Align Ourselves

by Adrianna Schuh

  "Do you guys have like...any sort of teacher in the village? Where do the kids go for school?"

  "We have a school in the village. But also a tutor for kids of parents who live here. There are rooms designated for that sort of thing. I'm surprised Grace didn't mention it."

  "No, she didn't."

  "Well, that's where they go. Is that something you'd like to do?" Help tutor the children?"

  "Yeah," she said, "I'd like that."

  "Okay, then. I'll take you there in the morning."

  Aria smiled at him. She wasn't sure why everything seemed so normal between them after what had happened in the last week. But she wasn't about to question it.

  After a while, the room cleared. Aria and Lex remained, along with a small group of their friends. They sat at one of the tables first before deciding to move their party to a different location. Almost everyone was a little drunk on wine, so they naturally thought it'd be a good idea to go to the training area and fight one another.

  Grace had joined them, and Mara asked her if she'd like to fight again. Now Aria sat on one of the tables that had been pushed to the side, watching the two girls circle one another.

  She thought about that first time they’d fought. She was sure that Mara had gotten better. She trained with Grace all the time. The muscles in her legs and arms were prominent through her clothes.

  "You scared?" Grace asked.

  Mara remained quiet. A challenging look in her eye.

  "Trying to be brave for our audience?" Grace taunted, giving Mara a not-so-friendly smile.

  "Come on, Mara," Brent yelled from the sidelines, "We believe in you!"

  "Yeah!" Martinez shouted, "Kick her ass!"

  Grace laughed.

  Mara took the opportunity to swing at Grace. The latter must have expected it because she ducked faster than Aria thought was possible.

  They went on like that for a few minutes. But this time, Grace kept missing too.

  Aria could see her growing agitated. Honestly, it made Aria smile. Grace could stand to be knocked down a peg or two. And Mara was the best girl for the job.

  Eventually, Lex made his way from Martinez's side over to hers.

  "Not gonna try and stop them this time?" he teased, sitting next to her.

  "No," Aria said, smiling. "I'm pretty sure Mara might be able to take her this time."

  "You know, you may be right," he said, watching the two girls.

  Suddenly Grace lashed out and tried to hit Mara. She missed. But this time, Mara took the opportunity to slide slightly to the left and reach out to grab Grace by the shoulders. When she had a good grip, she shoved Grace towards the floor while simultaneously sweeping her leg under Grace's, knocking her feet out from under her.

  Grace landed on the floor with a loud thud.

  "What?" Mara asked from above her, "Nothing left to say? No jokes? No taunts?"

  Grace silently rose to her feet.

  Aria hated to admit it, but she liked watching them. She was never one for fighting, and real fights made her want to throw up. But watching those two kinds of pretend-fight was more like watching two people dance.

  They were both slim and toned. Their hair whipping side to side as they danced around one another in the center of the space. Aria felt a little mesmerized.

  "You wanna go after them?" Lex asked.

  "What? No," Aria said, shaking her head. "I'm wearing a dress."

  "Believe me, I noticed."

  Aria fought a smile, looking down at where his hand was only a few inches away from hers on the table. Why the hell is he being so flirtatious tonight? Did she really look that nice?

  He'd flirted with her before; it wasn't like it was anything new. But something about how he looked at her when she walked into the throne room and continued to do so throughout the night made it feel different from other nights.

  It must be her hair.

  "It looks..." he began. She noticed his Adam's apple bob a bit before he swallowed "...really good." His eyes traveled down to the slit in the dress, exposing her tan thigh.

  "Th-thanks," Aria said quietly. The look on his face, a little dark and a little hungry, made her stomach clench. Suddenly, she felt very hot. Beads of sweat coated her palms and the back of her neck.

  A loud thud broke Aria out of the little trance she had been in. She looked up and saw Mara lying on the ground, Grace on top of her. She had Mara pinned to the ground, her hands on the other girl's shoulders.

  "Nice job," Grace said.

  And Aria could swear that she saw Mara bite down on her lower lip.

  "Okay, I think it's time for me to go," Lex said.

  The guys on the other side of the room nodded in agreement and filed out of the room.

  Grace got up and reached down to help Mara get to her feet. They stood there, looking at one another. The air in the room changed; it felt tense. Aria took that as her cue to leave as well. She followed Lex out of the room, leaving the two girls staring at one another.

  Chapter 25

  She was nervous as they headed back to their quarters. Lex walked a few feet ahead of her, and she stared at his back the entire way there.

  He went straight to the bedroom, and she followed, feeling like she could throw up from anticipation. What she was anticipating, she wasn't sure.

  He went to his side of the room, and she went to hers. Figuring that the sooner she went to bed, the better. She turned away from him and looked through her dresser for something to wear. She settled on a thin shirt and a pair of long, soft pants. She put the clothes to the side.

  Her hands went to the back of her neck, trying to unclasp the necklace she'd put on. It was then that she noticed her hands were shaking a bit.

  "Here," Lex said, walking towards her, "Let me."

  She turned to face the wall. He came up behind her. She could practically feel the heat radiating off of his body, making her feel even hotter than before.

