Hello! :)
Work's been keeping me hellishly busy so I haven't been able to update on time or reply to your awesome reviews. I'm so sorry and so grateful to have readers like you all :)
I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did. Do :p
Recap: I leaned over to Dimitri and whispered, "Can we please escape after lunch?"
I was mostly joking, which was why I was surprised when Dimitri smiled and said, "Sure. Why not?"
"What happened to the comme il faut Dimitri Belikov?"
Dimitri simply shrugged, "He got engaged to you."
Rose...
"You're late." Dimitri stated the second I entered his field of view. The fading light of evening sun illuminated his features, which as usual, were schooled into a neutral mask.
"Haven't you heard?" I asked lightly, skipping to a stop in front of him in the Palace parking area. "A queen is never late. Everyone else is simply early."
Technically I wasn't a queen yet but saying 'princess' didn't seem apt, particularly in light of the engagement ceremony which had officially marked me as a queen-in-waiting.
Dimitri arched an eyebrow at my response. "Even the king?"
I shrugged in response.
A corner of his full lips twitched upward but he gave no other sign that he was amused. But I knew-I knew he found me amusing.
"What, no lecture on tardiness?" I asked him when he stayed silent.
"I see no point in it," he said with a soft sigh. "I've learnt that there's no counteracting Rose Hathaway."
I grinned smugly. "Wise lesson, good sir. Wise lesson indeed."
He shook his head before fixing me with a stern glance. "This does not mean that we stop working on curbing your impulsiveness."
I laughed, "As I said before, Comrade: All the best."
The fond look I got in return made me realize just how much I'd missed these little banters of ours.
I missed our long talks, sparring sessions, his ridiculous attempts at trying to teach me patience, the anticipating of seeing him daily. Most of all, I missed the victorious and slightly smug feeling I got when I uncovered some part of his personality and the thrill, the confusion when he seemed to guess what I was thinking.
I just…I missed him.
Verbal quarrels were really bad for health.
Oblivious to my thoughts, Dimitri looked at his watch and asked me: "Should we do this tomorrow? It's pretty late."
"We said we'd escape after lunch," I reminded him.
"I did not figure Ivan into the equation," Dimitri said wryly. His best friend had called soon after lunch, pissed that he'd missed the ceremony and made Dimitri narrate everything.
I nodded. "Nor my uncle seeking a tête-à-tête."
When Dimitri finally hung up on Ivan, my uncle who'd come all the way from Themetis- my mother's country-had cornered us. Because I rarely got to see him, I couldn't blow him off to escape the hall with my fiance.
"So, we'll go tomorrow?" Dimitri asked, looking up at the evening sky.
"You have a secret meeting to attend at night, Comrade?" I teased.
He shook his head, his lips still curved in that soft half smile.
"I was hoping we could catch the sunset," I confessed.
Just then Dimitri's phone beeped. Shooting me an apologetic look, he fiddled with his cell phone before looking at me. "Viktoria wants us to come to her suite."
"What for?"
Dimitri looked at his phone again. "Apparently, Adrian's there and they're having some sort of party."
"Can we please skip it?" I asked, itching for some time with Dimitri.
If it had been Adrian in Dimitri's place, he might have teased me about wanting to get him alone but Dimitri simply nodded and went back to his phone.
The contrast between the two men was great but I could barely spare more than a fleeting thought for Adrian when my fiance was standing in front of me, reclining against the Mercedes Benz S63 that Neal had gifted him.
Dimitri looked the very picture of serenity with his hair down and leaning against the car casually. Thankfully, he wasn't wearing one of his stiff, pressed suits. Not that it didn't look good on him.
It did.
He looked fantastic in a suit but gave off an aura of formality, an aura of royalty. It made him seem unapproachable, as if he were a god to be viewed and worshiped from a distance.
Not that he looked less of a god now, wearing a form-fitting henley tshirt and dark blue jeans. But this ensemble made him look like a relaxed, sexy god. His sweater highlighted his lean and fit body while hinting at an eight-pack. He looked beyond gorgeous in casuals-
-and I needed to stop checking him out.
I promised my body a stern scolding later. But did I have to? He was my fiance, after all.
"We match." Dimitri noted suddenly. His eyes were fixed on me in a way that made me wonder if he'd been studying me the same way that I'd been ogling him.
