[ FF ] 2000 words or more , 48 hours `` Book of Love ''

When he has first met her, all he had seen was a clumsy girl who seemed so care free, in such a beautiful way. Innocent, dainty, and everything he had expected from a woman. But with time, things had changed. Not only had she become stubborn and headstrong, but her misery seemed to sink into her like a disease. He could feel his skin crawl when he thought of her. Their meeting was n't exactly a happy one, as she was angry with the thought about her arranged circumstances and he angry at his supposed'wife's' opinion of him. She faked it so well for so long, but he was not so easily fooled. The night he finally felt comfortable, he came to her. 
 
 `` Hello,'' he grunted. She looked at him solemnly in return. 
 
 `` Hello...'' He stared deeply at her, waiting on any sign of a willingness to conversate, but he found none. She still looked as beautiful as ever though, her golden hair shining in the moonlight. 
 
 `` I've notice you've been a bit out of it lately, what's wrong?'' For a moment she was touched by his concern, an emotion he did n't sow often. 
 
 `` Why do you care? You're always off doing your own business...'' She trailed off. He cringed at the tone in her voice. She had been right on some level, but he had land to take care off, and he did n't have time to concern himself with her unspoken problems, as much as it pulled at him. 
 
 `` Because I do... I am your husband, should I not?'' He asked, with his left eyebrow raised, he had not expected is words to pour forth from him with such ease. 
 
 She only sighed, and looked back towards the window. He did n't care about her, as much as she felt towards him and his rigid form since the moment he had pulled her close for the first time. For whatever reason she could not place, she felt a connection to this stoic man. From the day she first met him, she had felt a deeper sensation inside her- and it rippled through her like the shake of a distant earthquake; small but unsettling. As much as she did n't want his advances to have any effect on her, she felt trapped by his presence near her. 
 
 `` What is wrong my love?'' He said, in that low penetrating voice of his. A low treble she had been unable to ignore since she met him. 
 
 `` I am not your love, I am your slave...'' The sound of her voice sent shivers down his spine. Did she really think that? Had his treatment of her been so horrible that she honestly thought she was his slave? He shuddered at the thought of it. Grasping her hands, he pulled her close- closer than ever recalled holding her before. 
 
 `` Do you really feel that way..'' That low soothing voice made her shiver again. As much as she wanted to feel the touch of the man behind her, she refrained. She had been confined, for chores, and for womanly duties so long she felt robotic. She wanted her freedom, above nothing else. 
 
 `` I do...'' He sighed, and pang of guilt shooting through his heart. He had never been the most emotional person, but the idea that she thought he did n't care from her or her happiness seemed so insane. 
 
 `` Look... I know I'm not the most emotional person, and that I have left you to suffer the burden of loneliness on your own, but that was never intended. I'm sorry. I was preoccupied with my own business and my land is my blood, instead of you..'' 
 
 The sincerity of his plea was not lost on her as it echoed within her thoughts. He was sad for her? For her situation? An arranged marriage was never an idea she had considered in this day and age, but her parents were adamant about it. All she had wanted was someone she truly loved, and loved her. Not some forced coincidence. Her eyes glazed over as she thought of her circumstances. 
 
 `` I'm sorry,'' he muttered again as he saw her eyes grow dim. For the first time, he brought his arm around her. Letting her head fall on his shoulder, she began to cry. 
 
 `` No, I'm sorry.. I'm sorry that you and me will never know true happiness...'' The voice of her father echoed through her,'You will learn to love him, I promise.' But her father was dead and gone, a victim of the plague and now nothing but a distant memory. 
 
 He frowned, saddened by her comment. Had he not grown to care for his wife deeply? Had she not felt the same sentiment through his actions? Why did she revoke him so deeply when all he had tried to do was make her comfortable so far from home? 
 
 `` And why is that, my love?'' his lips pursed as he sighed. He had fell for her the first time he saw her- on his wedding day, the supposedly happiest day of his life. Her father had promised a beautiful and obedient wife, but all he had gotten in return was neglect and arguments. She was indeed beautiful, but on the inside not so much. Within the weeks he had first gotten to know his lovely wife, he was stunned at her beauty... the way she held herself, the way she worked so hard on his land in her abstinence of being a lady, and even the way the servants seemed so endlessly charmed by her radiance and seemed to follow her regardless of his orders. But he came to regret it as their personalities brushed. It took him a long time to realize that he, because it was forced, was now the enemy in his new wife's eyes. The revelation only made him feel worse. Never in his right mind would he force a lady such as her to be with with him, but the situation was already pre-ordained, and he could do nothing but try to comfort her. 
 `` 
 `` Because, my freedom is gone. I... feel like I am gone.'' He shivered as her trembling form held to him. This was something he had never considered, nor wanted to be made the villian of. 
 
