Chapter 165 Everything Is Calculated

"Darling, come here."

From the bed of her room in the Rose Palace, Aries furrowed her brows as she turned her head on the balcony. Leaning against the railing was Abel while enjoying a cigar.

"I will show you something," he added.

She blinked twice, watching him crook a finger while nodding encouragingly. Although baffled by his sudden invitation, Aries wrapped her unclad body with the quilt and flung her legs out of the bed.

"What is it?" she inquired when she was by the entrance of the balcony.

"Something you're about to learn." Abel extended his arm and reached out to grab her arm, pulling her closer to him gently.

"Abel..." Aries dragged her feet until she was facing the garden by the railings while Abel stood behind her. His arms wrapped around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

She glanced at him before tipping her head against him. "What will I learn from this?" came out humor, thinking he was simply trying to snuggle with her, which she didn't mind.

"A lot of things, darling." He smirked, resting his cheek on her shoulder, eyes on her. "I'm teaching you a few tricks now, aren't I?"

"I'm learning..." she chuckled before he spun her around slowly until she was facing him. Her rear propped against the railing, holding the quilt in front of her, staring at the devious yet charming smirk plastered on his face.

"A lot..." she added while Abel rested his hands on either side of her. "... of flirting."

"Haha! Of course, you have to keep up." He bit the bottom of his lip as he drew closer, tilting his head to claim her lips.

"Oh, you." She laughed with her lips closed, closing her eyes until she felt his lips on hers once again.

A muffled moan slipped past her lips as their tongues interlaced, feeling his hands crawl from her waist up to her spine. Abel kept her lips in between his teeth, opening his eyes as he drew his head back ever so slowly.

"What?" she asked while catching up to her breathing, leaning her body against him. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is the lesson over?"

The corner of his lips curled up and drew his head back a bit more. "About to."

"Huh?" her brows furrowed, studying his devious countenance only for her eyes to go round. He was serious. What he was serious about? She was about to find out.

"Abel, seriously, what..."

Her vision suddenly shook, and before she knew it, her body collapsed forward and then nothing. Fortunately, Abel was there to catch her.

He gazed down at his pretty Aries, carrying her unconscious body in his arms with a smile. "Oh, darling. You're so cute." He then marched back to their room.

"You should make me your guinea pig since you'll be sleeping in the same room with another man," came out a ridiculing laugh that sounded a hundred times more deadly than usual. "Else... you won't stand it if you allowed him to have a taste of what's mine. I'm not lying."

***

Aries gazed at the needle in between her thumb and index. Still sitting on the bed with her back against the headboard, the corner of her lips curled up into a smirk.

Abel taught her a lot in bed. The rounds of passion aside, he taught her many tricks which she tried to do while playing under the sheet with him. It was more challenging since the person she was trying to make her guinea pig was aware of what was to come.

But that... helped her hone her skills without the other party noticing.

'This needle... I didn't even know he pricked me at that time.' — thinking of the time Abel knocked her unconscious whilst seducing her. It didn't even hurt, and she only realized it seconds before she lost consciousness.

'Of course, I won't let Joaquin even have a second to realize that,' she thought, fluttering her eyes before plunging the needle on the side of the mattress, leaving only the tip so it was easy to take it out. As she did, her eyes glinted as she heard heavy footsteps from the outside.

'The fish was reeled in.' Her smirk stretched and then faded.

Aries took the remaining seconds of being alone picking up the book on the nightstand. Just like how Gertrude had left her hours ago, she kept her back against the headboard, continuing to read where she stopped.

creak...

Her eyes glinted with malice as the loud creak caressed her ears. But when she turned her head in the door, everything her eyes bore melted without a trace.

"Joaquin?" she raised her brows, blinking almost innocently while gazing at the man by the door.

Joaquin paused in his steps while his eyes landed on the bed. "You're still awake?" he asked, closing the door behind him.

"Well." Aries forced a smile. "I'm about to sleep. What brings you here? I thought you will be..."

She trailed off when he came closer to the bed. Her eyes scrutinized him from head to toe, and slowly, her expression turned cold.

"What?" he inquired after a minute of silence. He arched a brow as he noticed the change in her demeanor.

Instead of answering him, Aries breathed out and closed the book. While she put the book back on the nightstand, she spoke coldly.

"Your Highness, I understand that as a man, you cannot resist tasting another dish to satisfy your cravings. However, there is no greater insult that you will come into my bedroom reeking of another woman's perfume." Her eyes were sharp as she set them back at her husband. "I never, in my life, enjoyed other people's leftovers."

"Leftovers?" Joaquin chuckled, studying his fierce wife, who was never afraid of speaking her thoughts aloud. Even if it means pressing other people's nerves.

'She is just a woman,' he stressed in his head.

"What are you going to do about it, then?" he asked, marching closer to the bed. "You are my wife. Therefore, isn't it natural for you to fulfill my needs without condition?"

Joaquin placed his knees on the mattress, crawling towards her until his face was a palm length away from her. Maybe it was the alcohol, he thought, that he didn't have the patience to indulge with her whims. Or perhaps the thought of wanting her right here and now, knowing she would surely resist him, burned his patience.

"My wife, it seems tonight will be the night you will have a taste of other people's leftovers." He sneered, but her unresigned expression remained.

"Two things, Joaquin. Right now, you are doing two things that I loathed the most. One is you coming up to my bed straight from the outside, and second, reeking of another woman." Aries raised her hand and held his cravat, eyes straight into him. "I warned you the first night. You'll go crazy once I retaliate."

Taking him by surprise, Aries pulled his cravat and leaned forward. She didn't resist, just as he expected, but she initiated it. Keeping her eyes open, she smirked against his lips and whispered into his mouth.

"You won't be fucking me, husband. I am the one who will screw you over."