Arranged_An Array Novel

by Hazel Grace

  Ava lowered my head to hers, our foreheads touching. “You were loyal to your family by stepping in. You are chasing an invisible enemy.”

  I breathed in her scent of fresh flowers and pine. It was her. No one would ever feel or smell like this. She entered every space of my body and brain, everything that I was; filling a piece I didn’t know was missing.

  “Kiss me, Avie,” I mumbled, hovering my lips over hers. The need to lose myself in her was all I wanted right now. To just forget for a moment.

  Wrapping her arms around my neck, she pressed her lips to mine. My hands glided down her ribs, cupping her ass, where I lifted her in the air. Striding toward my bed, Ava instinctively wrapped her legs around my waist. Her soft lips made me mad with desire, my brain itching to rip all her clothes off. Depositing her on my bed, I leaned over her body until she was flat on her back. Her smalls gasps and moans made my cock throb uncomfortably.

  I needed to be lost with her.

  In her.

  Forever.

  Ava

  Chapter 35

  I didn’t know how to do this.

  How to comfort or not comfort someone who lost a parent. Especially when they weren’t that close to said parent. Specifically, the collected and unruffled Garrett. Would he come home a complete, utter mess, or cool as a summer’s day?

  It made me anxious, spending two days pacing and fretting over it. I wasn’t prepared nor knowledgeable on how he took certain stress. During an attack, he showed no fear. When he was irritated, he narrowed his brows so deep, I was surprised he could see. But losing an important figure in his life? That, I hadn’t experienced yet. Charlie was a close friend, but losing a parent; that had to be something else altogether.

  When I heard my name, I knew it was him. The deep octave of his voice, filled with unease, sent goose bumps down my forearms. His eyes were what spoke first. The remorse and shame that radiated from his blue irises told me that he already blamed himself. In that, I wasn’t completely surprised.

  If Garrett needed to take his sorrow out on my body, I’d let him do it willingly.

  Maybe too willingly.

  His erection rubbed against my thigh, and I sighed, feeling utterly content under his weight. Brushing kisses down my neck, he bit softly, sending pleasure down my body in one swift wave. His fingers found my mound; no foreplay or teasing, he went for what he wanted. I was already brazenly wet for him, which pleased him. He groaned deeply as he circled my clit with his fingers, causing my back to arch against him.

  “You’re so fucking gorgeous.” His lips grazed my heated skin, his fingers becoming wilder.

  Finding the buttons on his pants, I began to unfasten them. He helped, not releasing his lips from my body, tasting my skin and devouring my senses. His cock sprung free, poking my stomach before he pressed it against my mound. Without warning, he entered me in one thrust. I gasped, which brought him back to reality.

  He leaned back, his brows furrowed. “Avie, I’m so sorry.”

  I shook my head. I’d give him anything to make him forget, even in just these moments.

  “Keep going,” I urged, running my fingers through his hair. “I’m yours.”

  His lips met mine again as he began to move inside me. Between his tongue slowly torturing me and his cock pumping into me, I could feel that familiar need of release. My fingers trailed down his neck to his broad back, where I squeezed, begging for relief.

  “Never leave me,” Garrett muttered against my lips. He pumped harder, my legs wrapping around his waist, taking in everything he would give me. “I won’t stop until I find you.”

  I dug my hands deeper into his skin. “I’ll never leave.”

  I was here. I wasn’t leaving him.

  His mouth went back to my neck, lavishing and biting. The heat between us was building, making me light headed, almost faint.

  “Come for me, Peitho.”

  His fingers found my clit once more, and I exploded around him, my body tensing around the liberation of complete ecstasy. Coming down from my high, my body relaxed against the soft bed. Opening my eyes, I found Garrett staring at me, his eyes full of lust and desire, his body still moving against mine. Never would I have thought the man who saved my life years ago would be here with me. Above me. Taking every ounce of my soul with him.

  Leaning up with my elbows, I licked up his neck, taking his sensitive lobe in my teeth. He groaned, his body tensing before surrendering his release. Collapsing next to me, he pulled me against his body, his chest heaving.

  This attraction was commanding and formidable. It was a dominant force that neither one of us had the willpower to deny.

  We were each other’s weakness. The one thing that would destroy us.

  George

  Chapter 36

  I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who kept seeking me out at all hours of the day.

  Overwhelmed and irritated.

  I never did give my father enough credit for how much he had to deal with on a daily basis. The meetings and handholding, everyone wanting your damn opinion on everything, right down to the color tablecloth for dinner. I wanted to punch the next person who walked through the door.

  Father had been gone for twenty-one days, but who was counting?

  I’d drank myself into passing out, slept with multiple ladies-in-waiting whose names I couldn’t remember, and I’d fenced my energy out with the guards. It was the only way I knew how to grieve him.

  We tussled and settled on many topics, but he was the role model of the king I wanted to be, with little tweaks here and there, starting with the ‘ruining of other people’s personal lives’—that shit would cease. It stopped before he was put in the ground. And as I tried to settle into my position, Ava kept me moving.

