Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (42 page)

Paramita felt bad, she realized that
all this time she was too preoccupied with her own fears and
insecurity to realize what Ali was going through inside, "Bang,
I..."

"Hey it's ready, come on let's eat."
Ali cut her off, "Here, I want you to taste my world class stir
fried meat. Guaranteed to make you come back for more."

"Hey," She grabbed his wrist, "I'm
sorry, don't think too much about what I said."

He held her cheeks and kissed her lips
gently.

"Bang..." She whispered

"Mita, it’s me who should apologize, I
didn't mean to make you feel bad. It's just that I miss you so
much, and it's making me a bit paranoid. But don't worry about it,
I won't pressure you for anything, okay? Now let's eat."

Paramita nodded, "So, tell me. How was
your day today?"

"Well, I made sure that they emptied
out all my belongings in my room. I’ve never realized how much
garbage I've collected throughout the years."

"I'm just glad, we're done with all
this moving. It's tiring. But do you know what I found most
unbelievable?" She asked.

"What?"

"How in the world could a man have so
many clothes? You are a lot vainer than I thought."

Ali laughed. "Don't blame me, my mother
always buys us new outfits every month, for me and for Hafiz. I
don't think I've even wore all of them."

"Ah...., well, I never buy my own
clothes either." She smiled.

They heard the sound of a phone
ringing, a few minutes later, Rini showed up at the kitchen door,
"Your Highness Pangeran, there is a call for you from the office of
the Sultan." She reported.

Ali looked at Mita who lifted her
shoulder. "I'll take the call from here." He said.

He picked up the phone, then waited for
the sound of a click indicating that the other one had been put
down before answering, "Hello."

Paramita didn't pay attention to what
he was saying over the phone, she didn't want to be the type of
wife who spies at her husband. Instead, she concentrated on her
food.

"Well, so much for our honeymoon." Ali
said while sitting back in his chair.

"What did they say?"

"We have to attend an event tomorrow at
the Wirakarta Continental, hosted by a very large international
financial institution. Your father wants me to take the opportunity
to introduce myself to their honchos. It's a good chance to discuss
opportunities for opening up Jothar to foreign
investments."

"Ah...okay, well I suppose there's
nothing we can do but attend."

"The good news is, that it's a black
tie event, so you wouldn't have to be squeezed into a
girdle."

* * *

They walked into the venue, Paramita
held on to Ali's forearm. This was the first time she had seen him
in a black tie suit, he looked handsome and elegant as always, she
admired his chameleon like ability, he was one way with her at
home, but another way outside. Now he looked serious and
charismatic, befitting of a crown prince.

She wore a beige colored off shoulder
gown, since it was a high profile event, she didn't dare to wear
her fake diamonds. Instead, she chose to put on the only real ones
she had. They were greeted at the door by the Country Manager of
the company, her name was Susan Deck. She politely welcomed them in
and introduced them to the rest of his team.

"Your Highnesses, let me introduce you
to the President of our company, this is George Beckman. George,
this is His Highness the Crown Prince of Jothar Prince Burhanuddin
Ali and his wife Princess Paramita Ali."

"It's nice to meet you, Your Highness
Prince Ali, Your Highness Princess Paramita." George
smiled.

They were presented to the other
members of the high management team and their respective
spouses.

Paramita found herself enjoying the
conversation she had with Susan, she was a very knowledgeable
woman, very direct but prudent. She also paid careful attention as
Ali on several occasions subtly pitched his investment proposal to
George. The latter became interested in his idea and they agreed to
take the discussion to the next level on a later day.

"Yes we are definitely interested."
George said nodding his head.

Ali smiled, satisfied at the response
he received. "Excellent, I’m glad to hear that. We will arrange a
meeting with Sultan sometime next week."

"It would be my honor to meet your
father The Sultan." George replied.

"Ah, His Majesty is my father in law."
Ali explained.

"Oh, excuse me, I wasn't
aware."

"I'm just a prince consort, my wife is
The Sultan's daughter. I am a Prince because of my
Princess."

"Ah... I see."

"As you can see, my husband is a very
intelligent and capable man, he is the Crown Prince because of his
abilities and not because of his right of birth." Paramita
added.

"I have to agree with Her Highness."
George countered.

* * *

"Do you really think that I deserve the
Crown Prince position for my capabilities?" He asked as they were
leaving the venue.

"Yes I do!" She assured.

"Thank you." He whispered, "You're very
beautiful tonight."

"And you're charming as
always."

"Come on, I have a surprise for you."
He said while pulling her hand.

"What surprise?"

He brought her to the pool, it was
decorated with lines of candles on the floor and flower
bouquets.

"What's all this?" She was
dumbfounded.

"You said that you wanted to be a
Princess like your friend Libby." He said.

"Lizzy." She corrected.

"I can't make you become your father's
Princess, but would you be mine instead?"

Four violinists came out on queue
playing the waltz.

"May I have this dance?" He asked
extending his hand to her.

She nodded taking it. As he pulled her
close he whispered, "Don't get angry if I accidently stomp on your
foot."

"How romantic...." She whispered back
trying not to laugh.

Ali smiled as he moved his right foot
forward, Paramita took the queue to move her left foot back, and
they danced to the smooth classical music. Tonight she got a chance
to discover another side of him. The side of a professional at
work, of an economist who is working for his country and his
dreams. A different side of the husband she had become familiar
with these past few weeks.

