The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 190: Hot and bothered (3)

Chapter 190: Hot and bothered (3)

"Why would you need to kiss me again when I already said you have won? And I thought we weren’t supposed to go back to what happened that night," Annalise said.

"This has nothing to do with that night. I kissed you because I wanted to. Because I like you," Rafael confessed. That game was the last thing on his mind and he would like for it to have been the last thing on her mind. "I have wanted to kiss you for some time now."

"Uhm," Annalise replied, trying to scoot back on the table to get away from him. "That is not a funny joke and if you are trying to fool me, I am not going to fall for it."

"I do not joke around when it comes to my feelings, Annalise. Haven’t you noticed by now that I am quite serious with my relationships?" Rafael asked, stepping away from her to give her some space. The second kiss wasn’t going to come today.

"What sense would it make for Rafael Callahan to like me? You have plenty of women around you. I should be the last one to make any sort of feelings form. Were you hit on her head during your match? I think we need to go back out there to find your mind because it is clearly not in here," Annalise said.

"I am thinking clearly right now and it has been quite some days that I have realised I liked you. I kept it to myself so that I would not make you uncomfortable. You were already dealing with what happened with Connor and then with Logan. I apologise for kissing you without asking," Rafael apologised.

Annalise thought if he had asked the first time, she would have told him no and missed out on getting to experience what a kiss from Rafael Callahan was like. She wanted to take pride in having him like her when she did nothing while the other young women failed, but there were so many things on her mind.

Rafael had no idea who she was, but she did. She was fully aware that they were from opposite worlds. They were enemies and he only liked her because he did not know. This confession about his feelings would quickly change if he knew. She was certain of it.

Rafael would pick up his sword from the ground and try to capture her. He had a duty to catch her like every other knight or guard in this kingdom would. Then, she would have to deal with her father’s disappointment in her since she was to take his place.

How would it look for the leader’s daughter to be involved with a knight from this side and not just any knight? It was Rafael Callahan. The son of the man her father fought.

Annalise knew the truth so it was up to her to put an end to this so he wouldn’t get too deep into his feelings and be hurt later if he were to find out who she was. He would not be gentle with her in the future when he would learn that she was not Annalise Woods, the maid, but Annalise, the daughter of the people they called barbarians.

"I need to go," Annalise said, sliding to the right of the table to get off.

In this situation, it was harder for her to leave than she would have thought. From day one, she was prepared to leave her friends she made in the manor without a second thought, because it was known from day one that these friendships had to end.

Now, it had somewhat made sense why she kept thinking about Rafael. Why did she react so strangely when he was close to her or why did his scent bother her?

She wanted him.

Annalise knew she didn’t have feelings for him. That was impossible, but she was lusting over him. If he had not stopped kissing her, they might have gone further because she was lost in the moment and forgot about them being enemies.

Annalise figured she didn’t realise it at first because she had not been this way with a man before. When she had sex with Thomas, it wasn’t because she wanted him, it was simply due to her being curious about it and Thomas was willing to do it with her. She never experienced wanting a man like this even though she enjoyed looking at many daily.

She was serious when she said she did not have any interest in courting the knights, but Rafael was hellbent on making her think differently without trying. She was the one to get caught up in thinking and feeling strange things about him.

"Are you going back to the manor?" Rafael asked without turning to look at her. He had a feeling that he had done too much and in the end, made her uncomfortable.

"I am, but it is to go home with my family. I don’t think I should stay near you anymore," Annalise answered.

Being the person who knew the truth, she had to be the one to put an end to this.

"It is not because you made me uncomfortable. You are nothing like Connor. I enjoyed our kiss, but I cannot have a relationship with you. You won’t understand now or perhaps in the future, but I am saving you from one day feeling like a fool. I don’t want either one of us to made a mockery of," Annalise said as she walked backward toward the opening of the tent that was still closed to hide what they were doing.

"I see. Do not run away, Annalise. You are to be paid for your days as my maid. At least let me send you off with that," Rafael replied. As much as he wanted to convince her to stay, he felt like he had invaded too much of her personal space already.

Annalise wanted to leave soon without the pay so she could get away from him and everything that belonged to him so she could stop thinking about this situation. The gravity of it all.

Annalise exited the tent, but before she could make two steps out of it, she was startled by the sight of men she recognised to be border guards. They weren’t wearing the armour she saw when her people dragged back their bodies, but it was the uniform she knew they wore when they were not out at war.

It wasn’t just two or three guards this time. It was a large group of them, filling up the space around Rafael’s tent. Just by looking at the men, she made the guess that they were more than fifty. How could so many of them suddenly appear when she had not been in the tent with Rafael long? Why didn’t she hear anything about these guards coming?

"Excuse me," Annalise said, tapping on the arm of one of the knights outside Rafael’s tent. "Why are border guards here? Do they also participate?"

"They are here to collect the recruits for anyone who wishes to join them. There is a list of young men who signed up and they come every year to convince some of the men competing today to join them. It is likely their captain will want to speak to Rafael so you should inform him," the knight answered. He was alert more than ever because of the bad blood between knights and guards.

It was a long feud because of the one captain who disliked Rafael.

"Captain?" Annalise whispered, looking into the crowd of men and spotting one who wore a dark uniform while all the other guards wore white.

Annalise slowly backed into the tent. She could not leave now when these people were here. ’This timing is unbelievable. This has to be grandmother’s doing,’ Annalise assumed.

Why else would she be pushed to stay here with Rafael when she finally decided to leave?

Annalise turned around and found Rafael standing in the same spot she left him, not looking her way. "Rafael, I changed my mind. I will stay here as your maid."

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