  She felt a little chill run down her spine as his hands grazed over the back of her neck, pushing her hair forward so that he could get his hands on the necklace.

  And he felt so close to her now. She closed her eyes for a second, feeling heat pool in her belly.

  Before she knew what she was doing, she’d leaned back into him. A little thrill ran through her at the closeness.

  He unclasped the necklace but made no move to back away. She heard it hit the floor a second before he placed his hand on her hip, his fingers digging into her flesh.

  She leaned her head back until she felt his collarbone at the base of her skull. She wasn't sure when she made the decision to arch her back. Still, she did, and suddenly she could feel the rough material of his pants, containing a sizeable bulge pressed up against her.

  His grip on her hip became stronger at the sensation. She heard him let out a small sigh; his lips were dangerously close to her ear.

  She arched her back a little more and leaned her head slightly to the right, leaving her neck exposed before him, hoping he'd get the message.

  His breath was hot; she felt it just below her ear. He lowered his head a little and placed his lips on her neck.

  "You're drunk," he mumbled against her skin.

  It wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wiggled her hips a little.

  "So are you," she whispered as his other hand settled on her left side, traveling up her torso much too slow for her taste.

  "Yes, but that's different," he whispered back. To her surprise, his left hand kept going until he reached her left breast. She let out a moan when he finally grabbed it, cupping it in his large hand.

  He gave it a little squeeze before putting his lips back on her neck, kissing slowly all the way down to her shoulder blade.

  She reached behind her to run her hand through his hair, urging him on. It was softer than she'd imagined it would be.

  "Lex..." she whispered.

  His hand moved from her breast to the strap of the dress located on her shoulder. He pulled it down un
til her breast was exposed. His hand moved back down, and he grabbed it a little rougher than before.

  She let out a small moan at the contact.

  "Aria...you're drunk," he said. His voice came out a lot shakier, a lot rougher than usual.

  The hand she had in his hair pushed his head back up a little until she felt his lips on her neck again. Yeah, I am a little drunk, but I don't care. Just shut up and fuck me, she thought. She wanted to say it, just as he pulled away again.

  "I can't fuck you. You're drunk," Lex whispered in her ear.

  His other hand traveled up to her shoulder, pulling the other strap down until her right breast was exposed too.

  He placed his hand back on her hip, pressing her even closer to him.

  She turned her head towards him, and with her eyes closed, she kissed Lex Mills for the first time. Really kissed him. Not like the peck he'd given her at their wedding.

  His tongue slid into her mouth, and his left hand moved from her breast to her neck, his fingers wrapping around it as he deepened the kiss.

  The throb between her legs was almost painful by that point.

  "Touch me," she whispered against his lips.

  The hand that had been on her hip traveled down until it reached the slit in her dress. He ran a hand down across her exposed leg, stopping when it was over the skin on the inside of her thigh.

  Slowly, painfully slowly, it went up and up until he reached her center. He cupped her for a second before running his finger up and down her slit through her panties.

  For a second, Aria felt a little embarrassed. There was no way he couldn't feel how wet she was, even through her panties.

  The thought left as soon as the tips of his fingers went underneath the thin fabric of her underwear.

  He let out a low moan, more of a growl really, against her neck when his fingers made contact with the wetness gathered between her thighs.

  The grip he had on her neck became a little tighter as he shifted to kiss her mouth again.

  His middle finger moved up and down between her folds, spreading the heat and wetness around.

  She bit his bottom lip, tired of the teasing. He inserted the tip of his middle finger inside her.

  He roughly bit her bottom lip as his finger went all the way in. She shuddered at the sensation.

  They stayed standing in the same position as he kept going, giving her another finger.

  She was finding it hard to breathe.

  Her breaths became rapid and shallow as her muscles went rigid. She let out another moan, this one louder and needier than the ones before it.

  "I-I need..." she whispered against his lips.

  "Shh.." he whispered back, "I know what you need."

  He slid his fingers out of her and brought them up to her clit, roughly rubbing small circles into it. She felt her muscles coil as he went faster, pushing her over the edge.

  The grip he had on her neck kept her upright as she reeled forward a bit. Her legs shook with each wave as she tried to keep her moans quiet. He bit down on her shoulder and all thoughts of keeping quiet vanished. She couldn't help it. She moaned loudly, his name on her lips.

  When she came back down, he took his hand out from under her dress and backed away until she couldn't feel him behind her anymore.

  They slept on opposite sides of the bed that night.

  In the morning, Aria silently left their room before Lex woke up.

  She knew that he told her he'd take her to the school, and while she wanted him to, she didn't really want to talk to or look at him after last night.

  Yeah, it was hot. Yeah, she'd wanted it.

  But the wine had made her feel more confident than she actually was. How the hell was she supposed to look him in the eye after what they'd done?

  She knew there was some sexual tension between them. She'd felt it for the first time that night they fought in the training area. But she never thought it'd go anywhere, even if they were married.

  And what the hell was she supposed to do now? What was he thinking, how did he feel?

  What if it was all just casual and physical to him?

