Chapter 25: The Kiss!!!

Stephanno busied himself, setting up targets all around the ground, some on the floor while some perched up on the trees surrounding the ground. What the hell was he up to? The middle aged man Stephanno had called earlier brought two horses with him, handed me the reins, then left quietly without another word. I watched Stephanno stick up the targets at odd places, completely bewildered as I stood there between two gigantic horses holding their reins.

He walked towards me and took the white horse’s rein.

“ This is my steed. You can have Bella” he said pointing to the black horse on my right side. I was however more curious with the white horse. I had heard that both of them together were invincible and that the horse rode faster than lightning.

“We will race….First one to hit all the targets on horseback wins” he explained.

Oh! Cool….I had worked on a farm during my summer vacations at high school, so I was very well familiar with horses and cattle.


We both got up on our horses, and I patted my horse’s mane lovingly and it purred. Stephanno motioned to me, then put the whistle to his mouth and blew on it. And just like that we were off. Both of us were riding at break neck speed, Stephanno leading. I watched him pass the first target. I frowned why did he pass the first target without aiming?

Then I saw him bend and lay on the horses back, his ponytail swishing in the air, then drooped his neck back and aimed for the target from behind and....... bull’s eye. I swore out loud. That arrogant son of a bitch was showing off.

I immediately nudged my horse harder, kicking into its shin and off we went…..I was gaining on Stephanno. I saw him raise his arms aiming for the target perched on the tree, but I beat him to it. I shot without even taking a second to take aim and hit the target. Stephanno looked back, pissed off and I winked slyly at him.

We were soon riding neck to neck. I shot my knifes when Stephanno raised his arms taking aim. I was starting to irk him out. It was a tie right now, both of us had hit five targets each.

As the last target approached, I saw Stephanno speeding up. I could only see the targets back from here. To mark it, I would have to overtake Stephanno and shoot from the front which didn’t seem likely to happen at all. His horse ran like the wind, there was no way mine could overtake his stallion. Only the edges of the back of the target was visible even as I fast approached it, while Stephanno was already at the front slowing down his horse and taking aim.

I stopped my horse abruptly, got on the ground, and then threw a curved throw like I was throwing a Frisbee. My knife circled around the tree, knocking out Stephanno’s knife in mid-air, then went and placed itself firmly in the target. I quickly ran over to the tree to ensure whether my knife had hit the target in the centre….and it was as expected a bull’s eye. Me being me….immediately turned to gloat at Stephanno. I wasn’t a graceful or elegant winner. I stuck my tongue out him.

He looked taken aback by my childishness, then roared with laughter. Oh my god! The sound of his laughter was divine, it was like music to my ears. I had heard him laugh in my dreams, but to actually being able to hear it in reality was blissful.

“ Okay, we have now successfully ruled out knife throwing from your training” he admitted while stifling a laugh.

I grinned at him and then on an impulse, I stood up on my toes and kissed his lips. My lips teased his lightly. I don’t know what went over me. Maybe it was the adrenaline pulsing or just seeing him laugh like that…. It was a sweet kiss, not urgent.

Then I abruptly stopped, panicking .Stephanno had always acted cold towards me, he had only started opening up to me, very lately. Did I just ruin our chances together by backing him up a corner? What if he shuts me out again?

I hesitantly took a step back, searching for is reaction. His pitch black eyes found mine and I felt like he was looking into my soul. For a very long moment I saw his eyes flash from conflict to guilt to deadly resolution.

“I…Uhm…That” I started spouting nonsense.

I was embarrassed at my action and turned around, all ready to bolt, when I felt strong, muscular arms wrapping around me, blocking me from moving away. I turned around and looked at Stephanno, holding my breath. There was too much tension in the air right now. He tightened his grip on my waist, pulling me closer until my chest was touching his.

