Arranged marriage : Married to an unknown man

Ariana Knight

Waking up I found myself entangled with Xavier. My head rested on his shoulder, arms wrapped around his torso & legs intertwined with his. His arms were also wrapped around me possessively.

A sudden blush crept on my cheeks when I glanced at my naked form. The things that happened last night came flashing in front of my eyes. Xavier was sleeping peacefully like a baby. I tried to untangle myself from him but he tugged me closer.

“Don’t stir, I want to sleep more.” He mumbled sleepily but I was blushing profusely, I needed to wear clothes. I again wiggled but in no second I found myself on my back with Xavier on top of me.

“You’re really stubborn, aren’t you?” His morning voice sounds so sexy. Goodness, what am I thinking?

“Instead of thinking you can directly call me sexy.” He opened his eyes & gave me a devious smile. The blush deepened on my cheeks. How does he manage to listen to my thoughts?

“Well, Good morning Mrs. Knight.” He said and kissed my lips. It was the first time I was being called by that name and I would be lying if I say that I don’t like the feel of it.

“I wanted to call you this for so long.” He whispered, rubbing his nose with mine.

“Good morning to you too. Xavier can you…can you please get aside? I have to.. we…wear clothes.” I said shyly.

“But I like the way you are, naked in my arms.” He exclaimed without hesitation. My eyes went wide hearing him.

“How can you be so shameless?” I voiced out but immediately covered my mouth with my hand. Smirking, he removed my hand from my mouth.

“You didn’t complain last night, why now?” He cocked his eyebrow.

“Don’t you have work to attend?” I asked, changing the topic.

“Oh yes, I have, I have to be on duty of my wife. I have to pleasure her.” He said in the most innocent way. I hit his chest playfully.

“I never asked for it.” I was a heap of embarrassment.

“But like a good husband, it’s my duty to please you without even asking for it.” I pushed him away with all my strength, he laughed out loud and sat up, the blanket was covering his glory. I tried to sit up but winced when I felt pain down there.

“Hey don’t jerk your body, you must be sore.” He said with concern. I sat there lowering my head, clutching the blanket on my chest. I indeed was sore.

“Come on, let’s take a warm bath.” He said and tried to snatch the blanket from me. I gasped on his action and his words. I clutched the blanket more tightly, jerking my body back.

“Why are you hiding from me? I saw everything last night, remember?” He wiggled his eyebrows, flashing a playful smile.

“Goodness, Xavier you’re incorrigible. And.. that.. that happened in n.. night. It’s daytime.” I stuttered, looking everywhere but him.

“So what? And you know what? The view in daylight is more clear.” He said bringing his face closer to mine.

“You’re really shameless.” I rebuked.

“For you, I am. And I’ll make you shameless too.” He said and snatched the blanket away from my body and from him. Squealing, I covered my body with my hands and closed my eyes.

“Hey, I failed to see this last night. You have a birthmark below your right breast. See I told you daylight gives the clear vision.” He laughed.

“Xavier” I rebuked with my eyes closed. I was blushing hard.

“What? You can check my body too, I won’t complain. Look at me.” He said playfully, trying to open my eyes with his index finger and thumb but I refused to open them.

“Shy looking at me here? Then you can check me out in the bathroom during our bath.” Saying that he scooped me in his arms.

“Xavier we can’t bathe together.” I chided.

“Oh, we will.”

Ignoring all my protests he took me inside the bathroom and there he did all his sweet touchers on me, showed me different ways of making love without being in the comfort of a bed. I was sore but Xavier made sure to fade away that too. We dipped ourselves in a comforting warm bath after our intense lovemaking.

After almost three hours of being in the bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror in the walk-in closet, in my bathrobe looking at myself. I opened the knot of a bathrobe to wear my clothes but as soon as I opened the knot, my eyes landed on scars. Those scars again made me emotional. My heart again felt so heavy.

“What is my beautiful wife looking at?” Xavier hugged me from behind, nuzzling his face in my neck.

“Why do you call me beautiful?” I asked with a heavy heart.

“Because you are.” He mumbled, kissing my neck.

“But this mirror says otherwise,” I whispered. His lips stopped moving. He turned me to face him and cupped my face.

“Then make me your mirror, see yourself in my eyes because I don’t see any ugly scars. I see a strong & beautiful woman who never gave up & moved forward amidst the difficulties. Your flaws make you beautiful. Never ever consider yourself ugly. Get that?”

“You really have a way with your words. You know how to light up someone’s mood.” I smiled looking at him.

