Chapter 27 #3
He finally, finally slips underneath my underwear, drags his middle finger from my throbbing center, and circles my apex. I’m panting again, fighting the urge to grind against him. My hand reaches down to feel his erection, but he stops it with his left hand, pinning my hands to my stomach.
“It’s my turn, princess,” he says, his hips grinding into me.
“But—" I object.
“No,” he says, biting my neck, holding my aching body against him as a wave of pleasure rocks through me. “Can I trust you to keep your hands to yourself?” he asks me.
I nod quickly, not entirely sure that’s the truth.
His left hand releases my hands and spreads my left leg further.
His thumb finds my apex while his right hand moves and slides a finger inside of me, slowly pumping and curling inside of me while his thumb slowly rubs that sensitive bundle of nerves.
My head feels like it’s buzzing, and I feel my orgasm building.
I’m already so close. I ride his finger, and he adds a second one, his pace quickening.
I whimper, desperate for more. He adds a third finger, and the finger on my apex moves even faster. My entire body seizes at the feeling, waves of pleasure rolling through me. I let out a squeal, then clamp my mouth shut.
“That’s it, princess,” he whispers in my ear.
I ride his fingers through my orgasm, his erection twitching against me the whole time, only adding to my pleasure.
When the final wave of pleasure rolls through, my body relaxes against him.
He removes his hands from my underwear and returns them to wrap around my waist, but his erection is still firmly pressed against me.
I look back at him now, twisting in his lap. His eyes are glazed, and the look fills me with desire all over again. “Asmo?” I ask, my voice low, sultry. Steam rises between us.
His lips are perfect, pink, and full, and I realize that although I just rode his fingers, I’ve never even kissed him. I can’t look away from them, imagining his lips between my legs.
“Yes?” he asks, his eyes now focused on my mouth. His voice is low and rough.
“I want—”
“Mae!” I turn, finding Barrett looking at me, his eyes quickly darting between Asmo and me, a smirk beginning to form. “Marik and I won!”
August and Koa are getting out of the pool, beginning to undress. I look at Marik, to find him already staring at me. No, staring at Asmo, his eyes completely black. Asmo’s grip around my waist tightens beneath the water.
I try to put some distance between Asmo and me, but he holds me tightly.
I look back at him to tell him to let me go, but the look in his eyes is deadly.
“Just stay with me for a second,” he says.
“But—"
“Mae, please just listen,” he whispers. I can feel the power brimming within him.
It shuts me up, and I stop trying to leave his embrace. His body is tense beneath me, and my anxiety skyrockets. I turn to him and ask, “What’s going on?”
He returns his eyes to mine and says, “Nothing, princess. Just a little brotherly spat.” But his tone and his body language indicate it’s more than that.
Shouts ring out from the other side of the pool, and my head whips around to find the source, but it’s just Koa and August racing across the terrace, fully nude.
Both princes run toward the pool now, hands on their groins, covering their most prized possessions.
They sprint toward the pool and cannonball in, making the water splash and lap against the sides of the pool.
Asmo’s arms loosen around me, and I look back to Marik, but he’s gone. He must have left the pool while I was watching Koa and August. He grabs his clothes from a chair and stalks away, leaving the terrace and out into the night.
“Give him some space,” Asmo mutters behind me.
But I’m done listening to him. I stand up, leaving him sitting on the steps of the pool.
I hear the water move as he stands up behind me, but I turn around and say, “Let me go, Asmo.” My words land, and his face falls, like my command hurt him.
Then his usual mask of indifference returns.
I leave him sitting on the stairs of the pool.
I summon a warm wind to dry my body quickly before throwing my clothes back on and hurrying after Marik. The night has only gotten colder, and I fight back a shiver. The moon is out, lighting the path before me.
I focus my senses, listening for sounds of Marik. He can’t have gone that far. I assume he would go back to the guest cottage, so I head further down the path toward the cottage.
Normally, I’d hear the sounds of the forest around me, but the night is silent.
I don’t hear the usual scuffling of the squirrels scurrying over pine straw, jumping in between trees.
I don’t hear rabbits leaping over fallen branches or deer filtering between the trees.
My deer and Fae lineage allows me to sense more than a human can, and my senses are telling me there are no animals around me right now, which is abnormal.
My ears perk, hearing something off to the left.
I head in that direction, trying to pick up on the sound.
It sounds like someone’s talking, but I can’t make out the words.
