Page 42 of The Call of Crimson (The Crimson & Shadows #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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S everal days later, Ayden forces me into the library to start working on my astral projection. Poor weather had cancelled any outdoor plans, giving him the perfect opportunity to torture, I mean, train me.

“Try again,” Ayden encourages.

I let out an exasperated sigh before closing my eyes, pulling my focus inward. It’s easy enough to project my image, but making it believable? That’s another matter entirely. If my physical body has to focus on anything else, my astral form flickers.

I manifest next to Ayden, visible and clear.He can see me, but if he were to touch me, his hand would pass right through. As far as I knew, there was no way around that with my Gift. While his illusions could take a corporeal form, mine would always remain intangible. A projection.

So, the trick was to make it so believable that no one questioned it. Maintain enough distance that no one could reach out and prove it false.

I circle him slowly, inspecting him from head to toe, waiting for his next instruction.

“Good,” Ayden praises. “Now open your eyes. Walk to me.”

I crack my physical eyes open, careful to hold onto the tether between myself and the projection.

It’s dizzying, seeing through both forms at once, but I manage it.

Ayden smiles, slow and dazzling. He claps once, then leans into my space. “Very good. You’re improving.”

A second later, hot breath tickles the back of my neck. “Now tell me where you went wrong,” he whispers.

I groan and let the projection collapse.

Spinning to face him, I scowl. “You fight dirty.”

“So do our enemies, love.” He smirks. “You owe me a kiss.”

Begrudgingly, I lean forward and press a chaste kiss to his lips, the taste of smug satisfaction rolling off him.

Before I can pull away, Ayden’s hand closes around my hip, deepening the kiss.

Jealousy and fury surge through me in an instant.

I shove him back, the low growl that escapes my throat shocking even me. “Watch yourself, Prince.”

“Why would I do that? I do so love watching you lose our little deal.”

He’s grinning like the cat that got the cream. So self-satisfied it makes me want to punch him.

The jealousy and anger pumping through me feel foreign and disconnected, but I can’t see clearly enough to understand why.

Instead, I make my first guess. “When I had you arrested in Rimor... you weren’t really there, were you? That was an illusion.”

“Very good, sweetheart,” he hums. “That one is a bit easy, though.”

“There’s more,” I state grimly.

“There is.”

“Shit.”

He only chuckles, completely unbothered. “Keep thinking on it. That clever mind will get there eventually.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“You get used to it.” He shrugs, his lips lifting at the corners. “Now, enjoy your library time. I have things to attend to for the autumn equinox ball.”

He’s barely gone two minutes before I feel Aurelius' presence, looming, watching. I sensed him lingering in the hall even while Ayden was here.

Now, he crosses the threshold without hesitation.

“Here to help me research?” I ask dryly.

“Oh, yes,” he says, voice dark and bitter. “I’ve learned quite a bit already.”

I quirk a brow. “Oh? And what wisdom have you gathered today?”

He strides toward me, doors slamming shut behind him with a wave of his hand. The lock clicks.

The air shifts, the space between us charged and electric.

“I learned that despite my numerous warnings, despite every reassurance I gave you, you still seem to think you’re not mine. ”

I open my mouth to snap back, but he barrels forward.

“I learned you’ve made a little deal with Ayden.” His voice drips venom. “That involves you kissing him when you lose.”

“Oh yeah?” I taunt, my blood still high from earlier.

“Yeah, Princess. I’ve learned plenty.” His jaw ticks. “I’ve also learned that I’m not a patient male, and right now, I can’t decide if I want to bend you over this table and remind you what the end of my patience looks like… or track down that arrogant prince and cut his tongue out.”

His threat lands like a punch to my gut.

“Be impatient all you want.” There’s bite to my voice as I relay the harsh reality of our situation. “It won’t change the fact that I’m not yours. The deals I make with my fiancé are none of your concern.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Aurelius growls. “The beast that lives within me demands I erase every trace of him on you. This isn’t want anymore, Princess. It’s need.”

His fingers tangle in my hair, yanking my head back until I’m forced to look at him.

His eyes are barely brown, black swallowing the irises, flecked only by burning crimson.

“I need you right now, little demon. I’m done fucking waiting.”

As hard as I fight it, I can’t keep the moan from slipping through my lips as he uses the grip on my hair to drive my back into a table.

His lips claim mine in a kiss that’s anything but gentle. It’s savage and filled with every angry emotion that’s festered between us.

“I’m so fucking angry right now,” I hiss against his lips, “and I don’t even know why.”

