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“We’ll figure out the secret to this box,” Kate murmurs, still turning it around in her hands.
I feel Ayden’s eyes on me. He’s studying my face. “I’m so glad nothing happened to you.” He pushes a strand of hair out of my face, and his fingers brush across my skin, warm and tender. I just want to immerse myself in that feeling, lock it away deep inside me, lose myself in it. No more thoughts of Alfredo and what he knows. No more fear about what he might do.
I feel Ayden’s breath on my skin, and a sweet shiver runs through me. I lean against him and close my eyes, simply enjoying his presence in this moment. My tension starts to fade, and I can finally breath freely. Every noise, thought, fear – it all fades into the background. I melt under his touch and almost heave a sigh. But then, Alfredo’s face flashes through my mind. I feel his rage, his hate. I sigh, lean forward, and bury my face in my hands. I need to pull myself together and figure out what to do. I can’t let him derail me like this.
“Tess, what is it?” Ayden asks.
“I don’t know how to tell you,” I begin, rubbing my tired face. “Alfredo knows how his brother died.”
Their eyes widen. I tell them about the poisoning and the special ability of Alfredo’s spirit.
“He saw everything. And he threatened me. Alfredo’s going to make us pay, me and you, Ayden. He said it’ll be worse than death.”
My words hang like lead in the air. Nobody says anything. What can you say to something like that? We all know Alfredo, and we know he won’t hold back.
“He wouldn’t dare do anything to us,” Ayden says eventually, putting his arms around me again. He holds me tight, as if to protect me and stop anyone from getting close to me.
“You know him,” I reply. “And you know he doesn’t make empty threats. The way he sees it, we attacked his family and took his brother from him. He won’t let us get away with it. And his parents will back him. They know of his plans – I overheard them once. But it only makes sense now. He’ll do it, I know he will.”
“It was always going to come to this,” Kate says in a horrified whisper. “He would never have given up, and eventually the truth always comes out.”
“The Council will ask questions if anything happens to you. And I’m here. I won’t let him to get to you.”
I can hear a slight tremor in his voice. The idea that something could happen to me scares him. And it’s no different for me. Alfredo threatened both of us.
“I live with them. You can’t stay with me,” I point out. It pains me to remind myself of this. “And we can’t tell anyone about Alfredo’s threat without telling them the truth about Alessandro.”
“I’ll find a way,” Ayden says decisively. “I won’t let him get too close to you.”
At that moment, the bell rings. The next period is about to start, but nobody moves. It’s too hard right now to put on a brave face and deal with everyday things. I look up at Ayden, who’s furiously racking his brains for a solution, and I nestle up to him. I don’t want to think about it anymore. All I want is a moment of peace. I just want to be with him and experience this incredible feeling that he always triggers in me.
Kate stands up and smiles softly. “You stay here. I’ll make some excuse for you in class, I’ll say you have a migraine. It’ll do you both good to spend some time together.” She opens the door, then turns around again and pastes on a confident smile. “You’re strong. No one can break you that easily. Don’t forget that.” With that, she closes the door behind her and leaves me alone with Ayden.
He stands up, no longer able to sit still, and paces around his room. “I could appeal to my father. He’s pretty dejected about the fact that I’m avoiding him. If I ask him to give you a room in the school again, so we can see each other …”
“He’d never go against the Fabricis,” I interrupt sadly. “And even if he was willing to try, it wouldn’t change anything. Why would they listen to your father? They’ll never let me leave. Especially not now.”
“It’s worth a try. They need to know they’re being watched and that there’ll be consequences if anything happens to you. And we could …”
I stand up and grasp his hand. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not now. I just want to forget about all this for a while. And be here with you.”
I can see him wrestling with this. It’s not easy for him. He’s so worried about me. And he’s not even thinking about the fact that he was threatened too. But I understand, and it’s the same for me – what I’m most afraid of is what Alfredo could do to him.
I’m still holding his hand, and I pull him toward me. He lets it happen, and something in his expression changes. A fire ignites in him, a burn that I can feel radiating off him. As soon as I pull him close, he bends down, puts his hand on my back, and kisses me more fiercely than ever before. I let myself sink onto his bed and feel his heat transferring to me. Insatiable desire flares up in me and smolders in every inch of my body.
His lips press against mine, and his tongue almost drives me crazy. His hands move slowly but purposefully. I feel this wonderful tingling deep inside me. He entirely succeeds in making me forget everything, until there’s nothing left except my thoughts of him. I just want to feel him, taste him, smell him until I’m completely enveloped by him. He’ll burn into my mind, creep under my skin, capture my thoughts, and claim my innermost feelings.
I put my hands on the back of his neck and pull him closer, kissing him like a drowning person whose only salvation is through his lips. His hands wander around my waist, sparking sweet shivers on my skin wherever they touch. I rub my hands across his strong back and feel his muscles, his perfect body. When I open my eyes, I look into that fathomless green and then give myself over to the fire that’s threatening to devour me.
He kisses my neck, and his breath tickles my skin. He runs his lips along my collarbone, pushes his hands up under my sweater, making me gasp.
My hands wander lower and then around to the front, over his chest, pushing up his shirt and kissing his skin. I love him so much. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.
As if he can read my dark thoughts, he puts his hands on my cheeks and forces me to look up at him. He smiles and gives me a look of such warmth and devotion that it almost brings me to tears. No, I can’t lose him. Totally overwhelmed by the intensity of that feeling, I press my lips against his. I hear him gasp for air, but I can’t stop. I move so that I’m above him, take off his shirt, and remove my clothes too. I kiss his skin, his chest, his belly, and let my lips wander lower as he softly whispers my name.
Chapter 18
Iput on my sweater and suppress a yawn. Another night in which I barely slept. Alfredo’s threat has taken its toll. I don’t feel safe in this room anymore. I don’t even have a key to lock the door – not that that would protect me from Alfredo anyway.
