“And Granny says you’re mastering your magic faster than she thought you would too.”
Ariana’s eyebrows arch high and a grin shapes her lips. “She said that?”
He nods.
“Do you want me to show you some?”
He shakes his head and holds his palms in the air. “No way. Don’t you dare think about turning me into a mouse.”
She laughs hard. “Oh, I could do worse things than that.”
Ariana raises her hand in the air and swirls it in front of her, conjuring all the energy and life from within and without. A small flame flickers orange on the tip of her finger. It spins, swirls, and swells until it’s a raging fireball on her palm. Hadeon watches her, admiration in his soft expression. The fireball implodes at her command with a small puff of smoke and dissipates.
“Would’ve been handy with those Soul Seekers,” she says.
He smiles wide, then laughs. “Yes.”
She loves it when he smiles—his face lights up, becomes young and carefree.
He strides to her and lifts her arm. “So how about those muscles, eh?” He runs his fingers over her small bicep. Nothing compared to what he has, though much more than what she had when she arrived here. Her tummy tightens from the sensation of his rough hands on her skin.
She grins wide. “I know they’re impressive, but I’m not sure I could beat you to death quite yet. Not that I don’t want to.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “Maybe with a little more training?”
She shrugs and attempts to suppress a coy smile. “Maybe.” Ariana reaches for his hand and entwines her fingers with his; simple tenderness, yet her heart races in her chest. “Granny told me which House I belong to.”
Hadeon nods. “Spring Blossom.”
She peers at their hands. “She said we can be intoxicating to humans. It answers the endless questions I had growing up about why men acted the way they did around me. Treated me the way they did.”
Hadeon remains silent and still.
“Does a Spring Blossom have that effect on a Fioren male?” She bites on her bottom lip and meets his gaze, waiting…
Hadeon smiles as he reaches for her other hand. “Not quite as severely.”
She blinks, nods, and turns away from him. His answer stings; she doesn’t want men, human or other, to like her because of some aura she exudes. She doesn’t want her better qualities to fade behind a veil of lust. But mostly, she doesn’t want to think that this sometimes-attention, these brief sexually charged interactions with Hadeon, which reach her like a pulsing cock between her thighs, are not honest and real.
Hadeon touches his finger and thumb to her chin and gently turns her head so she is looking at him. His expression is full of dark desire, lust, and longing. It strokes her flesh and squeezes her tight. Her tongue finds her lower lip.
“I—” he begins, but a car drives over the hill, the engine roaring against this peaceful backdrop. Hadeon lets go and takes a few steps back.
She gasps as his energy fades, stops caressing her skin and pulsing in her sex. “Why do you do that?” she asks, breathless, hands on hips.
“Leave it alone,” he snaps, his face already hardening.
“No.” She strides closer. “You get close to me and a brother will look at you the wrong way, or show up, and you back away. You reel me in, and then throw me back out. I’m not a fucking fish, Hadeon. Make up your mind!”
“I’ve already told you…” He points from his chest to hers. “You and I can’t be anything more.”
“I know what you say, Hadeon, but your actions contradict that.”
He lowers his head, breathing deeply. When he looks back at her, his eyes are dark and brooding. “I don’t want to send mixed messages. My intention is not to lead you on. I was trying to reassure you.”
His words gouge deep. “I don’t need your fucking reassurance, Prince Charming. I’ll get the brothers to train me from now on, so you don’t have to come near me.”
His neck pulses and his strong jaw stiffens. “Absolutely fine by me.” And he storms away, back to the house.
Ariana turns in the opposite direction and marches up the green pastures, tears forming as rage surges through her veins. Hadeon frustrates her so much. Why is that?
She runs now, up the sloping hill, loving the breathlessness. It hurts her lungs with a deep, cold burning. She runs and runs, further and further away from the stifling house and from Hadeon’s rejection. Though gasping for air, she pushes herself toward a cluster of trees that will enclose her and keep her hidden from the world, if only for a little while.
