IT'S THAT PIVOTAL MOMENT

It's unthinkable, this kiss. This kiss... I mean seriously. I need to stop thinking about it.

I mean, when it was happening, I couldn't think - I probably forgot to breathe completely, but now that it was over, I couldn't NOT think about it. Why did I do that? And then why did he continue it?

I stumbled back the moment he let go, my hand immediately flying to my mouth as if it would stop the tingling sensation. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

We kissed.

OMG.

We kissed.

Was that my first kiss? Wait no, I felt quite sure we had kissed before. But mostly perfunctory pecks - which were also arguably my first kisses. In front of the moonlit balcony at our betrothal ceremony or the quick peck I had left on the side of his jaw... but those kisses weren't really kisses. I mean they were kisses, but this was the first time I've ever kissed Bell this way. Heck, it was the first time I had ever kissed anybody this way. I didn't even know how we did it.

Maybe we should do it again - just so I could figure out the mechanics of how it worked.

No! What was I thinking? I think kissing definitely messed with my head. Maybe it was the shortage of oxygen - for some reason, my breathing was a little uneven.

I took a quick look at Bell, quite expecting to see him smirk at me, or say something that would make me want to smack his handsome face, but he looked just as shocked as I was. It was like we both accidentally kissed.

Maybe, just maybe, I could just pretend it didn't happen.

"Let's go see the castle." I said.

"I'll show you my castle." He said, at the same time.

I guess Bell had the exact same plan. Either that or the kiss jinxed us.

"Lead the way." I said.

"After you." He said, at the same time.

Double jinxed. And now we were beginning to sound like two old overly polite alphas, both insisting on allowing the other alpha to walk first.

"Eh..." I said, quite at a loss for words.

"Ah..." He said, at the same time.

What did people say to each other after accidentally sharing a kiss?

I'm sure other people's first kiss would have ended with more romantic lines. I tried to think what these romantic lines might be, but came out with a big fat blank because all the Disney Movies I watched liked to end the final big kiss with a cut to the next scene or something. I should seriously pay more attention to stuff like this!

Bell frowned. I tensed - if he said even one slightly critical word about my first kiss or its post-kiss awkwardness, I will seriously kill him.

"Someone's here." He informed me instead. He took my hand so I had no choice but to follow him out of the room, "Let's go see what they want."

Okay, maybe it didn't happen. We didn't kiss. That wasn't counted. I mean, it was definitely a kiss. Like a proper real kiss kind of kiss, BUT it was an accident. Accidents happened. But accidental kisses didn't count.

Bell walked quite quickly and I had to half run to keep up, but he was HOLDING MY HAND!

We were holding hands!

And we weren't fighting anymore. And someone was here, so we won't be alone anymore. And we won't get into another fight, or accidentally kiss each other again.

Omo.

That didn't count. It was an accident. Don't think about it.

"For a moment there, I thought you were going to complain about that kiss." I blurted out while we rushed down the hallway. WTH? Why did I have to say that?

Bell slowed his steps as he considered it, "Now that you mentioned it, I do have one complaint."

Oh great. Now I was going to have to kill him.

"What?" My hair shimmered, "Only one?"

And I immediately regretted my words again - now I was going to have to kill him more than once.

Bell pulled the hand he was holding closer to himself so our arms touched while we walked, then he leaned over and told me with his usual smirk, "Yes, just one - it was too short."

IT WAS NOT TOO SHORT!

I mean, it's not like I actually knew how long our kiss had been, but I was quite sure it wasn't short at all! I mean, it was at least as long as any end-of-movie kiss scene. Plus - it was definitely WAAAAYYYY longer than I had expected it to be.

"We should do it again," Bell told me. Was he smiling? "Longer this time."

Give him an inch and he'll take a mile!

I shook my head quickly. No way! Never again!

"No more!" I told my Mate. Didn't he ever watch movies? After the kiss, the sun would set, the black screen would appear, and the movie would be over. The end!

But this was real life - and real life didn't have end credits, it just kept rolling on.

{Cute. She's shy.} Bell's wolf told him.

I WAS NOT SHY!

But just at this moment, the both of us stepped out onto a stone platform of a large hall. There was nothing but an asymmetrical black stone throne on the platform, a water feature below it, and then a very long echoey stone hall.

The black stone throne was polished so that it gleamed under the large chandeliers. It was like the entire castle had a rain of crystal stalactites shining from the ceiling.

The hall was very strange, not just because it was long and echoey. There were large stone torches set against pillars on each side, casting long shadows that slid across the floor, the dark and light flowing into each other and then out again. This effect was due to the fires in the stone torches, the half on the left being a regular orangey red flame, and the half on the right being the cold blue flame. The shadows and light on the stone floor leading up to the platform fought for dominance.

What color is Idonia?

Is it red or is it blue?

Both with equal value

but only the one you hold is true.

Wait, what? I blinked. Where did that come from?

That was... the second verse of the song Dad's grandmother sang? But the spell disappeared the moment I blinked, and it was like nothing happened. Bell sat down on his throne and patted his lap. I flared. I WAS NOT SITTING ON HIS LAP!

At this point in time, I could barely look him in his stoopid face without remembering this kiss that didn't happen.

