I Am The Queen

Her brows creased in one line. She thought she was still in a dream since she was dreaming every night. Only to be awaken by the heaviness she felt on her waist.

She let out a groan, and for once, it was not a frustrated groan of rousing from a nightmare, but a cry of protest from waking up from such a peaceful slumber.

She didn"t know when was the lost time she slept so soundly.

Maybe I should drink before I go to sleep?

At the sudden thought of this, her still groggy face and droopy eyes that wanted to continue to sleep instantly widened when she was shocked awake by the memories of last night.

That"s right! That man!

She jumped out of bed only to find herself immovable when that heavy feeling on her waist tightened.

Frowning, she shifted to her side.

At first, panic crept inside her at the sight of Asher"s sleeping face and she instantly raised the quilt to check herself.

She only breathed the air held between her tightened lips when she saw her clothes were still intact, not a piece missing.

Her sighs of relief turned into a scowl when she gazed at Asher once more.

But any protest and dissatisfaction clogged in her throat when her eyes took in the wonderful view. And instead of slapping him silly to wake him up and swat his arm away from her waist, she found herself ogling him.

He was handsome… even more so if he was asleep… and Satele hoped he remained that way forever.

He got that bronze Adonis-like skin going on with an aquiline nose and thin, pale lips which somehow made her knees weak just remembering what those lips had done to her that night.

At the thought, her stomach churned, not from hunger, but from something burning that rose quickly in her throat while her face contorted like she just ate something rotten.

That familiar sensation enveloped her again. Disgust, not for him, but mostly for herself. Even in the past till now, she felt disgusted at herself for not feeling disgusted at the man who took her virginity.

In truth, she even felt the electricity crawling on her skin whenever she remembered how his hands caressed her.

She immediately shook her head to shake away the dirty thoughts inside her head.

"What"s wrong with you?"

Her eyes swept towards the person beside her, and her pupils narrowed when she saw that slight tugged at the corners of his lips, holding his grin. And she was surprised to found there was softness in his eyes and gentleness in his repressive grin.

At that moment, she felt her body growing warm, and he might have realized what was going on with her because that repressive grin blossomed into a smirk while the glint in his eyes was as much as cheeky as his smile.

Slapping his hand away from her waist, she snappily answered, hiding her embarra.s.sment. "Why did you bring me here?!"

That smirking lips instantly snorted while a scowl replaced his cheeky face and Asher flung the quilt towards her.

"What"s with you?! Instead of thanking me for not leaving you there alone to fend for yourself by bringing you here in my home and let you sleep on my bed, the first thing you say to me are words of ungratefulness? Is it that really hard to thank me?"

Something like guilt hit the center of her heart and Satele tried to explain while she fervently got out from the quilt"s embrace which was blocking her view.

"That"s not what I meant! You should have just let me sleep at one of the empty rooms instead of doing me the honors of sleeping on your be—Oh my G.o.d! W-what are you doing?!"

Satele shrieked when she was caught off guard the moment she got a full view of her surroundings and found Asher parading with nothing on but his boxers.

Unconsciously slapping her palms against her reddened face, she lowered her head and cursed.

"Asher you pervert! You brute! You exhibitionists! There is a girl here!"

Rolling his eyes, Asher didn"t retort. He sleepily walked towards his closet and casually flung some clothes on his shoulder, yawning along the way before he sauntered towards the bathroom, leaving the woman still squealing like a little girl.

While Satele couldn"t recover from what she just saw. The image of that annoying man kept on replaying in her head.

Prominent jaw, firm chest and abdomen, strong arms, bold thighs, s.e.xy b.u.t.t and that….

*gulp…

He was an Adonis among men who each pale in comparison against him.

Not that she had anyone in mind to compare him with in terms of size and thickness.

Instantly heating up, she desperately tried to remove the image of his bulge against his boxers out of her mind to no such luck.

In fact, it only kept replaying in her head, flashing in her brain, not just his bulge, all those raw pictures and things it done to her.

d.a.m.n you!

