- When She Discovered She Had Her Own Personal Knight In The Shining Armour -

Nina

"Hey sweetness."

I look at him, wide-eyed and open my mouth to yell, curse or bitch slap him but...

Nothing.

For the first time, in 25 years of my life... I don't know what to say.

I open my mouth and close it, and repeat the same process nearly ten more time when finally the jerk before me glances at me slyly and murmurs, "Cat got your tongue?"

When he gets no response, he grins and whispers, "Don't worry, sweetness. I kinda have that effect on the ladies." He winks, suggestively.

I look down at Prince and whisper yell, "Prince! Back me up!"

Prince wiggles his tail and walks towards me, standing in between Lucien and I; facing him and growls, making an intimidating face at him.

Sometimes, it's so cool to have a dog.

I look up at Lucien to see him looking back and forth between Prince and I with amused eyes.

"Listen up, buddy!" I grumble, placing my hands on my hips, "It's called stalking!"

He makes an 'Oh! You're so adorable' face at me and blinks innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about."

The hell you don't...

"Everywhere!" I blurt out. "You're everywhere! You're in my office, on my speed dial, and now my building too?"

He gives me a boyish grin and murmurs, "I'm on your speed dial. Oh sweetness! I'm honoured."

I roll my eyes. Of course he heard only that part of my lecture.

"Honoured, my arse!" I mumble under my breath.

"It's an ass, sweetheart." Letting out a dreamy sigh, he continues, "A really fine ass."

"Oi! Stop picturing my butt! Eyes on me!" I snap at him, when I see his expression turn into something I know he has whenever he's imagining something dirty.

He gives me a Cheshire cat grin, mumbling, "Busted!"

Leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms over his chest, he grins at me, "Aren't you gonna ask what I'm doing here?"

I give him a sickly sweet smile and whisper, "What do you think?"

Turning around, I murmur, "For all I know, you're just here because you're in love with my dog."

Leaning against my door jam, I whisper, "And sexy, inspite of what you think... I really don't care!"

He smirks as if he finds my comeback amusing and whispers, sighing out loud, "Careful there, mio amore... I wouldn't be surprised if you pants catch fire given the amount of lying you've done in the past five minutes."

Smiling cheekily, he continues, "You can lie to me all you want... but you can't lie to yourself."

Flushing furiously, I grumble, "Get outta my mind, you evil witch!"

I slam the door behind my back, before remembering something.

I open the door again and peek outside to see Lucien grinning at me.

"Forgot something, sweetness?" He smirks.

I growl at him and look down at Prince who still hasn't move from his previous position, "Get in, boy."

He growls one last time at Lucien and walks into the apartment.

It's so cool to have a dog, backing you up.

"This is not over, sweetheart." I look up at Lucien's voice to see him looking at me, intently.

"Yes it is, sweetheart!" I grumble and slam the door shut.

***

Locking the door of my apartment, I drop my keys inside my handbag and zip it close.

Waiting for the elevator, I stiffen when I feel a familiar cologne reach my nostrils.

I groan inwardly as his large figure situates himself beside me, murmuring, "Howdy, neighbour!"

I roll my eyes and look away.

"Mmh... not talking, are we?" He murmurs, chuckling.

I feel him smirking as he whispers, "Ouch! Somebody needs to get laid."

I clench my fist and remind myself, not to let him get to me.

Deep breaths, Nina.

He's only the sexiest man you've ever seen.

Ignoring him would be a piece of cake.

Note the sarcasm.

Slinging his arm over me shoulder, he breathes into my ear, "I'm available, if you're wondering. You could just pop by my apartment any time you want."

I curse myself for shivering inwardly.

Chuckling to himself, he continues, "After all, you're my neighbour. I'll consider this my neighbourly duties."

I sigh in relief when the elevator dings.

I elbow him in his stomach and walks inside the elevator, pressing the button for garage.

Lucien walks inside, rubbing his hand over his stomach and grins mischievously, "Rough, huh? Just my kinda girl."

I groan out loud.

'Just ignore him. He's just trying to rile you up!' My subconscious murmurs.

Believe me, I'm trying.

"Still not talking, huh?" He whispers, frowning.

I look at him and smile sweetly as if to say, 'What do you think, jerkface?'

He smirks at my expression and whispers, "Who doesn't love a good challenge?"

I roll my eyes and press the button again. And again. And again. And again.

"You know... pressing the button repeatedly isn't gonna make this elevator move any faster." He whispers.

I shoot him a look saying, 'Don't give a frick!'

And I return back to pressing the elevator button.

"Oh sweetness..." He mumbles, slinging his arms around my shoulder, "Why'd you have to be so cute?"

I try pushing him away but to no avail.

He's a big large bully!

Hmph.

Not being able to move away, I do the only thing any girl in my situation would do: I cross my arms over my chest, puff out my cheeks and pull out my bottom lip into a pout.

"Mmh..." He nuzzles my ear, "Just so adorable."

The elevator dings and I elbow his stomach once again and walk out of the elevator.

Before I could comprehend what's happening, a hand grabs my elbow turning me around and lifts me up over his shoulder as he carries me, caveman style.

"Lucien! Put me down!" I shriek out loud.

"Huh? What? I can't hear you! My ears are temporarily out of service!" He yells, mischief laced in his voice.

I start hitting his lower back and yell, "Put me down, you bully!"

He fakes hurts and mumbles, "Bully? That's not very nice, bella."

I hit him and blurt out, "You meanie!"

I hear his laughter echo through the garage, "Meanie? That's the best you got?"

He just stand there, whistling a song, with me over his shoulder as if waiting for someone.

"Luuciennn.... Put me down!" I whine.

"Nicolinaaa... I don't wanna!" He mimics my tone.

"Pretty please?" I whisper.

"No."

"Pretty please with cherry on top."

"No."

"Pretty please with cherry and whipped cream on top."

"No."

"I won't trouble you. Please put me down." I mumble.

"No."

I blink twice and look at the object in front of my eyes.

Making a thinking face, I murmur, "You know... you have a really nice bum."

