Week 15 - The Trip 12

She woke to Alexi gently placing her on the bed. She sat bolt upright, all of her unease returning suddenly.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"I have to take out my contacts anyway." Ro hopped off the bed. Alexi watched her as she quickly grabbed her pjs, glasses, tooth brush and tooth paste from her suitcase. She practically ran down the stairs to get out of the room.

When Ro returned, Alexi was in his boxers lounging on the bed.

"I feel really uncomfortable about this." Ro admitted. Alexi stood and gave her an annoyed look.

"I've already promised not to do anything. What else would make you feel better?"

"Separate beds at least." Irritation passed over Alexi's handsome face. He pulled the covers down to the foot of the bed.

"Get in." He ordered. Ro shook her head no. Alexi sighed and passed her heading for the bathroom. Suddenly, Ro felt her arms being forced to her sides and a tug at her middle had her flying onto the bed. She landed softly on her back and as soon as she did the covers flipped up over her. Immediately, her nose and mouth filled with Alexi's masculine scent of spice and sandalwood. It sent a tremor of nervousness coursing through her body. She kicked at the covers trying to dislodge them until she felt a massive weight settle over her body.

"Alexi. I said no." She said stiffly.

"This wasn't optional. You can yell at me when I am done down here." He called back as he descended the stairs. Alexi made sure to take a long time completing his nightly ritual. He wanted to give Ro plenty of time to cool off and relax before he returned to his room. When he did, he found Ro glaring reproachfully at the ceiling. "Did you even try to relax?" He muttered as he switched off the light. Ro made a strangled noise. He sighed and crossed the room. Pulling back the covers, he crawled into bed beside her. She turned her glare on him.

"Let me up." She ordered her tone frigid. Alexi smirked.

"What will you do if I do that?"

"I'll get out of this freaking bed." Alexi rolled to his back.

"Then I won't let you up. Relax, you'll fall asleep eventually." Ro felt white hot anger grip her and she turned to stare at the ceiling in frustration. She realized how fruitless it was to struggle with him. There was nowhere else for her to sleep, so she tried to picture her calming lake in her mind. Gradually she felt her anger ebb away as she watched it. Then she let her unease go too. Soon her breathing became deep and slow. Eventually she drifted into sleep.

After waiting a few minutes to makes sure she was really asleep, Alexi turned to her. He gently pulled her glasses off and placed them on the nightstand. Then he turned back to her and gazed at her serene face. His hand reached out of its own accord and softly stroked her hair. He had always meant to have her in his bed but forcing her like this was not how he had imagined it.

From almost the first moment he had seen her his desire for her had been overwhelming and absolute. When he saw her sitting in the assembly room, she had been paled faced and wide eyed, trying to process the enormity of what she had just heard. Her strange and marvelous human scent had caught him as he had passed. It had been sweet, like jasmine wafting through air on a summer day and earthy, like damp soil in a dense forest. He hadn't realized that he had stopped walking until the male he had been sitting with, Vael, had called his name.

At the noise, Ro had turned, simply meeting his eyes with her piercing green ones and Alexi had forgotten how to breath. She had held his gaze with confusion for a few moments and he couldn't look away. Vael came back to see what was keeping him and Ro turned her eyes on him. Alexi had felt the loss of her gaze as a physical thing.

Desperate to get it back on himself, he shifted to his demon form and spread his magnificent wings to their full length. Ro had looked back at him with shock registering on her face and Alexi realized he would do whatever was necessary to keep her attention. She had quickly recovered, and a slow smile then broke on her face that was as dazzling as a sunrise.

Alexi's chest had tightened like a hand squeezed his heart and something inside him broke. He felt his magic tingling into his fingertips and without conscious thought, he had begun moving to mark her. Vael stepped between him and Ro, caught his wrist and forcibly dragged him from the auditorium. Once the doors shut behind them, Alexi took in deep lungsful of air, clearing his nose and mouth of her intoxicating aroma. The tingling subsided, and he gradually felt himself calming down. Vael had looked at him like he was insane. Ro then came out of the auditorium. They both watched her with sharp eyes as she went to the board that held class assignments. She quickly found her name and left. Alexi silently vowed that he would find her again.

When he had found his name on the board listed under class E, he had been crestfallen. Vael politely excused himself with some thin excuse, but Alexi knew he was going to find friends of his own caliber and Alexi's hometown friends had both been placed in class C, so he felt doubly alone. He considered calling his father and having him get his class switched but that would have had to wait until the end of the day. He had to report to his classroom.

As soon as he stepped through the door, he forgot his loneliness and shame. There She sat chatting with two unknown girls, who he later found out were Morea Itoko and Aerie Nudvinsen. The rest of the room seemed dim in comparison to the smile she was wearing. He knew he had to be near her.

There were no seats open near her but that was alright. He could make someone move. The seat nearest her was taken by a half-human male. He wouldn't know the rules, so Alexi was forced to move to the seat in front of the Aerie. It was too far away for easy conversation with the Girl, but he knew if he was in her class that there'd be other opportunities for getting to know her.

Except he found that every time he wanted to say something, it came out wrong. He tried to be confident and it came off arrogant. He tried to give helpful advice and it came off officious. He tried to come off as dominant and protective, the way female creatures liked their males to be, and Ro was frightened and angry. He then tried to do things the human way and ask her on a date, but she was busy. By the time he had used his mind control on her, he was just so completely frustrated and fed up that he would have done anything to spend time alone with her.

And when this week was over, they'd go back to school and she'd barely speak to him again. The thought tore at him. All he could do was keep training hard on his own so that by the time it came to fight for her he'd win. She could learn to want him the way he wanted her, after she was his.

Ro sighed in her sleep and Alexi came back to himself. He watched her sleep for a few minutes longer before he too followed her example.