Fake Marriage, True Love

Chapter 7

The room was oddly too quiet and lonely somehow. It was probably because I had been expecting that once I woke up, Nikolai would still be here. He would look at me with loving eyes and caress my cheek and greet me a good morning. Or a breakfast-in-bed could be romantic as well, but I guess, it was just me expecting something from him. Pulling the blanket and covering myself with it in a tight grip, I cannot help but tear up.

I… I should have expected it since yesterday, he did not look like he wanted to do it with me because of love, but rather… It was most likely out of pure lust. Yes, it was disappointing, but I was partly to blame because I agreed to do it.

Coming back to my senses, I slapped both of my cheeks to wake myself up and to slap away those negative thoughts.

“This is just the beginning,” I told myself. “Once I show him how serious I am in this new relationship of ours, it will reach him. That is for sure.”

With only those words, I convinced myself that everything would be okay. Besides, we still have a long way to go in our soon-to-be married life.

But that matter aside, I feel a bit sore in between my legs. Geez… Maybe a bath will ease it. Just as I was about to leave the bed, the door opened and right before me was Nikolai wearing just a pair of boxers. I could feel my cheeks burning when I noticed that the outline of his ‘other big guy’ was very much evident so I immediately looked away. H-He might just think that I was acting like a p*****t. It might turn him off and make him back out of our wedding.

I could hear him walking towards the bed and stopped right next to me.

“Are you sore?” he asked.

H-How did he even know? W-Was it obvious? But how can it be obvious when my damn vag*na was not openly shown to him? Was he some kind of psychic who just read my mind?

Before I could even answer his question, he held my chin and made me look up to him.

“Are you sore down there?” he asked once more.

My voice could not come out so the only way to respond to him was to look at the side and nod. My cheeks burned in embarrassment and it became worse when he suddenly removed the blanket away from me.

“W-Wait! I-I am still naked underneath!”

He did not let me finish what I had to say and just carried me even though I was stark naked right in front of him. I could only cover my face and shut my eyes, not giving a damn where he was taking me. Please, heaven above and earth below, come to me and swallow me whole!

“It’s too late to feel embarrassed now when I already saw everything, don’t you think?” he commented, which was not helpful at all.

“Don’t say that! J-Just put me down already!”

Only then, he bent over and put me down in a mini-pool filled with warm water. Oh… ‘kay… I did not expect something like this, but I like it. And not to mention, the existence of this small pool inside a hotel suite was an awesome idea. We can even get a good view of the city’s morning view.

“T-Thanks… I guess?” I muttered as I dipped my whole body into the water with my head only at the surface.

Hugging my folded knees, my attention focused on the upcoming sunrise. I might as well take my time here since the warm water was just soothing every part of my body as if tempting me to go back to sleep.

Just when I thought Nikolai had left, I heard the water stir behind me. There was no need to look back to know that he had taken the space near me since I could see his long legs on either of my sides. Just with him close by, my heart simply forgets how to beat normally.

While I was trying to calm myself, my breath hitched and my heart seemed to have skipped a beat when I felt Nikolai’s warm and large hands over my shoulders. Before I could say anything else, I just found myself wrapped in his arms.

He snaked his hands around my abdomen and even leaned his head on the crook of my shoulder. His warmth radiated all over me, making it seem like the water had gotten hotter than before.

“Sorry,” he suddenly said. “I was too rough on you last night.”

“I-It’s okay. I mean… Y-You know… I-I… I also l-l-liked it so there’s n-no need to a-apologize.”

Calypso Lionheart! Why the freaking f*ck were you stuttering a lot?! Get a grip of yourself!

Nikolai pulled me closer and tightened his hold on me. He never said anything and we just stayed there for several more minutes in a deafening silence. Only then, I noticed that his hold loosened so I thought he would finally let me go and leave the pool first. However, I was wrong. His breathing stabilized and he was leaning his weight on me so it only meant one thing—he fell asleep.

“N-Nikolai.” I tapped his head lightly. “You cannot just sleep here. The bedroom’s just next door.”

He never responded so I just let him be and watched the sunrise myself. Now that I think about it… I have quite a lot of things to do. First, I must inform my father about my marriage with Nikolai and it must be a civil wedding. Oh… Even if I wanted it to be grand, I had to hold back just so we could have our honeymoon.

I-It was not like I was after the night activities, but I always dreamed of the perfect honeymoon at a beach house, where we could enjoy the sunrise and sunset along with the breeze of the ocean. And just like today, he would be holding me lovingly in his arms and whispering in my ear of how much he loved me. Ah… That perfect scenery… I cannot wait for it to happen.