His mouth moves down my throat, alternating between sharp bites and soothing kisses.

My mind screams that we need to stop, but my body refuses to listen. It’s taking what it wants, what I’ve been denying it.

“Good,” he snarls. “Now you know how I fucking feel.”

His teeth scrape the tender spot where my neck meets my shoulder, and a helpless whimper tears from my throat.

“Bloody fucking hypocrite,” I breathe. “You were engaged to my mother. How do you think I felt?”

He breaks the hold on my neck, abruptly flipping my body so I’m splayed out on a table with my back to him.

The skirts of my dress are shoved up, my bare sex exposed to him. A cool breeze pebbles my skin as he groans at the sight of me.

“I was only engaged to your mother to protect you and the kingdom,” he grits out. “And now I’m here to watch you come undone.”

A sharp slap lands on my ass, making me cry out.

Another.

Another.

Pain and pleasure twist deliciously together.

“How is this any different?” I gasp. “I’m not here by choice, Aurelius. This was decided for me, and you were there to see it happen.”

I hear the rustle of his pants behind me, then he presses the thick head of his cock to my entrance, teasing me.

“Maybe not.” His voice is a rumble of pure, vicious need. “But this? This is.”

I tremble as he nudges the tip inside.

“Don’t,” I warn, but even I hear how weak my resolve is.

“Don’t what, little demon?” he growls. “Don’t fuck you until you remember you’re mine?”

He slaps my ass again, making me clench around nothing, desperate for him to give me more than just the tip.

“Don’t shove my cock so far in you that you scream my name for the entire castle to hear?” he taunts, voice rough.

Aurelius circles my clit with slow, deliberate strokes, coating his fingers in my liquid heat.

“You’re already so fucking wet for me,” he muses, almost in awe.

“Aurelius, please.” I don’t even know what I’m begging for anymore.

Begging him to stop.

Begging him to break me.

“Please, what?”

He swirls his fingers again, building the heat in my already throbbing center.

“I’m engaged, Aurelius. You know this is wrong.” It’s a last, feeble attempt at reason.

Instead of pulling away, he growls, and with one brutal thrust, sheathes himself inside me completely.

I gasp, my nails clawing at the table as I struggle to adjust. He was a lot even when I was warmed up, but with no preparation, I’m left feeling so full I might burst.

“Little demon,” he grits out, “don’t pretend that means anything to either of us. You’re mine . And I’ll keep reminding you until you remember.”

He pulls back and thrusts harder.

A shrill laugh sounds from the hallway, and he stills, every muscle locked tight.

We’re too far gone to stop.

Without hesitation, I throw a silencing bubble around us, Aurelius reinforcing the lock on the library door and levitating a heavy chair to jam it.

“I’m still so fucking mad at you,” I growl, voice breaking around a moan as he pumps into me again.

“Good,” he snarls, slapping my ass again. “You fuck like a wild animal when you’re mad at me.”

The pain from his palm, combined with the pleasure of his length stretching and filling me, creates an intoxicating, heady mix that I want to drown in.

He pulls out nearly to the tip, then slams back inside, forcing a strangled sound from my throat as my hips smack against the edge of the table.

His cock hits deep, leaving me breathless and panting for more. Bracing my hands against the table, I shove back. I’m grasping for some tiny shred of control but coming up short.

Aurelius grabs my inner thigh, hoisting my right leg onto the table, spreading me painfully wide.

“If you want control,” he growls, “you’ll have to fucking fight me for it.”

I sob out a moan, nails digging grooves into the wood beneath my hands.

“You’re going to leave bruises, asshole,” I pant.

“Good,” he says, thrusting harder. “Let them fucking see my marks so they know who owns you.”

I moan loudly at his words, hating that his feral possessiveness still excites me.

With another punishing stroke, he continues, “Then I’ll carve their eyes out for daring to look at what’s mine.”

“Aurelius—” I protest weakly, but it comes out more as a whimper than a warning.

He chuckles darkly, slamming into me again. “Yes, little demon?”

I call the shadows in the room to me, letting them slither over his skin in a sweet caress. They climb higher, reaching to explore every part of him.

Just as they reach his shoulders, I whisper, “And what will you do if I let them kiss me?”

A growl, deep and possessive, reverberates in his chest but is swiftly cut off by the shadows constricting around his neck like a noose.

He’s ripped from inside me with a vicious growl, crashing onto the library floor.

He gasps for air, pinned by the shadows’ hold on his throat, trying to reach me, but gasping for air as the shadows constrict around his flesh. They look beautiful against the deep sun-kissed tone of his skin.