But he was right. We did match.
I'd worn a black top with elbow length sleeves, showing off a bit of my mid-riff; and dark wash jeans which were slightly ripped at the knees.
Yeah, not a typical princessy ensemble.
"We indeed do, Comrade." My tone was carefully light as I tried to ignore the way his dark eyes scanned me from head to toe…and the resultant flush creeping up my neck.
"Let's go." I took a step towards the driver's seat.
Dimitri's arm blocked my progress.
"I'm driving today, Rose." He told me, amusement shining in those deep eyes. "You nearly gave me a heart attack the other day when you drove us to the falls."
"Hey, I'm a good driver!" I protested indignantly,
"Sure you are," he grinned, the sight nearly causing my heart to stop.
Shaking my head, I climbed into the passenger seat when Dimitri held open the door for me. He got in, reversed the car and drove it carefully out of the Palace gates. Before I could make a comment on his slow driving, he sped up once we hit the city roads.
"Not bad, Comrade." I praised, eyeing the speedometer.
That epic half smile of his made a reappearance. From this angle, his cheeks looked dimpled.
We didn't speak much as we left the city limits and headed towards the outskirts, the only comments made were to give him directions.
I pressed the switch to open my window, reveling in the clean and fresh air of the countryside. The day had been balmy but the breeze was cool against my skin. I almost forgot the reason for this long drive. All concerns, tensions, heartache and broken promises seem to float out of the window and into the sky.
"Looks like it's going to rain," Dimitri commented, his voice quiet.
"Hopefully it does," I said wistfully.
Dark clouds had enveloped the skyline as if predicting doomsday. Slivers of pale golden sky peeked from between the dark clouds, the air tense with anticipation of downpour. I shivered as the wind picked up speed, goosebumps prickling my skin due to the dip in temperature.
Thunder rumbled overhead as we drove past vast farmlands. The green crops were swaying in the breeze and the trees looked like they were bracing themselves against the impending onslaughter of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky followed by a louder rumble of thunder.
Within moments, the skies tore open; releasing a huge bout of rain on the earth.
A small sigh of pleasure escaped me as Dimitri pressed a button to shut all the windows of the car.
"I take it you like the rain," he noted softly.
"Love it," I corrected, breathing in the delicious smell of earth during the first shower.
"You'll get fed up of it soon," he said, concentrating on the road. Wipers worked furiously to clear the water from the windshield but the road ahead still looked blurry. "It rains all the time in Magadha."
"All the time?" I asked curiously. "Even in the middle of summer?"
Dimitri nodded. "The weather is very unpredictable."
I clapped happily. "One point for Magadha then. I'll never get fed up of rain."
That got me one of his rare, full smiles. "We'll see, Roza. We'll see."
"Speaking of seeing," I leaned forward to peer out of the windshield, ignoring the shiver traveling down my spine at the nickname. "How on earth are you still driving? Wouldn't it be better to pull over somewhere?"
Dimitri was silent for a few moments before nodding. "You're right. I can barely see the road ahead."
A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky just as Dimitri inched the car to a stop on the side of the road, making sure that we didn't stop under a tree. Open fields stretched on either side of the deserted road we'd parked on.
Once the car was parked, Dimitri exhaled and leaned back on his seat.
We were quiet, both looking outside. But I really couldn't concentrate on the rain because the silence seemed to have brought a weird sort of tension between us.
I was finding it difficult to breathe.
Why wasn't he saying anything?
Was he waiting for me to speak? Well, I would have but I felt strangely tongue-tied.
The soft sounds of his breathing seemed to echo in my ears. I felt freakishly aware of this person in the car with me; of his tiny, barely noticeable movements, the smell of his deodorant, the wisp of hair on his cheek…
More than anything, I was hyper aware of the blue topaz ring on his finger.
A ring that I'd put there.
Subconsciously, I fiddled with my engagement ring.
He finally broke the silence, "Rose?"
I kept my eyes on my ring, "Yeah?"
I could feel his eyes were me but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Not with this weird energy humming in the air.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
I nodded. "Me too."
"I should have allowed you to explain," he continued.
Time to talk, indeed.
"What if my reason isn't good enough for you?" I asked, turning to look at him.
There, I said it.
This was my deepest fear regarding the incident: What if he refused to see things from my point of view?
