Pampered Like A Princess

Nelissa came out of the bathroom in Edward’s night robe moments later. She folded the sleeves and pulled the belt snug around her waistline, but she still looked like a petite child wearing oversized clothes.

She sat on the sofa and tugged on the night robe to cover her exposed skin.

“Do you have anything else that I could wear?” Nelissa asked. She didn’t feel safe wearing the loose garment, not to mention that Edward was gawking at her.

Edward didn’t reply to her. Instead, he went straight to the bathroom and came back with a towel. Wiping her hair dry, he murmured, “We’ll still need to blow it dry later.”

Nelissa shook her head, “It’s okay. I usually air-dry my-”

She trailed off, feeling Edward’s fingers brushing at the nape of her neck. His touches were so light that it tickled her.

Quivering, Nelissa caught his hands, “Could I please borrow your phone? I need to call home, but my phone died.”

Edward cocked his brows, “Was that why I couldn’t reach you?”

“Yes, I forgot to charge my phone.”

He smiled, finally brightening up after the long night.

“Here you go.” Edward handed his cell phone over.

“Oh no, that won’t do. I’m calling Jolene. I don’t think that she’s going to pick up the call if it’s coming from you.”

“Fine,” Edward shrugged. He sat down beside Nelissa and pulled her into his arms, smiling smugly, “What about you? Do you deliberately ignore my calls too?”

“I’m afraid to even miss your call,” she answered truthfully. However, she knew that he would find her eventually even if she didn’t pick up his call.

He hummed in satisfaction. “Good girl.”

Edward pulled Nelissa closer and planted soft kisses on her lips, the tip of his tongue brushing across her parted lips, inviting himself in.

Unprepared for the kiss, Nelissa stared at Edward with wide eyes. Just a look into his deep eyes melted her soul. In the end, she couldn’t help but reciprocate, lacing her tongue with his.

Edward pulled away slightly, stroking her face lovingly.

He smirked, “You were going to bite me again, weren’t you? I may like my girl feisty, that doesn’t mean you should challenge me. It’ll only make me want to punish you even more.”

Nelissa flushed red. Edward’s voice was ever so seductive, always tempting their prey into their trap. She couldn’t believe that she had thought she could outrun him earlier in his car.

Her submission pleased Edward. He leaned in and locked his lips with hers, this time more aggressively. He moved her onto his lap and craned his neck towards her bosom, his breath hot and heavy… All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.

“Master Hales, Miss Quest, the sandwiches are ready!”

It was Eliza.

Edward pulled away and took a deep breath to compose himself, “One moment.”

Meanwhile, Nelissa was catching her breath in his arms. He rubbed her back, “Feeling better?”

Nelissa nodded and got up from his lap. The night robe had come undone during their steamy exchange, showing off a large area of her smooth skin. She quickly pulled it together to cover herself up, all the while Edward had kept Eliza waiting.

Eliza entered the room shortly after with a cup of hot chocolate and bite-sized sandwiches on a tray. She left after placing them down on the coffee table.

She noticed that Nelissa was wearing Edward’s night robe, which suggested that they had shared a very intimate relationship that even Sophia didn’t have.

“You may use the phone downstairs later once you’re done,” Edward said after Eliza left.

Nelissa nodded and sipped on the hot chocolate. It warmed her up and stimulated her appetite. She helped herself with the mouth-watering sandwiches.

Meanwhile, Edward was enjoying the view.

The night robe soon fell loose again. Nelissa didn’t seem to notice it, and he didn’t intend to remind her either. He would occasionally reach out to tuck a loose strand of hair to the back of her ears.

Nelissa didn’t mind Edward’s intense gaze on her. He had done that so often that she had somewhat gotten used to it, and she didn’t see any point in asking him to stop since he wasn’t going to listen to her anyway.

Truth be told, Nelissa had mixed feelings towards Edward. He took her first, and he found her five years later after she fled. It was destined that Edward would be her undoing. Apart from Noey and Nate, Nelissa would give him everything he wanted.

……

Nelissa went downstairs with the emptied cup and plate, handing them to Eliza, who had worked overtime that night. She thanked Eliza for her hospitality.

“I’m just doing my job,” Eliza shook her head. Edward was a generous employer, so Eliza didn’t mind working overtime once in a while. She then excused herself to the kitchen.

Nelissa went to pick up the landline in the living room and dialed Jolene’s number.