  She spent her day going out of her way to avoid him. Simply because she didn't know how to process the feelings she was having. She needed some space to think. She didn't even go to the throne room for meals. In fact, she spent the entire day by herself in a secluded part of the palace, sneaking food from the kitchen in between meals.

  She waited until she knew it was well past midnight before going back to their room.

  Tip-toeing into the room, she quietly got ready for bed after taking a little peek at him. His back was turned, so she wasn't sure if he was asleep or not.

  She crawled into bed and turned on her side.

  "So, is there a reason you've been avoiding me all day?"

  Shit.

  "What? No. I-I just had a busy day," she lied. It sounded terrible, even to her. There was no way he'd believe it.

  "Right," he sighed, turning on his back. "If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to. But you don't have to avoid me."

  She didn't know what to say to that.

  "Don't make things weird between us. It happened."

  "I'm not trying to," she finally said, staying by her side. "But it is a little weird."

  "It doesn't have to be. It happened. Haven't you ever-" he started but didn't finish, letting the sentence trail off.

  Wow. So it was totally casual for him?

  "It's not that I regret it...." she began, still not turning to face him. She felt too embarrassed to do so, especially now that he'd confirmed her suspicions about it being casual for him. She figured that he'd done things like that before. But it wasn't like that for her. The couple of people she'd been physical with were people she'd had feelings for.

  "Well, I didn't think you would, if the way your legs shook was anything to go by."

  She could practically hear the smirk on his face before she turned to see it. That fucking asshole.

  "Yeah, well, don't get too excited," she said, a little pissed off, "I was drunk. It won't happen again."

  "Wow. Are you really implying that it only happened because you were a little drunk?"

  "Well, it sure as hell wasn't your charm!" she snapped. She felt a little bad about it, a second later, because truthfully, she wasn't really that drunk.

  But he didn't look phased or upset at what she was implying. He actually smiled.

  "Well, just for that," he began, "I'm gonna make you beg for it before I actually fuck you."

  She felt her cheeks flame.

  "If the day comes when I beg you to fuck me, you're gonna have a lot bigger problems. Because on that day, hell will have actually frozen over," she sneered.

  "We'll see about that," he said.

  She couldn't remember why she'd been so attracted to him. He was nothing but an arrogant, cocky asshole.

  Fuck Lex Mills was the last thing she thought before falling asleep that night.

  He didn't bring that night up again, and she didn't either. She tried not to think about it; she hoped that the memory would fade.

  She stopped trying to get to know him better.

  Yeah, he told her that he cared about her. And she knew she cared about him, but she was pretty sure they cared for one another for different reasons. What had happened between them was purely physical for him. The way he talked about it like it was nothing made her sure of it.

  And the fact that he didn't bring it up again or try to hold her stopped any second-guessing she'd been having about his intentions. Secretly, she'd been hoping that he'd reach out. Hold her. Maybe even kiss her and take things slow.

  The realization that he obviously didn't want that made her sad for days.

  I never asked for you to love me, he'd said that night at the house. I needed this alliance. They'd become something like friends, and Aria had to accept that that's all they'd ever really be. He didn't see her in any other way. Not in the way she'd wanted
him to.

  He didn't notice how withdrawn she'd become after what had happened, and even if he did, he didn't say anything. After a week, Aria had to accept that it was a one-time thing, that it really only happened because they were a little drunk, and he'd found her attractive that night.

  She spent her days either at the school or in the palace, teaching and making lesson plans. It made it easier to avoid Lex and what had happened, so she couldn't complain.

  But at night, when she knew that he was only inches away, the feelings would resurface again, and she considered reaching out first. But each time she decided to go for it, she stopped herself. Thinking about the way he brushed it off. She acted that way too, but the difference was that she only did that because of what he said, what he implied.

  He had no problem talking to her or looking her in the eye. She was the one who got all tongue-tied when he smiled at her or looked at her for a little longer than necessary.

  She did her best to try and tease back, smile at him when he smiled at first. But she found it a lot easier to yell at him or voice her frustrations about anything.

  One night, they went to the village for a festival. She found herself in a clearing, sitting on a log, staring at the massive bonfire at the center. She was pretty sure that they'd been married for over two, possibly even three months by that point.

  She looked around and noticed Grace and Mara sitting a few feet away from her, laughing about something. They'd been spending more and more time together, and once, she was pretty sure that she had caught them holding hands. But Mara didn't say anything to her about it, so Aria didn't ask.

  She looked past them and saw Peter talking to one of the grounder girls from the village, a smile on his face as she told him some story. He was spending a lot of time in the village lately, getting to know the girl.

  She turned to the other side and saw Martinez and Brent sharing a drink. Brent had told her about his crush on Martinez and how he had planned to kiss him tonight under the premise of being very drunk if Martinez didn't feel the same way. But Aria knew he did and that he'd most definitely return the kiss.

  She tried to feel happy for her friends. It seemed like they'd all found someone they really liked, someone who liked them in return. But she couldn't stop herself from feeling jealous. Seeing as the person she wished was sitting by her was sitting with someone else.