Neal had done a good job of making me understand the situation impartially but he didn't have a Neal to talk to, did he?
"Irrespective of the validity of your reason-" he said, maintaining eye contact with me. "-You do have a reason; and it's my fault that I didn't give you a chance to explain."
"Are you saying that you wouldn't have reacted the way you did if you'd known the reason?" I asked, a little bitterly. All the things he'd told me that day were on a repeat inside my head.
"I don't know how I'd have reacted," he replied frankly. "All I know is that way I handled the situation was wrong. The words I chose...were wrong."
"I've never seen you so angry before," I admitted, twirling my ring around my finger. "Why did you lose control like that?"
"The only explanation I can give regarding my lapse of control is that I was worried." His tone was regretful. "I thought you weren't taking the threat seriously. Rose, you have no idea how I felt when I found out that you'd disappeared-"
He sighed, looking out of the window.
I swallowed. "How-how did you feel?"
"Scared," he admitted softly, turning his head to look at me. His eyes echoed his words, reminding me that I wasn't the only one hurt by what had happened. "I kept seeing you as…I was worried that traasa would find you. And that would be on my head."
I frowned. "No, it wouldn't. It would be on traasa."
Dimitri shook his head stubbornly. "Traasa is my problem, Rose. It's Russovia's problem. It shouldn't affected you or Loha like this."
And that's when I understood it.
He felt guilty. For what happened in Gayodha. For forcing me to stay inside. For treating me like that afterwards.
I got the feeling that he wouldn't quite agree with me if I was to say that it wasn't his fault.
So, I didn't.
I concentrated on the part where I was equally to blame.
"I…I didn't mean to break my promise," I admitted, slumping against my seat. "I knew what I was risking, Dimitri but I had to do it."
"Do what?" he asked, looking both curious and apprehensive.
I smiled wryly. "You know that 'they come first' is not just some pretty slogan to me."
"Of course not."
"Well," I paused, trying to find the right words. "I got a letter that day, when I retreated to Nakshatra for the night. It was from a poor farmer whose wife was...is very ill."
The encouraging look in Dimitri's eyes prompted me to continue.
"She wanted to meet me," I said, then patted my pocket. "Wait. I brought that letter."
He took the letter from me and read it with furrowed eyebrows. His face betrayed nothing.
Abruptly, he raised his eyes to mine. "You went to meet her, didn't you?"
I nodded hesitantly.
He exhaled harshly, leaning back and staring out of the window.
"I should have had more faith in you," he told me, running a hand through his hair. "Instead, I jumped to my own conclusion."
"I would have done the same thing," I assured him. "Besides, you knew how much I loved escaping to the city. It's not much of a stretch to assume I escaped the grounds simply because I felt like it."
Dimitri shook his head with a wry small. "When you put it like that, it seems even more silly. I don't know why I thought…I had no right to say what I did."
"That's not fair, Dimitri." I wanted him to stop being such an Ice Prince all the time. "You cannot always stay in control of your emotions or words. It's okay to let go sometimes."
"Not when it might hurt others," he said firmly.
I rolled my eyes. "It's called being human, Comrade."
We had our fair shares of complaints about each other. If his biggest pet peeve was my impulsiveness, mine was his rigidity and occasional coldness. That damned mask of his was almost unnatural.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Dimitri asked me abruptly.
If I'd not talked to Neal, I would have been confused. But now, I knew exactly what he was referring to.
"Neal thinks I've got trust issues," I said reluctantly. "I'll working on it, I promise."
Dimitri looked at me for a moment before nodding.
"Well, we resolved that quickly." I said dryly, remembering the fight and days of freezing each other out.
Dimitri chuckled softy. "We did resolve it. Eventually. That's what's important."
"Does this mean we'll better equipped able to handle our quarrels in the future?" I teased.
He didn't question the possibility of fights in the future. He simply said, "Hopefully we'll handle them just as smoothly."
I snorted, amused by his optimism. "Don't count on it, Comrade. Neal wouldn't be around to knock some sense into me."
"Does that mean we're doomed?" Dimitri joked.
"If we are, there's nothing we can do about it." I retorted, indicating my ring.
The engagement ring.
It was as if I'd flicked on a switch by reminding us of the fact that we were more or less bound together now. That weird tension from before manifested itself again, with double the previous intensity.
