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 can a ruthless prince find his way into the heart of a princess he once lost?
Chapter 27: A Thousand Kisses
Sofia
A thousand kisses. A thousand kisses in one second.
James was giving her a thousand kisses in one second.
A thousand kisses on her brow and her eyelids. A thousand kisses down the length of her nose. A thousand kisses at the corners of her lips. A thousand kisses on both of her cheeks. A thousand kisses behind her ear. A thousand kisses across her jaw and down her neck. A thousand kisses down the center of her chest.
It felt like he didn't plan to stop kissing her any time soon. Actually, it felt like he wanted to just continue on until well past dawn. Morning even.
With every kiss, she could feel his worry, his fear, his relief, his happiness. She felt every single emotion one at a time, slow and gentle. And she felt them all at once, washing and flooding her senses of nothing but James and what he was feeling.
All of them. Each emotion in each kiss, they were all for her.
But most importantly, the love. The kind of love that could – should – be written in the stars forever and ever. The kind of love that could last well longer than a million centuries, millennia, eons.
His love.
And Sofia has never felt more cherished and treasured than she did right now. In his strong arms. Pressed under the gentle but urgent touch of his lips.
Sofia was back to where she belonged. She was home.
Her heart felt like it was a flower blooming in the dead of winter. Her body felt like it was full of sunshine, just utterly warm and light. Her skin felt like it was being coated in a dust of tingling stars that were all coming from James's touch. His lips. The possessive way he was holding onto her.
Despite how closely he held her in his arms, it seemed like it wasn't close enough for him.
In the midst of their kiss, she felt his hands start crawling up her bare thighs and push her nightgown up and up and up and up. She could feel his warm hands hold her just below her hips, and pulled her towards him until she was settled intimately in his lap with her legs wrapped around him. A new and overwhelming need bubbled in the pit of her stomach, rising high until it settled in her lungs. Her mind. Her heart.
Sofia wanted more of him. She wanted all of him.
It didn't seem like his hands were going to stop at her hips though.
His hands were flat against her skin as they ran up her stomach and sides before inching towards her back and running his fingers up and down her spine. Compared to his urgent and hungry kiss, his touch was soft and teasing. His feather-light touch was igniting her skin ablaze and sending her mind into a frenzy she's never known before. There were butterflies and stars dancing on her skin.
She couldn't help the way her body reacted towards his touch. Shivers ran all through her body and made her back arch towards him. A gasp escaped her and was trapped in their kiss.
Sofia's lungs were beginning to ache in the best kind of way, fogging her mind even further and making it hard for her to even be capable of forming a single thought. All she could manage were shaky and breathless groans in between each kiss.
All the while, her body moved of their own accord and curled her arms around his neck and dug her fingers into his hair, bringing her even closer towards James than they already were. James's skin felt just hot as her's underneath her hands, his neck was burning while he moaned into their kiss. The sound of his moans only made her yearning for him grow even more.
Sofia's tongue quickly found his and explored James's mouth like it was the first time they were kissing again. She remembered how good he always tasted, but she wanted to remember every little detail of him. Of how he tasted so sweet and salty at the same time. A taste she never wanted to forget. A taste that was uniquely James.
"Sofia," she vaguely heard him heavily say when they finally broke for air.
Their kiss left her completely shattered, unable to even lift her eyes open nonetheless keep her head up. She was sure that the only thing keeping her upright right now was James's arms since it feels as though her body has lost all of its strength to support itself. Sofia leaned her forehead against his and listened to the nocturnal music mix with the sound of their ragged breaths.
Another familiar shock of electricity ran through her as she felt his hand brush back her hair and tuck it behind her ear. "You're back," he whispered breathlessly. "You're awake."
Sofia didn't understand what he meant, she was still rather dazed and disoriented from their kiss to even bother to try to understand him. All she could focus on was the sound of his panting and the feel of his touch.