I hear him cough a few times as if I caught him by surprise and he blurts out, "Say what now?"

"Your arse," I clarify and continue, "Can I touch it? Ooh or better yet... squeeze it?"

I feel him choke on his breath as he grunts, with a warning tone, "Sweetheart."

Shrugging dismissively, I say, "You know what... I'm gonna do it. I mean, why not? If I'm gonna be stuck here, in this position... why not take some advantage?"

"Nicolina, I-" He gets interrupted as I hear him inhale sharply as I place my hand over his bum.

"Mmh..." I murmur to myself as I squeeze his bum. Letting out a dreamy sigh, I whisper, "I love your bum. So taut, so soft, so... perfect!"

Making a moaning sound, I whisper, "Trust me, if I was a guy, I would be so jealous of your arse."

"Um. Than... thank you?" He whispers huskily, stuttering as if he couldn't concentrate on his words.

"I bet I could knock a coin off your tushy." I say, mischievously.

"Wait, what?" I hear him mumble out loud. "Sweetheart? Rule number one: Never call a guy's ass 'tushy'." I feel his shake his head, irritated.

"Yeah, yeah!" I wave my hand in a dismissing motion.

I feel him grin as he whispers, "And you do realize that your ass is on my shoulder? And sweetheart, you're wearing a skirt."

Exhaling softly, he whispers huskily, "I didn't know you had such a good taste in lingerie. I mean, wearing a black thong to work? You sexy minx!"

I gasp out loud, my hands flowing back to pull my skirt down, "Lucien! You jerk! You aren't supposed to see that!"

I could almost feel him grinning as he whispers, "Aww... is my sweetheart blushing?"

"Am not!" I say, defensively, feeling my cheeks turn hotter that the sun.

"Are too!" He argues back.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

An elderly couple pass by us giving us weird looks, mumbling, "Kids these days! I swear I no longer know the difference between adults and five-year olds!"

As soon as the couple walk out of our site, Lucien burst out laughing.

I grumble and poke his bum, "Hey, meanie! It wasn't funny!"

I roll my eyes when I feel him doubling over his laughter at my grouchiness.

Crossing my arm over my chest, I huff, "It was your fault anyway... If you hadn't thrown me over your shoulder, we wouldn't have had this argument."

Groaning embarrassedly, I pout, "And I'm pretty sure they got a good look at my bum."

He immediately controls his laughter as he whispers sincerely, "Trust me, sweetheart. No one except me is ever gonna see your bum."

I tense up when I finally feel the warmth of his arm over my bum, keeping my skirt from hitching upwards; realizing his hand had being there all along.

I squeak out loud, "Get your hands off my arse, you pervert!" I hit his lower back repeatedly.

"You sure about that, sweetheart?" He murmurs, casually, "Any one could walk by us any time and get a good look at your ass."

"There's no one around." I point out.

He shrugs, "What about the security camera? The guards will have a really good show."

"You're messing with me, right?" I whisper, weakly.

"Am I?" He says, casually.

I think over his point.

"Fine!" I huff. "Just don't let anyone see my backside." I whisper.

"Your wish is my command." He mutters.

"What if I say, my wish is to be back on my feet?"

"No."

"Dammit!" I curse.

I hear him chuckle.

"You know... you're like this hard wall of determination that cannot be budged." I mumble.

I hear him chuckle and mumble under his breath, "I don't know about wall... but I'm definitely hard."

I roll my eyes at his sexual innuendo, "Perv!"

I feel him grin cheekily as he retorts, "But I'm your perv."

I roll my eyes and blush profusely.

I blink repeatedly as I feel my vision get blurry as my head starts getting heavy.

"Luke? I'm not feeling so good." I whisper softly.

He immediately pulls me back as he opens the door to my car and sits me on the passenger seat as he knees down on the ground.

He places his hands on my cheeks, making me look at him and murmurs, "What's wrong?"

I shoot him a accusing glare and reply, "You turned me upside down. All my blood rushed to my brain. What do you expect, genius?" I rub my temples, soothingly.

He winces and mumbles, "I'm sorry." He groans, "Biology sucks."

He removes my hand from my temples and kisses my wrists softly before mumbling, "Let me kiss you boo boos."

He leans forward, kissing my forehead, my nose, my cheeks, my jaw, my chin, my earlobes making me giggle as he turns towards my neck.

"Stop it! Tickles!" I giggle as he intentionally pecks me repeatedly on the left side of my neck, knowing I'm ticklish there.

He chuckles and blows raspberries on my neck making me giggle and hit him playfully.

He pulls away, smiling at me.

I scrunch my nose and mumble, faking disgust, "Ew! Cooties!"

He narrows his eyes and whisper, "Oh I'll give you cooties, all right!"

He leans in, dangerously close making me squeak and turn around, opening the driver side door and getting out, running away from him as he chases after me.

A large hand covers my waist as he lifts me up from behind and spins me around making me giggle.

Placing me back on my feet, he turns me around and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling our bodies closer as he places his forehead against mine.

"I missed you." He whisper softly, as he watches me solemnly.

I flick my hair back, sassily and whisper, "I know! I'm just that awesome!"

He chuckles and shakes his head as I wrap my hands around his neck, playing with his soft hair as he leans into my touch, making a purring noise at the back of his throat.

Mmh... me likey!

"I missed you too." I whisper softly.

His eyes widens as he looks at me hopefully and whispers, "Really?"

I smack his shoulder playfully and roll my eyes, "Well, I like this Luke is a lot better that the Grouchy Luke."

He furrows his eyebrow adorably, "Grouchy Luke?"

"You know... the one who insists on calling me Miss Stark and the one who orders me around all day. Miss Stark, I need some coffee. Miss Stark, where's Mr. Anderson's contract? Miss Stark, I want this. Miss Stark, I want that." I mimic his voice.

He scowls, "I don't sound like that."

"Uh uh." I whisper, sarcastically, "Sure you don't, honey." I pat his cheek.