I step closer, trying to quiet the sounds of my feet on the forest floor.
If I can hear them, they can likely hear me.
I don’t want to sneak up on Marik and scare him, but I also don’t know that it is Marik, and I’d rather be cautious, especially because I just ran off into the woods by myself.
Elle and Ivan will kill me when they find out.
As I get closer, I can hear a male and a female voice. The male voice sounds like Marik. The female voice sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. Marik sounds angry and the female voice is whispering at him, trying to calm him down.
“—starting to form a relationship with him—” Marik is saying.
“Then you need to stop it,” the female voice whispers back to him urgently.
I still can’t see them, but I’m getting closer. Who the hell is he talking to?
“It’s not that easy,” he counters.
“Do whatev—" She stops suddenly.
I bring a curl of heatless fire to my palm to light my way.
“Marik?” I call out.
He emerges from behind a tree just off the path. I look behind him, but I don’t see anyone else. He’s alone.
He smiles when he sees me, but his eyes are lifeless. “Hey,” he says.
“Who were you talking to?” I ask him, looking around.
“I saw you and Asmo together, and I got upset and just needed a second. Sometimes I talk to myself to calm myself down.”
I don’t outwardly sense any deception or any lies, but my guard is still up. Something feels off, but I can’t place it. “I’m sorry that you saw that, but that’s going to happen during this process, Marik,” I say, crossing my arms in annoyance.
His smile falters, and he says, “I know that. I do. I think it just got to me because it was my brother. He’s…he’s not right for you, Mae. He’s not a good guy.”
“I think I can decide what’s right for me,” I say defensively.
What is with these Serpent Princes trying to tell me who’s right for me and who’s not?
“No. Listen to me, Mae,” he says, his voice low and his eyes flashing back to black.
“He’s a liar. He’s a manipulator. He won’t treat you like you deserve.
” He walks closer to me slowly. “You are amazing, you are beautiful, you are one-of-a-kind, and you deserve someone who’s going to sit beside you and care for you in the way that you need.
I was there for you, Mae. Me. Not Asmo, not Koa, not August, not Barrett.
Me. I was there when you were on the floor.
I was the only person who could get to you in that moment, who could save you from yourself. ”
He’s right. Despite my chemistry with Asmo and the other princes, there’s something different about Marik. He’s been there for me in a way the others haven’t been. He’s seen me at my most vulnerable.
He pauses, running a hand through his damp hair.
“It’s killing me to see you with these other…
boys. They don’t care about you like I do.
I’m ready to lead, Mae. I’m ready to lead beside you.
I’m ready to be a husband to you. This decision isn’t just about who you care for the most or who you have the best chemistry with.
This decision is about who is fit to lead beside you during your reign. ”
His voice is loud, passionate. He stops inches from me and places one hand beneath my chin, tilting my face up to meet his gaze. “I’m falling in love, Mae, and it’s going to kill me if I don’t get to be with you at the end of this,” he says.
His confession takes me by surprise. I knew that Marik had feelings for me, but I didn’t know they were this strong.
I take his face in my hands and look into his eyes. “Marik, I—” He cuts me off by crashing his lips into mine. His kiss feels hungry, desperate, and unlike any kiss we’ve shared before.
This is the kind of kiss I needed from him. Everything between us has been good, but something—this passion—has been missing.
I cling to him, desperate for more, needing more. He guides my body to the closest tree and presses me against it. His body is flush against mine, the lean contours of his body hard and unyielding.
He breaks away from my mouth, his hand wrapped in my hair. My mouth feels swollen and wet from his mouth and tongue. I stare at him, breathing hard, needing more.
“I need you,” he whispers. “I need you, Mae. I see this life with you, and I need it. We could be unstoppable together.”
“I’m scared,” I confess.
I’m scared that he’s not the right choice. I’m scared of the feelings I have for the other princes. I’m terrified of the feelings I have for his brother.
“Me too.”
I shove my fears away, grab the collar of his shirt, and pull him back to me. Tongues, teeth, and lips collide as we cling to each other. He lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist. I focus on the feelings I get from Marik, forcing myself to forget about everything else.
Too soon, he pulls his mouth from mine and sets me on my feet.
“Let’s go,” he says, holding one hand out.
I take his hand in mine, our fingers interlocked as we walk out of the forest. Despite the security of Marik’s hand in mine, I can’t shake the feeling that someone—or something—hides in the shadows of the forest, watching us like prey.