บท 21: Chapter 21 Kissing the Loser

Klaus glanced down at the bloodstains on his shirt. "I'm fine, it must have been left by those two bastards just now."

Emily didn't believe him, so she began to unbutton Klaus's shirt to check for any injuries. As Klaus had claimed, he was not hurt at all.

Emily thought back to being in the saloon, alone with Klaus in the presence of those two men, and how effortlessly he had knocked them to the ground, no, killed them.

Emily couldn't help but feel a little frightened at the thought of that bloody scene. Klaus, she knew, wasn't showing all of his strength tonight. He was even stronger than she had imagined.

It was too bad, she knew, that her titular husband was so powerful that she shouldn't have tried to play tricks with him. She had naively thought she could win all three, and now that it was over, what was the loser supposed to do?

"Tell me, what the hell are you trying to do, unbuttoning my clothes?" Klaus's hand passed through the space between Emily ,and his palm resting on the middle of her lower back.

Emily gave a dry smile as she saw Klaus's open collar revealing his strong muscles. She felt a little nervous in that moment and tried to slow down her breathing rate, because if she took a deep breath, her breasts would most likely touch Klaus's chest, and they were too close to each other.

Help, why do you have to talk so close every time?

"Now, back to the topic." Klaus removed his sunglasses and stared at Emily with those peculiar green eyes. "How do you punish someone who loses the game?"

"Punish? There's even a penalty?" Emily looked at Klaus with innocence etched on her face. "Please let me go."

"First, from now on, you are not allowed to run away. Secondly, listen to me. Third, think about me once a day."

Once a day to think of him? Emily regarded him suspiciously; such a request was too strange.

"You don't agree?"

Emily shook her head, then smiled wryly and gave a sign of assent. All right. Even if I didn't want you, you wouldn't know it.

"Fourth, kiss me." Klaus's lips brushed against Emily's earlobes, a hot breath swirling around her ears, making her feel itchy, and her face flushed slightly.

"Now."

Right now? Emily swallowed, wanting to remind him that they had already kissed during the ceremony in the woods.

The thought of his passionate kiss made Emily's face grow even hotter. The image of the kiss froze in her mind for a moment. Oh, it had been her first kiss.

"Maybe you want to change your mind?" Klaus's hand on her waist slid down to her hips, then jerked back up.

Emily didn't stand on tiptoe, and her hands had to rest on Klaus's shoulders to maintain her balance. Now that they were closer, she touched his flawless nose, and she noticed a bright gleam in one of his green eyes, while the other remained as calm and mysterious as ever.

"Never mind, it's just a kiss," Emily said to herself. She thought that since he had saved her tonight, it wasn't too much to ask for a kiss in return.

Emily took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and slowly brought her lips closer to Klaus's. She kissed him so tenderly that for a moment, time seemed to stand still.

Eventually, Emily opened her eyes and tilted her head back. She parted her lips from Klaus's, and he gazed at her, their eyes meeting for a fleeting instant.

Overwhelmed by the intensity of his stare, she swiftly turned her head, her body shifting in the confined space, seeking an escape.

"Why do you always want to escape?" Klaus held her firmly in his arms, demanding, "Why?"

Why did she always want to run away? Emily felt a pang in her heart and longed to tell Klaus that this wasn't her life.

Since the moment she was born, her destiny had been manipulated. She shouldn't have come to the North, and she shouldn't have accepted this marriage.

Running away was merely one way for her to defy fate.

"From now on, stop thinking about running away," Klaus promised her. "As long as I'm by your side, no one can hurt you anymore."

Emily looked up at Klaus in amazement. She saw herself reflected in those green eyes, shining like jewels, and in that instant, he had her undivided attention.

The next second, he was kissing her.