I nearly collapsed on top of him—even when completely under my control, he somehow managed to tug at my resolve, reduce me to a mere imprint of my confident, playful self. But somehow, I managed to come out on top, and sank my teeth into his skin again.
I was done. Having the last of my self control clipped, I gripped her tighter and flipped us over so she was under and I was on top.
I leaned in until I was barely inches away from her mouth, desire dancing in my eyes, fire burning in my core. I panted heavily, heart hammering wildly in my chest, blood boiling to the point where I wasn’t sure if it was my powers or simply because of her.
“You…” I managed to growl. “Will be the death of me, Elle Amberly.” My eyes darkened and I firmly clasped her lips on mine, done with playing games. Done with her teasings, though I had asked for it.
I crumbled to pieces beneath him, melted instantly at the slightest indication of his desire. He pulled my control straight out from beneath me, thus sending my tumbling to his feet, completely at his mercy.
”Colton…” I breathed harshly, pushing my fingers through his hair. “Glad—Glad to be of service.”
I kissed her harshly, pleased at the way she succumbed to me from just a small action like this. The way she completely surrendered to me, to my lips on hers, to my body keeping her still.
“…love you…” I managed to choke out against her lips, completely and utterly intoxicated by the taste of her. I wanted her—needed her so bad it tore me to pieces. The passion in my kiss skyrocketed and soon I managed to forget everything. My body went numb on hers. The only things I could feel were her lips throbbing against mine, her heart working as if it was running a marathon, and her trembling body.
I responded by wrapping my legs around his waist and flipping us over again, my heart pounding so hard I thought it was going to shatter my rib cage. My weak, trembling arms struggled to support me, to hold my body above his, but I was falling fast… in more than one way.
“I have no idea,” I breathed against his mouth, pushing his lips open with my own. “Whether I want to tease you and walk right out of his room, or push exactly what you want into your hands.”
I let her flip us over, tangling my fingers in her short hair, letting a sound escape my mouth into hers. Her body trembled and I just knew how hard it was getting for her to hold herself above me. The amount of satisfaction that courses through me upon realizing that was unexplainable.
“What do you want, Elle?” I hissed in her mouth, eyes closed, lips devouring hers, mouth opening to let her in. I knew exactly what I wanted. She knew what I wanted. I didn’t know what she wanted, and no matter what it was, I knew I’d comply. I was utterly and completely enthralled by this woman and I knew there was nothing holding me back from doing what pleaded her.
I was about to respond when a sharp knock at the door sent a bolt of panic racing through me. “Shit.” A slew of hissed curses flew from my mouth as I rolled off the bed and onto my feet, incredibly weak and unsteady from the contact Colton and I had just shared.
I breathed heavily, my mind numb from what went down just a few seconds ago. I suppose it was a good thing we were interrupted. Pulling myself on to my feet, I stumbled a bit. I gave Elle a light peck on the forehead, lips still burning.
“Next time,” I whispered, breathing heavily. “Let’s keep it short and simple.”
Gathering myself, I cleared my throat.
“Yes?”
The hesitant, almost shy voice on the other side of the door doused me in icy panic. “Colton? Is Elliot in there?”
Andreas.
“Shit,” I cursed, pushing my hands into my hair. “Shit, shit, shit. He’s going to kill me for being in here with you.”
I pulled Elle into a hug, giving her a gentle kiss on the top of her head. “You did say you were going to convince him…” I murmured, remembering her words. I turned towards a door, running a finger through my hair in an attempt to set it right. If I opened the door a little, they’d know by my condition that I had not been alone.
“Why would he be with me?” I finally called out, the rasp in my voice settling.
There was a long pause, during which I tended significantly in Colton’s arms. Finally, Andreas sighed. “Don’t lie to me, Your Highness.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Yeah, I’m in here. Don’t be mad. Is Kaden there too?”
“Yeah, I’m here, too,” came Kaden’s exasperated voice. I rolled my eyes, surprised with the lack of spite in the way Andreas addressed me. I let go of Elle and walked over to the door, opening it slowly.
“Right, what is it that you both need?” I quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t worry—I didn’t hurt Elliot this time.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, but Andreas didn’t yell. He didn’t punch Colton. He only sighed slowly and averted his eyes. “Can we come in? We need to… speak with both of you.”
I quirked an eyebrow again, opening the door wider for them.
“All right,” I sighed. Kaden pulled Andreas inside, but both of them didn’t look up from the floor. “Speak.”
My anxiety intensified with each passing second. I clung to Colton’s arm, swallowing thickly, waiting for one of them to speak. Finally, Andreas cleared his throat. “You two don’t talk very quietly..”
At first, I was confused until I realized exactly what Andreas meant. I immediately narrowed my eyes, gritting my teeth.
“Exactly what did you hear?” I hissed out, causing Kaden to flinch back. I didn’t feel guilty.
“Just… just the middle of your conversation…” he stammered, eyes widening.
My fingers tightened around Colton’s until each nail was practically digging into his skin. “Oh. You—Oh.”
Andreas finally raised his head. “Your name suits you. Elle, I mean.”
Elle’s nails dug into my skin, but I didn’t wince. I didn’t want her to think she was hurting me and take her hand away.
“You could have told us,” Kaden’s eyes returned to normal, but he still shook lightly. “Both of you. We thought you were an abuser, Your Highness… we said such horrible things to you…”
The walls began to creak and groan, an effect of the slowly bending pipes within them. “I couldn’t have told you,” I answered quietly after a moment. “Or anyone. Colton found out by accident.”
“We could have been your support,” Kaden insisted. “Elle, we even talked about how stupid it was to not allow women to bond. We don’t blame you for not sharing, but… we don’t feel right thinking about the times you must have felt so lonely…”
I bit the inside of my cheek, falling silent as guilt twisted my stomach.
Andreas spoke up again, only this time, he looked Colton straight in the eye. “I owe you an apology. More so than Kaden. I’m sorry.”
I stared right back at him, heaving a sigh.
“For what?” I finally asked. “You merely reacted the way I wanted you to.”
He dropped his gaze to the floor, but shook his head. “I confronted you before that. In the library.”
“You showed a reaction out of care,” I answered, though I was surprised by bitterness I found inside of me. I didn’t let it slip out. “What I’m more curious about is how much you both heard.”
Andreas clasped his fingers together, growing agitated. “We know that Elliot—sorry, Elle—is a girl. We know that something is…. controlling you, and suspect dark magic. We… we heard the… pledge….”
I immediately narrowed my eyes. They won’t spill about Elle, I was sure of it. The pledge is meant to be a private matter, but them overhearing it didn’t bother me, either. But the bit in the middle…
“You do you you need to keep quiet about that, don’t you?” I inquired a bit darkly, my eyes narrowed. “Not even one word about what you’ve heard, no matter how tempting it is.”
“We’re not stupid,” he responded defensively, “Of course we’ll keep quiet. We just thought that you deserved to know what we overheard.”
“We might be a bit overbearing, Your Highness, but we’re not big on gossip,” Kaden chimed in, his hand on Andreas’s shoulder.
I sighed, rubbing the back of my head.
“Was there anyone else?” I asked. “Anyone else that might have heard?”
To my immense relief, Andreas shook his head. “We were alone in the hallway.”
It felt weird, to say the least, to have someone else overhear something private between me and Elle. Everything I said to her, it meant for her ears only.
You’re such a fool, aren’t you? You had one job, pest, and you can’t even do that right. What if others had heard? You’d have killed both of us!
“That’s good…” I murmured instead, trying to ignore the voice in my head. “Thank God…”