A boisterous laugh, one I was certain I held no capacity to produce, slips from my lips at his words.“A real marriage?”I repeat.“With whom?”I take a step back from him, doing my best to hide any emotion my body exhibited. I hate the keenness with which my gaze traces the muscles underneath his shirt.Christ, for the first time this evening, I appreciate his shoulder garters, not because they remind me of Marko, but because they frame him like an Adonis.Did…did he have good fashion before, or am I just noticing this?“Alba.”He calls my name in a low tone that almost causes me to inhale in preparation for…for what?Is this how he gets his women?Christ, I thought I was immune to his charms; what if he had never used them on me?Still, before he says anything, I proceed with my point.“So, let me get this straight, I utter to you that I am terrified to think of you in any other way for fear you will leave me, and your response is to taunt me?"Which part of me terrifies you when I

"Face me, Alba."Again, the deepness of the breath I take startles even me, but with him, there is always a need to brace myself.Surely, he wouldn’t do or say anything implicating now that we are in the lobby by the entrance meant to receive guests.I know his speech was meant to release the teens now that midnight approaches, and since that is the case, wouldn’t this place be flooded soon?So, what is the merit of holding a conversation with me now?Or should I be grateful? It must mean he expects nothing."Your majesty."I utter with a polite smile as I turn to face him, bowing low enough that none would even consider the possibility of history between us.A scoff sounds before the scent of his cologne grows stronger.His feet appear before my gaze that is trained on the floor, and just like when we met in the restaurant, he lifts my head.His gaze looks unreadable, I want to make a joke about the familiarity of our actions, but it halts in my throat at his perfection.His lashes:

The introductions went on as smoothly as they could. Rebecca is by no shot a trouble magnet; if anything, she holds a refined dignity that matches Beatrice, only Beatrice was more outspoken.Judging by how easily she yields to Magnolia, she may have been bullied psychologically instead of physically, but both of those kinds leave their unique scars.But again…none of my business.It surprises me that Magnolia is outside alone, devoid of her posse, more so the sombre contemplative look her gaze holds is nothing like the conniving snake I know and detest.“What was it you wished to discuss?”I ask, shutting the door behind me to stand next to her by the ledge where the view of the full moon embraces us.The night was so beautiful. If only it did not threaten to shatter me.“Why don’t you sit first?”She asks, gesturing to the outdoor chair next to the door.Again, another show of power.“You have two minutes, do not waste them.”She scoffs.Even with the strength of the cold wind, her h

Marko “It will pass?” The sweetness on his tongue from her blood was fading, and so was her scent that he engraved on his skin; again, the panic at the sense that she was slipping from him returned to his gut. “Did you just say ‘it will pass’?” He asked. “Yes, matters of the heart, you know…yada yada…it’s not you, it’s me...” Her words were so dismissive that he almost anticipated she would toss a few notes to him and ask him to buy himself something nice. Was she...was she serious? She groaned at something before bending to slide her now-wet underwear from her centre. Another groan escaped her as she visibly looked around for a place to stash it. “Do you want this?” That she would offer his seed back to him was no surprise; her words, on the other hand, were. He was certain their relationship would go back to what it was after Red Graw, that they would fight each other, to fall into each other, only with more passion because he saw a glimpse of what she hid so beautifull

The sight stills me.Rhett takes a step back from the petite brown-haired girl claiming to be his mate, but his expression is too wild for one claiming her words to be false.It is not jealousy that fills me, but an ache similar to the one I felt when mother had sat me down in Red Graw to announce that she had found her mate.Loss?Maybe, but I have no business feeling this bitterly when my core remains bare with traces of Marko’s stain between my thighs.Yet I do.The word ‘mate’ has again robbed me of something."Look, kid, I am not your mate."Rhett answers, his movement backwards halting now that she no longer stepped towards him.“How can you say that when I smell you, I know you smell me too; that is why you asked about my perfume, is it not?”He doesn’t answer her, but his expression is terrifyingly easy to read.It is as if he wants to see more of her, yet escape at the same time, the same one Marko used to show me before he grew too bold in his demands.My heel is silent as I