I resisted the urge to punch myself when Dimitri bowed his head to examine his ring.
"Why blue topaz?" he asked, raising his hand so that the stone caught the faint light from outside.
I exhaled and turned to look at the rain lashing against my window. "Blue topaz signifies a lot of things. I chose it because…well, it stands for honesty, commitment, loyalty-look it up, it's interesting."
"I will," he promised, even though I was sure he caught my evasiveness. "Since you find it interesting, you should find out the significance of your ruby."
I nodded, eyes on my beautiful ring. Resisting the urge to fidget, I tensed when he sighed softly. The tension was strong, powerful and palpable as if it were alive. It seemed to stretch between Dimitri and I, gathering force steadily and getting ready, ready to snap.
I looked out of the window in an attempt to distract myself.
That was when I noticed the faint cawing sounds.
Peacocks.
They were fairly common in farmlands but I'd not seen one in a long time. Of course, with this being the first rain of the season, they must have come out to dance in the rain.
I was out of the door in a flash.
After the initial shock of being out in the rain, I reveled in the cold water drops beating down on me as I scanned the surroundings, hoping for a clue about their location.
"Rose?" Dimitri leaned over to look out at me from my window. "What are you doing?"
I turned to him with a wide smile. "Peacocks, Dimitri. There are peacocks close by."
"You're getting wet," he noted unhelpfully.
I didn't reply, looking around to spot the source of the sounds.
"Rose, get in." Dimitri said, his tone stern. "You'll catch a cold."
"No, I won't!" I yelled gleefully as I crossed the road, following the sounds.
I jumped from the road and landed neatly on the the raised but narrow pathways between the rice fields. Turning to the car, I shouted, "Are you coming or not?"
"You're not giving me much of a choice, are you?" Dimitri said as he climbed out. Being the man he was, he carried a freaking umbrella and safely walked over to where I stood.
He tried to hold the umbrella over my head but I skipped away, walking on the causeway and towards a large banyan tree.
I didn't have to look to know that Dimitri was following,.
"This is life!" I hollered cheerfully, feeling euphoric. Rain, speed and tea were my natural drugs, infusing me with energy and delight.
Leaping over a puddle, I turned to look at Dimitri, who was getting wet steadily, despite the umbrella. His expensive shoes were caked with mud like mine and his loose hair was slightly wet, like that day in the waterfalls.
Despite that, he had a slight smile on his face, probably because of my antics.
I grinned at him, "regretting following me yet?"
He shook his head. "If it hadn't, I would have missed out on seeing this deranged side of yours."
I smirked. "I've kept it carefully concealed from you until now."
He raised an eyebrow, once again attempting to hold the umbrella over my head.
When I skipped away yet again, he chuckled. "I can see why. If only I knew about this before getting engaged..."
I laughed, raising my face to catch the drops on my face.
"You're missing out," I told Dimitri, glaring at his umbrella.
"I'm fine, thank you." His voice contained barely suppressed laughter.
When the cries of peacocks filled the air again, I remembered my original intention.
"Come on," I gestured for Dimitri to follow as I walked over to the banyan tree.
The tree was large and leafy with wide branches, providing a respite from the downpour. Knowing that the peacocks were close by, I cautiously peered around the wide trunk of the tree.
Bingo!
Out in the open field on the other side of the tree were half a dozen peacocks. Peacocks dancing in the rain with their magnificent plumage spread like a halo.
Dimitri and I were lucky to see this.
"Don't make a sound," I whispered to Dimitri when I felt his presence behind me, the warmth from his body heating me up after the cold rain.
His tone was hushed and breathless when he spoke softly, "Your rain adventure was worth it, after all."
I smirked, keeping my eyes on the peacocks.
"You know what would be absolutely filmy?" I whispered, a ridiculous thought entering my head.
"What?" he whispered back, his breath hot on my ear.
"I-uh…"
When did he get so close? And why was I so affected by his proximity?
"Rose?"
"Yeah...filmy, right." I muttered, resisting the urge to smack myself on the head. "It would be a movie worthy scene if I went over there and danced with the peacocks in the rain."
The thrilling shivers raced down my spine when he laughed, the sound low and sexy.
For some reason, my mind decided it was the best time to replay our near kiss at the waterfalls.