When she reaches the center of the woods, Ariana collapses onto the grass and rolls onto her back, panting. The wind is icy against her sweat-misted skin and splinters in her hot throat. Leaves rustle and the branches above her head sway. Confliction stirs deep in her belly, an aggressive prodding and poking. She’s tired of being displaced, in temporary homes with temporary people, taking temporary lovers. She rips at the grass beneath her with her fists and groans to the treetops. Her soul and body aches for permanency. She squeezes her eyes shut and covers them with her arms, trying to block everything out.
But, at that moment, a thought floats to her on the breeze and stings her tongue.
I want Hadeon. Permanently.
She has never wanted any man. Not this way. But from the very beginning he’s been different. He’s been more. And try as she might, she has resisted these needs and pushed them deep down, out of fear he doesn’t feel the same, but by God, if she doesn’t wish with all the marrow in her bones for him to feel this way.
Dare she say it? Dare she admit that what she wants is for him to love her?
And that hurts so deep and scores so ferociously because he doesn’t want her back, even with all her lust toxins. This is what is frustrating and painful—the rejection, the inability to contain her emotions for a man who doesn’t reciprocate her feelings.
“Fuck him,” she says.
“So you keep saying,” comes his deep, throaty voice.
Ariana sits up and wipes the tears from her cheeks with her palms. She looks up at his enormous frame. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not here to be snapped at like that,” he says, exasperation slicing at his words.
She stands now, face-to-face with his dominating form. “Well, don’t expect an exchange of pleasantries, because you won’t be getting it from me.”
“Just be quiet for a second and let me speak!”
Her lips twist into a scowl, and her breaths grow heavy. She lifts her hand to conjure a fireball, planning to throw it at his ass as he runs away, but he snatches her wrists, catching them between his rough hands.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he snarls, lips and breath sliding up her cheeks.
She tries to wriggle free, but he spins her around and pulls her to him, his arms still gripping her wrists, trapping her against his hard body.
Hadeon’s lips find her ear, and he rumbles low and deep, warm breath tingling over her lobe and down her neck. “I want you so much I could shred your clothes and fuck you where you stand ’til you’re too weak to moan my name anymore.”
Ariana stills in his arms, her legs weakening. She can feel his stone-hard arousal jutting into her lower back. He releases his grip and she turns to face him. She shudders as she looks into those dark brown eyes and sees raw, untamed desire.
He fists her hair, tilting her head back. His hungry gaze lingers on her mouth as he leans in closer. Releasing her hair, he trails his fingers along her jaw, then slides his thumb over her lower lip. Her body trembles beneath his touch. The emotions this man stirs cannot be subdued.
His face moves closer still, his lips lightly brushing over hers. “But I can’t,” he growls deep from his chest, “because you’re meant for someone else.” He releases her and steps back.
Ariana shakes her head and shoves at Hadeon’s chest, but his enormous frame doesn’t move even an inc
h. “Don’t you dare! Don’t come here taunting me and then walk away.”
He glares at her. “If I have you, Ariana, that means every part of you belongs to me.”
His gruff sincerity makes her flesh flame. Her breasts swell, sensitive peaks pushing against the fabric of her bra. Her sex readies. Ariana wants him to have her—hard, fast, and deep. She has wanted him from the moment she first stared at his grimacing face. She will give him her everything and take all of him in return—all of his muscle, all of his brutality, all of him.
“Have me,” she breathes, aching for him. “Have all of me.”
“Be very careful with what you’re saying. I’m not playing games. I’m not one of those boys you fuck in your spare time. You won’t turn away from me, you won’t forget me, and you’ll know when I’ve made you mine.”
Ariana’s head dizzies, her chest heaving with each breath. She is throbbing, and oh so wet. Never has she felt such arousal, such need. If he doesn’t fuck her, she will…
She can’t even think about it.
He steps closer, his gaze burning into hers, drawing her into the blackened haze writhing with eroticism around him. With trembling fingers, she reaches for his pants, slides them down his powerful thighs, and releases his manhood.