She liked hearing how much the kiss affected him, and it sent another rush through her. He felt so close to her that all she has to do to reenact their kiss again was purse her lips together and lean forward –
"Four weeks," he said. He sounded like he was talking to himself. She could hear the frown and disbelief in his low voice.
"Hmm?"
"Four weeks... It took you four weeks to wake up and come back to me..."
Wait, what?
"Wait, what?" Sofia said, shocked. She ripped her eyes open and stared down at him.
I was asleep for four weeks?! That means I was in a coma! What?!
I-I never thought about what might be happening out here while I was in my subconscious…. I never thought about how much time must have passed! I thought that I was unconscious or just asleep… never in a coma! She was trying to make sense of what he just said. Queen Anne never said anything about me being in a coma….
During their entire conversation in her subconscious, Sofia couldn't remember Queen Anne ever mentioning anything about Sofia being in a coma.
"You leave the way you entered," she remembered Queen Anne saying with a knowing smile.
"Come again?" Sofia raised a brow.
Queen Anne laughed as she turned around and began to pull up the small white flowers at their feet. "We have to find a glowing crystal for you to return back to James and the others."
"And we do that by…." Sofia carefully watched her, astonished to see small crystals of every color embedded in the roots of the flowers.
"Pulling up the white flowers and seeing if they have a glowing crystal," she said simply.
Sofia looked around at the massive meadow they were in the center of. "All of the flowers?"
For the love of the stars, she doesn't mean we pull up every flower in this ocean of a meadow does she?
"Or until we find the crystal," she said with a shrug, as if ripping out each flower was an easier option. "So, come now. Start pulling."
And so she did. They both pulled and ripped and tore nearly every flower from the ground, trying to find the one glowing crystal that was Sofia's key to returning back to James. Sofia lost track of how long they were at it, just bent over and ripping up every flower they saw.
In the beginning, they moved quickly and efficiently, tearing each and every flower like mad women that were angry at the field for whatever reason. Sofia was determined to return back to James and it seems that Queen Anne was determined to get her back too. But the way they began to hunt for the crystal only exhausted them quicker and they ended up with sore arms and dirty fingers.
And so, Sofia and Queen Anne had decided to move to opposite sides of the field in hopes of covering more grounds that way. Behind her was a pile of pulled flowers with crystals that were gleaming in the sunlight.
The longer Sofia pulled and ripped, the more frustrated and angry she became. She wanted to return home, back to James and the comfort of his arms. She wanted to know what was going on outside of her subconscious and if everyone were okay.
She hated how she couldn't tell what time of day it was. The sun was useless in helping Sofia tell how much time has passed, it never moved in the sky above them. The only thing that did move were the white clouds and the gentle breeze of the cool air. The trees rustled and swayed in tune with the wind, dancing an elegant and timeless dance.
And despite how long they were searching, Sofia didn't even find herself sweating or tiring. Not even a single bud of sweat gathered at her brow and she didn't feel tired in the slightest way. She was exhausted from using too much of her energy in the beginning, but she wasn't sleepy or drowsy in any way. It was as if everything in her subconscious was at a standstill.
Finally, when Sofia had pulled her nth number of flowers out of the ground, she heard the greatest sound she's ever heard. "Ah-ha!" Queen Anne had exclaimed. "I found it!"
Sofia whipped around, ecstatic and hopeful. "You found it?!"
"Yes!" she answered back enthusiastically from the far end of the field. She began to run towards Sofia with clutched hands towards her chest. "Yes! Yes! I found it!"
Sofia didn't stand around, waiting for Queen Anne to come to her and started to run towards her too. They both met each other halfway in the center of the field, happily yelling and cheering at each other. Sofia was sure that they both looked like lunatics by the way they jumped and hugged and shouted happily.
But she didn't care. They were in her subconscious, no one was around. And Sofia was going to go home!