Then he kissed my lips….no…he attacked my lips furiously, devouring every inch of it. His tongue was savoring every inch of my mouth. I moaned and leaned on him, my hands ruffling through his hair, messing up his ponytail. I kissed him back hungrily, sucking his under lip. My heart was thundering happily, my knees went weak and I had butterflies in my stomach. It was a perfect kiss.
We pulled apart after what felt like hours , then gazed into each other’s eyes. I couldn’t keep the goofy grin out of my face as I looked at him, feeling on top of the world.

“ That chain has got to go” he said as soon as he released.

I saw that his gaze was stuck on my neck, on Dominic’s chain.

“Seriously that’s what you are thinking about now? We literally just had our first kiss” I pouted at him.

“How would you feel if I was wearing a symbol of one of my past lovers around my neck?” he teased me.

“ How many past lovers did you have?” I immediately shot at him, barring my teeth.

“Easy there tiger. I have just using an example to help prove my point” he said, his face glowing with happiness.

“Yeah, don’t go around putting those kinds of examples in my head. I am a very jealous person." I replied dryly.

“Yeah trust me , I know”, he replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

He shrugged and replied, when I raised my eyebrows at him quizzically, “ When we entered the water sect that day, I was half naked and you literally hissed at a woman who was ogling me from afar. I almost prayed that day for the woman , because I knew that if she had so much as approached me that day, she was a goner.”

To which, I very maturely scoffed as I replied, “Me, jealous ….no way. I was just eyeing that woman curiously that day”

“Yeah right, and the hiss that broke out your mouth that day was what, a friendly acknowledgement?” he scoffed back at me.

A smile crept its way into my mouth. I can’t believe I just kissed him and he kissed me back and now we are already arguing back and forth like an old couple.

I leaned towards him to kiss him again, however he moved his head away at the last moment.

I frowned at him, confused by his sudden withdrawal.

“We can’t do that…not until everything goes back to the way to was supposed to be. What happened before was because you caught me by surprise and I had a momentary loss of control.” He said, his eyes looking painful.

“Huh?” was all I could muster..

Was this really happening? Was he already regretting it?

“You are another man’s wife, Jess. It’s sinful to do this while you are still someone else's woman.”

Jess, he had called me Jess for the first time instead of Jessica or Mrs Valdemeire.
I winced sharply when I saw that his gaze was now fixated on my neck. Not on Dominic's chain this time, but on the mark Dominic had left when he had claimed me against my will. My weird healing body couldn't heal that mark. Apparently it was a mate thing. The mark is to warn off other men and let them know that I was already taken. The mark would only go when we break the damn bond.

I looked at him, tears already breaking through my eyes desperately as I said, “Ours isn’t a real marriage. It was a marriage of convenience. We don’t have that relationship between us. “

He let out a deep breath as he replied, “I know that you don’t feel that way for Dominic or else you wouldn’t have become close friends with his concubine to the point where you start your day by visiting her in the infirmary. And, Jess, you misunderstood me, I am not rejecting you. I am merely telling you to have patience and wait till Dominic comes back.”

I wiped my tears and looked at him, while trying to stifle some hiccups.

“So ….hick…..you want me to get a….hick…. divorce?” I hiccuped uncontrollably.

He immediately rushed towards the bench and was back before I could hiccup once more, with a bottle in his hand. I drank it down in one big gulp then asked him again, “Divorce?”

He pulled me closer to him again and hugged me as he replied, “Yes please!”

I smiled and hugged him back tightly.

“Are you sure that hugging an another man’s wife isn’t sinful?” I teased him, while tightening my grip around him.

“A hug is a classic sign of friendship and companionship” he declared pompously.

“Yes sir”, I let go of him, then stood at attention and mocked a salute.

He just raised his eyebrows as I leaned in for a second time, then I gave him a quick peck in the cheek.

“That is a classic sign of friendship too” I declared in the same pompous tone he had just used then wrapped my arms around him, hugging him again.

He laughed out loud and patted my head with one hand as the other circled around my waist. As I stood there, hugging Stephanno, with the sunlight teasing me by its gentle touch, my smile soon grew into a frown as I realized that Dominic is never going to give me an easy divorce. He is so going to raise hell when he hears about this.