As soon as the music stops, I pull myself away from Elijah's grip. I was not feeling well after being that close to Elijah. That's why I made an excuse to drink water.

Now, I'm in the dining area of this ballroom. My eyes instantly fall upon the drink counter. As much as I don't want to drink, I need to drink some beer to cool myself down from this unfamiliar and irritating feeling.

I go towards the drink counter and look for the bartender to serve me some beer. A bartender comes under my sight immediately who was serving another man. I slowly gestured for him to come towards me.

“Hai bisogno di qualcosa, signorina (Do you need something, Miss)?” The bartender asks politely.

“Puoi darmi della birra (Can I have some beer)?” I reply with a cold voice, crossing my arms on my chest.

“Sicuro (Sure).” He smirks and then gives me a Nastro Azzurro glass which was in the showcase. Then, he takes out a large bottle of Nastro Azzurro bottle. Smart boy!

He comes towards me and pours the beer into my glass. I drink it in one sip.

“Non fermarti finché non ti dico (Don't stop until I tell you),” I say glaring at him annoyingly.

He does like I say. He keeps on pouring the beer in my glass and I keep on drinking. Damn Nastro Azzurro, my favourite beer.

“Hello, Dear.” An unfamiliar but husky voice interrupts my drinking. Who wants to die now?

With frustration, I turn around and see that stranger. He is a tall man with a muscular physique and fair skin. He has black hair with honey eyes and a small pointed nose. Not only that, but he is gorgeous but not my type. I roll my eyes and come back to my drinking session.

“I think I've seen you somewhere.” He says thinking deeply. “Oh yeah, You are the infamous Miss Universe, Avery Bennett.” I just nod because I am not in the mood to talk with someone right now.

“It seems like you are having a bad day.” He says, having a broad smile on his face which causes a little dimple on his cheeks. “What has brought you to Italy?”

Didn't he learn to shut his bloody damn mouth?

“You are not saying anything.” He says again annoyingly. “By the way, I'm Declan Davenport from Canada.”

Meh, who cares? Go to hell!

“Why are you not saying anything?” He asks, coming closer to me.

“Because you are fucking annoying me,” I reply, giving him my death glare. A mischievous smirk comes over him.

“Chill, woman. I'm not some random creep who would irritate you. I was just trying to be friendly.” He says, raising both of his hands in defeat.

“Friendly my ass. Get the fuck out of my sight.” I say, clutching the glass in my hand tightly so that its lancinating design stings me and blood starts flowing through my hand.

“Are you crazy? Can't you see that blood is flowing through your hand?” He says, shockingly noticing the blood.

Suddenly, something occurs inside me. As he comes closer to me, I don't know why I start feeling somewhat uneasy. Fuck! I shouldn't have drunk that much. I move my eyes towards his lips. Shit! What am I thinking?

I know that I'm going to regret this, but I need to do this to forget the taste of those delicious lips of Elijah. I grab Declan's collar and pull him closer to me. Then, an unexpected thing happened.

I kiss Declan…

This kiss surprises Declan. He becomes somewhat shocked, but as soon as my lips explore his lips, he accepts my kiss and holds my waist tightly.

This kiss is nothing like Elijah's kiss. There are neither electricity sparks nor attraction between us, but most of all, there is something very important which is missing here. Desire. Desire is a fundamental human experience that we want to be present in our lives, and when we lose it, we lose an important connection with ourselves. Likewise, This kiss is also not addictive like Elijah's kiss.

Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each other, but this kiss is exactly the opposite of this thing.

I start running my fingers through Declan's hairs and start gripping them gently. I try to make this kiss full of passion, hunger and desire but no matter what I do, everything is going in vain.

Likewise, I can't forget Elijah's compelling effect during our first kiss.

✭✭✭

Elijah's POV

Have you ever thought about how it feels when your beloved person is giving your rights to another person?

This is what is happening to me now. Seeing Avery kissing another man is making my blood boil and my eyes red. It seems like the volcano inside me would burst out if that mutt doesn't pull himself away from her.

Now, you must be thinking that I'm jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm territorial. Jealous is when you want something that's not yours. Territorial is protecting what's already yours.

Our first kiss has bound us with each other which will never make us forget each other. But the scene which is occurring in front of my eyes is making me lose my mind.

I need to control myself, but I can't just keep standing here and see this fucking drama in front of my eyes.

I go towards Avery and that guy. As soon as I reach there, I grab Avery's wrist and pull her from that guy.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” I say, clenching my jaw tightly and try my best not to release my temper.

“Hey, Mr Veneto. A pleasure to meet you.” The guy who was kissing Avery says with his fucking disgusting smile.

“Davenport? Isn't it?” I ask him angrily. He nods.

“Get the hell out of my sight, before I kill you now.”

“What are you saying, Mr Veneto? You asked me for those goods-”

“—which I don't want now. If I ever see you near me or my woman…” I say, holding Avery's waist tightly. “Then I would break every single one of your fucking body, and you would be buried twelve feet under this ground. It means I'll destroy everything including you.”

