The Varkas Brothers And Their Princess novel Chapter 61

Chapter 61

ROSETTE

Happiness… an emotion I’ve never felt for most of my life. An emotion I thought I would never experience. An emotion that I always just stared at with a glass wall separating us.

An emotion that now makes my chest tight. That made me feel like I was high, on the highest of clouds.

And it was because of this man.

He still held my waist, that breathtaking smile still on his face, his eyes soft and filled with so many emotions, and I still couldn’t understand them. They remained confusing to me, but I knew I liked them.

“Tell me what this one year has been like for you,” he whispered, leaning in and kissing the tip of my nose.

We drifted with the current, the sun spilling gold across the water’s surface. It was just the two of us in that endless expanse, the world hushed save for the gentle lap of the waves and the thunder of my own heartbeat.

It was perfect. Dreamy. All I never knew I was craving for until this moment.

“It was okay,” I answered, my voice quiet. “Busy. An experience. I was happy, but not… happy.”

“Why’s that?”

“It… it always felt like something was missing. Incomplete.”

“Was that ‘something‘ me?” he asked, a teasing note in his voice, but that did nothing to hide the edge there.

I stared at him, my expression serious. “Maybe.” He inhaled softly, his grip tightening on my waist. “I don’t know, Axel. What I know is that I’ve been craving for something I couldn’t put into words. And then you came out of nowhere and suddenly… it clicked. It felt so… right.” I wrinkled my nose. “Though your entrance was not appreciated.”

He scoffed, but the sound was strained, the look in his eyes was strained.

“God, Rosette,” he muttered, his voice tight, nuzzling his face into my neck. “God.”

“Are you okay?” I asked softly, stroking his hair, suddenly remembering the look in his eyes last night, how his eyes had grown wide with fear, how his body started shaking,

“Am 1 okay?” he repeated, his voice muffled by my neck, the words vibrating through me and I shuddered. “I’ve never been more okay in my life, Rosette. Never. I thought I knew happiness before, but it’s nothing compared to what I’m feeling right now.”

“And what’s the cause of that happiness?” I asked, a little hesitantly,

He raised his head, his eyes meeting mine and searching. “A woman with red hair.”

I chuckled, but that was just an excuse to cover the shake in my voice. “Don’t tease me like that.”

He tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear, his knuckles brushing my cheekbone. “I tease you not. I think this feeling has been there for the past two years, and it took me losing you to understand that feeling. I’ve been such a fool. All that time wasted.”

“I wouldn’t call it wasted.”

“Then what will you call it, my gorgeous darling?”

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely not wasted.”

He hummed. “I’ll take your word for it, then. Let’s swim. Show me your swimming skills so I can put them to shame.”

I scoffed, pulling away from him. “Oh, game on, pretty boy.”

***

“Who taught you how to swim like that?” Axel asked when we were back on dry land, his hand on mine, our shoes in the other hands, walking barefoot to his car.

Our clothes were back on, but Axel just wore his shirt, and it was left unbuttoned, his hair covering his forehead. He looked like a Playboy.

The server swallowed, already shaking. “S–she is.”

Axel’s expression darkened. He leaned in so he was close to the server, and he still towered over him. “Indeed. Now, till we leave here, I don’t want to see you look at her shadow.”

I think the poor guy shit his pants from how green his face was.

I smacked Axel’s arm, and he looked down at me, his expression immediately softening. “Stop that. Are you going to threaten every man who looks at me?”

His expression was still soft as he answered, “If they look at you the wrong way? Then yes.”

I turned to him fully, crossing my arms. “And what about the women who are particularly salivating just by looking at you?”

They were gawking at him without shame, just stripping him bare with their eyes.

He also turned to me, a grin on his face. “And what about them? Would you like to drag them by the hair and scream in their face not to look at your man?”

I scoffed, looking away from him and back at the ice cream. “Don’t say nonsense. And you’re not a man.”

He watched me, his eyes burning a hole into the side of my face, but I didn’t look at him as I placed my order. I still didn’t look at him as I left the shop with my ice cream.

He followed me, his hands in his pockets. Then, he sighed, coming to stand in front of me and blocking my way.

“Did I say something wrong?” he asked, looking down at me with his eyebrows furrowed.

“No,” I answered, moving to the side to walk away, but he blocked my escape route.

“Talk to me,” he pleaded, his eyes soft.