Eternal Love (MewGulf AU)

🌞Chapter 26🌻

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Gulf knew who it was even before Aisha had addressed her. A tremble ran through him.

"You're the one Mew brought here," Yaya declared. "I've been wanting to meet you."

Her black eyes pierced through him, and Gulf lowered his gaze. She thought he was a woman. Imagining how she must've felt, he lacked the courage to look her in the eye.

She turned a contemptuous look on him. "Mew seems quite taken with you. It's so shameless when we haven't even had our wedding yet."

Her words cut into him like knives.

"It's such a vulgar way to behave on the women's quarters of the king's palace," she went on. "I can't believe him."

No matter how she berated Mew, Gulf couldn't utter a word in his defense. He gritted his teeth behind closed lips and bore his anger as best as he could. It was perfectly reasonable for Yaya to hate him. In fact, there was no one in Madina who welcomed him.

The young woman took a step closer. "Show me your face, girl. I'll remember it forever. I have a right to know the face of the woman who's taken advantage of my future husband."

Gulf shrunk back. If she saw his face, it would be over.

"My lady..." Aisha hissed. She could not allow this to go on, but the young woman silenced her with a gesture.

Yaya was also haughty member of the royal family. She was not the sort of woman to suffer humiliation in silence at the hands of a lower-class woman.

Gulf drew back silently, but Yaya advanced on him. Her eyes burned with her determination to not let him pass until she had seen his face.

How could he get away? If she tried to pull off his niqab, he couldn't fight back. He couldn't stop her from revealing his face. His pulse thundered with the speed of a hunted animal. He couldn't escape her by retreating one step at a time, but he had no idea what else to do.

"Yaya!"

He felt such relief at hearing Mew's voice that he staggered on his feet.

Mew advanced quickly and placed himself between Gulf and Yaya. "If you have something to say, take it up with me," he snapped.

Gulf couldn't see Mew's expression, since the man's back was to him, but he could easily imagine it. Mew had given him nothing but reproving looks since bringing him here. Even when he smiled, there was always something bitter in it.

But Gulf was the same, unable to drop his guard when he smiled.

"No." Yaya shook her head. "I have nothing to say. This is just the first time I've experienced such humiliation."

She turned on her heel and stormed off, an obstinate expression on her face.

Aisha was pale, unsure if she should follow her or not.

"Aisha, please talk to her," Mew requested.

Her face contorted at his order. "Prince Mew! How can you treat her majesty so badly? I hope you come to your senses soon."

Aisha went after Yaya, her face filled with misery.

Mew and Gulf were left alone.

"Looks like Aisha hates you too," Gulf commented.

Mew looked indescribably tired. Despite how much he had hurt the people around him and how much he was hurting himself, he would not give Gulf up. Gulf understood why Mew had become so stubborn, but he also knew that he should never return Mew's feelings.

"Let's go," Mew turned toward the king's chamber and Gulf followed silently after him.

The king's chamber was even more luxurious than the women's quarters. While the decorations of the walls were typical, the octagon-shaped ceiling was worked with delicate arabasque carvings. The sunlight that poured in through a decorative window fell on the marble mosaic at their feet to create a unified work of art. The ornamentation on the canopied bed was the same as the walls, except for the shining gems delicately cut and arranged like the stars in the night sky.

Gulf couldn't keep his eyes off of Mew when he stood in the king's chambers. He looked like a sheikh escaped from an Arabic tale.

Even though they had met every day since he'd been brought to the women's quarters a week ago, he still wasn't used to seeing Mew here. Hisbheart fluttered every dinglr time. At the same time, he realized that he belonged to a distant world.

Mew turned to face Gulf, and his eyes narrowed. He advanced toward him, stopping less than an arm's length from him. "Has anything unusual happened?" he asked.

"...Nothing in particular," Gulf replied.

"Good."

Mew seized the remaining distance between them. He held Gulf in both arms and pressed his lips to Gulf's temple. His lips slid slowly down and he sighed against the skin of Gulf's throat.

A bud of heat sprouted at the base of Gulf's neck and ran all the way to his heart. His pulse began to quicken. He was sure Mew could feel it, pressed so tightly against him. He shifted, pulling his body away slightly.

"You still refuse me?" Mew frowned slightly, but he gave no further rebuke than that. Instead, he embraced Gulf tightly and began to kiss him.

Mew sought Gulf out, clinging into him. He seemed to be the one struggling, searching for release and Gulf feverishly grabbed the front of his thwab.

"I can't believe I'm doing this in the king's chamber...I'm not the king," Mew murmured with a tone of self-condemnation.

"Mew..." Gulf's voice cracked slightly as he whispered the name.

It wasn't just guilt that he felt. He felt anxious, he felt self-loathing, and still he felt a desire for Mew. His emotions were all jumbled together.

"Heaven will judge us one of these days," Mew said somberly.

His words could have been taken as part of a light conversation. Gulf didn't know how to respond. Maybe he was supposed to tell Mew not to do this.

"Mew...I..."

As Gulf hesitated, searchinh for the right words, Mew began sucking his upper lip. "That's enough." Mew growled.

Maybe Mew had understood what Gulf had meant to say. He quieted him with a word and tightened his arms around him.

"You're the most beautiful creature in the world...my faridat" Mew whispered in a honeyed voice as he traced his tongue along Gulf's lips.

He knew this was wrong, but Gulf's body and heart, both trembled with pleasure. He felt dizzy.

The kisses were renewed. Gulf felt his legs giving away as the kisses grew more and more intense. A haze settled over his mind, but his body only glowed warmer. He was pulled along in the wake of Mew's passion for him.

For Gulf, the time passed as if in a dream.

TBC