"Here," Queen Anne said with a warm smile, handing Sofia the small green crystal. Sofia couldn't help the smile that broke on her lips when she saw the crystal's shade of green. It was the same color as James's eyes. "Crush it under your feet and then you'll be transported back to your body."
But just when Sofia was about to dropped the crystal onto the floor and stomp on it, Queen Anne stopped her. "Sofia, wait. I need to warn you that the moment you return, your body is going to hurt. A lot."
"What do you mean by 'a lot'?" Her tone scared Sofia and made her afraid of what she might find when she returns back to the real world.
"I mean that you just experienced a fall and your body is going to have some cuts and bruises to show for it, and it's going to hurt like hell." A meek and frightened sound escaped Sofia. "But you're strong, Sofia. Stronger than you know and this pain will seem like nothing to you."
"Uh… but pain is pain and I don't like pain," Sofia said. "I can't even handle a pinch from someone."
"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll be there in your head helping you through it. It's going to be okay."
No, it's not, Sofia wanted to say aloud, but she couldn't argue with how confident and supportive Queen Anne sounded. She looked so sure that Sofia was strong enough to handle whatever was to come at her the moment she returns to her body.
Is she? Just thinking about the fact that she has to experience pain in a short moment made her scared beyond her wits. So is she really strong and brave like Queen Anne makes her out to be?
The way Queen Anne's eyes looked at her so hopefully made her want to be just as strong and confident and brave. But all she can do is try to be worthy of her praise and hope. Sofia wanted to be the hope in her eyes.
"Okay." Despite the boost of confidence she felt from Queen Anne's words, her voice sounded tiny and it squeaked. Without another word, Sofia took a breath and stomped down at the green crystal.
But the moment she felt the crystal crumble underneath her toes, nothing glittery or sparking emerged like she expected.
Instead, a liquid darker than black began to pool at her feet. It shined like black oil and moved with the speed of a slithering snake that was ready to attack. It covered the entire field and swallowed the blue sky in a matter of seconds, leaving no hint of color visible to her eyes. Everything around her was blacker than the abyss beyond the cracks in her subconscious and darker than a moonless night. There was no warmth or cold around them, the air was still and frozen.
While she was busy stunned by the darkness around her, she suddenly felt an absence of something solid under her feet.
What?
She looked down and found a gigantic hole just below her. And she fell.
Sofia screamed her terror but the black abyss around her only absorbed her cries. Flashes of her fall and crash in the snow filtered through her mind as she continued her plummet into the dark. And despite knowing that she was to return back to her body, she was still scared and had to shut her eyes and braced herself for whatever was to come.
Then she felt it. She felt the immense pain.
Waves of it washed over her in a succession of unearthly pain. Her entire body hurt, from her toes and knees to her fingertips and head. She felt like she was weighed down by the heavy pain, as if it were physical rocks sitting on her. She couldn't even move a single finger and her eyelids and lips felt like lead. Sofia couldn't open her eyes or even her mouth to utter a sound.
The torment was unbearable. Her head felt like it was in a tornado, spinning and being thrashed about in a whirlwind of stinging and stabbing. The rest of her body felt like it was being run over by a thousand horses with needled hooves. And her stomach was throbbing with a hot, hot pain, like it was being lit on fire and burned from the inside out. The pain was pure agony and made her eyes prick with tears, and she felt one fall down her right cheek.
Why can't I move? Why can't I open my eyes? The fear beat in sync with her heart. Sofia tried to move, but no part of her would and she began to grow frantic.
Sofia, calm down. It was Queen Anne. Breathe. Just like how I showed you back in your subconscious. In and out, in and out. Sofia ceased her useless thrashing and tried to calm her scared heart. Good.
Everything hurts, Sofia complained as another tear ran down her cheeks. She wanted to open her eyes and wipe away the tear, but her body refused to obey and all she continued to see were the back of her eyelids.
I know, sweetheart, I know. Sofia could hear the sympathy in her voice. Like I said, a lot of what you're feeling right now is because of your fall, but I forgot to mention that another portion of it is because your amulet is trying to heal you.
