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Evangeline moved forward with caution, her footsteps light, making her dress softly swish in rhythm.
Quietly, she observed her Prince of Hearts, hunched over his study in focus. His golden tresses shined in the delicate sun rays cascading through the open curtains. And there were countless papers laid before him, which his hands shifted and filed through.
Jacks had insisted to leave all the paperwork regarding The Hollow to him—despite her own objections that she also knew how to run a business. However, Evangeline didn't have the heart to deny his soft insistences when she realized, he was only offering so she could have all the free time in the world for her other hobbies.
He knew she liked taking care of the animals around their home, he knew she liked gardening, and he knew she wanted to focus on baking. And probably much more.
So Evangeline allowed it to be, although every once in a while, she helped too. To her that was the true meaning of being together. Always.
She stalked closer, and Jacks was yet to acknowledge her presence. Evangeline wasn’t sure if Jacks had even sensed she was there. That she had even entered the room.
When it was just them in The Hollow, his guard was constantly down, his posture relaxed and serene. No shoulders stiff in alert, no gazes searching for potential danger, no frowns that believed in bad endings only. Just comfortable; simply at home.
Swift as the sneaky fox she could be, Evangeline placed her hands over his eyes, his lashes fluttering against her palms. Jacks straightened as soon as she made contact, leading to her chest pressing against his warm back.
She leaned down one shoulder to stare.
“Guess who?” Evangeline whispered.
A faint giggle from her, unfroze him. She watched the corner of his lips twitch. A perceptible smile. Soft.
“A very sneaky Little Fox,” Jacks answered. Cupped her hands with warmth.
She dropped them at the tingling touch, and Jacks turned to face her with no hesitation, just a tethering pull. Evangeline's lips curved, meeting his blue eyes that shined with soft contentment at the sight of her.
In a sudden move, Jacks pulled her down. It was so quick, that Evangeline didn’t have the chance to react. She wasn't even sure how she fell. But somehow, someway, she landed on his lap.
Jacks's head bowed to her. He was so obviously amused. It was easy to recognize the lift of his eyebrows, and the semi closing of his eyelids. The soft noise he made with his nose as he tried to hide it.
Evangeline shifted into a comfortable position, draping an arm around his neck. She placed her other hand over his beating heart. Her metronome. Then her eyes watched, entranced, how Jacks's fingers mindlessly felt the embroidery stitched near the hem of her purple dress. Two little foxes jumping.
She’d been practicing how to stitch them like her mother used to. He knew of it.
Evangeline tilted her lips into a feigned pout, tapping one of his dimples. “What has you so busy that makes you prefer the company of this room to me?”
“Nothing. I will always prefer you.” Jacks grinned, bracelating her wrist with reverence. “But, if all you're here for is to simply snoop, then I can show you something amusing.”
Evangeline straightened—as much as she could over his lap. She twisted her body to take a real good look at his desk, now that she was closer. Very messy was the only definition her mind could come up with. Random papers were sprawled all around, some closed in envelopes.
She could barely understand what it was that Jacks could possibly show her.
He silently passed her an opened envelope. Simple. Bare.
Her inner, natural curiosity was sparked.
She read the hidden addressee outside the torn envelope, and a soft laugh nearly left her. A letter asking for help, from the Prince of Hearts, nonetheless. Jacks observed with a knowing look, and distantly humored.
“I had no idea you still received these. I remember them in your old office but—”
"I can't help that I'm popular, Little Fox." He reclined back, and she moved with his body.
She frowned in jest at his vanity, and at his interruption.
"If people knew what you’re truly like, that wouldn't be the case."
He snorted under his breath.
"And yet," Jacks began, slithering his fingers with slowness under her dress. Tracing the laces that began at her ankle and ended by her calf. There was nothing but warmth over her skin, tender and distracting. "You're still here with me."
Stuttering, she replied, "Well, I'm not just anyone."
"True. You're everything."
At his words, her heart was left pounding against her chest, searching for a way out. The warmth, from where his fingers caressed, crawled up to her face. Evangeline hovered the envelope over her nose, hiding the evident blush on her cheeks.
Jacks’s lips twitched, and his dimples deepened.
She gave him a stern look under her lashes, and cleared her throat, pulling out the hidden letter.
