The Tyrant's Pet

"That simple?" Aries loosened her arms around Abel's neck while the latter pushed himself to create distance between them.

"Yes, darling. That simple." His lips stretched from ear to ear. "It's not even worth stressing for."

"How will I know that if you didn't tell me beforehand?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My bad. Fear overwhelmed me." He shrugged, pertaining to the fact he kept things from her out of the sheer thought of losing her. "But I'm making up for you now, am I not?"

Aries rolled her eyes and chuckled, relaxing her body underneath him. "Are you a hundred percent certain you can do it?"

"Darling, you truly know how to insult like a god." He snorted. "So divine."

"I'm simply trying to clarify it for a better understanding of things."

With a pair of crimson eyes hovering over her, Aries held her breath. When the corner of his lips curled up devilishly, she couldn't react fast as he swiftly flipped their position. She only realized it when she was saddling him, gazing down at Abel, wide-eyed.

"No one is above me in this empire and even out — not even the law, but look at you," he intoned with a devilish smirk. "Staring down on me… so daunting."

Aries bit her lip, planting her palm on her inked chest. "Your Majesty…"

"Do you now understand the power you hold, darling?" Abel carefully wrapped his fingers around her wrist, chuffed by her reaction. "Only you, Aries, may go above me and the only person in this world who can look down on me. No one else."

He raised an arm and ran his fingers through the side of her hair, settling his palm on the back of her head before he pulled her down until her face was a palm length away from him.

"You better use this at your own disposal," he whispered, tilting his head as he lifted it up to claim what's his. HER.

Aries grinned against his lips and bit them gently. "Expect no less from me," she whispered into his mouth before sticking her tongue inside his mouth.

And with that, the two of them went on with another passionate time together, as if it was their last day in the world. Nothing mattered at the moment. Just the two of them, tangled in a slow dance, creating a harmonious melody with their moans and bodies in contact, hearts beating in sync.

They sucked each other's breath, leaving the other breathless. And yet, they felt more alive than ever. Touching each other in dire need to find where their hands would settle, biting each other's skin until their teeth marks marked each other, scratching only to soothe it with a careful caress.

Aries and Abel went wild the entire morning, playing a dangerous game of love and lust. And both of them... were professional players. Those who sat at the same table as them to gamble against them better had useful cards at hand, or they would lose everything and get buried in debt.

<strong>******</strong>

Everything still felt surreal for Aries. She couldn't believe the newfound information etched in her head. But the lingering touch of his hands on her skin and her throbbing core from all that lovemaking was the proof everything was real.

What happened last night wasn't just a figment of her imagination. Those hauntingly beautiful wings, dangerously alluring fangs, and his pair of crimson orbs that glowed so wonderfully like rubies under the moonlight. They were real.

Abel was real.

But the fear she felt last night had long left her heart. All she could feel was excitement, a purpose, and love. He was beautiful — a beautiful mess. A loving monster no one had ever tamed.

Aries smiled at the thought of him. 'I love him and miss him already.' She giggled, arching a brow at the servant, scrubbing her arms gently.

As soon as the servant felt the crown princess's attention, she lowered her head and scrubbed her with more care. Aries wasn't saying anything and simply gazed at the servant.

'That's frighteningly amazing,' she thought, recalling that this servant had met Abel when Aries summoned her to prepare her a bath. At first, Aries was a little anxious, but the servant acted as if Abel wasn't there in the room with her. He didn't tell her what he did but simply winked at her.

And that was how Aries was now in the bathroom while Abel left with an excuse she wouldn't finish if he stayed. But he reminded her, though. The servant would only forget about seeing Abel, but everything else would get into the maid's head.

Aries pressed her lips into a thin line and leaned back, arms resting over the tub's rim.

"Wondering how I got so many hickeys, are you?" she broke the silence calmly. Aries's body was full of hickeys that her fading body pain couldn't hide. So, she understood why the servant, who was wiping her body, was giving her an odd look. Joaquin didn't visit last night, after all.

Where the hell would Aries get all this? By praying all night? Of course, no one was that foolish to think the crown princess was that banal. She was playing with fire.

"If Gertrude is here, she will understand," she crooned, cocking her head to the side. The second her eyes fell on the servant sitting right beside the tub, the servant flinched.

"Will you tell my husband?" she asked, making the servant shake her head almost immediately. "You should, though. If you did, he might reward you and tell you to keep an eye on me."

Aries peeled her eyes away from the servant to the high ceiling. "Although there is a small possibility he will throw a jab at you out of anger, he won't kill you… hopefully."

The servant's hands that were cleaning the crown princess's fingernails trembled. However, she remained silent since she might die in the crown princess's hands even before Joaquin beat her to death in a fit of rage. Aries knew that, and that was the main reason she wasn't afraid to tell all this to the servant.

"Tell me…" Aries blinked ever so tenderly, wrapping her fingers around the servant's trembling hand. She waited for the young maid to raise her gaze until she was looking back at her.

"Will you sell me out to my husband and tell him the crown princess was being unfaithful because I was never satisfied with him?" she cocked her head to the side, sporting an innocent look.

The servant's lips quivered and her eyes shook, sensing the unspeakable dread running up her spine. Everyone in the Sapphire Palace knew the crown princess wasn't any less vicious and mad as the crown prince. Aries could summon a knight right now and order the servant's death while she was taking a bath. That sheer thought alone terrified the poor servant.

"How — how dare I?" came out a stuttering voice.

Aries smiled. "Right? Why would you dare?" she squeezed the servant's fingers and pulled her closer.

"Say a word, and you die. I won't. Joaquin believes everything I say, and even if he undresses me, these paintings on my body will do the job to cover up my infidelity." She patted the servant's cheeks lightly. "Be smart, little one. And choose your own nightmare."

Aries leaned back and chuckled with her lips closed, enjoying the pale complexion of the servant. Well, her best friend and lover, who was also her fiance and future husband, was the most confident person in the world. So his personality would rub off on her.