His eyes warm at the term of endearment as he starts making intricate designs with his fingers at the small of my back making my cheeks flush as I slowly bite my bottom lip.

He leans closer and nuzzles his nose against mine, slowly closing his eyes.

And that's when we hear someone clearing their throat.

We both pull away from each other with me turning red as a tomato as we see Robert standing there, looking at us uncomfortably.

"Hey, Robbie!" I mumble, glancing anywhere but him, as I feel my cheeks flushing.

"Hello Miss." He gives me a curt nod and turns towards Lucien, "Mr. Lucien. I have done as you asked. Everything you need is inside this bag." He holds out a black duffel bag and forwards it to Lucien.

"Perfect. Thank you, Robert." He smiles.

Roberts bows slightly as a gesture of respect, "I will be behind your car at all times, making sure to have a suitable distance between us to ensure your privacy."

Lucien nods at him, which Robert takes as his cue to leave.

"Bye Robbie!" I holler at him.

I see his body shake slightly as he chuckles and waves his hand at him.

"Good guy." I mumble thoughtfully.

I blink up at him when he leads me to his car by his hand on the small of my back.

"Hey... where we going?" I ask him.

"We," He smirks, "are going to a business meeting."

"A business meeting? I read your schedule, there's no business meeting today." I mumble, confused.

"Well," He pauses as if searching his brain for words, "It is a secret business meeting."

I shoot him a look which clearly says, 'I'm not stupid'. I raise my eyebrow and ask, "And why do you have a duffel bag with you?"

He sighs, "Has anyone told you that you ask too many questions?"

"Yes." I say, deadpanned. "Come one, sexy! Where are we going?" I whine.

He opens the passenger side door and orders, "Get in."

I huff and cross my arms over my chest, "No. At least not until you tell me where we're going."

He simply smiles at me, clearly amused and takes a step towards me, his hands reaching out to grab me just before I pull away and yell out, "Fine! I'll get in. You don't have to manhandle me, you big caveman!"

He just chuckles and closes the door as I sit inside and runs to the other side and throws the duffel bag in the back seat and puts on his seatbelt and ignites the engine.

I huff out loud and cross my arms over my chest, glaring at the window.

"Aw, come on! Don't be mad." He mumbles, turning to look at me.

I look at him and puff out my cheeks, glaring at him.

For a moment, I saw him contemplate whether he should gush out, 'Aww' or apologise to me.

He figured second option would be much better, "I'm sorry."

He reaches out and caresses my cheek with his knuckles. "Forgive me?"

"Promise you won't manhandle me again." I murmur.

He makes a thinking face, "I can't promise that. Besides, I think, in the future; you're gonna love me manhandling you." He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Perv."

"Your perv." He replies without missing a beat making me almost smile.

"I'm still not forgiving you." I reply, adamantly.

"Fine. The hard way it is." He sighs and turns his face towards me and starts accelerating the car, "I won't look away from you until you forgive me."

"Whatever." I roll my eyes.

He just smiles and speeds up even further with his eyes trained on me.

"Luke, slow down!" I yell, wide-eyed.

"Say the magic sentence, sweetheart. Say 'I forgive you,'" he says and makes a thinking face and murmurs, "Also say that you think, I'm the sexiest man in the world."

I look at him, clutching my seatbelt, "Luke. Please slow down."

He just grins in response.

"Fine!" I yell out, "I forgive you. Just please slow the damn car down!"

He smiles and slows down the car and looks back at the road and murmurs, "See... that wasn't so hard, was it?"

I shoot him a glare, "I hate you."

"No you don't." He replies cheekily.

I sigh and shake my head and close my eyes and lean my head back against the seat.

I shift comfortably in my seat and feel myself beginning to doze off.

"What do you think-" I hear Lucien murmur as he interrupts himself and leans towards me and kisses my cheek, murmuring:

"Sweet dreams, cara."

I smile unconsciously and mumble some incoherent words in response and let the sleep take me over.

***

"Wake up, sweetheart. We're here." I feel someone caress my cheeks softly.

I lean closer into the touch and sigh happily.

I hear a masculine chuckle as he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Five more minutes, Prince." I mumble, sleepily.

I feel him lean closer and nuzzle his nose against my neck, "Come on, sweetheart. Wake up. Open those gorgeous eyes for me."

I open my eyes slowly and blurt out, sleepily, "Gummy bear!"

I blink twice and turn towards Lucien and scrunch up my brows, stating, "You're a human. I can't eat you. Where's my gummy bear?"

He looks at me, amused, his lip twitching as if he's trying to control his laughter.

I look down at my fisted hands and open them and look accusingly at my empty palms, "Where are my gummy bears? I swear it was in my hands."

Lucien bites his lower lip and replies, "Maybe you left them in your dreams."

Oh.

"Oh." I mumble, making a thinking face, "That makes sense."

He just shakes his head, smiling at me as if he finds me amusing.

"Come on, now." He steps out of the car and runs towards my side and holds out his hand.

I smile up at him and clasp my hand with his.

He tucks me to his side and he leans into the car and takes out the duffel bag.

"Let's go." I follow his lead and look around to see we're in some kind of closed garage. Not a big one. But not a small one either.

Just like the one that my Dad has in his mansion.

He opens a door and enters the room.

I gasp as we enter a large living room filled with sleek and modern, colour coded furniture but what really caught my attention was the sound.

I turn towards him and ask, "What's that sound?"

He smiles and leads me forward, "See for yourself."

He walks across the living room, and I gasp out loud again; totally flabbergasted as I finally see view outside this unit.

"Beach? You own a freaking beach house?" I blurt out, looking through the floor to ceiling window past the beautiful sunny seaside.

"'Sup, love birds?" I hear a masculine voice yell out with a southern twang.

I turn around and frown, "JT?"

JT smiles and murmurs, cheerfully, "Hey, darlin'."

I blush slightly and mumble a 'hey' back.

I hear a low growl beside me as Lucien yanks me towards him and yells out, "Mine!"

Oh, there he goes... being a caveman again.

I shake my head at him.