Heal me? But I thought that my amulet isn't working right now?
No, your amulet only refused to show you where the first source is. It's not broken, Sofia. It's still a fully-functioning amulet.
But that doesn't make any sense. If she could shake her head in confusion, she would. If it is still working, then why didn't it protect me against the dragon? That thing was an evil dragon, so why didn't it stop it from hurting me?
The dragon isn't entirely evil, Queen Anne explained. When summoned, the dragon is chaotic and destructive and will attack on command, but if it's left alone in peace, it's a very docile and quiet creature. It was the one who summoned it that is evil.
But – Sofia was still confused.
Sofia, your amulet does everything with a reason. I don't fully understand why it can let you get attacked and I don't agree with its method to allow you to get hurt, but just know that there has to be a good reason behind it. It would never let you get hurt unless it was for a right cause.
Sofia knew that Queen Anne was right. Her amulet would never intentionally hurt her. Ever since she has received it, it has guided and protected her. It has taught her valuable lessons and made her into a better person. Her amulet would never betray her.
Okay, Sofia thought to her.
Good. There was a smile to her tone, almost like she was nodding to Sofia. Now, start moving your fingertips and toes.
Come again?
Queen Anne laughed, sounding as if she was amused with Sofia. Your body has just been in this dormant state while you and I were in your subconscious. Your amulet put your body to sleep as a way to heal and protect you. But it's still asleep. So, in order for you to regain control of your body, you need to get the blood circulating again. Start by trying to move your fingertips and toes. It'll be hard at first, but once you get it moving, the rest will come easily to you.
Sofia listened and used every ounce of her strength to will her fingers to move, but her body refused to cooperate. No matter how hard she tried to make her body to move, it just wouldn't. It was as if her body was frozen stiff with pain, unable to do anything.
Come on, move, she begged after several minutes of frustratingly trying to get her body to move but ending with no results. Her fingers didn't even so much as twitch. Move! Move! Move!
Sofia has experienced sleep paralysis before, but never like this. Normally, her sleep paralysis ended when she waked. But this time, she was wide awake and frozen. This was the most extreme form of a nightmarish prison because she was awake and experiencing it all.
MOVE! Sofia screamed. Her terror and irritation and pure agony from the pain has reached their limit.
And her index finger obeyed.
Sofia stilled. What?
She tried to move her finger, hoping that what she just felt wasn't something her trauma-induced brain created. Slowly, she ordered her finger to lift and move side to side.
It obeyed.
Good, Queen Anne's voice startled her. Sofia almost forgot that she was there in her head. Now, get the rest of your fingers to move too.
And Sofia repeated the annoyingly frustrating process all over again until each and every one of her fingers were moving. When each were active again, she began to clench and release them into fists, trying to get the blood circulating in her hands again.
Good. Now, your toes, Queen Anne said.
She repeated it all over again in order to get her toes and the rest of her body into motion once more. It was a long and agonizing process that drove Sofia mad with frustration. But after what felt like hours of just begging and yelling for her arms and legs to bend and stretch, she finally was able to regain full control of her body.
Now, for the hard part.
What hard part? Sofia asked. She was laying in her bed while bending her arms and legs, and her eyes were still closed.
Opening your eyes and getting you to sit up.
Oh.
Opening her eyes was rather easier than Queen Anne had made it out to be. Actually, she was already lying in bed and staring up at her pink canopy in a matter of minutes. Getting herself to sit up was the harder part.
In the beginning, she was wiggling back and forth just to get herself into a seated position. That didn't do anything but tire her out quickly. The wiggling did help warm up her spin though. It made it easier for her when she decided to change tactics and try to arch her back forward and push herself up with her weak arms. Sofia was finally able to sit herself up several moments later.
For a short while, Sofia just sat there in the dark with a heavy head and a body that felt like it was being pricked with tiny cold needles. She just needed to take a minute to let her body readjust to everything and wait for the pricking sensation to fade away. The pain was dulled now, but it was still there.