"On the night of our wedding reception,
you said that you didn't want to sleep on the bed because of the
flower petals, why is that?" She asked.

"I don't know, it just reminded me of a
time when I was five years old, my father took me to a funeral, he
told me to wait outside, but I got bored and went to look for him,
that's when I saw the deceased lying on the..." He swallowed his
spit

"You don't have to continue, I can
imagine what you felt at the time." She said gently.

"Anyway, I can't get my mind around who
came up with the sick and perverse idea of putting flower petals on
a bed meant for a couple who just got married." He
frowned.

"It's supposed to be romantic,
silly...." She laughed. "So what do you think they should use to
decorate a bridal bed?"

"I don't know...." He thought for a
while, "Apples maybe...ah...strawberries..."

"Durian....." She laughed
again.

"I'll take durian over flower petals."
He replied in a serious tone.

Paramita couldn't help but laugh louder
imagining the scene, durian husk on a bridal bed that would be
something different.

Ali smiled seeing her cheerfulness, "I
see that you're having a good time."

"I am, thank you...." She replied. "I
can't allow you to put durians on our bed."

"Aww......" He pretended to look
disappointed.

She moved closer to him then whispered
in his ear, "But I will allow you "un petit mort"
tonight."

Ali choked slightly, he stopped his
steps then looked at her, trying to see if she was serious or just
teasing him. Seeing her expression, he waved the violinists away,
then pulled her by the hand into the lobby. He walked right up to
the front desk, "Do you have any available suites?"

Paramita was baffled, "Are you crazy?
What if..."

"I am crazy, I'm happily crazy, "He
said while taking out his credit card and giving it to the hotel
staff.

"Sir, we don't have any available
suites, we have a deluxe room available though."

"I'll take it." He replied without a
doubt.

"Bang..." Paramita blushed.

"The name you would like to register,
sir?" The receptionist asked.

"Burhan and Sawitri" He replied,
glancing at his wife.

The receptionist gave him a key card,
"Room 506, you can take the elevator on the left, do you have any
luggage?"

Ali shook his head, "Let's go" He said
to Paramita.

He pulled her into an embrace when they
were in the elevator, he kissed her hair several times.

"Bang, there's a CCTV there." She
reminded him.

"It's not like I'm doing anything X
rated." He replied coolly.

The elevator bell dinged as they
reached the fifth floor. Ali looked for the direction of the room
and led her down the hallway. He swiped the card on the lock then
pushed the door open, letting her enter first. He quickly followed
in, letting the door close.

Ali didn't give her chance to speak, he
pulled her to him and began attacking her lips, ravishing her
tongue with all his sense of longing. He pushed her lower back
closer towards him, pressing her chest on his and kneading her back
with his hands as she circled her arms around his neck.

He slowly lowered her zipper, letting
her gown drop in a pile on the floor. She helped him take off his
jacket, then his tie without releasing his lips.

Ali carefully sat her down on the bed,
he removed his shirt and pants, kicking his shoes and pulling off
his socks, before leaning over to kiss her again.

Paramita dropped herself backward on
the bed, pulling him beside her. She sighed at the touch of his
hand tracing her lower abdomen, he tasted her skin, taking in all
her sweetness. He subtly moved his hand to remove the remaining
cloth between them. Paramita allowed all her senses to meet his.
She closed her eyes as she surrendered completely to his
passion.

Chapter Thirty
Five

Ali dropped himself on the mattress,
panting and gasping for air. His bare chest dripping with sweat.
Paramita glanced from the corner of her eyes at her husband. She
threw a roundhouse kick at the punching bag, before picking up the
small towel and the bottle of water at the corner of the training
hall. She approached him and sat beside him on the
mattress.

"I think I'm going to suffer a heart
attack......" Ali whispered.

Paramita didn't want to seem mean, but
she couldn't help but hide a smile. "You have been busy with work
lately and you don't exercise regularly, I don't think it's a good
idea to force yourself, how many laps did you run?" She used the
towel to wipe the sweat from his face and chest.

"I ran ten laps...." He said, his
breath already calm.

"Come on, let me help you up, take a
drink of water." She put her arm under his head and helped him to
sit. She opened the water bottle and brought it to his
mouth.

"Thank you." He said. "Help me stand
up."

"Poor baby!" She said in a cutesy
voice.

"Good morning, Pangeran and Puteri."
Colonel Anton approached them.

"Good morning Colonel," Ali
replied.

"Good morning." Paramita also greeted
him.

"Pangeran, we have assigned Captain
Bagas to your residence, Pangeran. He will be reporting for duty
this afternoon."

Ali nodded, he patted the Colonel on
the shoulder, "Thank you Colonel." He said.

He turned to his wife then whispered,
"Help me walk to the car. I can't feel my legs." He put his arm
around her shoulder so she could help him walk.

* * *

"Reporting for duty, Pangeran." Captain
Bagas stood in front of Ali.

"Captain Bagas, it's great to have you
as part of my staff," Ali replied with a kind smile.

"The honor is mine Pangeran. Belated
congratulations on your new positions as Crown Prince. I'm sorry I
only congratulated you three months after."

"Thank you! Better late than never.
This is Mister Ariawan, he is the Chief of Staff here in the Lotus
Palace. He will show you to your room and introduce you to your
men."

"Please this way Captain Bagas." Mister
Ariawan signaled.