Romance: Bad Boy Romance: Rough Play - A British Football Romance (Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Sports Romance) (19 page)

Chapter One

Asch scoffed, sitting in the throne room and looking out at the sight before him.  He wanted to go out and fly around,
but, of course,
his father told him he had to go wait for this new girl who was apparently supposed to come today.  Asch would rather not deal with this, especially since he didn’t want to get married.  Of course, he knew that the reason for doing this is because of his father.  That man seemed bent on his son getting married.

“Put a smile on your face there Asch.  It’s not polite to frown when your future bride shows up,” his father said.

“Piss off dad.  I don’t even want to get married.  I can’t believe you’re doing this,” he said.

“Well you’re my son, a dutiful prince, and you do have to get married.  I plan on having this woman sweep you off your feet.  Who knows, maybe the two of you can learn from one another.  It would do you well to learn a few manners,” his father said.

Asch grimaced.  The last thing he wanted to do was to marry this random human girl.  He didn’t think it would be fun at all.  His family chose a girl named Hilda, a woman who apparently had some value when it came to marriage.  It’s not like Asch cared or anything.  He would rather not deal with this
ordinary
human.

The hall doors opened, and a servant came in.

“Hello there, Melodious,” Asch’s father said.

“Hello there, Sir. The girl is here,” the soldier said.

“Good.  Let her in.  I hope Asch is ready for the beauty I chose,” his father replied.

Asch just wanted to get this over with.  There was no way he was going to marry some stupid human.  He didn’t want to, and already he was counting down the seconds on the
grand
clock in front of him.  It seemed more interesting than any options this
pathetic
girl could provide for him.

When she walked in, Asch did have to admit she was pretty.  She was curvy in all the right places, with thick thighs and a nice butt.  She had a little bit of a pudge, but it wasn’t bad at all, and her large breasts
certainly
enticed him as well.  She looked at him with blue eyes, her brown hair pulled back in a bun. She was in a black dress that shimmered, and although Asch had no interest in marrying, he did have to admit she was pretty hot.

“Hello there,” she said.

“Hi.  You are?” he snapped.  His long, silver hair cascaded down his back, and his lavender eyes gazed upon her.  He was dressed in regal garb, and his body looked planted in the chair.  She gulped, blushing madly. 

“Hello there.  I’m Hilda,” she said.  She couldn’t believe how attractive this man was.  She agreed to come here to meet the son of a king because their family was going to help her out. Hilda needed all the help he could get.  Of course, he did turn her off in a way since he hadn’t even smiled at her.

“Hi.  Name’s Asch.  Remember it I guess,” he said.

“Now Asch, don’t be rude,” his father chided.

“Whatever dad.  It’s not like I wanted to do this or anything.  I’m so sick of being told what to do all the damn time,” he said to him.

Hilda paused.  Even though she didn’t really want to do this either, she did want to tell him about it.

“
Well,
it’s not like I’m going to do anything bad to you or something of that sort.  I just wanted to meet the man I’m supposed to marry.  No need to get your boxers in a bunch,” she said.

Asch stood up, glaring at her with a fixed gaze.

“I already can’t stand you.  You’re not of the same
class as
me, you have a mouth so you’re going to talk back, and I can’t stand that you’re just waltzing in here and declaring that you’re getting married to me,” he said to her.

At this point, his father had left, leaving the two of them alone.

“
Well,
it’s not like you have to be rude about it either.  I know this is hard on both of us, but maybe if you stopped acting like an immature little bitch your future
would improve
,” she spat back.

“Me?  I’m not the one in here so desperate for something that she has to sell herself off to a kingdom.  What a pathetic ordeal,” he said.

She was fuming at this point.  She couldn’t believe that he was treating her in this fashion.  Hilda wanted to hit him, to give him a piece of her mind, but she had to hold herself back.