JT just looks at him, amused.

Lucien sighs and pulls me forward with him, "JT is a silent partner at our firm."

"Oh! This is the business meeting you were talking about." I mumble out loud.

A look passes between Lucien and JT, as the latter person smirks, "Business meeting? That's what you told her?"

Lucien just rolls his eyes and mutters, "Fuck off!"

JT sighs and holds up his hand in surrender.

Rubbing his hand, excitedly, JT mutters, "Let's start this business meeting, shall we?"

"Sure?" I mumble.

JT clears his throat dramatically and starts, looking at Lucien, "So... how's business going?"

Lucien rolls his eyes and glares at him and spits out, "Like usual. Good."

Am I missing something?

JT grins mischievously, looking back and forth between Lucien and I and murmurs, "Well, then. That concludes our business meeting. See you folks later!"

He grins at us one last time, before walking past us towards the entrance.

"Wait. What? That's it? You're leaving? Meeting's over?" I blurt out, confused.

JT stops and turns around and drawls out, smirking, "Well... as much as I enjoy watching Lucien bring a girl here under the pretence of a business meeting when he's too much of a pussy to admit he wants to spend more time with her, I have somewhere to be. See ya around, love birds."

Lucien growls at him and yells out, "I hate you."

JT just rolls his eyes and murmurs, "Yeah, yeah. Love you too, bro." And he's gone.

I look back at Lucien and mumble out loud, "What just happened?"

For the first time, I see Lucien squirm, uncomfortably as he passes me the duffel bag and says, "As you can see the meeting's over. We have a lot of time to ourselves. So, let's head to the beach. You'll find all the things you need in this bag. There's bedroom upstairs for you to change. I'll meet you here in fifteen minutes."

He runs off towards an adjoined room leaving me all confused and disoriented.

Oo-kay?

I pick up the bag and head upstairs, not paying any attention to surrounding, as I immediately walk inside a bedroom and drop the bag on the bed and open it.

I pull out a black two piece bikini and scrunch up my eyebrow.

He wants me to wear this?

'Oh the horror! He wants you to wear a bikini... to a beach!? How dare he!?' My subconscious murmurs sarcastically.

I sigh and roll my eyes.

Shaking off my thoughts, I lock the door and start taking off my clothes.

I fold my black pencil skirt and dark green blouse and place it inside my bag with my undergarments before putting on the bikini and tying the strings.

I walk towards the mirror and pull out my hair from the side braid I had tied and ruffle my hair to give it a messy, wavy look.

I look in the mirror and frown. Something's missing.

I gasp out loud and open up my handbag and take out my red lipstick and grin.

After applying it, I check myself out in the mirror and smile.

I open the door and walk barefoot against the cold floor as I make my way down the stairs and I see Lucien standing downstairs talking on his phone, facing away from me.

"Yes, I'm with her... What!? No! Ugh! Stop talking, Livia! Yes... Yes... No... I'm not... Promise... Okay, good." I hear half of the conversation as I frown.

Who's Livia?

I rack my brain for the familiar sounding names; Livie, Olivia, Olive, Liv.

Why do I feel myself getting jealous?

I take my time to check him out; the way his dark muscle tank sticks to his body, when air flows in certain direction against him, also showing off the tattoos in his arms, his cargo shorts and his barefoot toes.

What's with being barefoot making him extra sexy?

"I know that. Yes, I do-" He gets interrupted as he turns around as his eyes widen as he looks at me, his jaw dropping.

"Fuck me!" He blurts out, his eyes wandering up and down my body, making me blush and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, self consciously.

"Hey." I mumble, softly.

"Hi." He says, smiling at me cheekily and then frowns and rolls his eyes as he murmurs into the phone, "I'm not talking to you, Livia. I'll call you later, 'kay? Bye."

He hangs up the phone and looks back up at me, "You look beautiful."

I smile and bite my lip, "Thanks."

He fakes hurt and murmurs dramatically, "I thought I was supposed to be the sexy one. You're totally stealing my thunder."

I giggle softly, my eyes smiling up at him.

He stares at me for a moment with warm, soft green eyes before clearing his throat as if snapping out of his thoughts and says, "Let's go."

He leads me out with his hand at the small of my back sending tingles up my spine as his skin touches my bare flesh.

We walk down the stairs, as I feel myself getting giddy seeing the bright sky above us and blue water in front of me.

I sigh dreamily as my feet touches the soft sand beneath me and I bounce up and down, kicking sand all around me.

Lucien chuckles and shakes his head at me, mumbling, "Cute!" under his breath.

As we get closer to the water, I notice two lounge chaise with umbrellas set up for us.

I look around the beach to find no one else beside us, "Where's everyone?"

Lucien smiles and replies, "This is a private part of the beach." Giving me a boyish grin, he continues, "It's one of a perks of having your own beach house."

Oh.

We sit on the chaise, facing each other as I pull the umbrella to cover me fully as I look up at him and ask casually, "So... who's Livia?"

He frowns, looking confused as he replies, "Who?"

I shrug dismissively and murmur, trying to sound casual, "You know... the girl you were talking to on the phone earlier."

He looks at me confused before understanding crosses his eyes and he looks at me, amused as if reading my mind.

I'm not jealous. I remind myself.

I just want to strangle this Livia girl and yell out, 'Back off bee-otch! He's mine!'

Like I said... not jealous. Nuh uh.

He grins, noticing my expression before he finally says, "Livia's not a girl."

"Huh?" Now I'm totally confused.

He chuckles before explaining, "Livia is my nickname for Levi."

I blink twice, "Levi? Your brother Levi?" I look at him, amused as I ask, "Why the hell do you call him Livia?"

He rolls his eyes and answers, "Because he calls me Lu-" He snaps his mouth shut and turns red. "Nothing. No reason."

I narrow my eyes at him, "What were you gonna say?"

He shakes his head, his cheeks turning redder, "Nothing."

"Come on! Pwease!" I mumble, pouting.

He looks at me and sighs, cursing out loud, before softly whispering, "Because he calls me Lulu, something Lola." He scratches his head, looking away, shyly.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing.