Good, Queen Anne said, sounding like she was proud of her. But the pride was quickly replaced with a panicked tone. Sofia, I need to go.
Wait – Sofia tried, but Queen Anne didn't wait for a reply from Sofia and disappeared.
Her mind felt like her own again. There was an emptiness in her head the instant Queen Anne vanished off to wherever she always goes to.
But Sofia didn't dwell long on the empty feeling because a familiar snoring sound soon caught her attention and made her heart race faster and faster with every passing second.
She turned her head in the direction of the snoring and an emotionally happy pang beat through her heart. Sofia didn't understand why, but the sight of him sitting on the floor beside her bed made her felt like crying. She wanted to crawl to him as fast as her weak legs could carry her and dig her face into his chest and cry, to feel his arms around her and hold her as she released every emotion that threatened to break out of her.
Without another thought and simply just following her need for him, Sofia's legs moved on their own and crawled towards him. She tried to climb down from the bed as quietly as she could, but she just ended up clumsily falling beside James on the floor with a flop. Her butt stung from her short fall and the floor felt icy cold against her sensitive skin through her modest nightgown. Her long messy hair kept annoyingly falling into her eyes and sticking to her forehead. One part was curled and unruly while another was just plain sticking up like it was her own antennae. She tried to run her hand through it in hopes of making herself look at least decent. She didn't like how rumpled and unkempt she felt, but it didn't really matter to her. She didn't pay attention to any of that because all she could think about was James.
She didn't like the way his head was resting back on the edge of her bed; the uncomfortable-looking position couldn't be good for his neck. And his furrowed brow told her just that. She was happy to not see any signs of wounds or cuts or bruises on him.
Sofia scooted closer to him and brushed a random strand from his eyes. The moonlight gleaming throughout her room made his blonde hair softly shine incandescently. It made her want to run her fingers through his hair.
He looked the same as she had last seen him before her fall.
Handsome. Strong. Perfect.
His strong, chiseled jawline that she loved to sweep her lips over. His rugged and god-like body that made her finger's ache to just touch.
His lips. His alluring and perfect lips that were her lips' own match. The lips that held the most wonderful voice – no, sound in the world. An amazing sound that always made her shudder whenever it became masculine and husky, but knew how to make her heart ten-times lighter whenever that sound became a laugh.
The long lashes on his eyes. The very eyes that held crystal green gems that always looked at her like she was what made everything perfect in the world but a delicious morsel of something he couldn't wait to devour the moment they were alone at the same time.
The only change she noticed on him were the dark circles under his eyes and how hollow his cheeks looked. Her heart constricted painfully – more painfully than when she returned to her body – at how ragged he looked. His appearance only told her half of what he must have gone through, of how worried sick he must have been.
Oh, James… she thought as she stroked her hands down his warm cheeks. Sofia needed to hear his voice, to see his eyes look at her and only her.
So, she woke him up. She didn't want to wake him because of how tired he looked, but she didn't care. She was being selfish at the moment and wanted to see him smile at her and kiss her and hold her. She needed to feel him and touch him and kiss him like the world was ending and this was their final hours together.
And moments after she woke her own sleeping beauty, she was back in his arms and he was kissing her like how she wanted. No, better than how she wanted. The way he kissed her made the pain go away completely.
Damn, Sofia cursed to herself. I need to remember to ask Queen Anne if she even knew if I was in a coma this entire time.
"Sofia," James said, bringing her back from her thoughts. His tone was gentle, but there was a deep intensity to his voice. He cupped her cheeks and looked at her deeply. His eyes were on fire, "you were in a coma for about four weeks. The longest four weeks of my life."
The relief and guilt and utter fear she saw swirl in his eyes shocked her even further. She hated to think about what she must have put him through, of how worried and scared he was for her wellbeing. The look in his eyes couldn't even begin to tell her half of it all, of his four weeks of hell.
