Rebirth: The unfavored Princess is the Tyrant King's favorite-Chapter 24: Face to face with a beast

Luciana’s eyes widened in disbelief when Nicholas’s lips crashed onto hers. Her heart drummed in her chest, pounding with the awareness of what was happening. She was caught in a whirlwind of emotions as his cold lips pressed against hers. Nicholas saw her startled expression, and he couldn’t resist the urge to tease—he gently bit her lips, seeking entry.

Luciana wanted to call him a dog for biting her, but before she could pry her lips open to tell him her mind, he had already used the opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth.

It was a domineering kiss that took her breath away, but at the same time, she felt like it was a punishment. Her lips felt painful, and she wanted to pull away from him, but suddenly his pace changed, and then, as if he wanted to soothe the pain he had initially caused, he began to gently suck on her lips as his tongue danced through her mouth with an intoxicating thrill, causing her to melt against him.

The kiss felt gentle and savory, and she felt as if she was floating in the softest clouds with how he treated her like a precious gem, and then the pace increased again. He kissed her as if he was quenching his thirst after being parched for a week, sucking all the breath out of her.

Nicholas let go of her when he felt she couldn’t hold on any longer. Luciana was panting hard, trying to catch her breath.

"You pervert," she said and used the chance that he wasn’t holding onto to get away from him.

He smiled at her flustered and angry appearance. She looked like a ripe tomato, with her flushed cheeks, puckered lips, and misty eyes that were glaring at him in anger. Her lips had become a bit swollen, and it looked even more appealing. Nicholas thought it was the most beautiful sight he had seen all day.

"Pervert?" He repeated, an amused grin on his devilishly handsome face.

"I’m disciplining you for failing to serve your husband."

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. My punishments can be diverse."

"If you could undress yourself, why ask me to do it? I think you are just finding an excuse to do as you please," she said.

"Are you sure?" He asked in a low voice and took a step towards her again, trying to lessen the distance she had created between them again, but she took two steps backward, trying not to be cornered by him again.

"Maybe it’s because I want to test how good my wife is at serving her husband, so why not? You didn’t undress me when I asked you to. Don’t you think I’m being lenient enough?" He added.

"You are not hurt at all, are you? You tricked me and took advantage," she said.

"Took advantage?" Nicholas stared at her and chuckled; a suggestive smile formed on his face, and he added in a husky voice that sent shivers down her spine.

"I promise you, that was not the kind of advantage I really wanted to take."

He smirked, seeing the look of confusion on her face before it turned into understanding and then realization. She looked up at him as if he were a big bad wolf about to devour her.

"You are..."

"Handsome? I already know that," he said, interrupting her, and he took a step forward wanting to corner her again, and she glared at him.

"You are crazy, and whatever you’re thinking of doing, I’m..."

"Ready to serve my husband?" He interrupted her again. And she was about to blow up from anger and his shamelessness.

"Anyway, don’t get any ideas. I’m warning you, or else..." Her back hit the wall, and before she could take a step in a different direction, he had already reached her again and pushed her against the cold wall with both of his hands by her sides as his body enveloped her.

She was caged between the wall and his chest, and his earthy scent that smelled like fresh fields and earth with a hint of mint mixed with blood filled her nostrils again, and her heart thundered in her chest.

"Or else what?" he asked.

Luciana was tongue-tied; she had even forgotten what she was going to say to him in the first place.

"Do you know that the more you want to get away from me, the more I want to get close to you? Makes me want to imprison you and keep you all to myself." His hot breath fanned the side of her neck, and he grazed his lips on her ears, making her tremble.

He moved his lips close to hers and grazed them over it, and her lips parted to breathe, feeling breathless by his actions. The weight of his words and the fear that he might actually go through with his threat as he did in her past life, combined with all the sexual tension that was building up between them, were turning her knees weak in anxiety as thoughts of what he was intending to do to her ran through her mind.

"The next time you fail to serve me properly, I’ll punish you. You will be the one to initiate the kiss with those lips of yours," he whispered.

"It wasn’t part of my duty to undress you," she said.

"My words are law, and I’ll issue punishments as I see fit," he said and took a step back. Luciana finally sighed in relief when he walked away from her and went out through a side door, which she thought led to where he took his bath.

In her past life, she had never stayed so long in Nicholas’ chambers as today due to their constant fights and misunderstandings, so she didn’t really know the layout.

~~~

She felt hungry, and she realized she had indeed not eaten for a long time now. Knowing that Nicholas might take longer in the bath, she made her way out to go to the kitchen and tell them to get her something to eat.

She saw it was about 7:00 pm and realized she had slept for a long time. She had just walked a few corridors when she noticed she was getting lost. Nicholas’ courtyard was large, and the winding hallways looked similar and were made to look like a maze.

Since it was dark with only a few torches that had been lit, she didn’t even know where she was going, and when she turned around to see if there was any servant in the vicinity to ask for directions, there was no one. She was the only one here. She began to feel scared of her dimly lit surroundings.

She tried to retrace her steps when she saw something huge with fur stalking towards her; the fire from the torch reflected into its eyes, and Luciana gulped, seeing how its predatory pupils shone in the dark with an aggressive stance, exuding a deathly aura.

There was something bloody between its teeth, and he bit on it; the sound of the bones cracking as his powerful jaws moved caused Luciana to try to take a step back from this frightening beast.

In the next moment, the large tiger that was on all fours suddenly shot up and leaned its body towards her and let out a fierce "Roarrrr..."

Luciana was so frightened she tripped on her feet and fell on her bottom. When she saw what just fell from the tiger’s mouth, she nearly collapsed.

It looked like a mangled freaking body part!

"Aahhhh!!!!" Luciana couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed her lungs out.