His Reign

"Temptress," he commented leaving me in shock. He even dared to call me one when he was the actual tempter. This time, it was his reign, not mine.

In no time, he pushed me to the bedpost of my canopy bed and instantly pressed his body against mine. Caught between him and the wood, I nervously clenched the drapes with one hand.

It didn't take much time for him to find and grab that hand. I tried to push him off with my other hand which was still placed on his chest. But he was too strong and didn't move an inch. He calmly picked up that hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on my knuckles. After, he folded both of my hands behind my back passing the bedpost. He held them together. With that, he made me defenceless.

I looked up at his face, petrified. He looked down at me with an expression I couldn't understand. There was absolute silence at first. Nevertheless, our uncontrollable breaths and heartbeats destroyed the tranquillity in no time.

"Athena," he leaned closer as lips moved in an indistinct whisper. It was neither a warning nor a plea. It was somewhere in between.

As if it was not enough, he started to tangle his fingers with mine. 'What in the world is he doing? Why am I not resisting anymore?' I pondered without moving a finger.

He leaned, and placed his cheek on my head, seemingly sniffing my hair. Now his lips softly pressed against my hair.

His anger was subdued but desire seemed to have stirred up. I could say he was trying to restrain himself from doing something unforgivable.

I couldn't understand how our heated conversation turned into something like this. He was violent a moment ago. On the contrary, now he was gentle. He was gentle enough to drive me crazy. Whatever I was feeling then couldn't stand against his tenderness. It was something similar to cold water running on overheated metal.

My anger and fear were visibly dousing and I was the same as him.

When I was subjugated by his presence, he stopped. Though he had already entered my so-called personal space, he was not proceeding any further. He didn't kiss me or touch me and those few seconds were torture. I felt like suffocating because of his proximity and inaction. I had to bite my lower lip to control myself from kissing him.

In no time, I swayed and inched toward him because of whatever charm he was using on me. 'This is so dumb of me,' I continued to warn myself, all in vain. Hopelessly, I rested my forehead on his chest. Suddenly he pressed another kiss on the crown of my head.

Slowly he found his way from the top of my head to my ear. When he pressed his lips on my ears, it sent chills through my spine. 'You shouldn't have given in,' I condemned myself.

In the meantime, his lips moved down and pressed on the area just below my ear. I couldn't help but part my lips slightly because of his advances. One quick breath left my mouth and joined his.

Victor raised his head a bit and reached for my cheeks. As if it was his favourite, his lips pressed harder on the place where my dimples faintly appeared. This time, he didn't stop with just one kiss. Multiple kisses of different intensities fell on my cheeks slowly, making me close my eyes. My hands which we still in his hold tightly grabbed onto the drape.

'It will not end well,' I tried to control my uneven breaths, trying to find a few words.

"You... you need to go back," I finally stammered in between.

"We are in trouble," I continued.

"Mn, I'm aware," he replied in between his kisses. Finally, he said something again.

"Look at me"

"...." that only made me to further lower my head.

He sighed once then lifted me off the ground. Instantly, he made me stand on the cushioned bed step. Now I was a few inches taller than him. This made it hard for me to avoid his gaze by lowering my eyes.

"Look at me," he ordered again.

"We're not supposed to stay this close," I continued still avoiding his gaze.

His fingers which were lingering on me suddenly tightened around my waist. When I looked up, I could see the fire in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to punish me for what I said a moment ago. "You're accountable," he replied huskily, looking into my eyes. "I'm this vulnerable because of you," he continued as he once again pulled me into a hug.

I was not sure who was the vulnerable one then. One thing was clear. I had no escape since my aggressor was strong.

"Let go," I mumbled.

"Why would I?" he mumbled back as he buried his face in the curve of my neck. This immediately gave me cold chills again. The next thing I felt was even more dangerous. He softly traced down the length of my neck with his hot lips and set me aflame. Finally, he roughly kissed the curve of my neck. I shuddered as I helplessly closed my eyes tightly and murmured his name.

"Victor... please st..." An unplanned low moan escaped my mouth encouraging him to press his lips harder. After that, I didn't dare to say a word. I bit down on my lip enduring everything.

Not satisfied with his own delinquency, Victor raised his head and looked at my lips. Hips lips parted when he saw my slightly blood-stained, swollen lips. He cupped my face with one hand and caressed my lower lip with his thumb.

"My maids may come," I hurriedly rattled off. Of course, they were all weak murmurs.

"They won't," he assured, still focusing on my lips.

He took a deep breath and leaned. But before he reached my lips, he halted. His thumb pressed on my lips and the other hand's fingers tightened around my waist.

"Can I?" an unreasonable request left his mouth. I was stunned at first. Asking permission then didn't make any sense after all he did a moment ago. I suddenly remembered the first day he kissed me. I was pissed back then.

At that moment, I just wanted to see how he'll react if I rejected.

"No," I said.

"Please," he vocalized an impatient appeal.

"No," I repeated looking right into his eyes.

He turned his head away with a lower groan of displeasure. His adam's apple bobbed once as he gulped. His hand which was holding my chin fell on my waist and both of his hands tightened there. He let out a sigh of disappointment. I continued to look at him with amusement. If he is going to be like this, I wouldn't be able to say no.

When his hands around my waist started to loosen, I grabbed the hair at the back of his head. It was much easier since I was still standing on the bed step. He turned and I immediately pulled him into a kiss, an unrestrained kiss.

There was no holding back this time. I was hungry, just like him. So I applied everything I knew about a kiss to kiss him. Still, I tried to keep it poised. On the contrary, he messily escalated it to the next level within seconds.

His advances were unruly and irresistible. His tracing lips and intruding tongue were warm and wet at the same time. They were not graceful. They explicitly craved me more than anything. When I opened my eyes, his heavy eyes were all I could see. They still glistened in the dark. I could sense his impatience in the way his hands held my waist. He let go of my waist and fervently cupped my face turning it the way he wanted. His unrestrained self made me crave for more. All I could do was reciprocate.

When I was out of breath, I broke away and panted. He waited a few seconds for me to catch my breath. Once I started to calm down a bit, he leaned again.

"Victor, I can't," I hurriedly stopped him.

He stopped and retreated his head to see my face. My flushed face and swollen lips must have quelled him. He continued to look at my face for a few seconds with those fire like eyes. This time, it was not only passion that shone beyond that beautiful eyes. I sensed adoration. He was so different from what he looked a moment ago.

He leaned again and moistened my wounded lower lip. It was more like an apology than a kiss.

"I'm sorry," he vocalized it.

This guy... I had already imagined how passionate he can be from his descriptions in the book. Now that I got to witness it myself, I was out of words and out of breath. His love for me indeed got me off balance.

"Victor," I couldn't help but mutter his name in stupefaction. His sincere eyes met with mine.

'Had he always been looking at me this way?' I wondered. The look in his eyes was too pure and honest to ignore. His sparkling eyes told me the stories his lips never did. They screamed his devotion.

I lowered my head. 'Do I deserve this much?'

I had always been lying and deceiving him. 'Do I deserve this much sincerity?'

Even now, I was ready to send him back to Dagresh without a second thought. Though I had thought about his well-being, sending him back was not what I should be doing. He well earned more than that.

With a sigh, I looked up at his face once again.

"We need to talk," I said.

"Go ahead," he told me as he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Tell me anything, but don't ask me to leave," he said as he placed his head on one of my shoulders.