He huffs, annoyed and whines, "See, that's why I didn't wanna tell you. You haven't even heard the whole story and you're already laughing!"

I immediately stop and look at him, choking out, "There's more?"

He blinks and looks at me, wide eyed, "No... Nothing. Th... That's it." He stutters.

"Luke?"

He sighs, before blurting out, "You know, there was this show on Disney called Hannah Montana?"

At my nod, he continues, "Well, you know how Hannah Montana had a best friend played by Emily Osment, who performed under the name Lola."

"Mmh hmm." I nod, already knowing where this is heading.

He frowns adorably and continues, "And you know how Lola used to wear wigs of different colours during concerts, to keep her identity hidden?"

I nod.

"Well, I have a whole collection of her wigs because Levi thought it would be funny to gift me that on my 25th birthday in front of my whole family and friends." He blurts out, pouting at the end.

I blink. Once. Twice.

Before I burst out laughing, "Ooh my god! S-so funny!" I say, between laughs.

I look at him seriously, taking in his pouted face and place my hands on his cheeks and mumble, "I thought being cute was my thing. You're totally stealing my thunder."

He puffs out his cheeks and mumbles adorably, "I'm not cute. I'm sexy."

I grin and reply, "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

I lean back down on my chaise, on my back and close my eyes before looking at him, "Do you have sunscreen?"

He nods and hands me one from the bag.

I squeeze the bottle and apply nearly three coats of lotion on my skin, making Lucien give me a weird look.

I roll my eyes and huff, "Well, excuse me, Mr. Sexy Italian if I don't have perfect skin like you. I'm too pale. I don't tan well."

I frown and mumble, "If I stay under the sun for too long, I'll turn orange like a unicorn."

He gives me a confused, amused look and says, "Unicorns are not orange." He stares at me like I've grown two heads.

I smile sweetly at him, "And how would you know that? Have you see a unicorn before?"

Smiling smugly, I continue, "Oh wait! You haven't!"

He narrows his eyes and making a thinking face, "Mmh. That's a really good point."

I grin cheekily, "I know."

He just shakes his head, smiling at me.

"Wanna go for a swim?" He asks, pulling his tank over his head.

Before I could answer his question, my eyes trails down his body, mentally licking his eight pack abs and that delicious tattoo over his heart, as my eyes wander towards his muscular arms and his biceps which flexes as soon as my eyes lands there.

"Bella?" His Italian accent snaps me out of my dazed state as he grins at me, knowingly.

I blink twice and my cheeks flush, "Uh... what?"

He chuckles and utters, "I was asking, do you wanna go for a swim?"

I look at him wide-eyed as I felt my heart leap onto my throat as I immediately put my hand over my mouth as I run towards the nearby dustbin and throw up.

"Shit! Sweetheart!" I feel Lucien behind me as he pulls hair out of my face and holds it up as I empty my stomach.

Clutching my stomach, I wipe my lips with back of my hand as Lucien looks at me worried and hands me a bottle of water.

I take a sip and gargle it before spitting it out and taking another sip.

I walk a few steps away from the dustbin and sit down beside Lucien as he hands me a gum.

I smile and mumble a thanks.

He sighs and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and wipes my face with a wet towel, mumbling, "Poor bambino."

I chew the gum and shoot him a look, and smile, "What's with all the Italian today?"

He smile softly and whispers, "Well, I couldn't think of any English words to describe you... so I thought, let's try Italian."

I place my head on his shoulder and murmur, "Italian's good."

"Good to know." He says, kissing my forehead.

"What just happened?" He asks, after a few seconds.

I chuckle awkwardly and mumble, "I'm hydrophobic. I... er... you know, scared of water."

He narrows his eyes at me, "No, you're not."

I blink up at him.

"You are scared, I can see that but it isn't about water. It's something else." He says, scanning my expressions.

Placing both of his large hands on my cheek, he asks in a deadly tone, "Who did this to you?"

I pull away and mumble, "It's... er... no-no one."

And we both know that I'm lying.

He sighs, clenching his fist and mumbles, "Fine! Just tell me when you're ready, 'kay?"

I nod and give him a soft smile.

Before he could say another word, his phone rings playing Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys.

I look up at him confused.

He chuckles and says, "It's Levi."

I giggle at Lucien's choice of ringtone for his brother.

"Hey Livia!" Lucien murmurs, as he picks up the phone, grinning mischievously.

He looks at me and rolls his eyes, "Yes, she's with me."

Levi murmurs something making Lucien scowl and grumble, "I have not bored her to death. She's very alive."

I chuckle softly.

Silly guy!

Lucien hears his brother murmur something on the other end making Lucien's cheeks flush as he replies, "No, we aren't making out with each other."

Oh my...

"No, I'm not worried she's gonna think I'm a bad kisser." Lucien rolls his eyes. "I'm better than you." Grinning evilly, he says, "Why don't you ask your fiancée about it? She'll tell you who's the better kisser of the two of us."

Oh no he didn't.

I hear Levi growling on the other end as he yells out loud for me to hear, "Leave my fiancée out of this, you douchebag."

Lucien chuckles, "Relax man, I was just kidding."

He gives a soft smile as he stands up and mouths 'I'll be back' before walking towards the house.

I sigh watching his retreating form as I turn back towards the water as my mind flashes images of what happened the last time I was so close to the water. Nearly seven years ago:

I looked around me, smiling at the other students, who had settled down in front of the bonfire.

The wind blew around us, softly brushing against our skin as I heard the crinkle of the leaves, and I looked around admiring the dark forest around us.

Apparently, our principal had this 'genius' idea for all the seniors to go on a camp and do some 'wilderness' exploring. So here we were.

My eyes landed across the bonfire seeing my brother Nate teaching other students how to make their own fire. I rolled my eyes. 

Such a show-off.

Nate was five years older than me and was apparently every girl's walking dream; black haired, blue eyed, 6'5 with the body that every guy dreams of and every girl drools about. It also helped that our father was one of the richest man in town.

