The prompts are 3: A breathy demand: "Kiss me" - and what the other person does to respond, 50: A kiss, followed by more that trail down the jaw and neck, and: "Sometimes I just can't control myself when around you".

Warnings: mentions of assault, swearing, mentions of death

As a part of the royal court you were expected to marry well, and with Eardwulf as your betrothed you had struck a seemingly perfect match.

He had seemed charming at first, but the more time you spent with him the more condescending and downright evil he got.

You always dreaded his touch, the way his hand almost aggressively gripped your upper arm, sometimes leaving bruises, and whenever he was alone in a room with you your stomach cramped together and your mouth went dry.

When he had ordered you to join him for a hunting party you were too scared to decline, and when your father had told you that he was too old to join you you were afraid of what your betrothed would be able to do to you in your father's absence.

You were no nun, you had had your fair share of admirers and had had some adventures with them, but you were still an unmarried Christian lady with honor.

When you had arrived where Eardwulf had ordered you to come to he was happy, but only because the Prince Aethelred was present, and Eardwulf saw it as a chance to get closer to him, and in being friends with Aethelred he saw many opportunities in the future.

You didn't care about the Prince's presence until you looked over at him and your eyes met, and you felt like time stood still.

He was beautiful, his hair falling into his face and bright eyes, he was standing tall and strong, listening to some high lord who was talking to him, but his eyes lay fixed on you.

Goosebumps were racing down your back and your breath grew fast as you couldn't get yourself to look away, and he kept staring at you as well.

When you felt Eardwulf's hand on your arm you jumped, looking up at his angry face.

"Why aren't you listening to me?", he growled at you and you shook your head apologetically, flinching slightly at the tone of his voice.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't...", you began but he shook his head quickly.

"Is a group of people too difficult to handle for you, woman?", he snapped at you before he looked in the direction you had been looking at.

An evil grin spread across his face as he looked back at you and his grip on your arm tightened, while he moved closer to you.

"Or are you making eyes at the Prince?", he said and you were sure he was contemplating how he could make use of your apparent weakness for the Prince.

When you glanced back at the man you had been staring at you saw him still looking at you, and a blush rushed up your cheeks that Eardwulf definitely took a notice of.

Over the duration of the hunt nothing changed, the Prince continued to stare at you and you at him, and Eardwulf continued to treat you worse than you'd ever even treat a servant.

While the other women stayed at the castle when the men rode out for game Eardwulf took you with him, even though you had never actually held a weapon.

He didn't mind, and while the other royals took their male servants or squires with them he took 'his whore', as he liked to call you in private to remind you of your place in the relationship.

You were dividing into the groups of two in which you went hunting when everything went downhill.

When Eardwulf heard the grunt of a wild boar out of the bushes he moved towards them, which you found incredibly stupid, given that the boar had the advantage of surprise on its side, but you held your tongue, because he always knew better.

Only equipped with a javelin he made his way towards the bushes, but once he stopped in front of the greens the giant fat animal ran out, ramming his tusks into his lower abdomen and pushing, tearing the lower part of his stomach open.

You watched in horror as Eardwulf began to scream, the blood pouring out of him as he tried to stab the boar with his javelin, but only proceeding in making it more aggressive.

The boat kept ramming his tusks into your betrothed repeatedly, who tried to move away, but it was too late.

He fell to his knees, but before the boar could finish him a arrow pierced his eye, killing it instantly.

You could only watch in horror as you stared at Eardwulf, who was choking blood and cursing angrily, but you couldn't understand what he was saying.

When he labored his last breath you felt hands on your arms, caressing them softly but determined to show reassurance.

When you could finally rip your eyes from your now dead betrothed you looked into Prince Aethelred's, who was studying you with worry.

You could feel tears in your eyes but it wasn't sadness but rather the shock of witnessing a death.

You saw the Prince's mouth move but you couldn't hear a sound, making you frown and look at him.

You didn't know what to say or do, but in your despair you let words you definitely hadn't meant to say slip.

"Kiss me", you whispered, your eyes fixing on his, shame and shock mixing at what you had said.

You saw the Prince's face go blank before he chuckled, and a gentle smile made its way on his face.

You watched as Prince Aethelred moved one of his hands from your arm to rest on your cheek before he leaned down, gently pressing his lips to your forehead.

"Let's get you out of here", he whispered softly, wrapping an arm around you as he maneuvered you away from the bloody scene, motioning for servants to care for the beast and the animal.

He brought you back to the castle, neither of you saying a word until he called for your maid, whispering to her to look after you.

After that he left you, and you stayed in your room for days, processing the shock and the shame you had put yourself in afterwards.

You couldn't believe the first words you had spoken to the firstborn son of a King had been wods of such scandal, and you couldn't believe his reaction to it either.

It had been the only polite answer to what you had asked, but you couldn't believe you had put him in that precarious position in the first place.

It wasn't like you, so you decided to look for the Prince and apologize.

You got dressed properly, taking care of your appearance as not to offend the Prince further and walking towards his chambers, where you were sure he would be found.

