Chapter 41: Too much distance

"Is it warm enough?"

After he dipped two fingers in the water, it instantly turned warm.

Feeling the change in the water’s temperature, Lauren nodded and was quick to submerge her body inside the tub. But despite the water being warm enough and her long hair covering her neck and shoulders, for some reason, she still felt cold somewhere.

Alec could hear the unsteady pace of her heartbeat and as he thought of a possible reason, his eyes squinted darkly at her.

"Scared of me?" he asked, assuming that she was feeling uneasy because of his reputation as a vicious warlord and not because she had never been this intimate with a man.

As the whole town knew how the princess was straying far from the principles of a proper lady, Alec assumed that Lauren had her fair share of experience when it came to men. The thought somehow hit on his nerves, but then there was no point in dwelling on something that he had no control over.

Lauren’s lips parted, but it took her a moment to speak. "I am just not used to bathing with someone. I take my bath as a personal space I don’t share with anyone so this feels a little strange to me..." She felt the heat rose to her cheeks and she could only pray he did not notice how flustered she was.

Flustered. The word made Lauren want to laugh.

Where did your proud and shameless spirit had gone? She asked inside her mind.

"Really?" There was suspicion in his eyes. "I thought you were repulsed by the scars on my body."

It was only when Lauren realized what Alec meant by that. Her gaze went down to his bare chest and arm. There was a big scar across his chest, like one from a blade, then there were small ones below it. His left arm also had a few, making the scarred skin look unsightly compared to his normal skin.

Her face was void of emotion as she looked at each of the scars visible to her.

He must have gotten it from the battles he had gone through, Lauren thought. It wasn’t a secret how most lands used silver weapons bathed with lethal liquids made by mages as it could kill a vampire easily, and although it wasn’t enough to kill a powerful vampire like Alec, it would surely leave uncurable scars.

"It must have been bad. I pity you," Lauren said but contrary to her words, her tone and expression held no pity.

Staring at her, Alec wondered what she was thinking. Those women he had encountered in the past, all of them tried to hide their fear and how repulsed they were by a body of a warlord. A body that had gone through a lot of battles, a lot of pain and torture. But now in the face of this woman who was looking at his scars with empty eyes, he didn’t know what to make out of it.

"Don’t make fun of me, princess."

"Are those not the words you want to hear?"

His jaw clenched.

Lauren smiled bitterly. "Growing up, I had no one to cover my eyes from the world’s cruelty, Lord Alec. How shallow of you to think a mere scar is enough to scare me."

Back when her mother died, while the other kids were busy playing innocent games, she was busy learning how to outsmart the people who wanted to get rid of her. Seeing scars made her feel nothing, rather it only made her think about how it was inflicted. Perhaps it was her strange hobby of wanting to see things she would never be able to see.

"I told you to call me by name and nothing else," he said, noticing how Lauren’s skin turned a little pink due to the warm water.

Dropping his gaze to her messy hair, voluptuous neck, and collarbone, his mouth watered. He was thirsty again. For her blood... and perhaps for more.

"Come here."

"What is it now?" Lauren asked anxiously.

He shot her a glare as if she shouldn’t be asking that. "There is too much distance between us. Shouldn’t a wife stay next to her husband at times like this?"

Lauren sighed as she moved slowly. She stopped when she was near enough, leaving a decent distance between them so they wouldn’t touch. The tub was bigger than the usual bathtubs, just like the one being used by the kings where a few people could fit without touching.

"Closer."

Alec’s demand made her frown. "How are we supposed to move freely if we are too close to each other?"

"Is there a need to move too much?"

Oh, this man.

She just swallowed the lump on her throat and did as he pleased. But just as she thought he was done, he spoke again.

"Turn around."

They wouldn’t finish bathing with his endless demands, Lauren thought in her mind.

"If you want us to talk, we should face each other," she said, getting more impatient.

His brow raised, wickedness gleaming in his eyes.

"Who said I want us to talk?"

Knowing that his mind must be filled with dark thoughts and he was the subject of them, Lauren felt her cheeks flare more. She didn’t like the idea of Alec noticing that she was affected, so she just turned around to stop him from staring at her.

She folded her knees in front of her and hugged them under the water. Meanwhile, Alec wasn’t satisfied with their closeness and moved toward her until each of his legs was on her sides, locking her small body in between them.

The proximity suffocated Lauren. Alec’s chest was a few inches behind her and it would only take one wrong move before their bodies would touch, which she knew was inevitable at this point but still wanted to avoid as much as she could.

"You will not mind if I take a sip, will you?" he asked with a bedroom voice, making her shiver despite the warm water adoring her skin.

"Do what you want."

She dared put herself on the table as a bargaining chip to make this union possible so how dare she refuse?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read