Kiss Me Not

\'Can\'t he at least ask if I\'m okay with dancing with him? He makes it sound like it\'s an order that I should not refuse!\' Brione scolded the Prince in her mind.

She wanted to tell him that she would like to rest for now but she felt it would be improper to reject the Prince directly. After all, she and her staff are at his disposal during their stay on the island so she did not want to cause any trouble.

\'One dance won\'t harm me,\' she encouraged herself despite the uneasy feeling.

She gave the Prince a formal smile and raised her hand as a symbol of acceptance for dance and said, "Sure your highness…"

The bright lights suddenly turned dim as the music changed to a more slow tune.

\'What the heck…\' she wondered, feeling The Prince\'s arm encircling her waist as soon as they reached the dance floor. He pulled her closer to him making her swallow in nervousness. There goes her heart beating abnormally again…

She hated this feeling. To think that she was having these weird feelings because of some stranger in a mask was annoying her even more.

"Relax. Why are you so tense when we are just dancing," The Prince whispered in her ear, making her stiffen more.

\'St*t he can feel it.\' Brione panicked as she tried to calm her body.

"I\'m not tense, okay. I\'m just tired," she defended herself while pouting her lips a little.

She felt him pull her closer so she lifted her head to glare at him but she saw him smirk before a full smile settled on his lips. That smile was so mischievous that Brione could sense that she would be in danger soon.

"I will escort you to your room then," the Prince whispered and Brione unconsciously nodded before she realized what she did.

"Wait what? No! I can manage on my own. No need to trouble yourself, Your Highness!" she shouted, panicking a bit.

"I\'m sorry, Your Highness but can you let me go now?" she added, feeling uneasy because of all the emotions she was feeling due to their closeness. It was something so familiar yet so foreign…

\'Is he angry?\' she worried. Even though he had a mask on, she could sense the sudden gloominess in his aura.

"I guess you\'re scared of me too," he scorned.

"Huh?" Brione breathed, feeling confused. His face was getting closer to her and she was backing her head unknowingly.

"Do you also believe that you\'ll die if I kiss you Miss Brione?" he questioned her with his face just an inch apart from hers.

Without realizing it, her lips parted as she retorted, "Won\'t I?"

A very dangerous smile carved in the Prince\'s face as he whispered, "Why don\'t we try and find out?"

"Huh?" Brione murmured and she only realized that her answer sounded more like an invitation than a refusal. Why the heck she did not answer him with a firm \'NO\'.

"Aren\'t you curious to know whether or not you will die because of my kiss?" he teased so she responded, "I still want to live for a long time so no thank you…"

The few seconds of sudden silence felt like forever and Brione could see the Prince\'s jaw clench so she thought that she must have offended him with her words.

"No no… I didn\'t mean it like that, Your Highness. I\'m sure they are just rumors and not true at all. I\'m just uncomfortable with the proximity of our faces. You see, I\'m afraid that our lips might touch because of one wrong move from either of us."

The corner of the Prince\'s lips lifted up and he wryly uttered, "So you\'re scared that our lips will accidentally touch but not about the rumor of dying if I kiss you?"

"No, it\'s not like that. I have fear of kissing. I have philemaphobia, Your Highness so please don\'t misunderstand," she defended herself before wanting to smack her mouth for spilling her secret so carelessly. Only her trusted friends knew about her disorder but now she told her secret to a man she just met.

"Not everyone knows that I have this disorder, so can you please keep it secret? I didn\'t have any intentions of telling it to you but I had to so you won\'t misunderstand," Brione explained.

"That\'s interesting. You spilled an important secret of yours just so I would not misunderstand you? Or was it that you did not want me to kiss you?

Alright… I will keep that secret of yours under one condition. You see nothing in this world comes for free so I\'ll keep it a secret if you accept my condition," he said calmly.

\'What a cunning man he is!! What does he want now?\' she murmured silently, feeling annoyed at her own stupidity.

\'Do I even have to bargain with this pervert?\' She complained. She was trying her best not to make a scene because he was a member of the Royal family, who was a very dangerous man to offend.

She and her brother were like flies compared to the Royal family\'s wealth and power. Even her career could easily be destroyed by this man if he wanted to. Prince Cedric was someone you should avoid offending at all costs. Berry said the man was ruthless and cold who didn\'t hesitate to put people in their place.

\'He\'s more like a pervert to me!\' she thought scornfully.

Her face crumpled as she started to regret coming here and questioned why she agreed with Mitch to sign the contract for this project on the Prince\'s island.

"Brione…" the Prince called, waking her up from her stupor.

"Do you agree to my condition?"

Her eyebrows furrowed together as she scoffed, "No! Why would I? Can\'t you just keep it a secret, your highness?"

"Sorry, Bri but I can\'t."

"What did you call me?" She gasped… No one called her Bri except for her best friend Gavin.

"Bri… sounds cute and short," the Prince casually answered as they continued to sway to the slow music while sticking close to each other.

Brione sighed and whispered, "What will you do if I don\'t oblige to the condition, huh? Don\'t tell me that an honorable Prince like you is free enough to spread gossip?"

"Don\'t you want to hear my condition first?" the Prince retorted, his eyes focussed on hers.

"Okay… So what is your condition?" Brione scoffed with arched brows.

"Be my woman," the Prince bluntly declared.