But that wasn't the way I would describe my brother. To me - he would always be my personal ninja. This carefree, bubbly guy who loved his sisters; me and Nova to death.

Against all rumours about him being next in line in inheriting Dad's business; he thought our family business was as interesting as a sneeze. All he ever wanted was to become a chef; a professional one.

Well, as professional as he could be, when I knew that he talked to the vegetables he cooked and apologised for cutting them.

That was my brother.

Apparently he was here because he was the coach of our high school's football team for the semester.

I was snapped out of my daydream when my best friends Amy and Rachel sat beside me on either side.

"He's so hot, isn't he?" Amy sighed dreamily.

I shot her a disgusted look and said, "Ew! Dude, that's my brother."

Rachel snorted, "I still can't believe you both have the same genes. I mean he's the Nate and you're... you!"

"Gee, thanks Rach."

She just shrugged.

Noticing our stare, Nate looked up at me, giving me one of his cheeky grin reserved just for his sisters.

"Aww." Amy and Rachel sighed simultaneously.

I rolled my eyes and blew a raspberry at Nate, making him grin widely.

I looked sideways to see Rachel and Amy drooling over him.

I slapped the back of Rachel's head and whisper yelled, "Don't you have Colton to drool over?"

Hearing Colton's name, Rachel sighed dreamily, her face turned into the look of love and adoration.

I shook my head and looked back at Nate to see him looking at direction, but not at me; at Amy.

Aww... my big brother has a crush.

I snapped out of my thoughts and frowned when an unknown girl dropped a note in lap and walked away without saying anything.

"Um... what?" I muttered.

Rachel and Amy turned to me and yelled, "Open it!"

Jeez, my poor ears.

I opened the crumpled note and read out loud:

Hey Nicolina,

Meet me at the pond towards the east of the main campsite in half an hour.

I'll be waiting.

It's a surprise. Come alone.

-Nate XXX

I frowned as I read the note again. Something's weird.

Nate never calls me Nicolina, just dum-dum or Nicky or kiddo or brat or my wittle sister... but never Nicolina.

"Do you know anything about this surprise?" Amy asked.

I shook my head, frowning.

Something in my gut told me something was wrong.

"So... are you gonna go?" Amy asked.

I snorted, "I have to. If I don't, I'll have to face Grouchy Nate for a week. And Grouchy Nate is an idiot."

Amy sighed dreamily and said, "I could face Grouchy Nate anytime."

I rolled my eyes and got up, "Not that I don't love listening to you guys saying weird things about my brother, I have to leave. God know where this stupid pond is."

I waved them bye and made my way toward this pond, knowing Nate would probably reach before even if he starts after me.

Dodging various trees on my way, I finally sighed as I saw the pond in front of me.

It was small in size, like a swimming pool in my mansion but it seemed peaceful. Hearing the soft sounds of birds in the distance, and the way moon reflected in the water, this place was like a dream.

Too bad, it was soon gonna turn into a nightmare.

I walked towards the edge of the pond and dipped my toes, splashing water around myself and giggling softly.

My head whipped towards the direction of the forest when I heard leaves ruffling.

"Nate? You there?" I yelled out loud.

I got no response.

I chuckled to myself, maybe it's my imagination.

I started turning away but then I heard another sound.

"Nate? Come on out. I'm scared, okay?" I whispered hoarsely.

When I still get no response, I yelled out, "Nathaniel Richard Stark, come out now and stop scaring your sister!"

"He's not coming, princess." I heard a familiar voice say from behind me as I felt shivers run up my spine and not in a good way.

"Ca... Cannon?" I whispered, as I felt heartbeat accelerate.

Before I could even turn around, I felt his large hand wrap around my neck as he pushes me down and straddles me while he continues choking me.

I felt air whoosh out of my lungs as he cut off my air supply and I struggled in his grasp. His big muscular arm doing nothing to help me.

I looked up at his menacing black eyes, as he grinned at my tortured state.

When I finally felt darkness taking me over, he pulled his hand back making me cough out loud as I clutched my neck, trying to breath hard.

He pulled my hair hard, and dragged me into the pond, "Let me go!" I choked out, my throat screaming in protest.

He chuckled darkly, "No can do, princess. Now sit back, and enjoy my wrath."

He didn't give me the time to register his words as he pushed my head under the water, making my arms fly around me as I struggled against his hand trying to lift myself back towards the surface.

Just as I felt, I couldn't hold on any longer, he pulled me up, "I won't let you go that easy. You'll be begging me to kill you, by the time I'm done with you."

I coughed out the water and dropped to my knees, struggling to even stand up.

"Why?" I spat out. Why me? Why this? 

Just why?

"Why?" He chuckled, menacingly. He pulled my hair backwards, making me yell out in pain as he leaned his face closer and said those four words that I could never forget;

"Because you deserve it!"

He shot me one dark look before pushing me into the water again.

"Nicky!" I heard my brother yell out just as blackness took me over.

"Nina?" I snap out of my daydream as the reality set in, as I saw Lucien sitting in front of me with his hands over my cheeks, looking at me concerned.

"What's wrong? You're pale." He says, caressing my cheeks with his thumb.

I shake my head and give him a small smile, "I'm fine. Er... old memories, I guess."

His jaw ticks at my words but he nods and doesn't pry any further.

Sitting beside me, facing the ocean, he says, "It's your turn, you know? I told you my embarrassing secret about how my brother calls me a girl's name. Now, open up. It's your turn."

Bless this guy for changing the topic!

"My embarrassing secret?" I ask, looking sideways.

"Yup."

"Okay. Lemme think." I rack my brain finding for something hilarious when I finally get it. "I have one."

I turn myself, to look at him and sit cross-legged.

He subtly glances at my body, before clearing his throat and settling his eyes back on mine.

I chuckle at his obvious reaction, noticing the bulge in his cargo pants.

Biting my lip, hesitantly I start, "So... I was like 14 at that time and Mum wanted me to go to a party with her. My mum's a fashion designer and she had recently designed for this blockbuster movie. So, we were going to attend its success party; since the film was a big hit and all."

