44.

Elai's pov

My eyes look past Arlon and luckily see that Connie isn’t looking back. He has his eyes closed and is breathing heavily, a thing I should be doing, too. This is a place where people come to relax, where I come to relax. Not to.. to think of Arlon this way, when he’s sitting right next to me.
Moments pass by and I can’t relax, not even for a bit. Arlon’s eyes have mostly been looking at me, even when I decide to swim around a little. We don’t say anything at all, not a single word. Connie has been real quiet too, and I actually believe he might’ve fallen asleep. I have my thoughts rushing through my mind with so much speed I can’t even keep up with them. They’re all making it worse for me. It starts with his hair, then his face, the outline of his body and his broad shoulders. His perfect teeth and his scars, the perfect slender fingers and then the newest asset I began to ove; the snake tattoo on his shoulder. He barely walks around without something to cover his arms up, so I am lucky I can finally see it in its full glory. It suits him, but I am yet to gather enough courage to ask him about it. I walk on eggshells around him, I know this.
“Eh? Was I gone? Did I pass out?” Connie’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts, my head shooting up. Oh. I was falling asleep, too.
“You were both passing out. Was quite cute to watch.” Arlon isn’t even sitting next to me anymore. He has swam to the other side of the bath, arms positioned the same way as before. I giggle a little when I realize I wasn’t thinking of him at all. No. I was dreaming of him. That is a first, and I wasn’t even fully asleep yet. I hadn’t lost contact with the sound of the water around my body, or the slow and deep breaths of Connie.
Connie snorts as he walks up the steps. “Flirt.” I don’t know why I watch him get out of the water. My eyes can’t look away.
“I’m fried. Training tomorrow?” He wraps a towel around his waist only when he has turned around, and I can see the annoying teeth-wide smile he puts on his face when he sees me looking. I can’t help it. It is quite fucking present.
“Oh yes. I am very curious how Elai has been doing without his favorite mentors..” Arlon’s grin is made of pure evil. It sways me in every single way. Fuck.
I press my lips together until Connie’s footsteps have completely disappeared, eyes only then daring to look at Arlon again.
The moment we make eye contact, he pushes himself away from the edge. I watch him get closer to me, until his chest is inches away from mine.
“I can’t have it anymore..” His hot breath brushes across my face, wet lips desiring to kiss mine. I don’t look away from his gaze. I refuse to do so. I don’t want to seem nervous.
His muscles tense up as he leans both his hands against the edge behind me, lips only getting closer.
“What?” I like playing dumb.
He simply huffs. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Do I?” I do.
His mouth twitches. “I want you. I want to turn you around and take you right here, right now..” His words are making me feel weak. I had never realized I would hear those words coming from his lips. I had never realized they would make me swoon like this.
“But worst of all..” His eyes look away from mine, and it is easy to see that my lips caught their attention.
“I want to kiss you..” His breath hitches after he says those words.
I suddenly find it very hard to swallow, or to know what to do, or to even think. I can’t even answer. I just stare at his face, his eyes still fixated on my lips.
“Kiss me, then..” I eventually whisper. I want our breaths to intertwine, I want our mouths to meet. I want it all, and I’m finally going to get it.
It stays silent once more, and the longer he takes, the more impatient I get. I eventually lean in first, heart stuck in my throat.
Arlon pulls his head away.
He pulls his fucking head away.
“I can’t.” He hisses out. His aura changes as he swims towards the steps. He doesn’t give me another look, not even when he wraps his towel around his waist, not even when he picks up his clothes. He’s tense all of a sudden. Frustrated. Something is in the way.
“Arlon-”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He leaves me to think of those simple words. And thinking I do.
I think about the things I’ve said and done in the past hours that we’ve spend here, but can’t find anything that might’ve bothered him. So what is it that got him acting like this out of nowhere, without any explanation? It makes me quite angry. I feel as if he doesn’t see me, especially not in a situation like this. As if all he thinks about is himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if that were true, to be honest. But I’ve got no energy to anger myself any more than this. What just happened really did happen.
We were so close.

