At first, Cristal had cried. Then she had gone silent. But now... well, now, Cristal was fuming.
It had started out like any other day. Ever since she had found her mate, one of the four Princes, no less, she had taken to waking late in the morning. Not only did the lack of affection mean she didn't have much to get out of bed for everyday, the emotional turmoil it caused left her exhausted. And so on Sunday she woke at around eleven, finding the right side of the bed empty as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. However, there had been one act of kindness that Peter displayed everyday: he left her a note. Just a simple good morning, no names or anything, but it was one of the few things to help Cristal get through the day. Today, there was no note.
Pathetically, she felt like bursting into tears at the sight of her nightstand bare. The small thread she'd been hanging onto finally broke but she did not break down like she might've expected a few days ago, when she lounged around without any makeup on, wearing shapeless, warm clothes. No, she was angry. She felt fury like never before spread through her veins; how dare somebody treat her like this? Cristal was a beautiful girl. She was a funny girl. She was charismatic in a way that most found enchantingly-irresistable and, if her mate couldn't see that, then screw him!
Huffing, she threw the covers off her legs and headed into the bathroom without bothering to make the bed or lock the door. She knew Peter would be back to get her for lunch soon, the only break in his Royal happenings until the evening, but she didn't care. She cared so little that she didn't bother to unlock the door for him as she usually did and, instead, he found her applying her makeup at the vanity. She didn't even glance at him.
Peter felt a blow to his stomach. He should have left the note, he knew that, but he had dared to hope that she might have had an inkling of his feelings by now. He'd stared at her while she slept for so long that he had been late, having had to hurry from the room as he pulled on his jacket, but, of course, she didn't know that, did she? She knew nothing of the indescribable love he felt for her because he was still too much of a coward to show it.
And he didn't even say anything! Right when he went to voice his hurt, pry into how she was feeling today- anything- his throat seemed to close up. He had planned to admit his feelings for her today but now he had fucked it right up, hadn't he? Was that the last straw? Had he pushed her too far and lost her incredible love forever?
Cristal was determined not to look at him. Instead, she applied her eyeliner with a steady hand, giving herself a dramatic cat-eye that was nearly as sultry as the pink dabbed across her plump, full lips. Her hair had already been dried and styled to a volumnious perfection, and for her outfit she had chosen a white maxi dress. It was made of lace and cut low, showing off her ample breasts, just about tight enough to suggest at her pert backside, too.
Peter was having a very hard time not ripping it off of her delicous figure.
"You look nice," he finally managed to choke out, making her snap her head up towards him. Briefly, surprise lit her features, but it only lasted a few moments before an emotionless mask he knew all too well replaced it.
"Thank you," replied Cristal coolly. She picked up her bag and transferred some of her makeup into it, and then spritzed some of her previously-abandoned perfume onto her wrists and collarbone. When he just stared at her, unmoving, she went forward and held the door open for him. "Are we going, then?"
Peter blinked. "Yes. Sorry."
Giving a curt nod, Cristal started down the ostentatious halls of the Royal castle like she owned the place; and, she guessed, she kind of did. The four Princes each had a quarter of the castle each, though they shared the same dining room, and she'd been staying here for a few months now and so knew her way around. Often, she would have to find her own way to meet the other three mates so they would have something to do while their respective partners did their duty.
She could hear his footsteps behind hers, maybe a couple of metres or so away, like some kind of pathetic puppy trailing after her. She hadn't expected him to behave so, but, in the unlikely case that he did, shouldn't she had felt some kind of satisfaction? Apparently not. Indeed, all Cristal felt was an extremely painly knot in her gut, like all was wrong in her world and only being close to Peter could set it right.
Nevertheless, with her anger came stubbornness, and so she refused to even look at him on the way to the dining room. How could he...? She could scarcely think about waking up this morning without flinching; to distract herself, she counted to one hundred in her head, meaning she managed to smile with charisma at the others when they entered the hall. The other Princes looked surprised at their brother, how he cowered behind his mate, while the girls all cooed their praise to Cristal.
"You look absolutely gorgeous!"
"Where'd you get that dress?"
"I wish I had your figure!"
"How is it that you have a flat stomach but great curves at the same time? That is so utterly unfair. Oh, and why have you been hiding that butt and those boobs for the last few weeks!?"
That last one had been Rouge, the only one who hadn't cried when she found out her mate was a Prince. Simply, she'd worked him up, gotten him to break down his walls, and the next thing you know... he was a reformed man. The other girls had all hoped that Rouge's mate's newfound affectionate manner would help get their own men to open up, but, alas, that had been futile.
"Thank you, girls," she said with a polite smile. After pulling out her own chair, much to Peter's embarrassment, she sat down and crossed one leg over the other, laying her hands on her knee. She was every inch a lady, Peter observed; only, she was a lady who wasn't even sparing him a glance!
Peter locked his jaw.
"Peter?" asked Bane, one of his brothers. He was the youngest of them all at eighteen, the same age as all of the mates. "Are you not going to sit down?"
Cristal looked up at him. The sight of her big, brown eyes, expertly lined to a doe-like stare, made him both heartbroken and angry. "No," he near-growled before promptly grabbing Cristal's arm and pulling her from the room. Once he got into the hall, he slung her over her shoulder and practically ran back to their bedroom.
"Peter!" she shrieked after being put down. Her cheeks were a little flushed with anger and hot, angry tears started to fall from her eyes. "How dare you? Are you ever going to stop humiliating me!?"
"Humiliate you? You've been disgracing me all afternoon!"
Cristal's eyes widened in shock, for it was first time she'd heard him speak with true emotion. It was what she'd been waiting for these past few weeks, but now it was happening... she felt her throat close up. She couldn't speak; couldn't find any words. For many moments she simply opened and closed her mouth, before finally she took a deep breath and managed to say quietly, "You should have left a note."
Eyes softening, Peter stepped forwards to wrap his arms around Cristal, who immediately caved into his warmth. She could feel her anger dissolving with every second, slowly being replaced by a state of shock and happiness, but she didn't care. Being in his embrace was far preferable than acting all huffy. "I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I... I've messed this up so much. I had planned on telling you today how very much I am in love with you, but does it matter anymore? I would understand if you couldn't forgive me; I'm a mess of a man."
Slowly, Cristal pulled back from him and her stare was wide-eyed. She really did look very beautiful. Not as beautiful as she did bare-faced, of course, but Peter found himself feeling really quite helpless. Why couldn't this gorgeous, glamorous, sexy woman be his? Why? "Peter," she said, as though she were talking to a child, a smile curling at the corners of those infamous lips. "Do you love me really?"
"With every bone in my body," he vowed.
"Well, I love you, too."
Peter's happiness far outshone the shock he was feeling, meaning it was perfectly natural as he leaned down to kiss her for the first time. It was the first of many.