“Gosh, I already can’t stand you.  I was expecting a friendly welcome from the prince of a kingdom, but I guess I’m in for a rude awakening,” she replied.  She felt hurt in all honesty.  Was it because of how she looked?  Was it because she was of a different social class?  All of these
disturbing
thoughts clouded her and she felt insecure.  However, she didn’t want him to know that, for if he did, he wouldn’t let her live it down.

“
Well,
it’s
not like
I agreed to this either.  I’m just doing this because my stupid father wanted to,” he told her.

Suddenly, Hilda grew frustrated.  She imagined she would be meeting a handsome prince, someone who wasn’t such a douchebag.  Of course, that was too much to ask for, and already she was regretting this wholeheartedly.  She stomped out, not caring about anything else at the moment besides the anger that she felt from this man.

The door slammed behind her, and Asch sighed, retiring to his room.  This was already getting off to a very rocky start, and he didn’t like her.  Of course, things were about to get harder from here, because he didn’t know how she would react to his secret, or if the two of them could go for a few minutes without fighting with one another.  He would have to wait and see. 

Chapter Two

Hilda ran out of there, feeling annoyed by everything.  She did glance around at the place, and it was obvious that Asch and his family had money.  The halls were gilded, and the audience chamber had designs flanking the ceiling.  There were also wide,
sweeping
windows, so it was almost like she wasn’t even inside.  The halls also had that
luxurious
texture to it as well, with giant bay windows on each side.  Least they would have a lot of natural light in here.

She went to the guest room that was delineated to her by one of the maids she initially met.  There was a giant king-sized bed, with a canopy over it, a dresser for her to put all of her clothes in, and an entertainment system that cost more than what she would probably make in a year.  Of course, what bothered her wasn’t the money, nor the splendor, what bothered her was the predicament she was in.

She was doing this to help her mother.  That was really her sole reason for going through this torture.  She was going to become a mail-order bride to marry a rich man.  Asch’s family had a lot of money, and the perks of being royalty would certainly help her mother.  She tried to provide the medical care for her through working two jobs, but it was obvious that it wouldn’t be enough.  The bills were coming in, and she planned to use this chance of marrying a filthy rich man to her
advantage
so that she could help support her mother.  She wasn’t expecting him to be an
asshole,
though.

She didn’t want to marry Asch, even though she needed to in order to help her mother.  He was rude to her, and he didn’t see her as an equal for whatever reason.  She didn’t want to marry someone who didn’t see her as a person, but rather as another stepping stone or a person he could take advantage of.  That wasn’t the reason she married, and she knew that he probably didn’t see her as anything more than just another person from a different social class who didn’t matter to him.  It bothered her, but maybe she would get used to it.  She didn’t want to get used to a bastard like him.

A couple hours had passed, and Hilda thought he would’ve finally cooled down.  It had been a while since everything had transpired, so maybe he finally got his head out of his ass and would talk to her like a person.  Maybe it was best to speak with him now.  It was evening time after all.

She went over to his room, asking for directions from a couple of the servants.  The servants looked like they were treated well, which was shocking considering Asch probably treated them like shit.  Maybe it was because his father was still the head of the castle.  Would Asch change everything though once he ascended the throne?  She really didn’t know, and she didn’t want to think about that.

She went to his room, knocking for a moment.  However, nobody was at the door, and Hilda was frustrated.  Was he giving her the silent treatment?  That’s messed up, and she hoped that it wasn’t the case.  She tried once again, but for whatever reason he didn’t answer the door.  She thought about it, wondering how wrong it would be to just barge in there.

It was probably not what she should be doing, but at this point she didn’t care.  She stepped in, opening the door, but when she looked at the sight in front of her, she immediately had to hold back a scream.

That wasn’t Asch.  That was a dragon.  It was a red dragon, scaled on all sides with a swooping tail.  He had large teeth as well, and it looked like he was talking to someone outside.  What in the world was going on?