And then the large doors creaked open for two men to enter. I recognized Heller immediately, but the dark-haired man with him wasn't Haiku.

"What do you two want?" Bell asked, sounding extremely disinterested now that he saw who his guests were.

"Greetings to our Tyger King." Heller smiled.

"Don't f*** with me." Ignatius was less polite, "What do YOU want? Hurry up, I don't have all day."

"We've already restored your new home and outfitted it with every modern luxury from automated bulletproof window awnings to computerized security and monitoring systems. We've also repaired and refurnished it to suit your taste." Heller reported, "Now please give us your final instruction."

"Yeah, and make it snappy." Ignatius added, "I lost too much time wiring up your castle as it is."

Bell smirked, and I knew immediately that he was going to drag it out - just to torment Ignatius. I think Heller had realized this too, but he kept his smile in place. It made me think of Fluffy - the two of them really had rather similar smiles when they were trying to hide their dismay.

Poor Heller.

"Do you expect Tyger King to clean this place myself?" Bell smirked, "I want servants and someone to manage my castle and the keep around it. Someone capable - or you'll have to return personally to undo his mess."

"Are you not worried that we might plant spies in your castle?" Heller smiled.

"You dare?" Mate smirked.

"No, not at all, your majesty." Heller quickly retracted, "I'll have one of my best estate managers transferred to your keep. He will pledge his allegiance to you, and hire for you servants and staff to run your castle accordingly."

Bell nodded, and then he smiled at Ignatius. It was not a good smile, (even though it looked very nice, his mouth... My mate had a very nice mouth... And suddenly I was remembering that kiss again. Ack!)

My hair flared, and the men all saw it. I mean, you had to be blind not to. They paused as if not quite understanding what was happening.

Of course they wouldn't have known about that kiss (that didn't happen).

Bell, who did know about it, promptly decided to flat out ignore the flaring hair, "I want to connect to the network in the plains."

He took out his phone, "There's no connection here."

"You want to connect to the network in the plains...." Ignatius repeated dryly. He didn't sound enthusiastic at all.

"I want to connect SEAMLESSLY." Bell added, "From ANY device."

"The network in the plains is rather primitive..." Ignatius began.

"You can't do it?" Bell asked sharply.

"It's not that I can't..." Ignatius said.

"Good. Then get it done." Bell decided.

"I'll have to rewire the entire castle again!" Ignatius said.

"You should've done it from the beginning," Bell informed him.

"What the f***." Ignatius grumbled, "But that's the final thing."

"No, I will also need someone to take care of the networks and systems you had put up." Bell said, "Rewiring so that I can connect to the plains was something you should've thought to do from the beginning."

Ignatius growled.

I really didn't think it was a good idea to provoke old tygers - particularly those who welded lighting that can kill you in a single strike, but apparently, that was just me. My mate had no qualms about forcing old and powerful persons to work for him against their will.

"What about Leon?" Heller asked.

Ignatius growled even more.

"Leon is quite a remarkable wolf. He is a trained bodyguard, a master at the long sword with decent healing abilities. He is also rather capable in administration and IT." Heller explained.

"He's my best man!" Ignatius protested.

"If I have to give up Laru, then it's only fair you have to lose Leon." Heller reasoned.

"One day, Heller." Ignatius threatened, "One day, I'll wipe that smug smile off your face."

Heller's smile grew even more smug, "Should that day ever come Ignatius, you won't be able to smile either."

Meanwhile, Bell was not going to be distracted from his business, "Very well. Finish setting up the network, and then send down this Leon and Laru. I will judge for myself if they are worthy to swear their allegiance to me."

I don't know why Heller and Ignatius didn't just combine forces and squash Bell out forever.

"Yes, your majesty." They took their bows and left the hall.

And we were alone again. Uh oh.

I was immediately nervous about being alone with Bell. I mean, who knows what might accidentally happen?

Bell cleared his throat, and then suddenly remembered, "You wanted to see the lake?"

I quickly nodded, "Yeah. The lake."

Maybe going outdoors would help us not fight, or worse, accidentally kiss again.

Bell took my hand again. I couldn't quite look him in the eye, so I just let him. His hand was strong and large.

"Do you want to see the orchards too?" He asked suddenly.

Eh? What orchard? I nodded anyway, but just as Bell opened the pitch black rectangular portal door, my lucky sense of direction pointed to quite a different direction, "What's over there?"

"The treasure room." Bell answered in such a flat tone, one might deduce it was empty, but my lucky sense of direction never failed me.

"Wait, princess." Bell called out from behind me, and then he sighed and let the portal close, his black curse melting into the ground.

I didn't slow... How strange, Bell had said there was a treasure room, but the stone arched walls behind the torches and pillars were just that - walls. Where was the door?

"I suppose it would be too much to expect you to submissively follow my lead." Bell grumbled from behind me.

I was too busy examining one of the arches in the wall. I was so sure it was through here, but I couldn't find any hidden door - not even the clever mechanical awning that had hidden the windows earlier. It was in everyway just a very solid and thick stone wall.

I heard Bell sigh, but when I turned to him, he had on his usual smirk, and before I could think how I had kissed those lips (by accident), he lifted a hand and cast another portal right through the wall.

Of course, there would be no door - why would a Tyger need a door?