She hissed uncomfortably. It bothered her. Bothered her to no end that her body kept responding to him even though she didn"t like him.

Quickly standing on her feet, she paced back and forth to cool her head just in time for him to walk out from the bathroom completely fresh and in clothes.

Thank G.o.d for that!

Seeing the man in simple shirt and jogging pants, she breathed a respite relief.

Seeing her reaction, Asher snorted. "What are you so dramatic about? It"s not like you haven"t seen it before."

The embarra.s.sment that gradually died stirred in full throttle and Satele"s breathe hitched when those raw pictures started to jump around her mind once more — taunting her.

But instead of arguing with him, she glared and walked past him, pretending to be angry.

"I think I have already extended my stay. Thank you for taking me in." She monotonously said, didn"t want to waist a single second and got out of the room.

But before she could completely pa.s.s him towards the door, Asher grabbed her hand, causing her to stop when that familiar electricity crawled from the contact of their skin and quickly shot in all parts of her body, weakening her knees while her brain short-circuited.

She immediately pulled her hand away, and luckily, he didn"t make it difficult for her when he just let her go.

To hide what she was feeling, she angrily growled. "What?!"

Asher didn"t mind Satele"s hissing like a little kitten, he calmly answered.

"What do you want for breakfast?"

To his astonishment, this was the time he should be at Evangeline"s kitchen, cooking his cousin"s breakfast. But instead, he found himself asking the woman before him to join him for a meal.

This definitely wasn"t his gig. What is wrong with me?

On the other hand, Satele didn"t immediately answer. Caught off-guard at the sudden question that came out of nowhere.

"I"m not hungry." She dismissed, yet the growling sound came from her stomach caused her ears to glow in red.

Raising an eyebrow, Asher smirked. "Right." He then casually grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room. "Let"s go. I know a restaurant near here that serves this delicious juicy bacons and wild duck eggs."

While Asher kept pulling her, Satele was still in a state of disbelief and couldn"t react. In fact, she was shock he was this forceful and… kind? What does he want?

Could somebody tell her what he was doing?

They should be strangers. Resuming their lives, pretending they didn"t know each other after that night.

And yet, here they are.

Acting like they were best of friends.

She pulled her hand away from his grasp which wasn"t that hard since he didn"t put too much strength in griping her wrist.

"What are you doing?"

Asher paused, looking at Satele from behind complete with a raised brow, controlling his irritation that started to bubble in his chest. Every time she was looking at him with those angry eyes and talking to him in that snapping tone, his heart itched while an overwhelming desire to punish her corroded his mind.

Still, he answered nonchalantly. "Going to eat breakfast."

Crossing her arms, she looked at him. "You go and eat your breakfast, but I think it"s inappropriate for me to come along."

"And why"s that?"

Satele frowned, didn"t know what was happening at the moment. The man was acting weird. Allowing her to sleep on his bed and now forcing her to have breakfast with him.

Is he like this to every woman?

At the thought, her face darkened while her voice sounded foreboding.

"Mr. Cole, the last time I remembered, you and I are nothing more than strangers. I think there"s no reason for us to act familiar with each other just because of what happened in the past. You don"t owe me anything, and I don"t owe you anything. I"d appreciate it if you stop being too familiar with me."

The bubbles of irritation wanted to burst out from Asher"s chest while that itchy feeling in his heart became more unbearable by the second.

"What"s so wrong with me asking you to join me for breakfast? It"s not like I"m asking you to be my girlfriend. Don"t flatter yourself."

He sneered before walking towards the door. Opening it, he gestured with his hand. "Get out then."

Asher didn"t have to ask twice, Satele curled her fingers against her palms and marched towards the door. Glaring at him, she stormily walked out of the room, feeling somewhat humiliated.

That was right. She was raising herself so high thinking he might have other motives just because he was nice to her, only to be reminded by the same man on how much ordinary she was. Totally out of his league!

SLAM!

She hadn"t gotten far away from the door when it slammed hard, echoing in the corridor that her eardrums almost burst.

JERK!