Declan's smiley facial expression changes. Fear, regret and sweat start floating on his face. His legs start shaking. He starts stuttering his words. Then, I gesture my bodyguards to throw him out of my villa.

I turn around to see my surroundings. Everyone is totally quiet. All eyes are upon me and Avery, but no one is murmuring because they know the outcome of murmuring in front of their future king.

“Mi dispiace a tutti. Era solo una sorta di malinteso che doveva essere chiarito.  Tutti voi potete continuare a diverter (I'm sorry everyone. It was just some sort of misunderstanding which needed to be clarified. All of you can continue your enjoyment).” I declare, smiling at everyone.

“Now, you…” I say, holding Avery's arm. “Come with me.” She tried to release her arm from my grip, but I didn't let her lose her arm from me.

Crossing the crowd, then the ballroom and some other rooms, I take her to my room. As soon as we step inside my room, I lock the door. She doesn't say anything except her frowning face.

I take off my coat and tie and throw them on my couch. Rolling my shirt's sleeve, I go closer towards Avery. She takes some steps away from me but falls to the floor.

Goddammit! She is drunk again…

I help her in getting up to the floor, but she jerks me off. “I don't need your help.” Saying this, she gets up from the floor clumsily and fixes her dress.

“Why did you kiss him?” I ask suddenly, clenching my jaw.

“It's none of your business.” She shrugs.

None of my business? Of course, it is my business because she is mine, and her lips only belong to me.

“Avery, I'm trying to be polite. Just tell me why did you kiss him when you were drunk?” I ask again, losing my jaw and then trying to be polite.

“Again, it's none of your business.”

Now, I need to try to be more polite to her. Thinking this, I make her sit on my bed, and then I kneel in front of her and place my hands in her lap.

“Look into my eyes, Avery,” I say, looking at her calmly. She doesn't look. Instead of that, she shifts her gaze in the opposite direction. I hold her chin with my fingers and make her look at me.

She looks into my eyes. Silence engulfs our surroundings. Everything starts fading away except us. The way her blue eyes are directly piercing my soul is enough to increase my heartbeat. It is like there is no one in this world. It's only us.

“Now, tell me. Why did you kiss him?” I ask calmly, caressing her cheek.

“I… I… I didn't want to kiss him, but I had to because I wanted to forget that weird and irritating feeling which was changing my mind, changing me.” She finally says, nervously.

“What do you mean by changing you?” I ask curiously, raising my eyebrows.

“Attraction is a weakness for me. It can make me feel worthless. I've always ignored every single fucking attraction in my life, but this time, it's getting serious…” She says, still looking straight into my eyes. “This is more than attraction which I feel. The day you kissed me, I couldn't forget the feeling I felt at that time, and I wanted to forget that feeling-”

“—So, you kissed Davenport to forget our kiss.” She silently nods.

“Why do you think that attraction is a weakness?” I ask, holding her hand tightly in her lap.

“Desire and Attraction can make me vulnerable. People won't look at me the same as they used to. They would think of me as a weak and pathetic woman who has let a man control her.” As Avery says these words, something comes into her eyes. It was pain, anger and hurt.

I cup her cheeks in my both hands gently. “Principessa, Desire and Attraction will never make you vulnerable rather you would be stronger than ever. I know that you are scared to break your walls and let someone else in your heart, but you can't make it stop. That day always comes in people's life when someone very special enters their life and changes them for their own sake and goodness. You can stop your brain from thinking about that person, but you can never stop your heart from thinking about that person.”

“What the heart wants is always what the heart gets!”

“Do you think that there is something wrong with me?” Her question startled me, making me think deeply. Why is she even doubting herself? She is perfect.

“Are you kidding? There is nothing wrong with you. Every person has their flaws, but those flaws are what makes that person perfect...”

“Thank you for your kind words. It has helped in reducing my burden.” She says with a beautiful smile on her gorgeous face.

I get up from the floor and slowly lay her down on my bed. I sit on the edge, looking down at her. I put a blanket on her slowly so that she doesn't get cold. Then, I start rubbing her forehead gently to make her sleep. After some time, she falls asleep.

I know that she may not remember any part of our conversation tomorrow morning because she has drunk too much, but still, it feels really good that she has shared something with me.

She looks peaceful during her sleep. Behind her eyes lies a world full of colours and every beautiful thing that is connected to her hidden heart. Sleep tight, my principessa and meet me in your sweet dreams...

With these words, I kiss her forehead and come out of the room. I know that she is not ready for me, but I'll wait for her even if it takes a lifetime to express her true feelings to me.

I close my bedroom door and go towards another room to sleep, but suddenly I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around to see if there is someone or not, but there is no one. Likewise, I sense that someone is still here.

At this unexpected moment, a hand lands on my shoulder which makes me startled.

“Hey, Brother from another mother. It feels really good to meet you again.”

✭✭✭

Hey my devils,

That was surprising. What did you expect from Elijah when he saw Avery kissing Declan?

What do you think about Avery and Elijah's conversation in the bedroom?

Also, Who is this unknown guy?

Keep reading to find out!