Princess Ballot: Royals of Arbon Academy

by James Tate

  For a moment I stood there pressing my fingers to my lips and basking in the glow he’d stoked in me. It didn’t take long for the whispers to start dampening my mood, though, so I headed off to my own class.

  Chapter 20

  “Dear sweet baby kittens,” Mattie sighed, slouching in the seat beside me as she fanned herself. “Have I told you lately how much I love this sport?” Her eyes were firmly glued to the field, and her cheeks held a pinkish tint.

  I snickered a laugh, clicking the cap back on my old-school ink pen and closing my workbook over it. Accessing eBooks on my palm reader was a blessing for my aching shoulders, but now that I had access to paper and pens, I was a little bit in love with writing my homework out by hand.

  “I can’t imagine why,” I replied with heavy sarcasm. “But you are aware that kittens are already baby cats, right? There’s no such thing as a baby kitten.”

  Mattie tore her eyes away from the players just long enough to give me a confused frown. “What?”

  I sighed. “Never mind. How come you’re here, anyway? I thought you had debate meetings on Fridays.” It’d been five days since Alex had kissed me in the dining room, and we’d been the hot topic around the academy since. While I loved the fact that he wasn’t afraid to be seen with me, that he wasn’t sneaking around with the scholarship student like I was a dirty secret, it kind of made me uneasy. I felt like it had been less of a spontaneous expression of his feelings and more of a political move. Claiming ownership.

  Mattie shrugged. “Yeah, I didn’t feel like going. Figured you might like some company out here.”

  I laughed and arched a brow at her, but she wasn’t even looking at me. Her gaze was back on the field where the guys were splitting up into two teams for a practice match. They had a big game tomorrow against Tsinghua—a rival school from the kingdom of Beijing.

  Apparently the players had warmed up enough—and the arena was kept at a pleasant enough temperature—that instead of marking one team with a tag, they’d opted for something far more eye-popping. Shirts vs skins. Yep. There were eleven delicious, ripped royals stripping their shirts off just twenty yards from us.

  “Holy shit,” I muttered, forcing my jaw to maintain its correct position on my face and not drop to the ground.

  Mattie snickered a laugh. “See, I knew you liked the bad boys.”

  My cheeks heated because she knew exactly where I was staring. Rafe. Or more specifically, Rafe’s myriad of colorful tattoos that seemed to hug his defined muscles in a way that should be illegal. He was so far removed from the refined prince, and I fucking loved that about him. If only his personality was better...

  “Oh, I wouldn’t call Nolan a bad boy. He’s just misunderstood.” I said it so innocently, shifting my gaze to Mattie’s twin quickly enough that when she spun around to glare at me, I was staring in the right direction.

  Actually, come to think of it, Nolan had a seriously banging body. Fucking hell, was this a requirement of being rich? Be uber sexy and possess the ability to melt a girls panties at five hundred feet?

  “Gross, girl,” Mattie objected, wrinkling her nose, “Don’t ogle my twin unless you’re willing to ogle me, too.” She shot me a teasing wink so I knew she was at least partly joking. Still. Nolan was hot.

  “Whatever, I’m not here to perv on the guys,” I informed her with a superior tone. “I need to get this economics paper finished to turn in this afternoon.”

  Mattie screwed up her face at me. “That’s not due until Monday, overachiever.”

  I laughed. “Yes, I know. But with the game tomorrow, then Alex asked me if I’d keep Sunday free for him…” I trailed off with a small shrug.

  Mattie coughed a sound. “Uh, he asked you to do what? Why?”

  My cheeks flamed, and I dodged her scrutinizing gaze. “If you must know… he wants to go to a hotel.”

  Her jaw dropped as she read between the not-so-subtle lines. “He scheduled a time to fuck you?” she snorted with laughter. “Oh my god, that’s so Alex.”

  I had to hand it to her, since Alex had spent so much time caring for me and my injuries last weekend, she’s seriously mellowed on the whole Alex-is-a-murderer thing. No one else had, but fuck it. Mattie’s opinion was the only one I really cared about.

  Lies.

