A deal

Chapter 21| A Deal

His words made her bit on the insides of her mouth, she licked her lips, and then looking away she wrapped her hands around her body making him notice her cheeks which were rosy from the cold.

They all had gotten to the harsh wind and cold weather of the arena and nobody has been thinking about the human. Even the human herself has not been doing a good job on that and instead had busied herself with making ridiculous assumptions.

"So I was brought here because a wrong assumption was made that I was blonde?"

His gaze raked her sorrowful features, she was going to cry and that piece of information didn't thrill him. He waited for the irritation to come too but it didn't. He had always hated females who took pleasure in participating actively in emotional tantrums.

"No." He gruffly muttered, sensing that she must be deluded if this was all a ploy to get him to gather her in his arms, and then let her use the closeness against him.

He didn't trust Annabelle's words, she wasn't dangerous he could tell. But, inasmuch as she wasn't physically dangerous, he couldn't underestimate a woman who was emotionally at odds and wanted an out desperately from here.

"Your physical features are not the only reason why you were picked. The royal astrologers from the realm ___"

"What do you mean by realm?" It was a casual question, she had just thrown prodded by her normal curiosity that was one of the various reasons why Nonna had dreaded telling her bedtime stories. She sought clarification for every odd word that stood out to her or was strange to her hearing.

"Realm is the same as Earth." His strides were dignified, proud, royalty enunciating every step. He was no man, it was obvious. Because when men walked, he sauntered.

"So you were saying something about astrologers?" She craned her neck since her petite frame made her look next to a child when he stood in his full gait which he was doing now. He was a hulk of a man.

He looked at her like one would a petulant child. He had slowed down on his strides, she noticed.

"Yes. They had looked into the future of all of you, picked. One thing is certain," he gave her a sidelong glance, "You won't be vital to earth. Certainly not going to be president or prime minister."

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "I'll take a pass."

"You know you can smile and engage in a squabble with me?" She asked after a few seconds in absolute confusion.

The man in front of her looked nothing like the cheerful Prince Tristan who had sought her in her room a few minutes ago and had almost made her swoon with how tactful he could be in banters and how good his retorts were.

She could almost swear he was bipolar or had a twin and right now, his twin had been locked in an evil dark basement. Sorry, Cinderella, she apologized mentally shaking her head, knowing she was going to heap her illogical reasoning on it again but sincerely, it was her doing.

"I can't. That guy was almost an allusion. The only difference was that I'd played the role and had not created it." He didn't glance at her even once, even as he held her hand and took a door she had not seen there some seconds ago, they both entered a cubicle-like space.

"And if you are going to accept what I'm going to tell you then you don't need any allusions, you need a rock-hard truth."

"Why are we cramped in this little space?" She managed to voice out, not focusing on anything he was saying since her chest was flushed against his hard chest, and being so close to him also means seeing his rippling muscles, covered with sinewy tan skin up close.

It means noticing his Jaws that could cut cheese, acknowledging his pouty almost feminine red lips, seeing a nose so straight that Scarlett will call Greece, it means stopping herself from adoring his dimples, as deep as his cynicism and arrogance.

In a bombshell, if being too good-looking was a crime, Prince Tristan needed to be locked up and as soon as possible before he wreaked havoc in her senses, she thought.

"Are you even listening to a word I'm saying!" He sounded pissed, his nose flared, his mouth curled with irritation and his eyes hardened, yet somehow she found her tummy doing flip-flops at how incredibly good-looking he was when mad.

"I don't want you, Kimberly."

"Everyone else calls me Kim. So call me that." Her voice was laced with anger she couldn't comprehend. She should be giddy with Joy that the man in question she was supposed to sleep with, was on the same page with her right?

"I'm not everyone else, Kimberly." His words were sharp, quick, and final. She could almost see the full stop at the end. He was a man in reins of great power, which he took advantage of even in the construction of words but he'll be damned if he thought that will allow her to let him be the boss of her.

She didn't give two fucks about the crown on his head. He was only supposed to house her in whatever bananas planet this was till she could go back to New York City, back to her job, her friends, Her nonna, and the bane of her existence, Bryan. And his gorgeous very edible red lips which were messing with her head since it was in her line of vision couldn't do anything about that.

"And I know you don't want me either."

"You make it quite easy to choose." She had a cynical smile on even as her words dripped Sarcasm and her crystal clear blue eyes looked fired for yet another argument.

She was ready to serve trouble, dish out arguments, and cook war.

He had no interest to be embroiled in whatever her daring, defiant brilliant eyes hinted at. He had so much on his plate, entertaining her or babysitting her he wasn't about to add.

Besides Saif, seems to be doing well keeping her contained. He sure was going to have a word with the brute later on how much power he was willing to reveal to a human, if, if everything goes his way would be gone soon from his life and hair.

Though Saif doesn't know this he expected him never to rule out the fact that these women get to choose if they wanted to go back or stay at the end of the day. That none of the humans have returned doesn't mean they'll continue to have a successful track record and assumptions was not going to make him be one of the greatest King to go down history.

Because he, Tristan planned on making him, King. Also, that was another thing he didn't know.

"I have a deal for you."

"Does it gets me to appear amongst the list of youngest Successful career women in New York's Time Magazine?"

He had a lopsided grin even as she raised her brow at his smile, "Nearly."

"Touche,"