“Learnt it from you.” He winked, making me laugh.

“I wish I had confidence like you,” I said out of nowhere. It just came in my mind instantly.

“You have it. It’s just hidden somewhere inside which you have to bring out. I’ll help you with that.” He replied, brushing his thumb on my cheek.

“How?”

“Umm… First I’ll make you confident about your own body. You should always feel positive about your body. I’ll start by giving a change to your wardrobe. Honestly, I don’t have any problem with the way you dress but in order for you to trust your body features a little twist in your wardrobe is needed.” He said and started rummaging through his clothes.

“Let’s start with this.” He picked up his hoodie and showed it to me. I looked at him questioningly.

“You have to wear this and for that, your bathrobe has to come off.” He pealed the bathrobe away.

“I would have done it by myself.” I rebuked.

“Where’s fun in that? Now raise your hands.” Before I could raise them he did it for me and slipped his hoodie on me. It was loose and reached just above my mid-thigh.

“Perfect.” He exclaimed, scanning me from head to toe.

“When we’re alone, you’ll wear my hoodies or shirts or yours. Or you can wear any short dress of yours. Well, I would prefer you not to wear anything but it is just the start so, I’ll settle with this for now.” He snaked his arm around my shoulder.

“Umm.. no jeans or pants?” I asked blushing and shifting on my feet.

“Nope.” He said and nuzzled his face in my neck.

“Your legs are smoking hot.” He mumbled, trailing his hand on my thighs making a tickling sensation to start in my body. Slowly he trailed his hands under the hoodie and goes up.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Xavier what are you doing? Leave.” I blushed.

“You’re so tempting. I can’t resist myself from touching you, making love to you.” He whispered huskily. I pushed him away but stood there, holding me.

“We.. we can’t do that. I’m… I’m hungry.” I stuttered looking everywhere but him.

“I know you’re hungry for me. I’m hungry for you too.” He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You must learn to control your tongue,” I said in disbelief.

“My tongue lose control when it comes to you.” He winked. I blushed hard and mentally scolded myself for the choice of my words.

We had our breakfast which I prepared in the presence of Xavier. He didn’t leave my side even for a second. It was hard to concentrate on cooking as he was acting all touchy-touchy.

After having breakfast he made me sit on the kitchen counter and stood in between my legs. He started kissing and nibbling my earlobe. His hands were traveling above from under the hoodie.

“Is this why you made me wear your hoodie so that you can touch me?” I questioned trying to swat his hands away. He stopped his sweet toucher on my ear and looked at me.

“You understood it now? You are a dense student. But I’m a smart teacher, I’ll make you smart too. I won’t let my efforts go in vain.” He smiled toothily, pulling me closer to him.

“On a serious note, mom and dad invited us for dinner tonight.” He said, tucking loose strands of my hair behind my ear.

I froze in my place which he sensed so cupping my chin he made look at him. “What happened?”

“Umm.. nothing… it’s just..”

“Ari, my parents love you. They adore you more than they ever adored me.” He chuckled. “There’s nothing to think negative about.” He said softly.

“I’m not thinking anything negative and I know they love me, they are very sweet and loving. It’s just that I’m nervous.” I said fidgeting my fingers.

“Nervous? Why? You have already met them.”

“I know but this will be the first time I’ll be meeting them officially. You getting me?” I asked. I have met them but we only had short talks and this time it’s dinner, that too in Knight’s mansion. It means it will be the first official meeting and there will be a lot of talks. What if they ask me a question which I’ll be unable to answer. He sighed and kissed my cheek.

“I’m totally getting you but you really don’t have to be nervous about anything. They see you as their daughter, not as my wife so there’s nothing to worry about.”

My eyes started to prickle up with tears.

I was sitting on the couch beside Xavier in the living room of Knight’s mansion with Mr. And Mrs. Knight. The revelation of Mr. And Mrs. Knight moistened my eyes.

I thought I was being paranoid while walking in the streets but I never knew I was being protected by my guarding angels. They always had their eyes on me. I was never alone.

And that laptop which I badly needed at that time was given by none other than Mr. And Mrs. Knight. I can’t be more thankful to them. They were supporting me at every step.

“We were present at your graduation ceremony to watch you graduating.”

And that’s when tears ran down my face. I stood up and hugged Mrs. Knight tightly. I cried on her shoulder.

“Thank you.. thank you for everything you did for me. Today I realized that I was never alone.” A sob escaped my throat. She patted my back and stroked my hair in a motherly manner. I wish I had received this love when I needed the most.