I wince slightly when I felt my knees hurt from sitting cross-legged, so I untangled them and was about to hug my legs to my chest when Lucien places his hand over my leg and pulls me into him so that my leg was in his lap, sideways.

"Anyway," I clear my throat shooting him a knowing grin, "so Mum gave me hot wax, so that I could shave my hands because I was gonna be wearing a sleeveless gown."

Lucien cringes, "Do I need to know that?"

I chuckle, "Yes you do. Now hush. So it was my first time, you know waxing. And people always said that it was painful, like ripping off the bandage. So... I wanted to know how painful it was exactly." I close my eyes and blurt out, "That's when I saw my former dog Tommy sitting beside me."

"No way!" His jaw drops.

"Yes way." I wince, "I applied hot wax on his tail and did the deed. Poor dog ran out of the house, never to be seen again."

By this time, Lucien could barely his laughter as he buries his face in my neck and started shaking, as he laughs.

I giggle softly at my stupidity.

Suddenly Lucien pulls away and looks at me with a serious expression, "Do you trust me?"

I nod, confused.

He stands up abruptly and holds out his hand, "Come with me."

I look at him, confused but place my hand in his as he pulls me up.

Not removing his hold on me, he leads me towards the ocean.

I start pulling away when the water touches my feet but Lucien keeps on walking.

"No, no, no! Luke, I can't. I can't." I yell, pulling away from him.

He turns around and places his hand on my chin making me look at him, "Do you trust me?"

"I can't go back there. I can't." I whimper, trying to control my tears.

"Do you trust me?" He whispers softly.

I nod, sniffing.

"We'll go just as far as you're comfortable. I promise." He whispers, looking at me, concerned.

"Okay." I mumble hesitantly as he rewards me with a smile and leads me forward.

Walking a few steps ahead, I stop abruptly when the water reached up to the bottom of my bikini top, "This is it. I'm not going further." I say, firmly.

He smiles softly at me, "Okay. This is it."

He turns around and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me to him.

"Close you eyes." He says, looking down at me.

"Come again?" I blurt out.

"Come on... close your eyes."

I narrow my eyes at him making him huff and whine out, "Don't you trust me?"

I shoot him a glare but oblige as I close my eyes, "You better not get me killed or else I'll come back and haunt your Italian arse!"

He chuckles making me growl.

"Step on my feet." He whispers softly.

I sigh and do as he says.

"Arms around my neck."

"Aye aye captain." I murmur, putting my arms around his neck.

He tightens his arms around my waist, making our bodies crush together as I feel shiver run up my spine and my heartbeat accelerate.

"I swear, if this is your plan on seducing me; it's not gonna work. We're still surrounded by water." I mutter.

"Patience, bella." He sighs.

"Place your head on my shoulder, burying it against my neck." He whispers.

I nod and do the same, inhaling his sweet scent as I do so.

"Now what?" I whisper against his neck, clutching him tighter as I feel a small wave crash onto us.

"Now block everything else around you except me. Feel my body; not the waves around us. Hear my voice; not the sound of the seagulls. Just think about me and forget all about the beach." He whispers in a soft voice.

I nod and murmur, "What kind of thoughts?"

He kisses the side of my head and starts, "Imagine us being in each others' arms like we are right now. The smell of the freshly cut grass in the air. Do you see the oak tree beside us?"

I smile and imagine a big oak tree in my mind, "Yes I do."

He smiles against my hair, "Can you see the moon shining above us? Feel the cold air brushing against our skin as you shiver against me and hug me tighter."

"That's because you're warm." I reply, smiling at our own created fantasy.

"Mmh. I'm glad you think so. So... what are we doing next?" He asks as I feel him caressing my back with his thumb.

"I think we're dancing. Swaying in each others' arms." I whisper softly as I imagine the same.

"What song is playing?" He asks, playing along.

"Nothing. We don't need a song." I reply softly.

I feel him grin as he says, "Good answer. What next?"

I pull away from him so that I could look into his face as he does the same, "I pull away so that I can see you." I smirk and continue, "Then I slap your hands away because they seemed to have travelled south from my waist cupping my butt."

He grins wolfishly, "That sounds like something I would do."

I smile at him, "What do you think happens next?"

He smiles warmly, "I look down at you and see your big violet eyes looking up at me filled with adoration. I lean down to kiss your cheek, making your cheeks flush as your breath hitches."

I swallow loudly and bite my lip, "What next?"

He stares at me, his eyes filled with hunger as he replies, "I look down at your luscious lips as I feel myself getting harder thinking about the ways to crash my lips against yours and make you moan into me."

I look up at him and whisper, "So... why don't you? Crash your lips against mine?"

He smirks, "Because just crashing our lips together is too mainstream for Lucien Cooper."

My belly flutters in anticipation at his voice as I whisper hoarsely, "So what do you do instead?"

He looks straight into my eyes. His expression mirroring my own; like we couldn't wait to devour and ravish each other. Hormones clashing against each other as sexual desire fills the air.

He leans his lips against my ear and orders, "Close your eyes and imagine."

He places butterfly kisses against my earlobe making me clutch him tighter making him growl as he starts:

"Imagine me looking into your eyes; our eyes darkening with future anticipation. Then I would drop my eyes to your lips as you lick your lip as if you couldn't wait for me to kiss you. I would bite my lower lip while staring at your lips; making your thighs clench as a moan would escape past your lips, unknowingly. Then I would stare back at you eyes and lean closer, nuzzling our noses together before softly breathing against your lip making it part. And then I'll finally kiss you like there's no tomorrow. Like you're the last meal on earth. Marking you as mine forever." He sucks my earlobe once he finishes his talk.

"Luke." I moan out loud, tugging his hair harder.

I feel him take a deep breath before he pulls away and looks me in the eyes and croaks out, "We better stop before this gets any further. Because if we don't stop now; I won't be able to stop myself till I make you scream my name out loud and give all fishes and birds around quite a show."