Sofia wanted to wash it all away, his dark circles and hallowed cheeks and the pain in his eyes. She wanted to kiss him better and heal his wounds. Oh, how she wished that her lips and touch could heal like her amulet, to make his mouth break into the brightest smile she's ever seen.
"I'm sorry…" she quietly said. She didn't know what else to say, but nothing else felt like it could convey how badly she felt to put him through such pain. Sofia just hoped that he could hear how horribly guilty she felt.
He shook his head and brought her closer until their foreheads touched again. "You have nothing to be sorry about."
"But I –" He stopped her with a long and breath-stealing kiss. It was the kind of kiss that obliterated all thought from her mind and made her forget what she was going to say forever.
"Like I said," he said after finally giving her a chance to breathe, "you have nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault you were in a coma. It's that jackass's fault."
James didn't even try to hide his anger and fury. The way he called The Evil a "jackass" told Sofia just how furious he was at the man for hurting her. She wouldn't even be surprised to find if some things were broken around the castle during her time in her coma.
"Wait, so you know?" Sofia asked. "You know that it was The Evil that sent the dragon after me?"
He nodded, "Lucinda told me. Or rather, she sent a letter explaining it all to me."
Lucinda.
"Oh…" she said, not knowing what else to say. She began to mindlessly twirl the short ends of his hair between her fingertips.
A silence befell them. But it wasn't an awkward silence, it was actually very comforting and calming as they rested their foreheads against each other and slowly drank in one another's warmth. It's as if they have come to a point in their relationship where there was no need for words to be exchanged between them in sweet and tender moments like this. They didn't even need to kiss. All that rested between them was their love and warmth and their hearts beating as one.
His arms returned to circling around her waist and pressed her closer towards him until there wasn't any space between them. He held her possessively but gently, and seemed content to stay like this for the rest of his life.
Sofia would be too if it weren't for the fact that her legs were beginning to ache from trying to keep their position.
"James," she said, breaking the intimate silence between them. "I think it's best if we go out and wake the others, and tell them that I am awake. I'd hate to think of how badly I worried them all, especially Amber."
"Oh, they're all in here," he said, nodding in direction behind her.
"What, really?" Sofia turned around and found Amber asleep in both of her large velvet chairs and Sir Edwards asleep on the floor beside her.
"Yeah, and Hugo too." With another nod, James indicated towards the other side of her bed. She saw Hugo asleep in what looks like a chair from the hallway. "The others and I have been camped out in your room for the past four weeks now."
"You all slept like this for four week?"
James looked at the clock on her nightstand behind him. "Well, today makes it officially four weeks. So yeah, we slept like this for four weeks."
"And you've been keeping count of how long I've been in a coma?"
"Yes," he said, surprising her with how utterly serious he sounded.
He made it sound as if she should have expected this of him, but she didn't and she couldn't stop the butterflies that began to flutter in her stomach by the way James looked into her eyes sincerely and hungrily.
"James," she said. "I appreciate that you all camped out in my room. I honestly do. But wouldn't you all have been more comfortable in your own beds?"
"I'm comfortable right now," he said, his smile returning as he promptly gave her a squeeze and rewrapped her legs around his waist. Sofia blushed at the way his hands lingered on her exposed thighs before crawling back up and settling on her hips again.
"Not what I meant, James." Sofia tried to fight off her flaming cheeks – despite everything they've said and done together, his touch can still make her blush as bright as a ripe apple – embarrassed that she was blushing, but that only made them feel hotter than they already were.
He just chuckled at her before leaning in for another kiss. The low and masculine sound of his laugh sent another rush of shivers down her spine. Sofia's body betrayed her and eagerly complied with his request for a kiss.
Oh, sure, now you move! Sofia cursed at her body as her eyes fluttered closed.
"Come on, James," she said, breaking their kiss. "We have to wake the others up."
