The Royal Contract

He placed the pizza near his mouth and swallowed a large piece in one bite. But there was nothing extraordinary with what he did. Dani kept waiting for the next act, but nothing followed. He only continued to munch on the remaining portion.

"Where is the trick?" She asked, perplexed with his dramatics.

She had been waiting for the spectacular show, but nothing happened. She stared at Alex as he licked his fingers off the juices that remained on it.

"That is the trick. I made you stop eating as you kept watching me eat." He replied to her query, then he grabbed another sliced and did the same thing to it.

"You and your stupid tricks." She punched him lightly on the arm before she continued to eat what remained of her pizza in her hand.

But she was indeed fooled again to believe that he was about to perform a trick. She was thinking something like eating the entire piece in one mouthful. She had seen it done in some movies by comedians.

"But admit it. I made you anticipate for it." He insisted that it was a neat trick.

"Fine. But this is a good pizza. Never had this brand before." She savored the different toppings on it and the delicious assorted cheese that covered the top.

"It is one of the best pizza downtowns. The shop is not that famous, but they do make incredible dishes down there." He had been patronizing that diner for years now.

"You should take me there one of these days. I like to try their other dishes." She picked a big slice again from the box and caught all the toppings, dropping them on the sides, immediately placing them inside her mouth.

"I will love too. I am sure that you will like the cozy feel of the place. It is a family diner, run by an Italian family who migrated in this country more than thirty years ago." He remembered interviewing the father of the family who invented the recipe back then.

"Anyway, you said you have several thoughts on your mind. What are the others?" She suddenly remembered asking him. They only discussed the wedding, so what else could have bothered him during their car ride home.

"Cassie. She went to the office today. She said she was turning a new leaf in her life for the better." He started relating to her what Cassie discussed between him and Marcus.

He did not leave anything out, especially the last part where Cassie asked for Dani's forgiveness. It would be up to Dani if she could find it in her heart to forgive someone who deeply wronged her.

"Oh. I was not expecting that Cassie would ever do that. I knew how deep her hatred ran for my father and me." She was slightly unable to produce a coherent thought as her mind tried to process the new information.

She still could not believe that Cassie would turn back on her revenge. But she knew that it was only a matter of time before Cassie turned her back on Nick.

Cassie had always been intelligent. Dani believed that her twisted judgment of the past clouded her ability to see the truth. Maybe there was some truth in what she was saying, but there could also be a reasonable explanation for them.

Once her father was strong enough, she intended to talk to him about the past. She wanted some clarifications for the issues that almost ruined their family.

"I think she is genuinely remorseful about it. But we will see once all her information checks out." He was still putting a few more doubts in her words, not trusting everything she said until he had concrete proof.

"But I am happy that she finally came to her senses and left Nick. She had no future with him." Dani could only feel glad that her friend was finally on the right path again. She could only hope that it continued to be in that way.

There were still two pieces of pizza left on the box, but both were already too full to finish the leftover. "I guess I'll place this in the refrigerator." She concluded after holding on to her fully packed stomach.

"I think we will have some room for that later after we burn this excess energy." He pried the box away from her hand, pulled her back to the sofa, pinning her on the soft cushion.

"Oh! Is that so?" She giggled when his fingers grazed the side of his ribcage, tickling her in the process.

"Well, the last thing that was bothering me today is this." He moved on top of her until he was in a more comfortable position.

He held her underneath him, unable to escape his plans.

"So, what is it?" She asked, anxious to hear what he had to say. She was growing impatient in every second that he was withholding his information.

"I was thinking of kids, our future kids. How they would look as adorable as you?" He told her as he stared into her face, observing if she would freak out.

But instead of seeing fear in her eyes, all he read in them were happiness. She looked excited about the idea of them having kids. He was not expecting that kind of reaction from her. But he was glad.

"Are you set on having many kids?" She suddenly remembered the argument they had about having around six kids.

"I could settle with two or three if possible." He retracted his previous idea of how many kids they should have, thinking of her safety.

"I think I can handle two. But three is negotiable, depending on the first two." She smiled at him, seeing that her answer lighted his face with so much gladness.

"You are one amazing woman. Do you know that?" He nuzzled his nose on her hair, enjoying the smell of his shampoo on her hair. He started grazing his lips on the side of her neck, savoring the feel of her soft skin against his lips.

"You are also an amazing boyfriend and fiancé." She responded in between her moans as he continued with the onslaught of his mouth on her exposed skin.

His hands traveled from her shoulder down on the contour of her body. His fingers traced the curves that drove him with desire all this time.

He slowly removed every article of their clothing, savoring every feel of her skin on his hands. He could never get enough of her despite how many times he claimed her body as his.

She started following his lead and helped him remove the clothes that covered his body. She was doing it in a hurry, so when one of the buttons of his shirt would not come off, she decided to rip it apart, sending the button flying in the air.

"Hey, careful now." He assisted her with the remaining of his clothes.

Just like him, he could see the lust in her eyes reflecting exactly how he felt.

But he knew that what they felt for each other ran deeper than desire.. It was motivated by love and fueled by the craving to satisfy one another.