  I sighed, squashing that flicker of unease in my gut as I tracked Rafe across the field. The way he handled the ball, fucking dancing with it, was totally magnetic. I shouldn’t have been watching him. I shouldn’t even acknowledge his existence, seeing how he’d treated me all week, but… I was helpless to resist.

  “He doesn’t actually mean it, you know?” Mattie’s tone was serious, and I shot her a look. “Rafe.” She nodded to the Swiss prince, who’d just scored a goal and was basking under his team’s cheers.

  I scoffed, forcing my attention to the other team. The shirts team. The one my caring boyfriend was captaining, and the one that was currently seething at the loss of a goal to skins.

  “If you’re trying to defend Rafe damn near bullying me this week, you can save it. There is no acceptable excuse for his behavior, short of a brain aneurysm. Even then I probably wouldn’t buy it.” I tried to keep my tone flat and emotionless, but just discussing it made my stomach churn.

  All. Fucking. Week. Rafe had taken every opportunity to cut me down with verbal barbs and casually cruel comments. What the fuck I’d done to turn him so severely against me when I’d thought we were making such progress, I had no idea.

  “It’s complicated,” Mattie murmured, her lips tight. She had that frustrated, angry expression that told me all I needed to know. There was more going on, and only royals were permitted insight. I, as Rafe had pointed out numerous times over the week, was quite assuredly not a royal.

  Prick.

  “Okay, well, whenever he wants to uncomplicate it, I’ll be sure to forgive and forget.” I muttered this, totally expressionless, and flipped open my economics workbook again.

  “Really?” Mattie asked, completely misreading me.

  I leveled her with a flat stare. “Fuck no. The next time he slings one of his pointed insults at me, I’m probably going to punch him in the throat.”

  “Oh.” Her face fell, and neither of us spoke for some time. Me, I focused on getting my assignment done. As much as I loved watching hot, sweaty, muscle-bound guys kicking around a soccer ball, I really needed to get my work done. That way I could just hang out with Alex for the rest of the evening and let him clear my brain of infuriating, mean-spirited, brunet princes.

  And Alex was very, very good at clearing my head of everyone but him.

  I groaned silently and glanced up in time to catch my golden-haired boyfriend scoring a goal for his team. The way his strong legs worked, the way his chest heaved with exertion, or the way he lifted his shirt to mop at his face, revealing some tanned abs I was already intimately acquainted with… ugh. Sunday couldn’t come soon enough.

  “You sure you’re up for a whole day of debauchery?” Mattie asked as the guys finished their practice game and shook hands with each other. Rafe’s team—skins—had won but only by one point. They’d all taken the “friendly” match pretty seriously too, if the sheen of sweat coating them all was any indication.

  I eyeballed my friend as I stuffed my workbook back into my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “I’m fine,” I told her. “Just a few bruises left but otherwise, totally fit. Besides, I’ve been through worse.” It was a thoughtless slip, an insight into how familiar I was with violence, and Mattie’s frown told me she hadn’t missed it. “Besides,” I added, trying to cover my blunder and lighten the mood as we stood from our seats, “if I don’t get laid soon, my hymen might actually grow back.”

  Mattie spluttered a laugh, but her eyes bugged out as she looked over my shoulder.

  “Nice to know you really are the trashy slut everyone thinks you are,” a deep voice commented, and I shuddered. God. Fucking. Damn it.

  “Eavesdropping is beneat
h you, Prince Dickhead,” I snarked back, whirling around to face Rafe and not even the slightest bit prepared for the sight of him up close. He had a soccer ball tucked casually against his side, and droplets of sweat beaded and trickled across his inked-up chest. Dear sweet baby kittens.

  Rafe seemed not to notice my brain short circuiting as he just gave me a small smirk and leaned in close. Close enough to smell… close enough to touch…

  “There’s an event tomorrow; Nolan said you wanted in.” Close enough to whisper in my ear so that Mattie wouldn’t hear him. Fuck me. Seriously. The warmth of his breath on my ear sent a shudder rolling right through me until it detonated in my pussy like fireworks.

  Clearing my throat, I nodded. “I do.”

