The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 296: On Fire

Chapter 296: On Fire

Dani couldn’t help but feel a bit tense as she stared at Abel’s hand currently holding hers. After her wedding to the man, she got so drunk that she didn’t even know what happened next. Thankfully, she was pretty sure that nothing happened between them since she didn’t feel something weird on her body by the time she woke up.

After all of that, they promptly spent another day in their manor, but neither of them had time to be alone together. Instead, her brother Atlas ended up hogging Abel all to himself while she spent most of her time with her parents.

Thinking about it now, she unknowingly smiled as she recalled Atlas’s reason that she and Abel would have more than enough time to spend together during their honeymoon once they went back to Valcrez. Meanwhile, her time with him and her parents was limited, so she should supposedly spend it with her family. For some reason though, she felt like her brother was being too petty. He was practically bullying Abel when she last saw him.

Deep in thought, she turned to Abel and asked, "How come you let my brother bully you?"

"It’s fine. I think Atlas is simply testing my patience while getting to know me more," Atlas chuckled as he waved her off. "Although, I have a feeling that he intentionally dragged me off to sleep with him because he’s actually scared of Ezme."

"Huh?" Dani snorted. Princess Ezme seemed like a fine lady to her. "Why would he be scared of his future wife?"

"Oh, haven’t you heard how stubborn and playful that brat can be? She has quite a reputation here," Abel noted before letting off a devious smile. "But anyway, enough with them. Let’s focus on each other now that we finally have our privacy..."

Dani gulped. "But I haven’t answered you yet."

It was true, after all. She still hadn’t given him a response when he proposed that they stop their agreement and make their marriage a reality. Her husband didn’t push the topic ever since though, and she was honestly glad that he wasn’t bringing it up for her sake.

At her response, Abel stopped walking as he looked at her intently. "I interpreted your silence back then as a yes, so I thought we had mutual agreement about it."

Dani’s face soured. "But I feel like I’m not ready yet."

"Don’t you like me?" Abel directly asked.

"No..." Dani murmured. "It’s not that."

"So you like me then?" he further asked.

"Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to..." Dani trailed off as she hesitated. She didn’t know what to say.

"Don’t you want our relationship to become real?" Abel questioned further.

"I want to," she genuinely answered. "But..."

"Then I don’t see any reason for you to hesitate then," Abel concluded. "So let’s just get on with things and see where that leads us."

"But if we make it real, then that means we have to consummate our marriage," she bashfully pointed out.

"Hell yes. That’s why I want to make our relationship real, Dani," Abel shamelessly stated. "I want to be a real husband to you. I like you so much, Dani, and I want to have you..."

Dani fidgeted at what she was hearing. Abel was being too vocal with her, and while she somehow liked it, but his words just now weren’t the ones she wanted to hear.

There was a terse silence as she mulled over her thoughts on whether or not she should ask Abel the question. What would she look like in his eyes if ever she asked it though?

Meeting his eager gaze unblinking, she took a deep breath as if the air around her would give her enough courage to do what needed to be done. Letting out a breath, she directly asked, "Do you love me, Abel?"

A beat passed, and as she expected, Abel looked like he was taken aback by her question based on the deep frown currently adorning his face. He parted his lips to speak, but he closed them just as quickly.

"Look, I want to make our relationship real too, Abel, but I believe that love is one of the major key factors for a fruitful relationship," Dani shrugged as she made herself clear. "We have to have that mutual understanding between us. It may sound reserved, but I want to surrender my body to a man that loves me, Abel. I don’t want to just have sex and enjoy it physically... I want real emotions to be involved."

"Dani... We’ll eventually get there," Abel reasoned. "I mean, I’m pretty sure that we’ll develop deep feelings for each other in due time."

Dani blinked at him in disbelief. ’Did he really just lust for me that much?’

It was the only conclusion she could come up with. Even now, she could sense how hard Abel was trying his best to coax her into agreeing.

"Hmm, do you know that I’m already there? I’m already at the point of falling in love with you, Abel," Dani confessed with a bashful smile before letting out a sigh. "Unfortunately, it’s clear that you’re still not at that level yet."

This time, it was Abel who stared at her blinking. Shaking her head, she moved closer and raised her hand to touch his cheek. "Knowing that, you should already guess that you have the advantage over me. You can easily seduce me if you want. Besides, I’m already your wife, and in two days’ time, you’re going to mark me, and I have no intention of making a spell to fake that."

She let out another sigh as she added, "I know it might sound like I’m asking for too much, but I’m willing to wait. Either way, I’m already planning my efforts to make you love me."

Hearing her spiel, Abel narrowed his eyes at her as he hoarsely murmured, "Oh Dani, why are you torturing me like this? You basically confessed your feelings to me, and you even gave me a heads-up on how you’ll make me fall for you... And yet you don’t want us to consummate our marriage?"

Dani nodded, trying her best not to smile. "I will diligently perform my duties as your wife, but I refuse to surrender my body no matter what," she firmly stated. "At least not until you fall in love with me."

"Are you sure you’ll be able to hold on for that long?" Abel challenged with a serious expression on his face. "You do know that I can effortlessly seduce you, Dani."

"Try me..." Dani challenged back with a raised brow. There was no way that she would give in too easily.

Taking the challenge, Abel’s lips stretched themselves into a mischievous smile as he pulled Dani closer to him. Smirking, he leaned into her ear and whispered, "My dear wife... You don’t know how dangerous the game you’re playing is right now. Be careful not to get burned because your husband is on fire right now..."