Maximus

After having a nice cold bath that helped her in cooking down the heat Marcus started, Arianna changed quickly before stepping out of the bathroom.

"Good morning, Ari." Zoey greeted with a hoarse voice which showed she was just getting up from bed.

"Morning." She replied, giving her a smile.

"You're up this early, and you didn't sleep early last night, can you tell me your secret?" Katrina grumbled as she got up.

"I don't have any secret, it's just that I'm used to doing it." She replied, and that was true. Being the eldest and only daughter, she had to wake up early in other to assist her mum in her flower shop, or with the house chores and also with her brother.

The girls took turns in bathing, and after they looked prim and proper, they went downstairs for breakfast. They are in silence, with Kayla giving Arianna much attention, singing her praise about her beauty. After breakfast, they left for the ranch and Arianna couldn't believe they had something like that there, she was fascinated with the horses and was immediately drawn to one.

A white horse who had a striking beauty to a unicorn, Arianna immediately named it 'Snow' and even if she didn't know how to ride she was beside snow, her new best friend, watching her friends ride and cheering on whoever won the race. Mr Jackson left the girls and his wife to have some girl's time.

The day ran by faster than they thought, and it was night already, Arianna received a call from her mum, and they talked for hours before finally hitting her bed.

~~~

It was Sunday and today was the last day the girls were spending their weekend at the Jackson's mansion and truthfully Arianna truly enjoyed her time here and almost felt bad about them leaving. She wished she could live there forever.

"It's Sunday, ladies, I believe we have one more activity to do before you leave." Kayla winked, and they squealed excitedly like they knew what she was talking about.

Arianna found herself stuck in a shopping mall (one of the Jackson's) she was conflicted about what to choose and at the same time she was tired. Going through rows and rows of clothes and also changing into them was tiring and all she needs right now was a good sleep.

It was noon when they finished shopping, Kayla instructed the salesman to deliver them to the mansion before they left.

"Welcome ladies." Marcus called out, he dropped the newspaper on his hand on the table, then got up to hug his mother and sister. Arianna gulped when she saw him, she blushed very red when she thought about what happened yesterday.

"That's not fair, Marcus, what about us?" Zoey pouted her lips, stretching her hands out for a hug. Arianna gave her a side glance and almost knocked her head. Marcus smiled and that did wonders to Arianna's poor heart, she felt her heart beating wildly in her chest and at the same time jealousy when Marcus pulled both Zoey and Amaya into a hug. Marcus looked at a blushing Arianna before hugging her. Arianna felt her body come alive immediately they hugged, unknown sparks flowed through her body and she almost moaned out in delight, but she composed herself when she remembered they weren't alone.

He pulled away and Arianna took her eyes away from him, he cleared his throat then clapped his hands.

"So, What are you ladies doing next?" He asked, but they shrugged.

"I don't know, what do you girls think?" Katrina asked, but they gave a negative reply.

"Dunno either."

"Okay, how about horse riding?" Marcus suggested.

"Nope, we did that yesterday." Zoey said.

"And, remind me what law states that you can't go for horse riding every day. Come on girls, let go ride our horses for a stroll, and we would return home after that." He persuaded.

"Alright, but we need to change to something comfortable." Marcus nodded, they got up, then took the stairs to their room.

"What about you, Mum?" He asked, his mother was still lying on the chair with her eyes closed.

"Don't worry about me, you guys go ahead. I'm too tired for that." She groaned and also got up.

"Okay." Marcus was the only one left in the living room and after a while the girls came down, then they left for the ranch.

"I don't know if you guys haven't noticed, but I can't ride a horse." She said and regretted it immediately it came out. Marcus gave her an amused look, then gave her a reassuring smile.

"You don't have to worry, I'll teach you." He offered and she gulped before nodding. They got to the ranch and Marcus walked to the far end before returning with a midnight black horse.

"This here is Maximus, my horse. I got him as a gift from my grandpa when I was four. Maximus this is Arianna." He introduced, Arianna stifled her giggled; stretching her hand out to touch the black horse but stopped when Marcus grabbed her hand.

"Be careful, Max here can be rude and violent." He warned and she nodded. She breathed out shaky breaths with her hand hanging in midair, she was already scared of going close to it, but Maximus did something that surprised both its owner and her. He brought his head closer to her palm, making a sound and staring at her like he wanted her to touch him.

"Please tell me you guys are also seeing this!" Zoey yelled.

"Yes, I can't believe Maximus let Ari touch him, he never did that, and he wouldn't allow me to touch him. I'm his girlfriend's mum." Katrina cried out dramatically.

"How do you know Lily is Maximus's girlfriend?" Amaya asked amidst their giggles.

