by MJ Prince
He’s looking at me with that awe and reverence which steals my breath even before he speaks those words which always feel like a punch in the chest whenever he says them.
“God, Jaz, you’re so beautiful.”
His hands finally move to cup my aching breasts and I hear a breathy moan escape my lips at the contact, followed by his responding groan which is sexy as hell.
Even through the thin material of his boxer shorts, I can feel him hard as granite beneath me and I don’t even seem to be in control of my own body as my hips press down on that hardness.
He curses and his hips thrust up to meet mine as I grind against him, desperate to sate the throbbing at my center.
“Fuck, baby, that feels so good,” he grinds out.
It does. It feels so damn good. But it’s not enough. I want him inside me. I want to claw at him until we’re so joined together, that nothing can tear us apart.
I can feel from the way his hard length is throbbing beneath me and the almost palpable waves of desire coursing from him, that he wants the same thing.
His hand moves from my breast, and the absence of his touch there makes me ache for his warmth. But the ache is quickly replaced by a deeper need as his hand travels down, past my abdomen, then lower still. When his finger spears through my tight passage, my skin burns with that need, until I feel like I’m about to burst into flame.
“More …” I gasp out, as the burning need inside me builds, stripping away all sense and reason. Raph’s responding growl is like fuel to the fire raging inside me.
When he adds another finger, the feeling of fullness makes me cry out and my whole universe narrows to the feel of them thrusting inside me at a rhythm which takes me closer and closer to the edge. The way he’s watching me as I take that pleasure that he’s giving me, undoes me completely and when our eyes lock, the intimacy is almost too much to bear.
I can feel the aching bud at my center throbbing with need, swollen and pulsing painfully, burning away any sliver of inhibition left in me. I can see from the wicked look in those midnight blue eyes, that Raph knows exactly the desperation that he’s driving me to.
My breathing grows ragged until I’m panting, whimpering and finally pleading.
“Please …” I gasp out as I grind down on his hand in an attempt to sate the need throbbing at my center.
Raph curses as he pulls me forward, until my body is flush with his, my breasts crushing against the rock hard expanse of his chest. His hands grab the sides of my face and his mouth crashes onto mine. I open myself up to him instantly and his tongue spears into my mouth so deep, it feels as if he’s trying to devour me, brand me, claim me and I’m only too willing to let him.
We’re both gasping for air when he breaks the kiss and his eyes lock directly onto mine, looking into my very core.
“You don’t ever have to beg me for anything, baby. Everything I am is yours.” His voice sounds so guttural, that I can barely recognize it and for a moment, I find it hard to breathe. I want him. I want him so much, that it feels like I might die from the sheer intensity of that desire.
I want to beg him to bury himself deep inside me until there’s nothing separating us, until our bodies are so fused together, that nothing can possibly exist but him and me.
But before I can open my mouth to voice what we both seem to want, he’s lifting me forward in one swift motion until I’m hovering over his face. I don’t even have a chance to object, because a second later his tongue slices through the center of me. My back arches and I think I see stars.
His groan of approval vibrates through my body and I’m utterly helpless against the torrent of pleasure coursing through my body, pulling me under until I’m gasping for breath. My hips move of their own volition, rocking sensually against Raph’s wicked mouth.
That skillful tongue works me to the edge, devouring me like a man starved and when it slips inside me, I can only cry out as I lose every single one of my senses.
When the waves of pleasure finally subside, I kiss my way down the rock hard expanse of Raph’s golden chest, down to his equally hard abs and further down still to the even harder muscle throbbing beneath. I can feel just how affected Raph is by that trail of fire in the way his powerful body quakes under my lips.
My mouth waters shamelessly at the sight of him and in the same way as he devoured me, I do the same. The way that his body rocks under my touch and the sexy masculine sounds that he makes, sends shivers of pleasure through my own body and when he begins to thrust and his hand forms a fist around my hair, I think I lose my mind at the same time he loses his.
Sometime later, we’re lying blissfully in each other’s arms and I wish for a moment that it can always be like this, that the world outside the one that we’ve created can just disappear.
My hand finds its way to the side of Raph’s left rib where the row of intertwined suns is etched into his golden skin.
“What does this tattoo mean?” I find myself asking, as my fingers trace the outline of the intertwined rays.
“It’s a symbol of the St. Tristan Dynasty,” he replies quietly. “I got it as a reminder of who and what my life belonged to.”
I feel a cold chill racing through me at his words, a reminder of who and what Raph is. A reminder of all that is against us.
“But that was before you,” he says.
“You’re mine now, Jaz and … I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you.”
Those luminous blue eyes lock onto mine and when I take in the perfect contours of his impossibly beautiful face, for a moment I feel like I can’t breathe. This guy—this infuriatingly arrogant and complicated, yet impossibly perfect, impossibly beautiful and frighteningly powerful guy is mine. He can have anyone. Any goddamn girl in this entire world most likely, but he wants me—and I want him. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life. And I can’t quite make myself believe it’s real.
Something inside me makes me hold onto Raph tighter, because I can’t shake the strange feeling descending on my shoulders, the thought that nothing this good, nothing this intense can ever last. Even the brightest stars burn out.