  I was waiting for Mother, who told me she needed to talk to me, and she was late. I wasn’t surprised, though. She had been attached to my ass for weeks, checking up on me, telling me how to run this and that. I wanted to send her on a trip, just to get her out of my damn hair. She sauntered in my study, with her normal, obnoxious smile.

  “Morning, my dear,” she said, and I cringed inwardly. “Been busy?”

  “Always,” I muttered, moving my papers in a neat pile so I could give my mother my full attention and get her out of here.

  “You’ll get used to it eventually,” she advised, taking a seat in front of my desk. “Soon, everyone will know how you operate and they won’t bother you as much.”

  “Can’t wait for that day.” I folded my hands in front of me. “What was it that you wanted to speak about?”

  Mother crossed her legs and clasped her hands together.

  “I know this has been a trying time for you, George, and I’m not trying to add more to your plate.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “But we need to discuss the future of Telliva.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “All right, you have my full attention.”

  “A wife. You need a suitable wife.” Her eyes locked onto me with a serious expression. At least she’d waited almost a month before bringing it up. Or maybe it was because I was dodging her as much as I could.

  I sighed. “We’re back at that again?”

  “Madelyn has been dead for months. You fought me about Ava, and I gave you space to think about it. But now Edward is gone, and you need heirs.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I offered, but she didn’t take it, her brown eyes narrowing.

  “There isn’t anything to think about.”

  “Mother, I have a lot going on right now. Can we wait until I’ve caught these rebels terrorizing our people?”

  “No,” she replied flatly, standing. “You need to keep the throne moving by marrying.”

  I scowled at her. “The throne won’t be here if we are overrun by these terrorists.”

  “You are being melodramatic.” She waved her hand in the air, obviously in complete denial of the reality of the situation.

  My temper started to ramp up more and more,
and I was about to lose my mind on her.

  “My overreacting is rightly put because those men killed my father,” I hissed. She stood there, emotionless as a stone. I wondered, in that moment, if she ever loved Father, or if she even cared that he was gone.

  It was me who found him dead on the floor.

  In this room, his study, blood pooled all around him from several stab wounds to the chest. His eyes were still open in shock, and I still imagined the last thoughts he may have had in those last moments.

  A full investigation found that they had slipped through the hidden hallways within the walls, covered his mouth while stabbing him—so to not alert any guards—and left him there to bleed to death. Garrett and I knew it was a message. A message that they were closer.

  Too close.

  Close was near Ava and Hara.

  I had all entrances to the hidden entries nailed shut. It angered me that I hadn’t thought of it before. Those corridors were just a welcome sign to make a move—a brutal move.

  “Ava is readily available here for you.” My mother continued gabbing. “Your father wanted it, and so do I.”

  I felt my jaw twitch. It would be the biggest betrayal to Ava if I even pondered on it. I was going to continue to hold my ground on this subject, especially when Garrett told me that they were now engaged to be married.

  “Not going to happen.”

  “I don’t see the issue here. Ava and you have always been close. You’d be lucky to have such a marriage.”

  “Ava doesn’t want it. I don’t want it. We’ve spoken about this before; we’ve done enough to the woman.” I’d recalled this several fucking times. “Get it out of your mind, Mother. You’ll keep disappointing yourself if you don’t.”

  “Then what master plan do you have?” She leaned toward the desk. “We need to rebuild the power that sits behind this throne.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t have one.”

  “Then I’ll help.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “You’re not being reasonable. I’ll work on it, give you some ideas, while you and the bastard find the traitors who killed your father.”

  “If you write any letters to any suitors about my interest, Mother, I will—”

  John came through my study, the door hitting the wall. He walked straight toward me, and I noticed the paper in his hands. He looked pissed.

  “Your Majesty,” he said, bowing before my desk.

  I’d told him a million times to stop doing that, having known John for years, and the man had done more for me than I could conjure up in my head.

  “I need to speak with you immediately.”

  “Of course.” I looked at Mother, silently dismissing her. She rolled her eyes and sauntered out of the room. John took a seat and slammed the paper on the desk.

  “What is it?” I asked, turning it over so I could skim through it.

  “This a signed agreement from King Edward, agreeing to the marriage of Garrett and Sophia,” he said in a disgusted tone.

  The fuck!

  I quickly scanned it, pointing out the words “bound through this agreement” and “forever united.”

  “What the hell is this?!” John sniffed and shook his head. “Where did you get it?”

  “Was given to me by one of the Parliament assholes.”

  “Has Garr seen this yet?” He shook his head again, rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand. “This can’t be real,” I said.

  “Looks real to me.”

  “It could be a forgery.” I threw the paper across my desk. “He’s been dead almost a month, and now it shows up?”

  John stood from the chair. “I don’t know how Parliament runs, but I do know there is a powerful judge’s signature on there, next to a dead king’s.”

  “I need to get it examined,” I stated, not wanting to touch it. It held my brother’s life in the balance. A life he wanted with Ava.

  “If that is real”—John’s voice cut through my thoughts—“you can’t break it. Lord Chitwood is so deeply networked in Parliament that no one will side against him.”

