Chapter 73: Flustered
The princess pursed her lips and looked down at her barely eaten food, which was most likely cold now. She placed her cutlery down, pulling her hands away from the meal and clasped her hands in her lap. Evanna wondered how long she could go with answering the same questions without providing answers before the elven prince really did lose his temper with her and use his ’torturous ways’.
"Well?" His deep voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she glanced back up to his cool gaze.
"I got bored," She stated indifferently before grabbing her glass of water and sipping from it, holding his gaze.
Arawn smiled broadly, making Evanna gulp a large amount of water down her throat and almost choking on it. She didn’t know if she was nearly choking because he looked completely different, not so closed off and cold, or because there was an unnerving glint to his eyes. She placed the glass down and finally looked away. Instead of eating from the cooked meal, she grabbed a grape from the side and put it in her mouth.
"You know," The prince stood up, throwing his napkin on his plate, waving off the servants behind Evanna as he did so. She turned her head and watched them leave while swallowing the grape, and panic rising in her chest. His sudden presence by her side made her turn her head swiftly and pull back by how close his face was to hers. "I can always tell when you are lying, Evanna."
He raised his hand to her face stroking her cheek, his hand a featherlight touch sending her cheeks aflame and her stomach in tight knots. She held her breath in shock. "You tend to blush like you are doing so now." Her lips parted to deny her lie, but instead of words leaving her lips, a grape was placed on them.
Evanna’s eyes widened at the prince’s index finger holding the grape in place. Arawn’s gaze was fixed on hers as he pushed gently on the fruit until her lips automatically closed around the grape and his finger. She watched as his gaze darkened, and a blue fire flickered to life behind his eyes at her action.
Arawn slowly removed his finger to the outside of her lips and stroked gently across her lower lip. His eyes were now solely on her lips while hers were still wide and watching his every move, her body tense as her heart thrashed against her chest. He removed his finger, and with the same hand, he grabbed a grape and threw it in his mouth, chewing immediately.
"Are you not going to eat the grape I gave you?" He asked innocently, still too close for comfort.