"One more," he groaned.
"No," she refused, pushing at his chest.
But that didn't stop him.
James's grip tightened and turned to iron, unwilling to let her go. Then his lips trailed across her jaw and began to kiss her neck before traveling downward. He pulled on the sleeves of her nightgown down and started to kiss her bare shoulders first before turning his attention to her collarbones and the valley on her chest.
Sofia would be lying if she said she hated it. She enjoyed it immensely. But with the others asleep in her room, she didn't want to risk getting caught by one of them.
So she was anything but gentle when she pushed at James and climbed out from his lap. Luckily, her legs seemed to have regained their strength and didn't give out on her. She returned the shoulder of her nightgown back to where it belonged.
Her neck still felt like it was on fire from where his lips touched her. So just to be safe, she quickly grabbed the small wool blanket on her bed and threw it over her shoulders to hide whatever mark he left on her. It was also her way of covering herself up since she was in just her nightgown that, while it was modest, wasn't the best in concealing everything. She was relieved that her wool blanket was big and long enough to reach her knees.
"Sofia," he began as he stood and picked up the random book beside him. He closed it and put it aside on her nightstand.
Where did that book come from? Sofia wondered. Then she noticed the large stack of books in the corner of her room. What the…?
"Why are there so many books over there?"
James didn't finished whatever he was going to say and looked at where she was pointing at with her blanket-covered fingers. "Oh, that was my way of keeping busy while I waited for you to wake up."
"You read all of those books in four weeks?" she said, her disbelief heavy in her tone.
James nodded as he walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her again. She felt his fingers lock together behind her. If the others weren't in her room right now, she would have been amused at how persistent he was to keep her in his arms. It was almost as if he needed to touch her and hold her just to sustain himself and his life.
"James," she chided, looking up at him and hoping that what he saw was a warning stare.
"Sofia," he said, completely satisfied that she was locked in his embrace.
She knew by the utterly happy smile on his face and the wild gleam in his eyes that he wasn't going to let her go. But Sofia needed to find a way to convince him to release her just long enough so that the others wouldn't catch them and could leave her room completely oblivious.
"Okay, okay. I get it," she reluctantly sighed.
"Mmhmm?" he smiled charmingly.
"James, you need to let me go," he just tightened his hold on her even further when she said those words. Apparently he didn't like her telling him to let her go, "so that the others don't see –"
"No."
"James, it's only just until the others leave my room. Then, when they have all gone back into their own rooms, I promise you can go back to holding me and kissing me all night long. Okay?" She smiled up at him for full effect.
He narrowed his eyes at her, as if contemplating her offer. But she knew that she had him by the way the corners of his mouth was trying to not curl into a smile.
"What if I don't?"
Dammit. She was wrong.
"What if I stayed like this?" he mischievously smiled down at her, bringing his lips dangerously close to her own. "What if I refused to let you go and just hold on tighter to you when the others wake? And what if I just kissed you in front of them?" He was less than a centimeter away from her. She could feel his breath brush her lips, threatening her with a wave of shivers. "Then, they would know about us and we won't have to worry about keeping our relationship a secret any more."
"You wouldn't," she glared at him. Sofia didn't pull away from him because that would feel cowardice if she did. She knew that it would mean he would somehow win this little battle of theirs.
"Wouldn't I?" he dared with an arrogant and dangerous smile.
He's bluffing. He has to be.
James would never do anything like that. He knows that she didn't want their relationship known until things weren't so chaotic like they are right now, when things were better and the evil man who did all of this was defeated.
Was he just teasing her? Was this what he was doing?
Neither spoke. They were staring at each other in a silent match, trying to see who would give in first. Sofia glared hard up at him while James only cockily smirked down at her as if he's already won.
That was where he was wrong because Sofia knew just what to say that would help her win.
"If you don't," Sofia carefully said while still scowling at him, "I will never let you back into my room at night ever again."