It is cold in my room. Too cold. I am shivering and whining as I close the doors to my balcony. I keep forgetting to close them every morning. It is weird to admit that I have habits now, in a place I once saw as enemy territory. My eyes are tired and my body can’t wait to get into bed. Today was tough. My muscles have been begging for proper rest for the past few months now, but training is more important than rest will ever be. I want to be able to fight for myself. Hell, I want to join the war. On which side, you now wonder.. I wonder that too.
It takes every vein in my body not to yell at the person knocking on my door. My knee is already leaning against the matrass and my hands are already holding onto the sheets. Once I fall, I will be dead asleep and I will not wake up for the next five hours. If I even get the luxury of sleeping that much.
The person knocks a second time and brings me back down with both feet pressing against the marble floor. “Yeah yeah!” My pace is quick as I make my way over to the door, frown on my face. There is not another second I want to spend being awake. There is not one person that could- oh.
My eyes widen a little when I open the door and stare right back into Arlon’s eyes.
“King Arlon..” Being formal is for the best I suppose.
He doesn’t say anything back, eyes piercing through mine. I feel exposed, my naked body hiding behind nothing but the see-though fabric of my robe.
I watch him come closer, and closer, and closer.. and then, suddenly, unexpectedly, I feel his lips crash against mine. He catches my face between his hands and presses his palms against my cheeks. I stumble backwards, eyes now shut as I kiss him back with hunger. The door luckily shuts behind him, and the further I walk, the harder it gets to keep my balance. He’s holding onto me with everything he’s got, hands heating up against my skin. I allow myself to touch him, to finally touch him. My hand disappears into his hair as the other grabs a tight hold of his neck. It is an explosion of every emotion inside the both of us. From anger to lust, to sadness, to joy. I can feel all of them as we collide, our breaths finally meeting one another.
He heats up underneath my touch, so much that I almost want to ask him if he’s okay. I know about his capability and where it stops. I know he can’t control it when his emotions get the best of him, but it seems like he can keep it in check this time. He isn’t hot enough to burn my hands yet is too hot to hold any longer. I have to let him go, have to allow him to guide us to wherever we are going. My naked feet eventually come to a stop, back hitting the wall with force. The kiss roughens the longer it lasts. He’s breathing heavily as I get to taste him at last, the wet feeling around my lips making me weak in the knees. I don’t know what is going to happen now, I don’t know what he’ll do once he pulls back. Once he.. stops.
I don’t want him to. I want to feel this all night long. I want to feel this until I get too tired, until I fall asleep inside of his arms.
I can feel my heart beating in my throat as he moves his hand down to push against my back, chest now brushing past his. All it takes is my robe. Once that is off, I will be as vulnerable as I was back in the bathhouse, just with a different thought behind it. My mind is begging for him to untie it, to watch it drop off of my shoulders. I want him to touch me.
“Please..” I manage to release the word in between our kiss, and I suddenly feel how out of breath I actually am.
I open my eyes and see him looking right back at me. He leans his hand beside my head as the other falls away from my back. I miss the heat already, I can feel it disappear from my skin. I allow his fingers to touch my lips and I watch his face as he slowly traces them down from my neck to my chest. My breaths are quick yet I never lose my composure. I don’t know if it is my pride, my hatred or just the fact that it feels like I am connected to him but.. I am quite at ease.
His hand unties my robe and he watches it reveal my naked body. I can see his lips part as he looks down at me, as he looks and looks and.. looks. He’s out to kill me; I can see it by the way his mouth perks up into a small grin. He’s trying to make me nervous. He’s trying to get me to talk. It’s been long enough for me to understand his ways.
“You are beautiful..” It isn’t a dream; he is truly saying those words to me.
I think I’m going to faint. “Touch me..”
I am getting greedy. I want him. Badly.
“I think I’m gonna let it simmer for a little..” He can’t be serious.
He does allow me to kiss him again, but the moment I lean into his hand, he makes sure I lose. His fingers swiftly brush across my length and the mere touch already makes me tremble.
“Arlon..” I breathe out his name in hopes he will do as I say, but his hand travel further and further away from me.
“I’m excited to see what you’ve created for my birth week..” I hate this man.
I shake my head. “Don’t do that..”
“No?” He’s out of breath as much as I am but we both refuse to turn away from a third kiss. It is as intense as the first and the second, as if the explosion hasn’t died out yet. I have to fight the urge to move forward once again, scared that he will walk away with a grin on his face. He wants to tease me, or maybe see how long I can take it. But I am not giving up just yet. I know he wants to touch me, know he wants to ravage me. I move my hands up so that I can press them against his chest. I let him feel my desire, let him take in every little touch. I move them forward and push against his back. He stumbles, unable to fight the unexpected force. I feel his body pressed against mine, I can feel his excitement through his pants and I can’t help but grin when I pull away from the kiss.
“You’re telling me you’re going to walk away with that?” I feel like I have won.
He raises his eyebrows at me. “You think I won’t?”
“My king..” I know those words make him lose his focus. I’ve seen it before.
“I think you want to fuck me..” Please tell me I’ve won.
“When the time is right, I will.” His heat leaves me. I watch him walk away from me, hands bawled into fists. He’s eager to walk back, to not leave me hanging like this.
He just likes the chase more, and so I am left here with no one but myself to enjoy.
Fuck.