Her lips part on a rushed inhale. He’s so long and thick. She takes his straining cock in her hand and strokes from root to tip. His head rolls back and he groans. “Fuck, Ariana. You’ll be the death of me.”
Something shifts in him, from man to beast—a tangible change in his expression, his stance, and the rough growl in his chest. He reaches for her pants and tears them between his hands, then her underwear. Ariana’s heart slams against her ribcage, with excitement, with uncertainty, as she looks into his fierce face. Can she handle a man like this?
He doesn’t wait for her to reconcile the moment. He hoists her into his arms, and her legs open wide around his taut waist. Achingly slow, hands gripping her ass, he lowers her down onto his swollen cock, spreading her wide, filling her inch by rock-hard inch until she is full of him.
Ariana gasps a breath. “You’re so big.”
His mouth finds hers, his kiss rough as he lifts her up and slides her back down, filling her again.
“Oh, Hadeon,” she sighs, all her nerve endings alight and burning brightly.
He looks deep into her eyes, such fierce possessiveness, dark lust, and he thrusts harder this time. Her head rolls back in rapture. She sighs, mere clay in his hands, malleable and wet. He plunges again, a deep, forceful stroke. Again. Again. The rhythm builds, long and powerful motions, his shoulders and arms tense with strain as he rocks her. She has never felt so full, never knew she could take such size. Her clit swells with her growing arousal and slips against his pubis until each long breath is punctuated with moans.
He never allows her to look anywhere else but into those greedy brown eyes. Even as pleasure builds and coils inside, scatters across her skin, and she wants to raise her face to the heavens and scream his glorious name, he hisses. “I want to see your face as you come. I want to see the ecstasy.”
He drives deeper, faster, harder, his breaths short, almost grunts as the precipice zooms into focus.
“Oh, Hadeon, take me there,” she moans.
His jaw is slack with pleasure, his gaze hungry with carnality.
Ariana’s clit, coated in her slick desire, welcomes the friction of Hadeon’s body. Waves form low and deep. They build and swell until they roll and crash over every inch of her flesh. Her muscles clench tight. Her head is so, so light, tingling, as sensuality and ecstasy coaxes and tugs at her insides. She’s sighing and whimpering as she explodes with fiery delight. All the while her gaze is locked with Hadeon’s, showing him, screaming to him, the pleasure he has made her feel.
As every muscle in her body loosens and fatigues, Hadeon tenses, jerks, and spills his seed…a hard, deep rush inside her walls. She pushes down on him, wanting that part of him deep inside, her body craving his essence. And she collapses against him, spent, breathless, and consumed.
When Hadeon looks at her his features have softened. His irises have lightened to a pale brown. It fascinates her how his emotions are so visible in the color of his eyes. He kisses her, gently licking her tongue. She doesn’t want him to pull out yet, needs him inside. He finds her throat, his lips sucking in her flesh, kissing along her jaw. Her hands frame his face, feeling the stubble beneath her palms, and she kisses him, deep and urgent.
Slowly, he slides out. Their juices run down her thighs, and he places her feet to the ground. Her heart thuds. She craves his heat and his hard body. Understanding her needs, he never leaves her untouched. He tugs their shirts off and the remaining clothing until they are both completely naked. Her body is trembling, but not from the cold. She can’t even feel that, doesn’t have any awareness of her surroundings, only Hadeon.
“You’re breathtaking,” he says. His hands slide from her shoulders down to her wrists. He entwines his fingers with hers. “Let me love you,” he says, almost a growl.
She nods. The air is thin in her throat. “Please.”
They fall to the grass below, and again he shows her the stars.
Chapter 15
Ariana enters the house through the back door behind Hadeon. She rushes to her room before anyone sees her to change into a fresh pair of jeans to replace the ones Hadeon tore from her body.
They make their way down the hall and into the kitchen. Ariana can feel the cheer in the small room, which has become the communal gathering point in the morning and evenings.
