The Crown's Seduction-Chapter 61: Eyes on Me

"I can't believe that the sun's about to set already," Mineah murmured as she watched the warm tinge of the orange sky battle against the coming darkness of the night.

Time seemed to pass by quickly around Nikolai, and she couldn't help but feel bummed that the day was already coming to an end.

"I'll prepare your dinner, Mine. Let's do it here outside," Nikolai suggested as he moved around. "Having a bonfire under the moonlight will be nice in this good weather."

She simply nodded at his words. She was a bit exhausted from roaming around, but at the same time, she felt extremely satisfied with what she saw. She couldn't help but sigh in awe at all the beautiful sights during their small trip. Valcor Island was a good place if one wanted seclusion and to find peace alone with nature.

Sitting down by the nearest available rock, Mineah remained quiet as she simply watched Nikolai do all the work.

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"Come here, Mine," he called to her after seemingly making a more comfortable seat for the two of them. "You can sit here with me." He then handed her a blanket and a skewer of meat. "Here."

Wordlessly taking what he had to offer, Mineah smiled as she began eating. After a while, she broke the quiet solace between them. "What particular foods of humans do you like, Lai?" she began. She was eager to find out more about him, and now was the chance for her to do so.

"Hmm… I love all kinds of beverages. Meats… fruits… basically, all of them," he hummed with a smile. "But what I love most is drinking wine."

"What about seafood?" she further asked.

"Just fish will do for me, Mine," he plainly answered. "Nothing else."

"I see," Mineah nodded. A brief silence then followed, and she couldn't help but frown as she scoffed, "How come you're not asking me about anything?"

"There's no need since I already know that you like to eat anything as long as it's tasty and delicious," Nikolai chuckled. "You're a glutton, Mine, and I love that about you."

Mineah shrugged in defeat despite the blush coloring her face. She couldn't even defend herself since what he said was the truth.

Smiling, he handed her another skewer for the night, and Mineah started eating her embarrassment away instead of dwelling on it.

As she ate, she was keenly aware of how Nikolai was watching her.

"We'll practice the Coupling Rite dance after you eat, Mine," he hummed.

She nodded as she munched on her food. As soon as she was finished with her dinner, Nikolai then handed her a glass of wine. Taking a sip, she looked up at the night sky and smiled as her eyes twinkled in awe.

"It's beautiful…" she gasped as the dynamic patterns of brilliant lights that appeared before them spiraled into a dance, covering the entire sky from top to bottom.

She felt Nikolai's hand on hers as he urged her to stand up with him. Mineah followed his lead, her eyes still lingering on the magnificent rays of a pale green with purple and pink lights before her.

"I've never seen the sky this beautiful!" she hummed with a wide and lovely smile still lingering on her face.

"I haven't seen anyone as exquisite as well," Nikolai murmured.

Mineah gulped at his words. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that he was keenly staring at her again. She fought the urge to turn to him, knowing that she'd be caught red-handed again with how deep red her face currently was.

'Does that mean I'm more beautiful in her eyes compared to Dahlia?' she inwardly wondered with a wide smile.

But just quickly as the thought came, she shrugged it off in favor of composing herself. It was silly of her to think that she was trying to compete with a ghost. There was more to be had here with just being herself instead of comparing herself to another.

"What do you call these lights?" she curiously asked.

"These lights are common to Valcrez since we're located north," he explained. "Cordon's northern area has this too. We call them the Northern Lights…"

"So you mean I'll witness this kind of sight often in Valcrez?" she asked with a grin.

"Yes, but not as much as this one, Mine. This is the highest mountain out here even when compared to Valcrez's mountains," he replied. "As such, this is the best spot to get the best view of the Northern Lights."

Mineah nodded as her eyes remained glued to the lights above. It wasn't until her husband tried to grab her attention that she moved.

"Come now, Mine," Nikolai coaxed with a smile. "Let's practice the Coupling Dance."

Mineah turned to him with a smile as she accepted the hand he offered. Moving to his side, she gasped when he suddenly pulled her close to him than she expected.

"But there's no music," she whispered. She could only bet that the drumming of her heart was currently louder than her words right now.

Nikolai chuckled and whispered in her ear, "Just follow the beat, Mine. We don't need music."

His scent was intoxicating as always as, without a warning, Nikolai started swinging her to the seductive intro she had to execute. Seeing to her task, Mineah quickly composed herself and focused on what she had to do. Remembering her lessons, she started swaying her hips before trailing her hand from his upper chest and going down his torso.

Surprisingly, he groaned at the gesture.

'Did he just make that sound just now?' she inwardly thought.

"Focus, Mine," he scolded in his hoarse voice. "Don't get distracted by my actions."

"Fine," she murmured with a pout as she continued with her seductive steps, circling around him this time. Caressing his shoulders, she continued to move her hips in time with the unheard music all while thinking of something to ask him.

"So tell me, can you control yourself now? Do we need to do anything else? Or me doing anything to help you?" she asked him as they danced. "I mean, we're about to leave tomorrow, right? And we're supposed to arrive at Valcor Harbor before nightfall."

In truth, getting some information out of this was her way of distracting herself from getting too affected by Nikolai's burning gaze. Also, she still couldn't understand how he was somehow practicing his control over himself. He looked like he was about to ravish her soon with both desire and hunger, and there was no way that she could ignore that fact.

"Patience…"

She heard him hum to himself, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was more for him or for her. Maybe her, right? Or was she overthinking his expressions right now?

Before she could even ponder further, she blinked as Nikolai suddenly disappeared from her sight. Then, she felt his warm breath from behind her neck. Suddenly, he twirled her around, only stopping her so that she could face him.

"Look at me, Mine," Nikolai hummed in his deep and sexy voice.

As if hypnotized, Mineah stared into his eyes. That was, until…

"Ouch!"

Mineah hissed at the sudden prick on her right index finger. Shaking off the slight pain, she was about to break eye contact with him to look at her hand when…

"Eyes on me no matter what," Nikolai weakly muttered, his voice seemingly wavering.

"Lai, your eyes…" she gasped upon noticing how his eyes had turned red… He had that same predatory look as the last time she wounded her hand.