Katrina snorted and replied. "Because my baby told me." She rubbed her white horse, gaining a neigh from her.

"Alright ladies, let's go." Marcus called out and the girls climbed their horses each.

"Wait, what about me? I don't have a horse… well, I do have one, but don't know how to ride it." She babbled.

"Don't worry about that, since Marcus here has offered to teach you, you'll be riding with him." Katrina said, and added a wink at her brother, who was grateful and at the same time troubled. He wasn't sure if he would be able to hold himself if Arianna came close to him, he had been doing so since they came over, but he wasn't so sure now.

Arianna's cheeks flushed, Katrina's words hinted on another thing, and the way she said the 'riding' felt dirty.

Marcus helped her climb Maximus before sitting behind her, her breath hitch when he held the reins with his two hands. The both of them at her sides, without paying attention to what was happening and sitting well, Arianna almost fell off the horse when Maximus moved.

"Careful." He held her waist, thereby preventing her from falling, then steadied her well on the horse, and she sat in one place like a statue. Enjoying his hot breath on her neck.

"Thanks." She let out in a whisper, but Marcus didn't say anything, he just tapped Maximus to move.

The girls were already far gone, leaving the both of them behind; something tells her that they did it on purpose.

"So, Arianna, what do you think of our mansion?" He asked, after a few minutes of riding in silence.

"I really love it here. The tranquility and the beautiful view of the greenery, I'm so going to miss here if we leave." She said, feeling sad about leaving. Something about this place just felt right to her, it felt like she was home.

"You're free to come by anytime…" to see me.

"I know, Kat told me, and I will certainly do that." They went into silence, then Marcus asked something.

"Tell me about yourself Arianna, about your family and where you came from?" He asked, surprising her.

'Why is he suddenly interested in her and her family?' She thought.

"Don't take it the wrong way, and it's okay if you refuse to answer." He quickly said when he realized the question took her unaware.

"It's fine, I was just surprised you what to know about me." She said. Marcus lips thinned.

'I want to know everything about you' he thought.

"I'm from Niverdale and from a family of three, me, my mum and my brother. My mum owns her flower shop, my brother Nick… I mean, Nickel is still in high school and I got into the university through a scholarship program." He stared at her with a proud smile and masked it when she turned back to look at him.

"You must be a smarty pant, then, no wonder Katy calls you a wizard." They chuckled.

"Not me, but Nickel is. He is very good with techs' stuffs."

"Really!" He asked, giving her his full attention. She nodded then continued.

"There was this one time someone sent an annoying yet disturbing message to my phone. I was apprehensive and even fell sick about it, I believed my mum and Nick noticed it, but they decided not to ask. On a fine day, I don't know what happened or who did it, but I got to know that someone sent all the crimes of that man to the cops, and he was arrested, turns out I wasn't the only one he did that to. Long story short, I was happy he was gone from my life and also found out Nickel did it." She berated herself for making the story long, but to her surprise, Marcus was eager to know more.

"How?" He asked.

"Huh!"

"I mean, how did you know he was the one?"

"Oh, I stumbled upon the evidence when I went to his room one day unannounced. I saw some computers and laptop at the far end of his room and also a pile of documents that contained his successful and unsuccessful cases and I got to see that man's on in the successful case." She had a bright smile on her face.

"How old was he then?"

"He was Eleven."

"I'll leave it to you, guys, you're smart. I mean, it isn't easy to pass the scholarship exams, but you did it, congratulations." Arianna smiled shyly and muttered a thanks.

"Aww guys, you look so cute together. I wouldn't mind if you date." Katrina yelled.

Arianna raised her head and almost regretted it, the girls were all staring at them with sheepish grins on their faces. She dropped her now hot cheeks down.

"I agree with Katy, the both of you look good together. All that's just left is to date and give us cute babies." They giggled.

"I think we should give them some space. Who knows if they are considering doing it since we've implanted the thought in their mind." Zoey added, and they rode away, letting out childish giggles.

Marcus face was plastered with a smile, how would he feel to see Arianna pregnant with his child? He looked at Arianna's blushing face and decided to tease her.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of making babies with me, Arianna?" He whispered in her ear, sending delicious sparks to her core.

"Ye… What, no, I'm not." Marcus burst into laughter seeing her bashed face.

"Sorry, I was just joking and don't think about what those girls said, they are just like that. But know this, whenever you feel like making babies, know that I'm always available." He smirked.

Arianna covered her face, gosh this is so embarrassing.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Anna?" He asked, his voice more serious this time, and her breath hitched when he called her that name. 'Anna' nobody had called her that name, but she knew she had heard it from someone, but who?