7. Let Me Have You

"You are not the only one who wants to treat someone well," Tiana said stubbornly, ignoring the pain his grip caused. He looked at her for a while. The flames in his eyes slowly dying and their color becoming blue again. He let go of her neck and looked down as if regretting what he had just done.

"You should... take your shirt off," she said.

Walking back to the bed, he ripped his shirt open, showing a perfectly toned stomach and chest. The muscles in his arm twitched as he lay down on the bed.

"Are you just going to stare?" he asked. Embarrassed, Tiana hurried to the bed, sat down, and started cleaning his wounds.

This was horrible. The wounds seemed deep and they would probably leave scars on his back. It must have hurt a lot. Was his family always so cruel to him? And she had thought her family were too cruel. Tiana wondered what his childhood was like. Was he always like this? Rejected by his family, bullied and punished? He must have been so lonely.

"Why are you crying?" A tear fell down her cheek. Was she crying? Why? He sat up, facing her. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"Why did you take the punishment?"

"Because I can't let someone else get punished for what I did," he said, wiping a tear away from her cheek.

"Why did you even fight in the first place? Look what happened to you now. It must hurt a lot and you will get a lot of scars. I don't like seeing you get hit and I don't like your brothers." she said more tears falling down her cheeks. She hated this, it wasn't right.

"Are you crying for my sake now? You really confuse me, one time you are scared of me and the other one you cry because I am hurt, even though I hurt you just now."

To be honest, Tiana was confused herself, but she just didn't like to see him like this.

"Tiana," he said, adopting a softer tone and wiping away more tears with his thumb "What are you doing to me?"

"What?" she said, confused but he grabbed her waist and pulled her down on the bed with him on top of her. He laid so their bodies were perfectly aligned, but most of his weight was held by his arms as to not crush her.

He leaned closer as if to kiss her, and Tiana shut her eyes tightly and pressed her lips into a thin line. She doesn’t know why she reacted that way, but instead of feeling his lips on hers, she felt them on her neck. her body went rigid, surprised by the heat that blossomed inside of her at the feeling of his lips on her skin.

When he kissed right under her ear, a moan escaped her lips and she dig her fingers into his back. He hissed in pain but continued kissing her in the same place. Tiana felt wetness on her fingers. Blood. His wounds. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away lightly.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I... I never finished cleaning your wounds," she said.

"You don't have to. It doesn't hurt anymore," he said, pressing his lips on her neck again making her all dizzy. "Just let me have you."

"Nicklaus..." she tried to push him away again but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them down. Tiana started panicking. He was losing control. What if he doesn't listen to her? As if sensing her fear, he stopped and let go of her wrists. He sat up on the bed, looking hurt.

"You can continue," he said softly.

After she finished cleaning his wounds in silence, Tiana walked out of the chamber to let him rest. The guards were waiting outside and looked terribly worried.

"His Highness is fine," Tiana told them and then walked away. She went to the garden and sat on the swing.

 Even though she was outside in the cold breeze, she still felt hot. Tiana touched her neck where he had kissed. She didn't know that a kiss could affect someone so much. Margret and Sandra would sometimes tell her about their passionate night with their husband, how only a touch could make them weak and wild. She always loved hearing their crazy stories. If it weren't for them, she would have been so lonely.

Tiana don't know how long she was sitting, immersed in her own memories, but eventually, the sound of footsteps nearby broke my reverie.

"Nicklaus? What are you doing here? You are supposed to rest," she reprimanded.

"I'm fine," he said, sitting down next to her. "It felt uncomfortable to sleep in the bloody sheets so I told the maids to clean them. Why are you looking sad?"

"I'm not."

"Is it because I hurt you?" He inquired. Tiana didn't know what to say.

She was a bit hurt that he hurt her, but she didn't want him to feel guilty now that he was already hurting.

"I am sorry," he said with a slight scowl. By the way, he said it, Tiana could tell it was something he didn't often say.

"It's alright. I wasn't sad because of you. It's just that sometimes when I am alone I miss my maids. Anyways, you should go back to bed. I am sure the maid is done." She stood up.

"It's fine. I won't be sleeping here tonight, I have somewhere else to be," he said as he too rose from his chair.

"Somewhere else to be at night? When you are hurt? You are not thinking of going to your brothers fighting again are you?"

He chuckled "If I am, what will you do to stop me?" Tiana knew he was playing around.

"I think..." he said, walking around her and standing behind her "I should go and spend some time with my mistress," he whispered near her ear.

A sudden rage filled Tiana. This may be a joke to him, but not to her. she walked away from him, as he called after her.

Tiana went to her personal room and shut the door, waiting for him to come after her and say something, but he never came. He didn't come the whole night. She knew it would be like this, but she had just hoped he would be different, she thought he would be different, but he wasn't. He was just like any other man.

As she tried to sleep, she heard someone call her name. she sat up in the deathly silence, trying to hear the imperceptible noise again. It came again, but then she realized with a jolt that it was coming from inside her head. It was Nicklaus.