Bingo. She felt him stiffen and watched as his cool and smug mask broke.
"That means," she continued, unleashing the last of her blow, "you will have to go back to sleeping in your own bed again. All alone. And I won't even sneak into your room either."
James just watched her carefully. He didn't say anything or even moved for a while, almost as if he was testing to see if this was her bluff.
But she wasn't bluffing. She could tel by the look in his eyes that he knew that she wasn't bluffing.
Sofia meant what she said. If James so much as dared to reveal their relationship, she was going to unleash hell onto this entire castle and especially him because he promised her that he wouldn't and a promise is something she takes all too seriously.
"Fine. Fine. You win," he said. He unlocked his hands and stepped back from her with this hands raise in defeat.
"Good," she said, turning to make her way towards Amber.
But she didn't even manage a full step before she felt one hand grab her wrist and pull her backwards. Another hand quickly slip around the back of her neck and guide her lips towards a very gentle but very hungry pair of lips. She began to gasp from the surprise of it all but James stole the air from her gasp with his kiss.
Her need for him returned, making her hands itch to just rip his shirt off so that nothing could remain between them, but James pulled away before she could turn the kiss into something more lustful and passionate. And while the kiss was quick, it still managed to ravage her either way, leaving her dazed and slightly craving for more.
"You don't know how happy I am that you're back," he said, his voice deep and rough. His playfulness was gone and James's eyes were burning as they stared into hers.
There was too many emotions for her to pinpoint in his voice and his green eyes, but there was one that she was able to distinctly tell because it was the largest one that encompassed his eyes and his voice.
His fear.
He was so afraid of her dying, of her never waking, of her never returning back to him. He is afraid of losing her.
"I missed you." His tone nearly broke her heart and repaired it at the same time.
"I missed you too," she replied, hoping that he could hear the fear and love she had for him too. She was afraid of the dragon killing him, of him dying in the field. She is just as afraid of losing him as he is of losing her.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on his heartbeat underneath her fingertips, memorizing its fast and slow rhythm. A unique beat that was only James's.
He kissed her again. But there was nothing lustful or wanton about the kiss. It was simply tender and loving. It was the kind of kiss that even the stars would be envious of because that kiss held every bit of his love for her in it. The kind of love that could fill even the deepest trenches and abysses multiple times.
"I love you, you know that right?" he said.
She couldn't help but laugh amusingly at what he said. Of course she knew he loved her. He practically said it to her every chance he got whenever they were alone. He would tell her whenever he kissed her, whenever he held onto her hands, whenever he pulled her into his arms. Hell, it was his daily catchphrase.
"Yes, I do," she giggled. She looked up to find him smiling so affectionately that it made her want to kiss him just as lovingly. Maybe even more. "And I love you too."
She raised onto the top of her toes and kissed him with as much love as he put into his kiss. She wanted him to always know how much she cared and thought and just plain love him. Just like she is to him, he was her sun, her star, her world. Her everything.
"By the way," he said after she pulled away, "this means I get to spend the night right?"
Chapter twenty-seven! Woo!
Yes, yes, I know. I am really late in releasing this chapter. Again, blame college. I had a group project for my theatre arts class and I was stuck with people that were just UGH! I ended up doing most of the work and got a B for it. I hate group projects so much. But hey, enough of my horrible college experience.
I hope you all really enjoyed this chapter. So far, it's been my favorite to write. I tried to put in as much fluff as possible because you all have been begging me to not ruin your ships. I didn't. For now... MWAHAHA!
What does that mean? A challenge of course!
Challenge: If you all read my chapter extra, you all would know that Hugo spotted them kissing and being lovey-dovey and whatnot. So, leave a review of what you think Hugo will do to break James and Sofia up. If I get more than 15 reviews, I am going to release the chapter 17 extra. You know, the one where James and Sofia get hot and steamy because - oh, I'm not going to spoil it for you guys. So good luck!
Read, review, etc.
Thanks :)