Still in my dazed state, I blurt out, "I wouldn't mind if you did that."

I blink and look at him wide eyed; my cheeks flushing when I see him grinning at me in amusement.

I can't believe I said that.

He grabs my hand and pulls me forward, "Let's get out of water."

That's when I gasp out loud.

"We're in the water!" I look up at him, and grin widely, "We were in water for the past fifteen minutes and I didn't freak out! Oh my god! Oh my god!" I bounce up and down, excitedly and lean forward hugging him tightly.

"Thank you so much! Thank you!" I kiss his cheek as I hear him chuckle.

"I told you to trust me, didn't I?" He smiles at me.

"Yeah." I watch him with soft eyes, "I guess you did." I kiss his cheek, "Thank you."

"My pleasure, cara."

We walk out of the water as I try not to ogle his half naked wet body. I shiver when I see him drying himself with a towel.

"You cold?" He asks, concerned; misunderstanding my shiver.

"I... er... yes." I mumble.

He walks towards me and pulls his tank over my head, making my lady bits squeak out giddily.

"Thanks." I say, blushing hard as I pull on his black tank which reached up to my upper thighs.

"Mmh." He says, checking me out, "Perfect." He winks.

I blush profusely.

I look back around the beach and murmur, "Wanna walk around the beach?"

I look back at him and hold out my hand.

He looks at my hand, surprised before his lips curves into a goofy grin as he intertwines our hands together as we start walking down the beach.

"So why did Levi call you earlier?" I say, turning towards him as we enter the public part of the beach to see people everywhere.

He chuckles, "Because Elena's driving him crazy. She's in her third semester; which means she's  a hundred times moody and hormonal than before. Poor guy."

I smile wistfully, "My sister was the same when she was pregnant. But it's all worth it when you see the small bundle of happiness in your arms."

"Tell me more about them." He says. When he notices my confused expression, he clarifies, "Your family."

I smile and start, "You know my dad Richard. Well my mum Valentina is a fashionista, businesswoman, model all rolled into one. You might have heard of her, she's pretty famous."

He nods. "I have."

"We are three siblings. My brother Nathaniel, me and then my baby sister Novella; in that order. Nate's a professional chef. Happily married with my former best friend and sister-in-law Amy. They have two girls. My baby sister Nova; also happily married with the famous singer Scott Taylor; you might've seen him on the covers of various magazines." I glance at Lucien.

Unlike Lucien who was know for his bad boy look; my brother-in-law Scott was more of a pretty boy type.

"And they have twins; a boy and a girl, born three months ago." I murmur.

"What about you?" He asks, making a thinking face, "Why no boyfriends or husbands?"

"I don't know." I sigh, "I've never thought about this before."

Chuckling humourlessly, I whisper, "I just thought I deserved this. This lonely life filled with happy couples all around me."

"And why did you think that?" He asks softly, looking at me concerned.

I sigh sadly, "I guess, when people say spiteful things to your face everyday, you start believing it too."

"Say their names and they won't be able to speak anything for the rest of their lives." He growls, his jaw clenching.

I smile at him, "Relax sexy." Wiping a fake tear, I gush out, "My hero."

He puffs out his chest, "Only yours."

I smile and look back towards the ocean. "Look! The sun is about to set."

He pulls my hand and sits down and pats the sand next to him. I smile widely and sit next to him, facing the sunset.

"It's so beautiful." I sigh, looking at the orange yellow sky.

"Meh!" Lucien shrugs.

I gape at him, "Meh!? Just meh!? How could find such a beautiful thing just meh!?" I look at him, bewildered.

He just shrugs and smiles softly, "When the most beautiful girl in the world is sitting next to me, everything else comparatively seems 'Just meh!'."

I suck in a breath as my eyes widens, blush creeping up my cheeks.

"Charmer!" I tease, nudging his side.

"Beautiful!" He nudges back.

We smile at each other and sit in comfortable silence as we watch the sunset.

A group of boys walk past us, giving me lingering looks making Lucien pulls me closer to him as he glares at him and growls.

I chuckle at his expression and kiss his cheek.

His eyes softens as he turns towards me, and asks confused, "What?"

I shake my head smiling, "You. Stop being so cute." I kiss his nose.

He scowls at me and grumbles adorably, "I'm not cute, I'm sexy!"

I giggle, leaning into him, "Thank you for everything."

He smiles softly, "My pleasure, tesoro."

I shake my head and mumble, "Sexy Italian" under my breath making him chuckle.

Lucien sighs, "We better leave."

I nod slowly, disappointed that the day has come to an end.

Noticing my disappointment, Lucien whispers, "Don't worry, we'll be back soon. It's just that the next time I don't think we'll be leaving the beach house any time soon, if you know what I mean." He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

I slap his arm, blushing hard, "Perv!"

"You love it." He murmurs cheekily.

"Cheeky bum!" I grumble.

We walk towards the road seeing Robert leaning against a black SUV.

I blush hard and walk closer to Lucien tugging on the tank that barely covered my body.

"Mr. Lucien, Miss Stark." Robert nods.

"Mr. Robert." I murmur, playfully.

He smiles softly and opens the door for us.

Lucien lets me get in first and then follows me in.

Robert starts the car, looking awkward as hell.

I sit there blushing profusely when Lucien whispers, "You do realize that Robert was keeping an eye on us the whole time we were at the beach."

"What!?" That's why Robert looks so uncomfortable, "I don't think I'll ever be able to look him in the eye again."

He just chuckles in response.

I sigh leaning against him as he puts his arm around my shoulder.

"I'm sleepy." I mumble, yawning.

"So sleep." He states, pulling me closer and running his hands through my hair.

"'Kay..." I trail off, already drifting off to sleep.

I hear him chuckle as he kisses my head lovingly and whisper, "Sleep tight, bella."

"Gunmy bears..." I sigh out loud, sleepily as I feel his chest vibrating as he chuckles.

As I feel myself getting unconscious; the last thought that entered my mind was:

I think I have my own personal knight in the shining armour.

***