Royally Yours

Chapter 11

A/N:hi guys! Thanks so much for your patience. As promised, here's the next chapter. Upload schedule is now 1 chapter 2 days and there's only about 5 chapters left. Don't forget to comment and like! Thank you!

Ben

The next morning, as I waited for Amara outside her home, I tried to remember the last time I had been this happy.

It was a day like any other, hotter than I would have liked, and I had about 50 unanswered voice messages from my brother. But I didn't care, because I was spending the whole day with Amara today.

After our kiss in the hospital, we had gone back to see her father. The doctor had said he was stable but they wanted to keep him overnight for a few more days for observation. Duke, Amara and I had taken her mother and sister home (after calling the school to alert them of the extenuating circumstances regarding Ana's unforeseen absence) and had stayed with them. At about midnight, after a delicious dinner made by her mother (how that woman whipped it up something that good in under 30 minutes astounded me) Duke and I had finally went back to the hotel. Only then had I called my brother.

All things considering, I think I had taken his bitching like a champ. I still refused to tell him where I was and what I was doing, only that it was a matter of extreme importance. Which, in my opinion, it was. And of course my evasiveness only made him angrier and naggier, but I honestly hadn't even minded. It was the usual.  Security blah, Royal. blah blah, Meetings blah blah blah. All I could think about Amara's soft lips on mine, her unique scent enveloping me. I could have died of shock in that moment, would have even done so gladly. After, she had pulled back bashfully, surreptitiously glancing at all the people gawping at us. I wanted to take her back into my arms right then and there but ultimately decided she had exhausted her PDA tolerance for the day. Instead I'd taken her home with the promise that I would be picking her up today and I drove to her house this morning.

After about 15 minutes, Aamra emerged from the house in a yellow sundress, carrying what I now know to be her shopping basket. She had also wrapped her hair up elegantly in a scarf, which she had explained was to prevent dust from getting on it. When she saw me standing, her smile rivaled the sun in the horizon behind her.

"Ready?" she called, donning her straw hat as she skipped over. I must have been staring at her for a minute because she finally inquired, "What?"

Not quite knowing how to verbalize what I was feeling in that moment, I drew her into a kiss instead. She went willingly, wrapping her slender arms around her my neck and kissing me back with no small enthusiasm. I ignored all my body's calls up for air, only letting go when Amara placed her hands on my chest and shoved

"Wait," she gasped, looking up at me with wide eyes, " We need to talk first. There's things I need to tell you and things you need to answer."

I shook my head at her. "Later." All that extra baggage could wait until later today, when would could talk and figure out how to move forward. For now, I just wanted to spend one beautiful perfect day with her, shopping for groceries at one of the major open-air markets in the region.

There was very little traffic on the road, especially for a monday morning. While I drove, I noticed her glancing at the sedan (containing Duke) following us. I expected a comment, or at least some discomfort, but she merely looked at me and smiled.

We parked in a lot about a mile away from the market entrance and I told Duke to only follow at a discreet distance. The market itself was quiet, with only a few vendors opening up their umbrellas and setting up shop. At the sight of us however, nearly lone buyers, the small entrance came alive with the calls of merchants announcing their goods and beseeching us to come buy it.