  I was the fucking King of Telliva, and I couldn’t bypass an agreement that was signed by my dead father?

  “This is bullshit. There has to be a way, John. I’m a damn king! What the hell can I do, if not get rid of this?”

  John said nothing, which made me nervous. This was ridiculous. Garrett protected and looked out for me all this time. I wasn’t going to let him and Ava down.

  No one would ruin their happy ending.

  Garrett

  Chapter 37

  “Did you have a nice time with Ava?” George asked me, as I took off my riding boots in my bedroom.

  I had more than an enjoyable time with her. We had a picnic near a small creek, with the warm sun beaming its heat while I ravished my fiancée under it. I swear, it’ll never get old.

  My fiancée.

  That would never get old either.

  “I did.” I threw my boots next to my bed. “We are having dinner tonight with Hara and my mother. Come.”

  “That sounds good,” George replied, taking a seat in my black leather chair. “I’ll be there.”

  “Ava would like to see you there.”

  “What time is it?”

  I pulled my shirt over my head. “In an hour, I think.” I turned to look at him. George looked beside himself—tired and overwhelmed.

  “Had a hard day?”

  “Something like that.” He shifted in his chair. “I need to talk to you about something first.”

  I nodded. “All right, go ahead.”

  “John came to me today with some news.”

  “Did we get any more information on the man in black?”

  George shook his head. “Not that we talked about today, no.” He started to tap his hand on the arm of the chair; a habit he had when he was about to have a conversation he didn’t want to. “Sit down, Garr.”

  I furrowed my brows. “What? What’s wrong now?”

  “Sophia,” George said in a slow, low tone, and I rolled my eyes.

  My God, I can’t wait to never hear that name again in my life.

  “What did the chit do now?” Walking over to my closet, I pulled out a white shirt and pushed my arms through the sleeves. I peered over my shoulder at my brother. “Well?”

  He blew out a breath. “John found out that Father signed a marriage agreement, binding the two of you together.”

  I felt like someone punched me in the gut. All the air left my body and I staggered to turn around. George sat there, still tapping his damn hand.

  “What in the actual fuck!” I exclaimed. “What the hell are you even talking about?”

  “I’ve seen it, Garr; I read it. It looks like his signature.”

  My mind reeled. I couldn’t comprehend any words he was saying right now. This couldn’t be right. Father wouldn’t do this to me.

  Mind you, we never did finish talking about mine and Hara’s future, but he wouldn’t just go behind my back and make decisions for me. We had high respect for each other. We disagreed a great deal, but this… this was disloyalty.

  “You marry by the end of the year.”

  That was the final sentence I heard. I was on my way out my bedroom door to personally strangle Sophia Chitwood.

  I was livid.

  I was past seeing red.

  I was going to kill that bitch today and personally dispose of her myself. It was something I should have done already. It would be so easy to just wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze.

  “Garr, stop!” George yelled behind me. He ran ahead and tried to stand in front of me.

  I couldn’t stop, and I pushed him aside. “Move!”

  “We’re going to figure this out.” His hand found my shoulder again and he pulled.

  I threw my shoulder back to get him off me. “Yeah, we are. I’m going to kill her right now!”

  “Stop!” We passed a few men; I didn’t see who and I didn’t
give a shit. “You can’t go raving like a lunatic. We need a plan.” He attempted to get in my way again.

  “Fuck plans!” I shouted at him. “Get the hell out of my way, or I’m going to beat your ass and step over you.” George didn’t move.

  I was going to hit the shit out of him. I didn’t care if he was now the king. He was my brother, and he would remain that way in my eyes.

  “There’s more.” George looked torn to tell me; his eyes were begging me to calm the hell down.

  “Hurry up and spit it out,” I seethed.

  “It’s Hara. If —”

  I pushed him away again. Now she wanted to threaten my sister’s life? She just signed her death sentence.

  I was ending this right now. No one was going to stand in the way of what I had with Ava, especially some spoiled little bitch who didn’t like the word “no.”

  “If you push me again, Garr, I’m going to fucking lay your ass out right here. Relax!”

  I rounded on him. “Do you expect me to just sit here and let this bitch ruin my life? The life I finally have for myself? She isn’t going to take Ava away from me!”

  “I know, I know!” He held his hands up. “I’m going to do everything I can, Garr. I already have John working on it.”

  “What about Hara? What did they do?”

  I was worried and couldn’t keep my breathing in check. My little sister was at risk, of Femme Fatale knew what. There were too many ruthless men out there who would kill her spirit and give her a life of sorrow. I’d die before someone would touch Hara.

  “If you fail to marry Chitwood, Hara will go to King Leo Dufour.”

  The breath I was holding in staggered. I’d met the fucker before, when he was married to his second wife, who was twenty years his junior. She was a small thing, quiet, and came to whatever the hell ball it was with a black eye. He collected mistresses and killed off his wives. I believed he was on number seven now.

  “What do you want me to do? Sit the fuck back, while this whore plans our wedding dinner and the music that is going to be played?”

  George tsked. “Shit, like you would.”

  I pointed my finger at him. “You’re the fucking king. Do something about it.”