 `` Why do you feel as if I have taken your freedom?'' The question seemed empty on his tightly pulled lips. 
 
 `` I had no choice, but to love you and be your wife.'' He sighed, as he pulled her closer. He never wanted a wife to love him because she thought she was supposed to either, he wanted comfort and happiness just like the next person. 
 
 `` And you think I did? Our families pre-ordained us for one another, but I... have come to care about you in ways I never thought I could.'' She gasped, as he clung to her waist and buried his head deep in her neck. As she began to speak, he cut her off with a longing gaze. 
 
 `` I'm sorry about your fate, to love someone like me... But I... I wo n't lie and say that having you here has n't changed me..'' She inhaled and held her breath quietly as he held her solenmley and continued his tirade. 
 
 `` I was so... empty before you came to me... Lifeless and robotic. I know it was n't over the best circumstances, but still I feel as if you and me are connected, in a way I ca n't explain...'' 
 
 Her stern gaze finally relaxed as she stared at him for the first time, she felt like. With unwavering fathonmism, she studied what she finally realized was a haggard face. Clouded blue eyes stared backed unwavering at her, a deep emptiness reflected back to her own broken stare. 
 
 `` You truly feel that we have a bond?'' Why she had even asked was beyond her. The emptiness in his eyes had struck her... scared her. Why was this man so gone from humanity. Considering how strong she had felt him pull her in, she could only bend to his touch that much more, oh so helplessly. 
 
 `` I do... and I would give anything to explore it, if you'd let me. My love...'' And with that, he leaned closer in than anyone she had let before, his arms snaking around her waist as he kept her gaze. 
 
 `` May I kiss you, my love?'' She was in no position to refuse as his face descended dangerously close to hers. All she could smell was dirt and a natural scent she could n't describe as his face fell closer and closer to her for the first time. They had been married for ten months since her father decided to make a political bond with the farm over power... but as his lips brushed hers for the first time, she could n't help herself as she melted into his strong grip. He tasted of musk and safety, an ambrosia she has never hoped to feel in her life as he held her conformed to his body pressed into to hers. 
 
 As he kissed her more deeply, she realized she could no longer fight it. This man, and the presence e had that had disturbed her being more than she could ever imagine; she could n't bear to fight it anymore as he laid her down on the comforter. The soft and loving caresses covering her body were like she never imagined she could have... her life was n't made for love as much as she had dreamed of it before her marriage. But there was such a tenderness, a gentleness in his touch as he cupped her cheeks and kissed her that she would never be able to forget. 
 
 `` Am I really your love?'' She whispered, breathlessly as his hands roamed her back soothingly. 
 
 `` Yes... I love you, I have from the first day I laid eyes on you as your approached the castle... I want nothing more than your love...'' He breathed, almost as a whisper, to afraid to say it as he gazed longingly into her eyes. She almost seemed to whimper at his words as he laid her down further onto the bed to revel in the sheer joy of her body pressed to his, something he had yearned for so deeply since he had first held her on their wedding day. 
 
 `` I love you so much, I'm sorry it took so long for me to say...'' She giggled at his confession, much to his chargin as he kissed down her cheek and onto her soft jawline. 
 
 `` What's so funny?'' He said, as he stared at her, hurt reflecting deep in his obsidian orbs. 
 
 `` Not that, I just never thought my parents would be right..'' He grunted in frustration, still not knowing was she meant and slightly offended by his vulnerability. 
 
 `` Shhh, I mean I love you too.'' As she held a finger to his lips at her proclamation, he could only smile through it, bringing her lips to meet his again in a clash of wills and emotion. 
 
 `` You mean it?'' He gasped, as he separated from her luscious ruby red lips. 
 
 `` I do... I too have been drawn to you since that day. I could never put my finger on it, but now I realize it's because I love you... I love you so much.'' And with that, he moved himself above her, needing no more permission to feel his body so achingly collide with hers. His wife, his love, his forever.