  Rafe leaned back just far enough to meet my eyes, studying me like he was testing my worth, or my mettle. “Whatever, Cinders. It’s your funeral. I’ll put you on the cards.”

  He’d turned and walked a few steps away before I found my tongue again.

  “Wait,” I called out, frowning. “Don’t you have a game tomorrow?” Because I seriously doubted the notorious Fallen Angel would skip their first big match.

  Rafe just looked at me with those sapphire blue eyes like I was an idiot. “After the game. I’ll text you details.” After… Crap. I was supposed to leave after the game to meet Alex for our stay at the hotel. “That’s not a problem, is it, Cinderella? You don’t actually turn into a pumpkin at midnight.”

  I seethed at his sneering tone. “That was her carriage not her, dipshit. If you’re using classic fairy tales to insult me, at least get the story right.”

  Rafe’s lips twitched with the barest hint of a smile, then he shook his head in judging disapproval before walking back to grab his bag from the grass and head to the locker rooms.

  I flipped him off. He didn’t see me, but it made me feel better.

  “Uh, what was that about?”

  Shit. I’d forgotten Mattie was standing right there. How much had she just heard?

  “What was what?” I played dumb. “Rafe just decided he hadn’t given me enough grief at lunchtime.” I shrugged, feeling the uncomfortable weight of my lie sit on my shoulders.

  “Uh-huh.” Mattie narrowed her eyes at me, but didn’t push the issue. “Well, think of this week as a warm-up. I just got a message informing me that Claudette will be back in classes as of Monday. Brandon is still MIA, but I expect he’ll be back soon as well. The dean told Jordan that his son was with his grandparents but would be back in class mid–next week.”

  Brandon had taken a few days off after beating me silly, and I’d been waiting for his return to plan my perfect revenge. So this news was both frustrating and welcome. I needed to cleanse that fuck from my life by permanently erasing him.

  “I think he ran to make sure that no one got to him when the video came out,” I bit out. “Alex wants his blood.” Everyone knew how pissed off Alex was about it; he’d been smashing phones ever since the video emerged.

  Mattie nodded. “Yep. It wasn’t just Alex, though. Nolan and Jordan have been gunning for him, too. They might actually kill him.”

  Only Rafe truly understood why I had to do this on my own, but I loved that the other guys cared so much. It meant everything to me.

  “And Claudette,” I said with a sigh. “So much for being evicted from Arbon.” I swallowed back my anxiety and disappointment. Despite Rafe’s sneering denial that he’d broken his engagement with her—because of what she did to me—she hadn’t been in the academy all week. A small part of me wanted to believe the original rumors. Believe that he’d taken a stand against her behavior… But I guess not.

  Mattie gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, girl. People are saying she just went on vacation for a week. She’ll probably come back all tanned and gorgeous, the bitch.”

  I didn’t care if she was tanned or not. I cared if she was planning another attempt on my life… If she was, this time I’d be ready for her.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Alex called out, jogging over to us while still drying his hair on a towel. He must have taken the fastest shower in the history of the world to be back so quickly. “You ready for dinner? I’m starved. Did you see my goal?” He beamed at me, but there was an edge of something more… something darker. Had he seen me talking to Rafe? And if so, why would that concern him so much?

  Dammit, I was going to have to give him some excuse for why I couldn’t go to the hotel tomorrow night. Fucking Rafe fucking with my plans to… uh… fuck. If I were a more suspicious bitch, I’d think that had been a deliberate cockblock.

  My brow furrowed at the thought.

  Would he…?

  “Actually, babe, maybe we could skip dinner and just go hang out in your room?” I pasted on my best smile and patted the front of his shirt. No time like the present to get more intimately acquainted with my sexy-as-fuck boyfriend. His body was still hot from his exercise, and I had to stop myself from feeling him up in front of Mattie.

  My suggestion made his brows hitch, and he flicked a look at my friend.

  “Don’t look at me,” she griped. “Vi has a mind of her own. Catch you later, girl.”

  She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and moved past Alex before turning back to me and giving all kinds of lewd gestures that said she knew exactly what I wanted for dinner tonight.