It took Jolene a while to answer the call. And when she did, she sounded abrupt, “Who is this?”

“It’s me,” Nelissa chuckled.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Jolene immediately bombarded her with questions, “Where are you? What is taking you so long to come home? Wait, are you even coming home for dinner?”

Nelissa grinned, “No, I’m not going home tonight. Something came up. Could you please take care of Noey and Nate for me? I’ll buy you the bagel from the corner of the street for breakfast tomorrow, deal?”

However, knowing Jolene, a bagel wasn’t enough to stop her from asking questions, especially when she had already suspected that Nelissa had a boyfriend. She insisted, “Tell me where you are first.

“Also, don’t you think that you’ve spent too much time away from Noey and Nate lately? You were inseparable from them when you were in Southville City. Don’t you dare to abandon your children for some random man!”

At this moment, Edward – the man who fathered Nelissa’s children and the person whom Jolene thought Nelissa might abandon her children for – made his way downstairs.

He called for Eliza and went to the backyard together. He was saying something to Eliza while pointing at the swimming pool.

Nelissa replied, “I’m at Edward’s.”

Jolene fell silent for a few seconds. Worried, she asked, “How did you end up meeting him again? He wouldn’t think that you’ve set up to run into him on purpose, right?”

Her concerns amused Nelissa. What happened, in reality, was quite the contrary. Jolene had nothing to worry about.

However, it wasn’t something Nelissa was ready to share with her. Thus, she could only promise that she would avoid as much interaction with Edward as possible. Jolene reluctantly ended the call after.

To be frank, Nelissa understood Jolene’s unease very well. After all, Edward and her were from different worlds.

She took deep breaths to pull herself together and headed to the backyard. She wondered what Edward had asked Eliza to do.

Meanwhile, Eliza had already retrieved the photo album from the bottom of the swimming pool.

She put it into the trash bag and asked Edward again for confirmation, “Master Hales, are you sure-”

“Yes,” he interjected. “Throw it away.”

Since Edward had said so, Eliza asked no more questions. With the trash bag in her hand, she turned to go back to the villa, but she saw Nelissa standing not far away from them.

“Miss Quest,” she greeted, and it attracted Edward’s attention.

Nelissa smiled softly, her eyes falling onto the trash bag in Eliza’s hand.

Edward broke the silence first, “Did you change your mind?”

Nelissa shook her head and answered firmly, “No. Throw it away.” She wasn’t going to keep the album anyway.

“I’ll be leaving now then, Master Hales,” Eliza said and quickly left the scene, sensing that something was off.

Edward walked towards Nelissa and carried her up back to his bedroom. She was unexpectedly quiet and meek this time around.

“Are you upset that I threw the album away?” he asked flatly, putting her down on his bed. “If you want, I could take photos for you too. I’ll take so many photos of you that you’ll need a lot of albums to keep them.”

Edward had thought it through when Nelissa was speaking to Jolene on the phone. Since he couldn’t be a part of Nelissa’s history, he could, at least, be a part of her future. He wanted to be a part of her children’s future as well.

However, Nelissa didn’t seem to feel the same way. She gaped at him, wondering if he had committed to spending the rest of his life with her. If that was the case, she would have much to explain when Nate grows up to look like him.

All of a sudden, Edward pressed a button somewhere. A decorative wall slid open, revealing an entirely new space filled with women’s clothes.

Nelissa looked at him in confusion, to which he replied, “You’d better change into something else. Otherwise, I don’t think that I can hold myself back any longer.”

She followed where his gaze fell, and she finally noticed that her night robe had come loose again. Quickly grabbing the fabric to cover herself, Nelissa shot daggers at Edward before walking towards the mini wardrobe.

Edward trailed behind her, “Pick whatever you like.”

Nelissa was amused to see so many women’s clothes in his bedroom. She raised her eyebrows and asked jokingly, “People collect antiques and jewelry, yet you collect women’s clothes? What’s your problem?”

Edward took her questions seriously, “Sophia will sometimes come to this villa. I couldn’t be bothered to explain everything to her, so I kept them here instead.

“You should have noticed by now that Sophia and I aren’t the lovey-dovey couple that you would usually see on the streets. We do not interfere in each other’s lives and it’s a purely transactional relationship.”

“I am the master of my own fate, and she’s not a part of my plan.”