Raph seems to sense something in me, because his arms tighten around me, too. He leans his forehead against mine, his hand cupping my cheek and when he speaks, his eyes are locked directly onto mine, those impossibly blue eyes burning into me.
“What are you doing to me, Jaz?” he asks.
I want to ask the same thing about him. But I already know exactly what he’s done and what he’s continuing to do to me. The thought is terrifying, but when I’m with Raph, I don’t feel that fear.
I find myself remembering Raph’s words to me on my first day in Eden, telling me that I didn’t belong here and how I had believed that. But we’d both been wrong. Because whenever I’m in Raph’s arms, the sense of belonging that washes over me is so intense, that there’s no question in my mind that I’m exactly where I belong, that I can finally stop searching for that place to belong because I’ve finally found it and it’s here. With him.
He kisses me again, and because neither of us can ever seem to get enough, we devour each other all over again.
32
I wake up to the feeling of featherlight kisses along the sensitive skin of my inner thigh and when those kisses travel higher, any remnants of sleep clouding my senses disappear completely.
I’m fully awake when Raph’s sensuous lips meet that sensitive bud at my center. He positions my legs wider on top of his shoulders and my back arches at the sensations that it causes.
I can feel his lips curve in a smile against the most intimate part of me, as I cry out his name over and over.
So loud, that I don’t hear the door open.
A cough alerts me to the presence of someone in the room and I almost scream, as I frantically grasp at the blankets to cover my body. My very naked body.
I gape in shock at Magnus standing at the threshold of my bedroom door and I think I’m dying with each
second that passes, as he assesses the scene.
Me naked in bed. Raph in between my legs. I don’t think I’ve ever been so mortified in my entire life.
Magnus, to his credit, is completely calm. But he looks far from pleased.
I can’t even bring myself to look at Raph for fear that I’m going to burst into flames from embarrassment.
“Raphael,” Magnus says, finally.
Raph, to his own credit, keeps his facial expression completely neutral. So it’s only me who’s dying of embarrassment here, clearly.
“Magnus,” Raph replies, evenly.
“Jazmine, I’ve just come to let you know that breakfast is ready downstairs, if you’re hungry.”
Magnus’s eyes travel to Raph then.
“Judging from what I’ve just seen, I doubt you’re still hungry, Raphael,” he adds dryly.
Someone kill me now.
Before either of us can respond to that. Magnus makes his swift exit.
Raph bursts out in laughter an instant later, but I’m not laughing. Not at all. I swat him away as he tries to kiss me. Without another word, I fly into my walk-in closet and throw on some clothes. I go for the most modest clothes that I can find, although in light of what Magnus has just seen, I doubt it will make a difference.
Thankfully, Raph’s fully dressed when I come out but he’s still wearing that shit-eating grin.
“Well, that’s one way for people to find out,” he says, flashing me a wicked smile which earns him a solid punch directly to his mid-section.
Magnus says nothing and I’m equally silent as I eat my breakfast as fast as I possibly can. I have no doubt that I’ll probably get indigestion after this.
But I’d rather that than having to withstand Magnus dissecting me with that those all-knowing eyes for a second longer than I have to.
I’m glad that I managed to send Raph on his way, even after he tried to insist that he should come to breakfast to explain to Magnus. I couldn’t think of anything worse. But this deafening silence is ten times worse. I’ve never had to deal with this awkward parental disapproval after being found in a less than innocent position with a guy. I almost feel like a normal teenager. But of course, I’m not and even more so, neither is Raph.
Magnus finally speaks, and when he does, I find myself wishing for the silence again.
“Do you know what it is that you’re doing with Raphael St. Tristan?” he asks calmly.
I stare at him blankly because there’s so much in that question and I don’t know what he’s actually asking. So I go for the simplest answer that I can.
“Yes.”
Magnus raises an eyebrow.
“You can’t possibly know, Jazmine,” he replies simply.
“What is that supposed to mean, Magnus?” I retort. But he keeps that unshakeable calm. Damn he’s good.
“It means that you have no idea of the full implications of your and Raph’s actions.”
I bristle at that.
“Is this you trying to have the sex talk with me?” I snap. “Because I’m a little too old for that, I think. Maybe you shouldn’t have waited until I was seventeen to bother to find me.” I know that last part isn’t true—Magnus has told me that he didn’t found out about me until just before my father’s death. But still, I’m trying to distract him from digging deeper into this thing between Raph and me.
He doesn’t take the bait.
“No. I expect that you have adequate knowledge about such things,” he replies dryly.
“This is about something far more serious. I told you before that the St. Tristan Dynasty and the Evenstar Dynasty are the two sovereign Dynasties. The rule of Eden has always fallen to one of the two.
“As such, these two sovereign Dynasties have always been the furthest apart, just like the elements that they lord over. Night and day, the sun and the moon. Opposites and rivals in almost every way. You’re playing with fire here, Jazmine. You have no idea of the full implications,” he says again.