  Dick. I wanted dick for dinner.

  Chapter 21

  The second Alex’s door clicked shut behind us, he hauled me into his arms. My ribs shouted at me, but I ignored them, focusing on his mouth on mine. We’d been building to this for weeks, and right now, I was going to self-destruct if I didn’t get some.

  “Fuck, Violet,” he groaned against my mouth. “Do you know how much I want you?”

  My chest went tight; the desire in his voice was doing things to me. Turning my insides to mush.

  “I want you, too,” I replied, sounding breathless. “So. Fucking. Bad.”

  Alex’s lips slammed into mine harder, and I gasped, tasting a little blood because he’d busted my cut open on the inside. But I didn’t complain.

  “I didn’t expect that,” he murmured, his hand running down my sides as he backed us toward the bed.

  His lips dropped to my neck as he lowered me to the bed, and I was too far gone to wonder what expectations he was talking about.

  As he kissed further down my body, I moved beneath him, letting him strip me of clothing as he went. His lips were warm and soft as they brushed over my stomach and down to my thighs.

  “Alex,” I groaned, needing him to step it up.

  Blue eyes twinkled at me as he shot a grin up along my body, and the sight of all that blond hair and tanned skin of my sexy-as-fuck royal was enough to almost send me over the edge.

  Alex slipped his hand down my thighs, and then I was naked. He lowered his lips, tongue swiping up and over my aching clit. He repeated it over and over until I was a fucking mess, my orgasm hovering just on the edge. I would never tell Alex this, but I liked my sex dark and … a little rough. He was almost gentle as he caressed me—and I loved it—but he would have to work harder than that for an orgasm from me.

  When he lifted his head, lips pink and wet, I reached for him. “Now,” I demanded, needing more. I wanted this release; I needed to forget for a few hours. And Alex was the perfect distraction.

  He crawled up the bed, and I enjoyed every second of the show. Long hard lines, muscles developed in the pursuit of high-level sports, and a mess of blond hair that was demanding I run my fingers through it.

  I obliged before tightening my hold and yanking him down onto me. “Now,” I repeated.

  Alex grinned before reaching to the side table and grabbing a condom. Once it was on, he reached down and guided his dick to my entrance, and in one smooth move, slid all the way inside. My pussy clenched around him, and I jerked my hips up, wanting him even deeper.

  He had been waiting, letting me adjust to his size, but as I moved, he did as well. My body shifted w
ith his, tingles starting lower as I closed my eyes and let the pleasure fill my blood. One of my hands was still in his hair, the other clawing at his back. His lips met mine, and I opened my mouth, wanting to taste more of him.

  I wanted more. I wanted it all.

  “Harder,” I urged, and he lifted himself, changing positions slightly so he could slam into me. The swirls of my orgasm moved closer, and I moaned, my hand sliding down to stroke across my clit.

  “Come for me,” Alex said. “Come on my dick, Violet.”

  I wanted to laugh, but I was too close to do anything other than moan again.

  And then I did as I was told.

  Pleasure exploded through my body, and I rode the waves, reminding myself not to let myself go so long between orgasms. I’d almost forgotten how fucking amazing it was. Alex’s eyes were locked on me as he slammed harder and harder, his hands sliding under my ass to lift me up, changing the angle.

  “You’re going to come again,” he said, confident as all fuck. In the post-orgasm bliss I could do nothing but smile and mumble something. I mean, I’d never come twice before during sex, but there was always a first time.

  “Let’s try something else,” he said, lifting me even higher and dropping back on his ass, pulling me into his lap. He’d fallen out in the movement, but as he jerked up, I felt him slide back in, much deeper than before.

  I rocked into him, over and over, and as he slammed up, I felt another swirl of pleasure.

  Maybe I was going to come again….

  Alex groaned and jerked against me a few times, my body riding with him as he pulled me harder into him. “Fuck. Fuck,” he said before he slowed, finally finished coming.

  Well, it had been close. Maybe if he’d held out a little longer, I might have found my unicorn of a dude who could give me a second orgasm in a row.