She let out a small
squeak
but then tried to cover her mouth. 
However,
it was too late.  Asch turned around, letting out
a faint
roar before changing back into his human form.  Hilda didn’t know what to do, her curvy body shaking with fright.  Asch scoffed, looking at her but also feeling self-conscious.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her.

“I just wanted to check up on you.  What in the world is going on?” She didn’t sign up for this.  She wasn’t supposed to marry a big, scary dragon.  Just what was she getting into?

“It’s not what you think it is Hilda!  I’ll explain, I swear,” he said to her.  That façade he had earlier was gone, and now he was shocked.  She wasn’t supposed to see him like this.  What in the world was going on?  Why did she barge in?

“No.  I can’t do this.  I just can’t,” she muttered.  She was scared, unsure of what to say.  She didn’t know that he was a shifter, and it was worrisome.  She thought he was a freak, not someone who would be worth spending her life with.

“But I can explain—“

“No.  I can’t marry a freak like you,” she cried out.

She ran off before Asch could say anything else.  He sighed in annoyance.  Great, now she assumed that he was a freak.  This was going to totally end well.  Asch looked outside, staring at the figure he was talking to earlier.

“We’ll discuss everything later.  I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay, Sir.  I totally understand.  I know that you’ve been thrown into chaotic circumstances, but I hope they work out,” the other person replied.

Asch scoffed.  There was no way in hell this was going to be working out.  He already was ruining the day, he would have to take her as a bride.  He didn’t want to, and he didn’t think this would work out.  He needed to see his father regarding this.  There is just no way in hell that this was going to end well.

Asch walked out of his room, trying to avoid any eye contact with the maids.  They probably saw Hilda run away.  What a stupid girl.  If she actually took the time to get to know him, then this might be better.  Of course, he didn’t think that the commoner was worth his time either, so it made life harder on him.

He went to his father’s study, another large and expansive room.  There were bookcases lined all along the walls, a small fire crackling in the distance, with some armchairs on the sides of the fireplace.  His
father, however,
was in the sprawling oak desk, working on his laptop as he looked at his son.

“Hello there Asch.  How are you?” he asked him.

“Been better, Dad.  We have an issue.  I don’t think things with Hilda are going to work out. She just found out I am a shifter.  Before I could explain anything to her, she ran off.”

His father paused, staring off into space in a
thoughtful
manner before speaking.

“Well, that’s quite the problem,” he said.

“Yeah, no shit, Dad.  I don’t know what to do.  I can’t go through with this,” Asch replied.  He wasn’t going to be able to, especially now that she knew his secret and wasn’t willing to accept it. 

His father sighed, looking at Asch directly in the eyes.  “You can’t back out now.  She should be here for about three
days,
though, and that should give you time to make the appropriate arrangements with her.  We do need to go over that, and I hope you can help her understand.  Remember, she is a
human
so she might be scared of something different.  But you do need to work everything out before you get married.  I’m sorry, but that’s my final say,” his father replied.

Asch was pissed.  This stupid woman wouldn’t understand it at all!  He didn’t want to do this, especially since she already thought that she was a freak.

“Dad, there’s no way I can do that!  She thinks I’m a freak,” he cried out.

“Then prove to her that you’re not.  Prove that you’re not a freak, and show her what you are.  You were going to have to do this eventually.  Besides, she does interest you, right?” his father said with a piqued glance.

Asch nodded.  She did interest her, but that didn’t mean he was happy with the resolution.  He didn’t want to think about the worst case scenario.  He hoped Hilda would at least be cool with it eventually.

“Fine, I’ll go talk to her,” he replied.

“Good.  You don’t have to do it immediately, but you should before the three days are up,” his father replied.

Asch nodded, still angry over the fact that his father didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about how he felt.  He just wanted his son to take over the throne and rule the kingdom.  It was
bothersome, however
, and he knew that he would have to discuss things with the old man later, but for now, he should go see Hilda and talk with her.  He stepped out, both pissed off but also curious about what to do next.