A Male Escort

"I will have him prepared," said the woman before stalking towards where the man was standing.

From where Adelyn stood, the woman nodded at the imposing and handsome man, exchanging a few words before waving her hand at the young man at the other end of the corridor. The two then disappeared downstairs.

When she saw the man and the woman speaking, Adelyn squeezed her hands tight. She hoped that the man was not slated for the night. It would be horrible of her to steal him from his client.

However, she still couldn't be hopeful. It would be such a waste not to have that man. After all, a gold coin has also been given away.

At this moment, Adelyn was waiting for the man to come to her side. Then, her wishful thinking will all be answered.

Step.

Another step.

The man continued to take a step forward.

Then, he finally stood in front of her.

But he didnt stop.

Instead, he continued to step to the side and stopped in front of the room across her own.

A surge of uncertainty and confusion flashed in her eyes.

Adelyn unclenched her hands and frowned at the man who proceeded to take out a key to the other room and insert it. She blinked her eyes, unsure if what was happening before her eyes was not an illusion. But the man seemed to be unaware of her strange reaction as he pushed open the door, turned around, and made a movement to close the door behind him.

That's when Adelyn sprung up in action.

"Wait!"

Her voice sounded desperate for some reason. Adelyn could not deny that she, indeed, felt the need to make haste and stop the man. She felt that once she let him close the door, their connection would be completely severed.

At the sound of her voice behind him, the man froze in his movement and turned his head to glance at her.

Taking a step closer to the man, Adelyn realized that the man was not just tall. He was huge. Massive to the point that she felt fearful and hesitant to stand beside him.

But she couldn't stop now.

"Sh-shouldn't you come into my room?" Adelyn stammered in embarrassment. She had never thought that in her entire life, she would invite a man over to her room!

Technically, it wasn't hers because it was a rented one where many others had stayed. However, at this moment, she could only treat and claim it as her own.

When the man failed to respond to her question and continued to stare at her with an unreadable expression, Adelyn assumed that he wanted to use the room across from her rather than the one she had rented. She said, "It's alright to use that room, too. I don't really mind since I don't care where we'll do it."

In all honesty, she had initially thought of letting someone come to her home to fulfill her demands. However, it would expose her address to strangers. In addition, she did not want to take on the chances of being discovered and having her plans for the night falling through.

Hence, she had braved the warm weather and risked everything to come to this place.

Sooner or later, Adelyn will regret her decisions. Especially the words that had just left her lips.

But she didn't realize this as she tilted her head to look at the man. Her face was full of anticipation and unconcealed nervousness that she had tried to hide. Though, her hands trembling betrayed her effort to be sneaky.

After an agonizing moment, the man finally parted his lips to say, "I don't think I am the right man…"

"No! I think you are," Adelyn interjected before he could continue. "I already made my payment to that woman earlier. And she should have told you about me as well."

She suddenly lowered her gaze as she could feel her face burning. "So, are you going to accompany me tonight?"

"...I should. Although, this has come to be an unexpected surprise." His voice hinted at intrigue, smooth and silky with a subtle roughness that seemed to make her stomach clench.

Her brows were raised at the tone when he said these words. But before she could wrap her head around it, the man had already pulled her into the other room.

A gasp left her mouth as soon as she entered.

Shockingly, the room of the man should be the best one in this place. Her house after exilement couldn't even be compared to how this one looked. But Adelyn thought that it was necessary since the man had the best looks in their establishment, he deserved to have this room for himself.

He should be a highly-sought after escort.

A sense of disappointment sank deep inside her. She was going to give her first to a complete stranger, who had familiarity with the pursuits of pleasures and desires. If she hadn't been exiled and the empire hadn't fallen to the hands of a powerful ruler who could force her to agree to his orders, maybe… just maybe, Adelyn could experience what it means to fall in love and to be loved. The man would treat her gently and preciously. And on their first night after their wedding then, she would be able to close a chapter in her life with fulfillment and happiness.

But there's no if's and whatnot in her life.

Adelyn was destined to suffer from two different rulers. One was her father, who had thrown her far away for an exile; the other was the man who had come into their lands and taken it forcefully—

The hand that had pulled her into the room let go, pulling her dark thoughts to be stored away. Adelyn realized that she had been staring into space while she was alone inside a room with a complete stranger. A man she had met a couple of minutes ago.

Adelyn wondered if it was because she was the one who proposed to do it with him and paid him for his services that she felt comfortable being with him despite only meeting him once. Nonetheless, it was a good thing. She didn't want to further embarrass herself by trembling at every second while she was with him.

At least, she could relax.

Facing the man, Adelyn was prepared to show her confidence to the man. As she turned, she drew a sharp breath and stared wide-eyed at him.

"..."

Oh, my gods.

Adelyn stiffened in place, utter shock and embarrassment swelling through her. She had seen a man's chest before. From afar, through the windows of her room in the palace. There was a time when the soldiers and her brothers were sparring, testing out their swords and stroking their egos who had better swordsmanship. On that day, her eyes were blinded by the sight of sweaty and hairy naked men from up their waists.

It was a horrendous sight that she wished she could erase in her mind. But the possibility of it happening and being replaced by the chest in front of her was high…

The soft glow of the candlelight shone on his enormous body. His tightly-knitted muscles flexed when he threw his navy tunic to the settee right next to him. A huge, well-defined body was revealed. It held the resemblance of a carefully sculpted statue that she remembered seeing at the palace.

A hand covered with a leather glove was placed on the hemline at his waist. Adelyn knew what he was about to do, but before she could register what was happening, she had already taken a step forward and grabbed the man's hand that was on his waist.

"...!"

"..."

It would have been alright if she was the only one who reacted, but the man had grown silent the moment she touched him.

Her breath hitched as she swallowed.

No words could describe what she was feeling at this moment.

Until…

"You should have said something if you wanted to do it yourself…"

The man had whispered to her ear in a gentle voice, the tenderness in it was amplified due to their closeness.

"I –I d-didn't mean to…"

The more she stuttered, the more nervous she became.