Swallowing, I cast around for some topic to distract myself. "See how beautiful they are?"
"Absolutely stunning," he agreed.
"Did you-?" The words died in my throat when I turned around and locked eyes with him.
His deep brown eyes were already fixed on me, shining with an intensity that would have been alarming if it wasn't arousing. The faint evening light filtering between the leaves of the tree cast shadows on his skin, making him look like a mystery; an enigma which I was itching to unravel.
Something swirled within the depths of his dark brown eyes, something that was responsible for the fire roaring under my skin.
My heartbeats picked up pace, racing against my chest in a speed that faintly worried me. What was I feeling?
Why were my palms getting sweaty?
Why was I getting so fidgety?
Without my notice or my active consent, my face was now inches from his. Had I moved or had he?
"You were saying?" he asked softly, voice like velvet against my skin.
He was close enough that his breath warmed my skin.
I slowly shook my head, leaning closer.
My stomach clenched in anticipation.
I didn't know what I was doing but I knew that I needed to be close to him. How would his lips feel against my own?
Was I scared? Hell, yes.
But I knew I wanted this.
I wanted...him.
As if in response to my internal decision, he ducked his head towards mine, meeting my lips with his own…
It was finally happening.
Dimitri's lips met mine tentatively; more of a brush than anything else. A light shock wave traveled through my body at his touch; a pleasant kind of shock.
What was this man doing to me?
Dimitri pulled back slightly to look at me, his deep brown eyes locking with mine.
I realized that I wanted him to kiss me. I didn't want him to pull away, didn't want him to stop.
His gorgeous eyes were wide, more open than they've ever been before. They seem to reflect everything that I was feeling.
We stared at each other in silence before I leaned up, closer to him.
At the same time, Dimitri bent down towards me.
Our lips met again but this time, the kiss was searing and powerful.
His lips felt so good against mine. It felt natural...perfect.
My world rocked, titling about its axis and changing everything I knew. The passion coursing between us filled me with a warmth I'd never known before. It was a completely new experience but at the same time, there was an undercurrent of familiarity; possibly stemming from the fact that Dimitri had grown on me, had become a familiar figure and had definitely managed to get under my skin.
And oh, what a feeling it was!
His hand came up to entangle in my hair while the other wrapped around me securely. I wound my arms around his neck, trying to get closer to him, wanting more. His scent overpowered me as I lost myself in the moment. The kiss, while sweet, had a strong undertone of passion, security, safety, serenity and so, so much more.
I could have gone on like this forever, if not for the dire need to breathe.
In sync, both of us broke the kiss simultaneously, gasping for breath.
I rested my head against his chest as I attempted to calm my breathing. He held me to him as he took a deep breath. I felt his chest move as he fought to even out his breaths.
This was definitely not what I'd been expecting when we'd set out from the Palace.
But I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't happy.
I was. So much.
But I also felt a little...self-conscious.
This was idiotic, of course. So unlike me. But the again, this man was always making me feel things I wasn't used to feeling.
I smacked myself internally for feeling...almost shy. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. So, I stayed still, face pressed against his chest.
After a few moments of silence, Dimitri gently pulled away from me, studying me quietly.
I wanted to fidget under his gaze but I couldn't. I sat rooted to the spot, awed by the admiration in his gaze.
"Roza..." He crooned, rubbing his thumb against my cheek.
I leaned into his palm, never breaking eye contact with him.
My skin felt overheated. I wanted to laugh, shout, jump...I don't know. I wanted to do something to be free of this adrenaline-like feeling coursing through my veins. At the same time, his steady gaze filled me with a sort of content that made me wish I could stay curled up against him.
My feelings, my emotions...everything was a mess.
I was a mess.
And the worst part? I didn't want to change a thing.
AN: So, there you have it. The first kiss. Much ado abut nothing? Or was it worth it? Let me know in reviews :D
Significance of rings:
Blue topaz (for D) - It is said to promote fidelity, friendship, gentleness and integrity. Loyalty is one of the key symbolisms of this stone.
Ruby (for R) - It is used to open the heart and promote love. Given as a gift, ruby is a symbol of friendship and love. The ruby is also a symbol of vitality and royalty.
P.S: Even though I haven't been able to reply to reviews, please know that I love you all and am extremely grateful for the support :)
