AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Cassius,” I warned as I closed my eyes tightly.
He hummed against my jaw in response. I ran my fingers up through his hair and yanked him up to my mouth. This time he didn’t fight it. His mouth dominated mine, his tongue stroking mine. He was giving me exactly what I needed to fall into my orgasm. My legs tightened around his hips as a moan ripped through me violently.
He pulled his lips from mine, muttering in my ear, "Let me hear what I do to you, my love." My orgasm ricocheted through the forest around us. My hands gripped him tightly as his thrusts increased. Cassius buried his face into my neck, biting down on my flesh as his orgasm followed.
“Fuck,” he hissed. His hands squeezed my flesh so tightly I knew I would have bruises. We stayed like that for a long moment before he loosened his grip on me and looked at me. His eyes had gone from black with lust to bright gold.
Giving me a soft lingering kiss, he set me gently on my feet. The smile he gave me was infectious as he lifted my cut bodice from the forest floor.
“So, I just need to get naked to beat you in a fight.” I smiled shyly towards him.
He chuckled softly and said, “Gods, I love you,” before leaning forward and catching my mouth with his.
?????
My bed was soaked from sweating when my eyes shot open. The ache between my legs made flashes of Cassius and I course through my mind. I had never known if I had been with a man when I was in Exile, but there was no question about it now.
Gods, I love you.
His voice echoed through my mind. Cassius had loved me. I couldn’t deny the way my memories portrayed us. We seemed happy. We seemed genuine before. No wonder Cassius was devastated when I said those things to him. He remembered us like that. He had all our memories of us and I’m sure that wasn’t always a good thing. Who wants to remember a love like that when the other can’t?
I forced myself to get up and shower quickly so I could hopefully get some food. It was difficult to know what time it was because of the dark clouds looming outside. I realized I had forgotten my cloak, but instead of turning around I hurried to get what I thought would be breakfast, but it ended up being lunch.
I had slept longer than usual, which I attributed to the overcast gloom of the storm. The competitors’ eyes lingered on me more than yesterday. My colorful swirls still tattooed my skin although they had faded slightly. My cloak had prevented anyone from noticing, but I suppose they would have noticed tonight at dinner. It was better to get the shock out of the way now.
I turned around as soon as I had my plate and locked eyes with Cassius. His eyes were a dim gold and he refused to look away from me. My cheeks flushed hot under his stare, and he must have noticed because he raised his eyebrow as if questioning why I was having this reaction. I broke eye contact and hurried towards my room so I could hide until dinner. Cassius’s footsteps following me stopped me dead in my tracks. I turned around, but he had kept his distance from me like he thought I wanted.
“I’m supposed to tell all the contestants that there is a dinner tonight that is mandatory,” he said, voice completely void of emotion. That was my fault, and I didn’t like it. “You’ll need a dress.”
“I went to see Ophelia yesterday, and she insisted on making one.”
A flicker of something passed over his features. My eyes drifted over his face. Lips that kissed me, spoke pretty words to me, hands that touched me. Swallowing down the overwhelming memory and feelings of us, I looked back at his eyes. I could see that he wanted to say something, but he gave me a curt nod instead before setting off down the corridor. Staring at his back, I hoped he would turn around. When he didn’t, I went into my room and sat on the bed.
I ate in the deafening silence. In Exile I didn’t have much of a choice for the lack of silence, but I had never enjoyed it. I felt alone here, even more so now that I was getting a glimpse of what Cassius had been to me. Part of me was thankful I couldn’t remember all of us while I was in Exile because that seemed like torture. My chest squeezed tightly. If Cassius did love me once, he had been tortured for years remembering me and watching me compete without me remembering. We needed to talk tonight at dinner. I was still cautious of what he had said about using me, but the other memories were making that seem harder and harder to believe.
Time moved unbearably slow as I browsed my book of family crests until I thought it was an appropriate time to go see Ophelia. I grabbed my cloak and slipped it on before heading to her shop. The rain hadn’t started again, and I hoped it wouldn’t until I was back at the castle.
Ophelia’s face lit up at my arrival. “Perfect timing, I just finished! Come, come.” She ushered me into the back. I stopped immediately when the dress came into my view. It was still on the mannequin. She expected me to pull that off? I looked at her and immediately got anxious.
The dress was stunning. It was black and would be form-fitting for me, but the skirt of it was a loose fit with a long slit up the right side. It didn’t have any straps and the back of it had wonderful silver chain detailing that exposed my back and would hold the dress tightly to me.
“It’s stunning,” I breathed. “But I’m not sure I can pull it off.”
“Oh, nonsense.” She brushed away my ridiculous thought with a wave of her hand. She pulled me forward to a pair of silver heels so I could see them. I didn’t bother asking how she knew what size I was because I knew what her answer would be. Cassius told her.
“Let’s get you ready. I figured you may need some help with your hair and makeup.” She gestured towards the small table with different products across it. A sense of relief washed over me as soon as she offered.
“That would be wonderful.” I smiled and sat down. She busied herself right away and began undoing my braid.
“I think having your hair up will look quite pretty,” she spoke softly as she lifted my hair to give me an idea. My eyes closed as she worked on my tangled curls. Ophelia was gentle like she did this all the time. She had lit candles in her small shop that reminded me of fresh flowers.
After a short time, I opened my eyes and was impressed by the reflection that stared back at me. My normally wild hair was in a fancy updo with little silver accents that would match the shoes and back of the dress. Admiring Ophelia’s work, I turned my head from side to side.
“You work miracles.” I laughed. “I’ve never been able to tame my wild curls.”
Ophelia’s smile was almost motherly as she looked at me in the mirror. She patted my shoulders before coming to sit in front of me.
“Have you done this with me before?” I whispered.