“Hadeon,” Reid says, smiling wide. “Glad you’re home. We’ve made spring wine.”
Hadeon grins. “So it’s going to be one of those nights?”
Domascus stands and slaps Hadeon on the back. “Oh yeah,” he says, laughing, but the smile soon fades and falls from his face. His breaths deepen. Silence descends. The Warriors and Granny each look up at Hadeon and Ariana.
Ariana’s stomach wrenches, and heat spreads along her collarbones and cheeks. She turns and hastens away to her room, her breaths shallow. What a reception to come back to. Is it really so terrible for her to have feelings for Hadeon? And to want to physically express those feelings? Ariana grabs her pajamas and toiletries and heads to the bathroom for a shower. She needs time and space to reflect.
She soaks her body under the hot water, regretfully washing away Hadeon’s scent clinging to her skin. The soreness between her thighs, the slippery remnants of his seed, makes her think of his hard, hot body above her, driving into her. Warm trails of desire fan across her flesh and she swells. Surely she can’t be ready to handle him, such size, again so soon?
Ariana breathes in deeply, shakes her head, and turns off the taps. After she has dressed and dried her hair, she walks back down the hall. As she passes Domascus’s room, she hears whispered conversation. Curiosity loops in her belly. She creeps toward the slightly ajar door and listens.
“I understand. Don’t worry,” says Hadeon’s hushed voice.
“I don’t think you do, Hadeon. You don’t go fucking Fioren princesses, especially those promised to another.”
Tingles prickle Ariana’s scalp and run down her arms to the tips of her fingers. Princess?
“It’s more than that,” Hadeon says.
Domascus draws a noisy breath in. “You didn’t claim her, did you?” There’s thunderous warning in his tone.
Silence.
“Fuck, Hadeon. Fuck,” says Domascus.
“I know, but I can’t allow her to be anything less than my everything.”
Domascus sighs. “Your everything? You won’t be able to keep this so-called everything.”
“I know,” he says with sorrow trickling from every syllable. “But I’ll deal with the heartbreak later. I can’t deny this. Her. She’s impossible to resist. I lo—”
Ariana’s toiletries drop from her hands onto the floor, clanging loudly against the slate tiles. “Fuck it,” she hisse
s.
Hadeon’s at the door, two deep lines creasing the skin between his eyebrows. “Ariana?”
“I…I was just heading back from the shower.”
Domascus slides out from behind Hadeon and strolls silently down the hall, not looking at either of them.
Hadeon grabs her arm. “Were you eavesdropping?”
Ariana shakes her head, frowns, then slowly nods.
He strides out of the room and shuts the door behind him. He threads his fingers between hers and leads her to her room. She sits on the bed. He shuts the door and crouches in front of her.
“I’m a princess?” she asks.
Hadeon rubs the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and groans before he looks at her. “I guess it’s time you learn the truth. Yes. You’re the Spring Blossom Princess of Fiore.”
All breath wrenches from her lungs and steals her voice. She manages a whisper, three slow words caked in doubt. “I’m a princess?”
“You’re the princess.”
She nods and takes a deep breath. “Okay, that doesn’t feel even remotely real to me.”
“It will soon enough.”
Ariana’s cheeks grow hot. She lowers her gaze to her fingers, which she is twisting together. God, when did she become this girl—afraid to express her emotions to a man? She has always been so brazen and confident. An answer burrows into her thoughts: she has always been this person, she’s just never found a man who meant anything to her—a man she wanted to be with for longer than a single night.
“Hadeon, I know my past and the way I was…um…promiscuous, may make you think that I’m going to fall into another man’s arms, but…” She dares to look up at him. “You mean more to me than that. I want to make that clear to you and to Domascus. To everyone in this house. I don’t want anyone else but you.”
A small curl of his lips. “That’s not what complicates this situation.”
“So it’s because I’m a princess of some place I’ve never even been to?”
Hadeon clears his throat. “When you turn twenty-one, you’ll be paired with another. He will be whom you marry.”
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