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for jo ♡
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Sneaking around with Alex was the best – and scariest – thing to ever happen to me. Every morning, as he was feeding the horses, he would walk past the stables on his morning stroll around the palace grounds, a new hobby he had picked up. This led to him walking in, asking me about the horses, and if I needed any help.
"Yes, if that is alright with you, your highness." I would say. "Over in the corner, behind the hay bales, I have lost something." I would take his hand, and drag him to behind the hay bales, where no one could see us. Then we would make out until we heard someone coming.
This happened every day. He had also started to take a new liking to horse riding. Except he 'wasn't very good at it', and I had to take him riding every Thursday, down to the orchard.
"You have to promise me something, Alex." I said one day as we laid under the apple tree, closest to the stream.
"Anything, my darling." He held my hand and stroked it lightly with his thumb, causing me to shiver.
"If we were to get caught, you must not take the blame. Allow them to believe that I came onto you, as my life is worthless, compared to the life of the future king." He looked to me, shocked.
"Vee, you can't be suggesting that I-"
"Promise me, Alex." I said firmly, and he sighed, before nodding slowly.
I sighed in relief, before rolling onto my stomach and resting my head on my arms, allowing my shirt to ride up. "What happened to your back?" Alex asked, and I knew he was talking about the bruise that started on my lower back, disappearing under my pants.
"Horse kicked me a couple of days ago. It looks worse than it is. I'm fine." The second part was a lie – it hurt like hell and was starting to affect my work, as I could barely bend down and pick up buckets without wanting to scream in agony.
I closed my eyes, relishing in the peace and quiet, before my shirt was pulled up slowly. "You're so tense." He murmured as I lifted myself up, allowing him to completely pull my shirt off, revealing my skinny yet slightly built frame.
"That's the hard life of a stable hand, I don't get to live in luxury like you do." I laughed and he chuckled, leaning down and pressing a kiss on my defined shoulder blade. I shuddered as he kept kissing the same spot.
"You're beautiful." He whispered against my skin, and something in me stirred... affection? Fondness?
I merely hummed, closing my eyes. I felt so relaxed, something that was quite rare. Alex's hands started to knead my shoulders, massaging the stress and anxiety out of me.
Anxiety had become a major part of my life. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, making sure no one had followed us down here. It had gotten to the point that I would stay up until early hours of the morning, overthinking everything. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe we should stop now, before he gets hurt.
But in this moment, my guard had slipped and I melted under Alex's hands.
He smiled softly at me. "It's a bit warm, don't you think? And I know the stream is nice and cool at this time in the year." Before I could respond, he sat up and lifted his shirt off. My eyes widened, but he didn't stop there, taking off his shoes before standing up and unbuttoning his pants.
"Alex, w-we don't have anything to swim in!" I protested, blushing brightly as he pulled his pants to down reveal his white, silk boxers.
"Vee, my love." He grinned. "Have you ever heard of skinny dipping?" And with that, he dropped his boxers, and stood there in all his naked glory.
I looked away immediately, face stained bright red. I heard the water sloshing as he stepped in, before he called out. "Come on, Vee! The water is beautiful!"
There were a few reasons I didn't want to do it. First of all, Alex looked so, so much better than me. His body was toned and chiselled, whereas I looked like a stick, with a giant bruise on my ass. Even his clothes were better than mine. He had buttons on his pants. Buttons! I had a piece of rope tied tightly around my waist to prevent my pants from falling!
But, I knew I had to do it. To please Alex, that was my goal.
And so, with my eyes still closed, I undid the rope, allowing my pants to immediately fall to my ankles. I sighed heavily, before pulling down my boxers, until I was completely naked.
The first thing I did was wrap my arms around my body, trying to hide my ugly, skinny body. I hadn't opened my eyes yet, and all I could hear was silence, which was starting to scare me.
Suddenly I felt a wet hand on my wrist, pulling it away so that I wasn't hiding myself with my arms. I opened my eyes to see Alex's blue ones staring back. "Hey. You don't need to be insecure. I love your body."
Before I could say anything, he grabbed my hand, pulling me to the water. I squealed as I felt the icy cold water reach up to my thighs. "This is not beautiful! This is freezing, Alex!"
He merely chuckled, before splashing water all over my body, causing me to shriek and laugh, splashing him back. It went back and forth, with us splashing each other. The splashing only stopped when he got close enough to push me under the water.
I spluttered as I came back up to the surface, hair dripping at my shoulders. As I wiped the water from my eyes, I saw Alex, laughing and smiling at me. Something in my chest stirred, and I found myself wading over to him. Once I had reached him, I put a hand on his cheek, and leant up to kiss him softly.
There was no heavy making out, like the frantic mess that was every stable visit. Right now, it was just Alex and I, with not a care in the world.
He put a hand on my lower back, slowly guiding us back to the shoreline. "Up." He murmured against my lips and I jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist as he walked out of the water, back onto dry land. Without breaking our kiss, he lowered himself gently, allowing me to rest against the grass.
It was there that we made love for the first time, under the apple tree, closest to the stream.