When you entered after knocking properly you Aethelred with another man, a slimmer young man with long dark hair who you were sure was his brother, the two of them discussing something lividly until Aethelred's gaze fell on you.

He smiled slightly before turning to the younger man.

"Brother, please excuse us?", he asked and the long haired boy sent you a confused look before nodding kindly, walking out of the room and closing the door, but not before staring at his brother with an irritated gaze which Prince Aethelred overlooked kindly.

"I came to apologize, my Prince", you said as you fidgeted with your fingers, looking in his direction but not being able to meet his eyes.

You could feel them on you, a rush of heat running through your body and up your cheeks.

"There's no need to apologize, you've done nothing wrong", he said softly and you grasped your hands strongly to keep from fidgeting.

"And please, call me Aethelred", he said to you and your eyes moved up to meet his at his improper statement.

It wasn't usual that you were allowed to call people by their first names, you called your father 'father' or 'my lord' and Eardwulf had asked you to call him 'my lord' as well.

Being asked by a Prince to call him by his first name shocked you immensely.

"I...", you let out before you blurted your name out for him to hear.

He looked at you, a questioning look in his eyes before a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm sorry. That's my name", you told him as he moved towards you, nodding as he stopped to stand in front of you.

He leaned down, reaching for your hand and lifting it before pressing a soft kiss to it, never looking away from your eyes once.

"I am sorry for your loss", he said softly and seeing the frown on your face he went on.

"You were in your room these past few days, grieving. I asked about you", he explained further and your knees nearly grew weak as you heard that he had cared for you.

"I was... in shock, yes", you answered, hinting that grieving was too far from the truth.

Aethelred nodded before letting go of your hand.

"You're too kind and too gentle to be betrothed to such a bestiality", he told you and when you looked at him in a questioning manner he went on.

"Lord Eardwulf was by no means a saint, everyone knew. And the way he talked about women and... you... it was unacceptable", he said softly and you felt a cold shiver run down your spine.

He had talked inappropriately about you with other men... in the presence of royals no less.

Aethelred took a step further towards you, standing too close for just a normal conversation.

"I would like to ask you to marry me", he told you softly and you felt like all the air you needed to breathe had left your body.

"Now that your betrothed is dead and you are left wanting... I know we do not know each other but I have made inquiries and you are a perfect fit. I also think that we have a connection some noblemen's marriages could never dream of, so I would like to ask you for your opinion before I consult your father in the matter, if you agree, that is", he said softly and you heard him take in a breath of air, showing that he too was nervous.

You were dumbstruck by his proposition, his proposal.

You had stared at each other, there was more than enough physical attraction, but you didn't know each other at all.

You hadn't known Eardwulf either before your betrothal, and he had been horrible, but you knew Aethelred wasn't like that.

You began to nod as you looked at Aethelred, taking his hand carefully in yours, a smile spreading on your face.

"I agree", you used the words he had said on purpose, making the both of you chuckle.

"I want to marry you", you added, and you felt Aethelred's hands close around your face, pulling you in for a kiss that left the both of you speechless.

You did indeed marry, and your father was the happiest person alive because of it.

He scolded you for not mourning for Eardwulf properly, but the fact that his family gained that much reputation and influence by your marriage made him forget about it easily.

Aethelred and you were falling very much in love with each other, the love growing with every talk, kiss or embrace you shared.

You grew very fond of the physical affection as well, touching each other as often as it was expected of newlyweds, if not more.

Aethelred took more and more responsibilities as a Prince, limiting the time he could have spent with you drastically, but though you were disappointed you understood it perfectly.

It was strange how intimate your relationship was, while knowing that only months ago you hadn't even known each other at all.

You loved performing your marital duties together, so much so that you were sure the servants had noticed it too.

Whenever he came into your chambers after a long day of work or in between some of his meetings he wrapped his arms around you from behind, holding you close and kissing whatever part of skin he could reach on you.

It was always amusing to you, until it stopped amusing you and grew serious, leading to the both of you to lose your clothes in the process.

You had been sent to Aethelred's room after one of his meetings had finished and you arrived quickly, moving towards him with a questioning look on your face.

It was rare that he asked for you, he usually sought you out.

When you reached him Aethelred began to kiss you feverishly, his lips moving from your own to your neck quickly, reaching lower with every kiss he put on your skin.

You were breathless only after a short second, but the fact that Aethelred was in between meetings and you were in danger of being walked in on by his royal court made your mind race.

Setting a hand on his broad chest you tried pushing him away playfully, but only earning a chuckle from the Prince.

"Aethelred I... we... they could walk in any second", you whispered into the air as you felt Aethelred come level to level with your face again, pecking your lips carefully.

"I don't care, we'll have to be quick, then", he whispered against your lips, pulling your body even closer if that was possible.

"I don't want to be caught in the act by snobby old noblemen", you answered back as you resumed kissing, to which Aethelred responded with another chuckle.

"The only one I am to meet now is my brother", he grinned at you and you sent him a scolding look.

"Sometimes I just can't control myself when around you", he grinned and your eyes fell to his lips as you nodded.

Yes, he couldn't control himself, but neither could you.