My smile faltered at the thought. That last part… I think that would be too impossible to happen since we were getting married for our own convenience, not out of love. Thinking about it made me heave a heavy sigh.

“Is there a problem?” Nikolai barely muttered before nuzzling closer to the crook of my neck.

“Nothing. I was just thinking about how my father would give me another earful of sermons since I did not get home last night.”

I did not want him to know what I was actually thinking of because he might just cut this relationship we already started. Besides, what I said was not a lie.

“You’re already 23, right? Why would he get mad?”

“He is just being too overprotective, I think.”

There was a moment of silence before he said, “I kind of understand him in some way.”

“How so?”

“Don’t worry. I already called him this morning and told him that I will be bringing you back home today.”

He did not answer my question. Oh, well. It wasn’t that important anyway.

“Don’t you have work today?” I asked.

“It’s my day off so while we’re at it, let’s get the documents we need for the wedding.”

With that being said, we left the Echidna Hotel and went to the city court to get the said documents. I thought it would just take an hour or less, but I was wrong. It was beyond hours because we were not the only ones there. Everyone looked excited and were being lovey-dovey while Nikolai and I just sat next to each other without even speaking. It was more than clear that we were the odd ones out of all the couples that came.

Only then, our attention shifted to the side when someone called out Nikolai’s name… His second name to be more specific.

“Lionel!” a woman wearing a police uniform greeted him with a sweet smile. She was that very same woman who snickered when Nikolai first turned down my offer of marriage.

I rolled my eyes. Well, jokes on her now since we were seriously about to get married.

“Sia,” Nikolai said, standing from his seat and looking at her with a questioning look. “What are you doing here?”

“Duties, as usual. What about you? Why are you here?” Cresia asked as her eyes wandered around.

Nikolai did not answer her questions. Instead, he turned to me.

“Calypso, wait for a bit. I just need to talk to Cresia real quick.”

He did not even ask if it was okay or not and just left there with another woman. What even made me roll my eyes even more was the fact that that woman’s name was Cresia yet he called her Sia. Yeah, right!

Were they childhood friends or something? Why do they look so close to each other?

Sulking at the corner with my arms crossed, I waited against my will and tried to distract myself since I couldn’t help, but grow curious about whatever they were talking about… Wait. S-Should I go and eavesdrop? I mean… It would be okay as long as they wouldn’t catch me doing it.

Nah… Walking brings nothing but discomfort, most especially that I was still sore down there. Gripping my hair as if I was about to lose my mind, I took in some few deep breaths. H-How could he even be that big that even after that warm bath, the soreness only got a little bit better. I must be crazy for thinking that I’d be able to take him without any consequences. Argh! It made me want to scream!

“Excuse me, miss?”

I looked to my right and saw a man, probably in his early 30s. He was wearing a pair of round glasses and was handing a business card. Out of curiosity, I took it and read that he was a recruiter for a modeling agency. I sighed. This was like the nth time I was approached by someone like him.

“Would you be interested in becoming one of our models?” he asked with a hopeful smile. “We can make you famous–”

“No, thanks,” I immediately declined and handed him back his business card.

He still flashed a wider smile.

“You keep it, miss. Just in case you change your mind, call me. See you around.”

He left. I shrugged my shoulders before shoving the card into my bag. My father said that I did not have to work since we were rich so modeling or whatever kind of work they offered me, I always turned them down. Besides, I already love my life the way it was.

“Who was that?”

A yelp escaped from my mouth when Nikolai just suddenly popped out of nowhere.

“Don’t scare me like that!” I hit him on the shoulder. “A-Anyway, it was just a recruiter asking me to become one of their models.”

He just nodded. “That’s not surprising.”

A smile crept on the sides of my lips before flipping my hair and straightening my back while giving him puppy eyes.

“Because I’m pretty like I am out of a virtual game, right? Most people even call me a Barbie doll for having blond hair and blue eyes.”

“Because you are taller than the average women.”

My smile immediately vanished, not only because he did not acknowledge that I was pretty, but also for the reason that that Cresia woman was walking towards our direction. I thought their so-called talk was over? Why was she here again?

She raised an eyebrow at me before rolling her eyes to the sides. I just stuck out my tongue at her after giving her a glare.

“Here’s the documents you asked for,” she said to Nikolai, handing him a brown envelope.

“Thanks. I will see you at work tomorrow,” Nikolai replied.

“Okay.” She turned towards me and smiled slyly. “It was nice seeing you, Miss Lionheart.”

“It’s Mrs. Livinston,” I corrected, but she just snorted before strutting her way out of the building.

I was about to stand because it was more than clear that she was mocking me, but Nikolai held my arm.

“That’s enough, Calypso.”