“Dear Prince of Hearts, my lover is marrying another. I suspect a curse, or perhaps a love spell, has been placed. Please help me fix it…" Evangeline lost her words.
All the sudden, it felt like a terrible idea to have read it. Especially aloud. And especially to Jacks.
Jacks simply hummed as if nothing, gripping her waist to press her in closer. If that was even a possibility anymore…
“Sounds familiar, doesn't it?”
Evangeline huffed, abashed. Fingers nervously danced on his shoulder, tracing the edges of his doublet. “So…are you going to help?”
“I've considered it," his eyes with no decency moved down to her lips, "but I don't feel that interested.”
“You should consider it. At least this one." She stared through her lashes. Teasing. "For me?”
“I suppose I could stop it...”
“No!" She placed a finger over his lips, ones that were irritatingly curved up. "No stopping weddings horribly, or turning anyone to stone this time. Or anything similar, on that regard.”
Jacks's hand caressed the curve of her back, and she sighed, arching into him. His eyes were covered by a few strands of golden hair, and he was staring her down with hunger.
“How about I give them the name of a random spell book and call it a day?”
“How is that supposed to help?”
“So, I'm supposed to just help them break this spell, if it exists?” Jacks asked, giving her a scrutinizing look. “What if who they’re trying to help isn’t their True Love, Little Fox? What if, it’s someone else?”
The last question came out hushed, laced with knowing, with memories, and a little disguised annoyance. At that Evangeline smiled.
“Well,” she bumped her nose with his, “that’s something they have to figure out on their own, with Time and patience…”
He made a soft noise, obviously distracted. Evangeline pressed her lips over his, gentle and unhurried, like a rain droplet trailing down a petal to hit the ground. While Jacks savored all the years he'd gone without her. His hand underneath her dress began to map the skin of her leg to her thigh. A squeeze there made her slump against his chest. And when his fingers began to burn her inner thigh, she took it as a sign to break away from his lips.
The silence afterwards did not hide Jacks's chuckle, nor her interest on why he did.
And even while she was captured over his lap, that still didn't stop Jacks from reaching for his fountain pen. Then he playfully stole the letter between her fingers, turning it over. Mesmerized, Evangeline watched his horrible and quick scribble appear—a contrast to his usual elegant handwriting.
Evangeline craned her neck to peek. His hand purposely covered the answer, so she took it upon herself to snatch it gently from him. A move that left him humored.
Spell book. Confirm. True Love can break any Curse. But remember, if they truly loved you, they wouldn’t be marrying someone else.
She made a loud, choked noise she herself couldn't understand, when her eyes processed the last sentence.
“Jacks!”
“What? It’s true, isn’t it?”
There was that arrogant smirk.
And then, Jacks cradled her head once more, bringing her in for another long kiss. Evangeline, with no real restraint, happily complied, more than amused, and undeniably in love. She would never refuse an opportunity to feel his warm lips moving with fervor over her own. Or feeling his fingers coil in her hair to bring her closer. And she didn’t mind at all, forcing her lungs to lose air if she could taste him always.
And in midst of their tasting, Evangeline squealed soft in surprise when Jacks stood with her still in his arms. Hands gripped his neck, and fingertips toyed with his hair as he stared with longing.
She could truly stay lost with him forever.
That is…until she realized they were forgetting something.
"Wait." Evangeline squirmed until, eventually, he gave up detaining her.
"Little Fox," Jacks said, exasperated.
She wandered over, with the letter held in her hands, to a napping baby dragon. Sensing her presence, it exhaled a puff of smoke over her face.
A gentle greeting.
“Hello to you too,” she beamed, placing the letter near. “You know what to do…Scales,” Evangeline laughed quietly, petting its tiny head. Jacks coughed behind her, and she could've sworn it sounded something like, horrible name.
She pursed her lips to hold back another laugh, watching the small dragon—Scales, whose name wasn't horrible at all—only flutter its wings in understanding.
"At least they're useful," Jacks muttered.
Evangeline spun. "You’re going to hurt their feelings—"
Words were lost when she was, once again, caught in his arms.
"You’re only hurting my feelings," he paused, like she truly offended him, "by giving me less attention."
"Oh, don't be silly…"
In response, Jacks gave her one of those devastating smiles that said it was all in good fun, and that made her lose focus of anything else.
And so, Evangeline allowed herself to be carried away to wherever Jacks planned to take her.