Lucia on the subject without becoming too overbearing, that I have her shutdown on me completely. "And why not? Am I really that repulsive, that learning that I am attracted to you is so terrible?" I express to Lucia, showing her that I am upset.
Lucia's jaw drops at the passion behind my tone and she drops her head in what looks to be shame. I breathe a sigh through my nose and reach across the bed to lift Lucia's head up by her chin, "it's alright if you never feel the same way, Lucia. I wanted you to know where I stand," I explain to her gently.
Lucia lifts her eyes to mine and she can see in my eyes that I speak the truth. "I…no, it's not terrible. It just frightens me," Lucia replies and removes my hand from her face, pushing it away, "and you are not repulsive, my king," she says and I cut her off.
"Drew," I correct Lucia and she looks at me with disagreement in her eyes.
Lucia shakes her head, "I am not comfortable calling you that. I won't be until I am comfortable around you, my king. And I don't know how long that will take. Yes, you are attractive, but I'm not attracted to you. At least, not yet," she tells me cautiously, as if telling me that she is un-attracted to me will set me off.
"So there is a chance that you will be?" I ask Lucia, trying to leave any type of hope from my voice, as to not frighten her more than she already is.
"I didn't say that, my king," Lucia responds with a matter of fact tone. I've accepted the fact that she isn't attracted to me, but to think that she never would be…I'm not going to lie, it really hurts. I know what I said to her, but I am still a man who seeks affection and a companion. It's the only thing that will keep me sane from having to deal with everything else that comes with being king.
"Aye, I understand," I reply, indifferently. I cannot stand taking anymore rejection for one night, so I stand up from my spot on the bed. My sudden action pulls a gasp and a confused look on her face and she looks up at me.
"Where are you going?" Lucia asks me with shock. Her eyes following my every step.
"I think it was a bad idea for me to accept your offer to stay for supper. I'll leave you be and I will see you in the morning, Lucia. Have a good night," I tell her, trying to hide the hurt from my tone. I don't…can't spare Lucia another glance as I leave the confines of the tent, although I can feel her eyes on me as I exit.