“We promised your father that we’ll never leave you alone. But we’re sorry we couldn’t come in front of you. We had to do it from far.” She mumbled in a sad tone.

“And there’s one more thing we both regret.” It was Mr. Knight who spoke. I faced him to see he had sad expressions on his face. “We’re sorry dear. Although we did our best to protect you, still, we failed. We protected you from physical harm but we never knew those Smith’s were mentally torturing you. We still don’t know what exactly they did to you. We couldn’t keep our promise we made to your father.”

My eyes moved to Xavier who was looking at me. He shook his head in a slow manner which only I noticed. I smiled with teary eyes and mouthed ‘thank you’ to him. He nodded, giving me an encouraging smile.

I understood that he didn’t tell his parents about the scars for which I’m thankful to him otherwise they would have been devastated.

“You don’t have to be sorry for anything. You never broke your promise, you did your best to protect me. It was not in your hand to control what was going on inside that house. But you never left me alone, I’m more thankful for that. And about what happened in the past, it is past. I’m learning to forget. You should also forget what happened in the past.” I said, approaching Mr. Knight.

He smiled and gave me a fatherly hug. “You really are an angel. We’re happy that whatever happened, you never lost your hope. You’re very strong Ariana.”

“I’m really, really thankful to both of you Mr. And Mrs. Knight,” I said truthfully.

“Oh come on, call us mom and dad already. We’re dying to hear it from you.” Mrs. Knight huffed playfully. I smiled and gave both of them a bear hug.

“Thank you, mom. Thank you, dad.” It feels good to call them my parents. They truly proved themselves that they are the sweetest parents in the world.

“That’s more like our daughter.” They both patted my back.

“I feel left out. Come on, I need a hug too. I’m also your son remember? I too belong in this family.”

We all laughed at Xavier’s exasperated breakout and welcomed him in our family embrace.

Xavier Knight

“You two make a very cute couple.” Mom gushed, clapping her hands.

“Xavier make us grandparents already,” Dad whined making me laugh and Ariana blushed even more.

“Soon dad, soon. Right now I just want to spend more alone time with my wife. I want to have all her attention because if baby arrives early, my wife will forget her big baby and will give all of her attention to our little munchkin.” I said and received a nudge in my stomach from Ariana.

She was blushing profusely and was trying to hide her face. We all laughed at her cute reaction.

“That’s all right, we totally agree that you two need some alone time.” Mom smiled.

“But Xavier, at least take the company and free this old man from responsibilities.” Dad looked at me.

He has been persuading for long to become the heir of the business he built but I always refused. I think now I should take responsibility as my father needs retirement. He too has the right to live without any load. He has done enough for us now I should free him from his responsibilities.

“Okay, dad I will.” I smiled. His eyes lit up, he came to me and hugged me tightly.

“Finally, now I too will be able to give my alone time your mother.”

“Rupert.” Mom chastised. I laughed out loud.

“Dad, I need to talk to you in private.” I have something I wanted to discuss with him.

“Okay, let’s give your mother and wife some privacy,” Dad said, and leaving those two in the living room we went to my Dad’s study.

There, I told him everything Ariana has done for the company, how she hacked Chris’s network, and ours too at the same time.

“She really did that?” He gasped.

“Yes.” I laughed at his reaction.

“Goodness, she is really talented. I never knew this. I’m really proud of her.” He smiled proudly.

“Me too.”

“Dad, I have something more to tell you. Actually, I’m thinking to give Ariana her own identity. She deserves more than just being called my wife. She’s talented and I don’t want her to waste it. I want her to make a big name.”

“Sounds good. Have you planned anything?” He asked.

“Actually yes.”

“Tell me.”

I was hesitant first but I told him what I was planning. I didn’t know how he’ll react but what I was planning needs his agreement too.

After a few minutes of being in deep thought, he spoke. “After what you told me about Ariana, I’m sure she’s a master in her field.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. Then he stood up came to me. I was sitting on a chair opposite to him.

“I think.” He squeezed my shoulder lightly. “What you have planned is.. great.” He smiled.

“Really?” I stood up in excitement.

“Yes son, I trust your decisions. You have my full support. And if she stumbles at any step, you and I are here to give her support.”

“Goodness, thank you, dad. You’re the best.” I hugged him.

“You’re the best, my son. I always knew we raised you well. And your decision puffed my chest with proudness. You proved that you’re real Knight.. understanding, loving, caring, and helpful.” He patted my back with happiness.

“When are you planning to do this?” He asked.

“Very soon.”