Chapter 19

How much longer was this horror ride supposed to go on? It seemed like an eternity to her. It could have been a very short ride if he hadn't tortured her so much.

After he banished Ramas from the carriage, she had to throw away her plan to ignore him and talk to the secretary. To Aleks questions about whether she was comfortable, whether she liked the house and many others, she answered very monosyllabic, looking out of the window most of the time. After that, he was silent for a good half an hour. But that was probably just the calm before the storm.

"It's really warm today," he said suddenly and her gaze automatically went to him. She was about to look away again when he very slowly took off his jacket and two strong arms emerged from underneath. The shirt was so tight that you could not only guess at his muscles, you could literally see them through the fabric.

"Is something wrong?" he asked hypocritically and Celia swallowed hard. "You should buy new shirts, it looks like your sleeves are about to tear," she replied, cursing herself for her hoarse voice. She had to force herself to turn her head away again.

"Hmmm, you think so? If everything goes well, we could go into town and buy some new ones later," Alek suggested, and Celia realised what a stupid remark she had let slip.

„The butler can take care of that." She dared a quick glance at him and suddenly felt warm. The Grand Duke was  undoing the buttons on his collar so that she finally had a full view of the base of his muscular chest. Oh Lord, please help me.

"I prefer to buy my shirts myself. Besides, you still need some clothes, I heard."

She wanted to argue,  but just couldn't utter a word. Was it because of the withdrawal she had gone through in the past month? A picture was just not the same as having the person right in front of your very eyes.

Only with great difficulty did she finally manage to turn her head away again. Concentrating, she looked out the window and held on to the frame as if it would help her control herself.

"Seems like the view is insanely interesting."

Celia just nodded, but continued to stare outside. Suddenly she felt something touch her leg. But as soon as she turned around, startled, Alek's face was suddenly very close to her own. He had changed seats and was looking past her out the window with interest. She tried to move to the other side, but there he was propping himself up with his arm. One could say, she was trapped.

The scent of nuts and orange sucked into her nose and clouded her senses. Completely beguiled by this scent, she turned her head slightly again and looked directly at his collarbone. Should she be worried because she was so attracted to this sight?

When he did lean back, it was her salvation. Another minute and she would have touched his collarbone. And not with her fingers.

She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm her heart, which was pounding wildly.

Alek was still sitting next to her and he made no move to change his seat again. At least he was silent for now. Unfortunately, he continued to sit so close to her that their legs were touching. Under other circumstances, she would have been happy about all this. But he had not even apologised to her for leaving her alone for so long.

Celia had really hoped he was different. But apparently her first impression had deceived her. Still, even if he really was just something for the eye, she wanted to see him more often. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to take advantage of it.

And now, of all times, when she wanted to teach him a lesson, she would have the opportunity to stare at him as much as she likes. So she could only hope for this trip to come to an end.

"It won't be long now until we get there," his words finally relieved her of her agony. And he was right. They could already make out the castle. All they had to do was drive through the city.

"You should close your buttons again," she reminded him. Actually, much more for her benefit than his.

"It's a bit difficult with the little buttons and no mirror. Can't you help me?"

Had she just heard him right? She looked into his eyes, but they told her that he was very serious. I see. Weird that opening them didn't seem to be such a problem.

"Of course I can go before the king like this," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess he might forgive me for that."

And what if it doesn't? Damn it.

She bit her lower lip lightly and then leaned over to him.

Celia did not notice the satisfied smile on the Grand Duke's lips. She tried to concentrate solely on the buttons and on not touching his skin. As if she could burn herself on it.

After she had finally made it, she quickly got up to get his jacket.

"What are you doing?" he shouted worried and at that very moment the carriage went over a slight rise, so that Celia lost her footing and fell backwards. Right into Alek's lap.

She looked at him with wide eyes and was petrified for a moment. As soon as she regained her composure and embarrassedly tried to stand up, the carriage was jolted again. Her fiancé quickly put his arms protectively around her waist to keep her from falling.

She tried to push his arms away, but they didn't move a bit, almost as if they were made of stone. Angrily, she looked at Alek. Didn't he know how good this felt? What torture!

But the Grand Duke himself only grinned slightly.

"You can let me go again," she told him, but he shook his head. "What if we get jolted again and you hurt yourself? The road here doesn't seem very good."

Celia pressed her lips together to restrain herself, but that did not change her desperate situation. And so she had been sitting for about 20 minutes. The Grand Duke gave her no leeway to escape. Only when the carriage finally stopped did he loosen his grip.

Celia jumped straight out of the door before the royal servants could even open it.

Laughing, Alek grabbed his jacket and followed her. "This is her first time here. She's really excited," he explained to the stunned men and she turned crimson on the spot. Her teacher would be ashamed of her behaviour. Therefore, she decided not to fall for her fiancé's games any more.

She glanced over at him and he gave her an amused grin. Why am I so worried about this?