Page 54

There was nothing that could have prepared me for the vocals that came from the woman.

It was as if her voice was magnified—echoing throughout the room.

The beautiful melody was permeating in waves towards me, pulling the breath from my lungs as she sang and acted—her voice getting higher and higher.

The action pulled movements from her as if the song was pouring from every bit of her body.

I was on the edge of my seat, doing everything I could to see and hear better.

One hand gripped the handle of the glasses while the other clutched the arm of the chair—grounding me.

The song was over far too soon, leading into another.

Of which I recognized to be Song Of The River by Maxel Schulte.

One after another, each melody captivated me to the point that I no longer cared about any of the pointing or staring that we received today.

When the woman finished, she bowed to the crowd, who all applauded for her, especially me.

I stood—thighs pressing into the balcony as I clapped and hollered for someone who was a complete stranger.

But one who had earned my respect in a short time.

The staff started to light the lanterns throughout the room and lowered the chandeliers, granting enough light for me to see that the rest of the crowd was copying me in giving her a standing ovation.

I looked to my left to find that Nickolai was beside me clapping as well—but he wasn’t looking at the woman on the stage.

He was staring at me with a look on his face that I’d never seen before.

We stared at each other, clapping for a few more moments before Nickolai finally grabbed my hand and led me back in the direction of the lobby. I casted sideways glance at him and was about to ask where he was taking me when we walked into the unlit portion of the hall and stopped.

Before I knew what was happening, Nickolai pressed me up against the wall, his mouth finding mine in the darkness.

My body responded to him instantly, the need from this morning only intensifying as the day went on.

But despite my body's encouragement, I found myself putting my hands on his chest, pushing him away.

Nickolai broke the kiss and I quickly looked down the hall, whispering, “What if someone sees us?”

“I’m the king. I will tell them that they didn’t see us,” he shrugged before leaning in to kiss me again. My stomach did about a million somersaults, and something within me had me wanting to throw caution to the wind. Call it the throbbing between my legs.

We resumed our devouring of each other's faces, my hand roaming up over his body and into his hair.

His hands slid down to undo his pants and pull up the fabric of my dress—moving my underwear out of the way—exposing both of us for anyone's eyes to see if they walked down the hall. My heart was racing out of my chest. This was so unlike me. Nickolai’s hands slid around to my ass, gripping my flesh and lifting me up the wall.

I locked my legs around his waist, and before I knew it, he had set himself up at my entrance and was thrusting into me.

I let out a yelp, my body aching with the movement after the beating it had taken that morning. Nickolai's eyes locked on mine, his face showing his desire and concern all in one look. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!” I breathed while nodding eagerly.

While my center was slightly sore, the feeling only spurred me on more.

Nickolai kissed me gently as he slowly began to pull his length in and out.

His measured thrusts were torture and a testament to his care for me.

After a few more moments, he started to pick up his pace, moving one of his hands off my ass to place it on the wall beside my head.

I threw my head back into the wall, savoring each time he split open my center with his girth and the feeling that it brought me closer and closer to. Nickolai’s mouth found the sensitive spot above my collarbone, kissing and sucking on the exposed flesh.

Almost. There.

I could no longer control the noises coming from my mouth. Each whimper and moan brought more and more of a blush to my face. There had to be at least one person who knew what we were doing. But surprisingly, I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted more.

Nickolai let out a groan, “Fuck!”

I could tell he was coming, but it didn’t matter because I was coming too.

I gripped onto his shoulders as I felt my body clench around him, the muscles along my inner thighs trembling in response.

My chest was heaving as was his, our hot breaths mixing between us.

After a moment, my eyes found his green ones, a smile playing on my lips.

He returned it with an even bigger smile and a chuckle that had me joining in.

“I can’t believe we did that!” I quietly exclaimed.

“I wanted to wait until later, but after seeing your reaction to that singer, I couldn’t resist having you. I’m so unbelievably infatuated with everything that you do. . . I can’t believe you gave me a second chance.”

“Only took five years,” I remarked. If I were telling the truth, I was grateful to be giving him a second chance. He could irritate me one second and make me smile like an idiot the next—something that I didn’t know I needed until now.

Nickolai helped me get my feet under me once more, granting me a steadying arm when the tremble in my legs nearly had them giving out.

We adjusted ourselves to appear presentable other than the knowing blush that would not disappear, and I took his arm yet again, as we hastily walked back to the castle—the slick feeling between my thighs reminding me of what we had just done with every step.