Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 170: Kintsugi

ARRIE’S POV

"Araminta," he whispered into my mouth, "I’ve wanted this from the first time I saw you in that training room. You have no idea how crazy you’ve driven me. Watching Baer hurt you was almost more than I could take."

"I’m sorry I got things so wrong," I whispered back secretly against his lips. "I wish I’d known you liked me from the start."

"I don’t think it could have been any more obvious," he laughed at himself, clearly, he was referring to our wrestle on the night we met.

"We’d only learnt about men in books. We were taught that’s what happens to all men when they’re in close proximity to a semi-clad pretty young woman. Not that I’m pretty."

I wasn’t fishing for a compliment. I knew I was the least attractive of all of us palace girls.

"What are you talking about? You’re gorgeous and hot. Why do you think you’ve got two men fighting over you?"

"Baer’s not fighting for me. He likes Loveday. I was just the fallback girl for him. He used me."

I dropped my eyes, not able to look at him anymore.

"Is that why he’s still chasing around after you, Araminta? By any yardstick, you are beautiful."

He touched his nose to mine. "I can’t believe you like me. I’m very happy," his gorgeous blue eyes twinkled an inch from my own.

"Me too," I agreed.

"Come on lovebirds, make it snappy!" came the shout of General Meyer.

I blushed and covered my face with my hands.

"Oh my God! Everyone knows now."

"There are no secrets in the military when you’re living cheek and jowl. Come on," he grabbed my hand, "I don’t want it to be a secret anyway. I want everyone to know about it; especially Baer so he can stay away from you from now on."

My very broken heart felt warm for the first time in a long time. Like the crack up the middle of it might be able to be mended after all.

I thought of those Japanese vessels the Emperor kept in a display cabinet. They had been broken, but were mended with pure gold, turning something perfect into something imperfect, but even more beautiful than the perfect original.

I wondered with a thread of hope, if that could be me...

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WOLF’S POV

I tried my hardest not to put Araminta under pressure, but I really needed to know if what she had said to Baer in the bunkroom was true, or if she had said it just to get rid of him.

I had played those words of hers over and over in my head; ’remarkably, I like a guy who’s kind, thoughtful and nice to me’.

Of course I was over-thinking things, but her words seemed too genuine to be something you’d say to get rid of a pest. She could have just told him she liked me and left it at that.

Anyway, I had decided I didn’t want to lie awake thinking about it anymore, I had to know the answer, one way or another.

From the moment I asked her if she had meant what she said on that day, I felt like such a fool for asking.

It suddenly seemed obvious that she would have said anything to deter that knucklehead. And of course it was far too soon after the debacle with Baer for her to be able to move on with another guy.

As usual with me, I had stuffed things up! I was so damn clumsy; with precious things and with precious women it seemed.

I knew that my face had betrayed my feelings and turned red as a beet because I felt flushed and trapped, and I could feel the sweat beading at my temples. But I’d started this thing, so now I’d better finish it!

"So did you?" I tried one last time, knowing I looked like a lovesick fool, "mean any of it?"

"Wolf, I don’t understand men very well," she said.

Well d’uh... That was plain as the nose on her face, or she would have run a mile from Baer, not kept returning to be dragged over the coals by him again and again.

If she’d picked me in the first place, I would have treated her like the princess she was. I would never willingly hurt her. You had to be some kind of sociopath to hurt a pretty little woman like Araminta if she came to you willingly.

I thought I had better let her off the hook because she was looking very sad and confused, so I told her it was fine because women were a total mystery to me too, and that she didn’t have to answer me.

I was scared now, scared that I’d pushed her too hard, and that she would run a million miles from me.

I had plenty more patience left in me for this woman. I could wait and wait for her, so long as I knew I was making progress.

It was time to backtrack entirely and let her know I was more than happy just being friends with her.

"I don’t want to pressure you, Araminta. There’s no rush. I’m happy being your best friend," I told her, in a rush of fear that she would shut me out.

"Is that all you want?" she didn’t look at me when she asked me this, so I had no idea if she wanted me to say ’yes’ or ’no’.

It was the million-dollar question! It was definitely loaded... If I said ’no’, would it make a liar of me saying I was happy being her best friend?

But here’s the rub; if I said ’yes’ I was happy just being friends, I would never know if she liked me back, because one thing was for sure; she wasn’t going to be the first one to say it.

Somehow this felt harder than fighting enemy soldiers, but I knew it was time to be courageous...

"I wouldn’t say no, if you wanted more," I told her.