“Well, why don’t you tell me then?” I snap. I’m sick of Magnus’s cryptic words and for once, I just want him to tell me the whole damn truth, whether he thinks it’s the right time or not. But of course, he doesn’t.
“All you need to know is that you cannot trust Raphael. He is a St. Tristan, heir to the St. Tristan Dynasty no less, and he is his father’s son.”
These last words echo Layla’s and I feel my blood turn cold at hearing them. I force myself to block out the whisper of doubt racing through me. Because I do trust Raph. I hadn’t realized just how much I’ve come to trust him until now, as Magnus forces me to question it.
“Raph is not his father’s son. He’s his own person. You don’t know him,” I reply evenly.
Magnus’s eyes grow troubled then.
“No, Jazmine. It’s you who doesn’t know. Raphael’s … allure when it comes to the opposite sex is no secret. But not everything is as it seems. The St. Tristan Dynasty is toxic.”
His words make my temper flare. The only other member of the St. Tristan Dynasty I’ve met is Jethro and I couldn’t agree with Magnus more when it comes to him. But he’s wrong about Raph.
“Is this the part where you take away my cell, ground me for life and tell me never to see Raph again?” I ask flatly, although I’m fiercely hoping not.
Magnus just shakes his head wearily.
“I have no right to exercise that kind of authority over you, Jazmine.”
“Damn right,” I retort.
“But I can only hope that you’ll listen to me. You cannot trust him, Jazmine. The St. Tristan Dynasty is poison and every single member of it is a snake.”
I don’t excuse myself as I get up, shoving my chair back as I walk away. I can’t listen to another word from Magnus and I tell myself it’s because I trust Raph and nothing that Magnus says can ever change that.
33
Unlike the Fall Ball, the Winter Ball isn’t only for Regency Mount students. It’s for all of the Dynasties and nobles, so it’s a much grander affair.
Although it’s been a relatively mild winter so far, the Aspen estate is covered in a thick blanket of snow for the occasion and of course, the snow is real.
But it’s not just the snow covered landscape that steals my breath or the grand manor house, because at the center of the vast estate grounds, there is what looks like an actual ice castle, which appears to have been erected especially for the event.
Orbs of pale blue light float high above the rafters of the vast ballroom which is made of pure ice. When I walk into that ballroom, I feel like I’m walking right into a storybook painting.
“Impressed?” I turn to see Keller coming up behind me, looking awesome in her silver and white dress. Amidst the backdrop of the ice palace, she looks like the snow queen from those children’s stories herself. She’s totally in her element.
I remember thinking when I first met this girl that she was all attitude and cold as ice. But I was totally wrong, just like I’d been wrong about a lot of things when it came to Eden and to the Dynasty heirs.
I return her beaming smile with a wide grin of my own.
“Impressed is an understatement,” I reply.
“Did you do all of this yourself?”
“Of course not!”
“She had help from us.”
I blink once, twice. At first, I think I’m seeing things, because there’s a young boy now standing on each side of Keller, both of whom look identical. From their light brown hair to their deep grey eyes, so much like Keller’s, but with a spark of mischief entirely their own, and even down to their identical silver bow ties. Twins.
Keller rolls her eyes.
“Jazmine, meet Leo and Jael, my little brothers, a.k.a, the Aspen terrors.”
Leo and Jael each flash me a smile. Leo’s is slightly shy, whereas Jael’s is both mischievous and brazen. Both boys are handsome, even for their age but I can tell that Jael is the one to watch out for. He’ll be breaking hearts left, right
and center when he grows up, no doubt.
“Hi, Jazmine,” Jael replies, with that daredevil smile.
“Wanna dance?”
My eyebrows shoot up as Keller claps her little brother around the back of his head.
“Aren’t you a little young?” I reply, with a grin.
“No. I’ll be eleven in a few months,” he says, with unwavering confidence.
“Quit being such a menace,” Keller groans.
“Okay, forget the dance. How about a date instead?”
This time, I can’t help but laugh in response, and Keller is equally amused.
“I’m sorry but I’m seeing someone right now,” I reply, once the laughter has subsided.
Jael looks genuinely disappointed.
“Speaking of which, where is your date?” Keller asks then, looking around for Raph, although she’s not going to find him because despite his many protests, I’d insisted that he should still go with Layla, like his father wanted.
It was probably a crazy decision on my part. But after Magnus’s less than glowing reaction to finding Raph and me together, I’m convinced more than ever that the big reveal about our relationship would definitely need to wait. Showing up together to a ball with all the Dynasties and nobles watching would be like breaking the news with a sledgehammer. I don’t know much about politics or Dynasty life, but breaking it to Raph’s father by making such a public statement definitely doesn’t seem like a good idea.
I don’t even mind that he’s going with Layla. I realized the other day, when Magnus challenged me about it, that I really do trust Raph. I know with every fiber in my being just how deep his feelings for me run and he’s made it clear to me, that no other girl even exists for him. He’s mine and for now, that’s enough. The public declarations and all of the consequences flowing from that, can wait.
“I sort of convinced him that we shouldn’t go together,” I reply casually.
Keller’s eyes widen in response.