Chapter 17

Sasha
Two hours after leaving the dining hall, Sasha wiped her face clean again. She knew she was a mess and also knew that she couldn’t hide in her room forever, no matter how much she wanted to. She had never let Tiffany win before and she refused to start now. She grabbed a new set of clothes and one of the special washcloths that had been sent with them so that they could clean themselves through the belts. Someone knocked on the door and she grunted. She could just ignore them and go to shower. While she debated her options, the knock came again.
“Aja? Are you okay?”
She bounded over to the door and pulled it open. She immediately pulled Lani into her arms. Kalani rubbed her back and began to hum to her softly, soothing a small fraction of her self induced hurt.
“Why is she so mean to us?,” Sasha sniffled. “Why aren’t we wanted? What did we do that was so bad? We didn’t ask for any of this. It’s not our fault we were born.”
“Aja, we will never know why we are so hated amongst those people and it shouldn’t matter. Tursum was never our home. We have found where we belong. I belong here with Gamma Gregory and you belong with the king. Our sisters belong here with their mates.” She began to lead her back into the room. “Melissa is mated to Zubin and Raven is mated to Aleksey. Sherri is mated to Shaun. We have all accepted our mates. We are just waiting for you to accept yours. You can have your happily ever after, too. Aiden wants to make you happy.”
Sasha wiped her runny nose on her sleeve. “I can’t. I die either way. I have no happy ending,” she said sadly.
Kalani pushed her gently towards the bathroom. “Go clean up. Aiden needs to see you as bad as you need to see him.”
She glanced at her sister. “You saw Aiden?”
“Of course, I did. He took me to his private garden.”
Jealousy filled her and she turned to glare at Kalani. Her sister giggled.
“We had a five minute conversation and then he disappeared. I guess he got bored watching me in the garden. I saw him in the dining hall and he told me what happened with Tiffany. Go shower and Gregory will take you to see him. Aiden told me that he would stop whatever he was doing if you came to him.” She fell silent, before shrugging. “Oops, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Oh, well. Shit happens.”
Sasha eyed her. “What are you up to?”
“The king asked me to come check on you and he asked Greg to give us space today. I miss him and it’s distracting me.”
“You can go be with him. It’s okay. I understand. I knew one day I was going to have to let you go.”
“Never. When you agree to mate with the king, I will always be around. They are best friends, you know. So, you are still stuck with me for life. Ain’t no getting out of being my sister, woman. Nice try though.”
Sasha hugged her. “When did you grow up so fast?”
“I had the best teacher. Now, go shower for the hundredth time and I will wait to take you to the king.”
“I don’t think he wants to see me.”
She pushed her to the bathroom again. “Go shower and we will find out.”
“Lani-”
“Aja, I will not let your fear rule you in this. Until you decide to not love him, I am going to try to turn your mind into showing him you love him.”
“I don-”
“Bull! Shower! Now!”
Sasha groaned and went grudgingly into the bathroom. She started the water.
“Hey, Lani, are you still wearing your belt?”
“Yes, why?”
“Just wondering..”
“Aja, I am not interested in the king.”
Embarrassment filled her. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Yes, you did. He only looks at me like a little sister. He isn’t attracted to me at all.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t even want him like that. I don’t understand why I keep doing this to myself.”
“If you're going to lie to me, lie to me, but don’t lie to yourself. You have loved him forever already.”
Sasha stepped under the water and moaned softly when it instantly began to ease her tense muscles. She clenched the thin rectangular cloth in her hand as she leaned her head against the wall. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. What was she going to do? She swore to uphold her promise to successfully complete this assignment, but how did one kill their own heart? Suicide was wrong wasn’t it? She sighed. Maybe she could just- The shower door opening behind her cut off her racing thoughts. Before she could turn around, she was jerked backward, before she was pressed back against the wall with her face above the stream of water. Electricity raced over her skin and she bit back another moan.
“Aiden,” she whispered breathlessly.
“Sasha,” he growled.
“Mikhail?,” she asked.
“Mine!,” he uttered as his lips moved over her shoulder.
She trembled as pleasure exploded inside of her. He kissed down her spine, before angrily tugging at the belt. His hands gripped her thighs and forced her legs apart. He crouched behind her, put his face by her vagina and inhaled deep. A fresh wave of arousal came and he groaned. He stood back up behind her to run his hands over her back and ass. He squeezed her cheeks, leaning close to her ear.
“I want to talk to you and I need you to be honest.”
She swallowed hard. “O- okay.”
He put her hands beside her head, before skimming her ribs. She giggled a little.
“Did you have sex with this Ethan?”
She tried to lower her hands, but he pressed them into the wall with his own.
“I.. I did not have sex with him.”
“What did you do with him?”
She hesitated, trying to figure out how best to answer him while naked and unable to defend herself in such a small space.
“We kissed and he fondled my breasts.”
“Did you touch him?”
“NO! I mean.. I rubbed him over his pants, but that’s all. I never held his.. Thing in my hand,” she whispered shyly.
He turned her around, gripped her wrists in his hand, placed them above her head and looked down at her. She blushed and looked away.
“How did he touch your breasts?”
“He- he held them in his hands and played with my nipples. He.. umm.. Sucked on them.”
His other hand came up to cup her breast. His thumb ran over her nipple. He bounced her breast a little as he watched, mesmerized as it jiggled in his hand. He brushed his thumb over her nipple until it became a hardened bud under his guidance. She moaned softly.
“Do you like that?,” he murmured huskily, already knowing that she did based on the intense rise of arousal in her scent.
Her tongue was too thick for her to respond, so all she could do was nod. He lowered his head and took her nipple in between his teeth. He bit down lightly before soothing it with his tongue. Her back arched and she moaned. He took more of her breast in his mouth, sucking and nibbling harder. She tried to tug her hand out of his grasp to run her fingers through his hair, but he held her firmly, not letting her have a wide range of movement while he continued his pleasurable assault on her body. He kept playing with her breast, turning rougher as her body grew tighter.
“Mikhail… I’m about to ooooooohhhh,” she screamed out as he made her explode with another bite to her nipple.
He pulled back from her with a smirk on his face as her legs still quivered. “You are so responsive.”
“Is.. is that a bad thing?”
He chuckled. “No. I love it.” His eyes swirled coal black and silver, hinting at Mikhail starting to lose control. “We cannot wait to have you thrashing under us.” His eyes slid fully back into Aiden’s silver. “Turn around,” he ordered gruffly.