My heart is racing so fast that it’s about all I can hear in my head.
“She really got you good,” Olivia says, rubbing my shoulders.
I nod, hanging my head.
“The thing is that you can’t really blame her, right?” Olivia asks the whole room.
Some just nod in agreement, while others look at her surprised.
“Well, you know, I don’t want to take her side, but, Everly, the game does seem a bit rigged.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You and Easton. That kiss. What is that all about?”
“We just had a connection and that’s it,” I say with a shrug.
I wonder if there’s a moment when a rabbit peacefully sitting in a meadow realizes that there’s a pack of coyotes after her. There has to be. Is this my moment?
“Why are you even spending the night with Easton?” Savannah asks. “Aren’t we competing for the King’s hand in marriage?”
Oh, yes.
In all the commotion, I have somehow forgotten the obvious.
“Are you going to sleep with him?” Savannah asks.
“With whom?”
“Easton. I’m assuming if you win, you will sleep with the King.”
The thought hadn’t really occurred to me until this moment and suddenly I feel sick to my stomach.
Why did I go on a date with Easton? Why did he choose me to spend the night with? I mean, yes, I know why.
He chose me because he wants me, but what about this? All of this? What is the point?
“Maybe, it’s a test,” Teal suggests. “Maybe you’re not supposed to sleep with him. Maybe it will get you disqualified.”
“Very likely,” I say.
“Maybe you shouldn’t spend the night with him,” Teal says.
I shrug. At this point, I’m completely at a loss as to what I should or shouldn’t do.
“Or what if that were a lie,” Savannah says. “What if the real prize is Easton, and they just threw in the King to lead us in a different direction?”
“Those are all…possibilities,” I mumble.
The women start to talk among themselves.
Savannah and Olivia are certain that the ultimate prize is still the King, if he is someone you would call the prize, I wouldn’t.
But the others aren’t so sure.
I want it to be Easton, too. More than anything.
But would the King just let me have the one person that I really want?
“So, what are you going to do?” Teal asks while others are deep into their heated debate.
“I don’t know. I’m just going to meet with Easton and see how it goes,” I say.
“I am really glad that you got the ring,” she adds. “When he called my name, I got so worried for you. There was only one box left.”
“I know, I did, too,” I mumble, unable to meet her eyes, feeling very guilty over the whole situation.
“She’s the biggest threat we have here, ladies,” Aurora says, making a large lump form in the back of my throat.
She waits for me to respond, but I don’t.
“Easton likes her. A lot. And that’s a problem. I just want you all to be keenly aware of this fact.”
“He’s not even the one we are supposed to be after,” I say. “I mean, this might be a very bad thing.”
“I’m not so sure,” Aurora declares. “He’s the King’s son. He has his ear. I’m sure that he has a lot of influence.”
Don’t be so sure, I want to say, but I don’t.
There’s no way to win this conversation.
There’s no way to convince her of something so…nonsensical.
So, I don’t even bother.
I wish they would all leave so I can get some sleep. But they continue to talk and argue, their voices getting louder and more deliberate with each minute.
It’s the tendency of the human condition to believe that you will be the one who will be doing the convincing if you just talk over the others.
As everyone is fighting for their chance to talk, no one is really listening to anyone else.
A moment later, the door swings open and Mirabelle appears.
Chapter 28 - Everly
When she takes me to him…
Mirabelle doesn’t say much as she leads me down the hallway. I’m not sure where we are going, but I’m glad that I grabbed a sweatshirt before I left.
The air conditioning is suddenly overwhelming my senses.
I wrap my arms around my shoulders, keenly aware of the goose bumps. It’s going to be fine, I say to myself silently. I don’t know why but a grip of anxiety suddenly runs through me. My heartbeat races, throwing my body into even more of a cold sweat.
“C’mon, hurry up,” Mirabelle says.
“Where are we going?”
She leads me outside and down a familiar pathway.
The humidity is warm and comforting and I finally start to relax. When I see him standing in the doorway, all the tingles disappear completely.
It’s him.
Easton.
He’s waiting for me.
I run straight into his arms.
Tilting my head back, he presses his lips onto mine.
Whatever anxiety I felt only a few moments ago vanishes completely.
I want him.
I need him.
I crave him.
“Have a good time,” Mirabelle says, walking away.
I mumble something in return as he closes the door behind us, but I doubt either of us can figure out what it is.
Easton grabs me by my waist and lifts me up. As I slide down his body, he kisses me.
First, the top of my breasts.
Then my neck.
Behind my ears. My chin. And finally, my lips.
Once our tongues touch, everything outside stops existing.
There’s only him.
There’s only me.
There’s only us.
Forever.
“I missed you,” he whispers.
He pulls away from me for a moment and runs his tongue up my neck, to just below my ear.
I toss my head back and moan.
“Oh my God, what happened?” Easton asks.
I open my eyes and see him staring at my face.
“It’s nothing,” I say, turning my head away from him so that the cut near my temple isn’t as visible.
But that doesn’t satisfy him. It’s the last thing I want to talk about right now.
I want him to take me into his arms and make me forget about all that shit, but he has to know.
So, I shrug and tell him what happened at the elimination.
As he listens, his fists clench up and a bit of white appears on his knuckles.
“It’s fine,” I say. “Really, it doesn’t matter. She was just…angry.”
“She shouldn’t have done that.”
“She felt hopeless,” I explain.
“Don’t defend her.”
“You don’t know what it’s like, Easton. To be so… at the mercy of everyone here.”
“Oh, I don’t?” he asks.
The tone of his voice changes.
This was not the direction that I wanted this night to go.
“No, not really. You are the son of the King.”
“What does that matter?”
“The things that happen in York behind closed doors…” I start to say, but I can’t make myself continue.
I don’t know if anyone’s listening. We are probably not alone. And I don’t know what the consequences will be for me if I do come out and say all of these things.
“I just understand why she was so angry. And I don’t blame her.”
Darting his eyes around the room, Easton is also keenly aware of the cameras.
“You don’t know what I do or don’t know about York,” he says quietly. And slowly I nod.
There’s so much more that he wants to say, but he’s keeping his mouth shut just like me.
He puts his arm around my waist again, but the moment is over. It’s like suddenly there’s a canyon between us, filled with everything that we want to say to each other.
“I hate this,” I whisper.
“What?”
“That we can’t…talk.”
“We can.”
“I know,” I say, nodding my head.
We are both lying, but what else is there to do?
“There is something we can do,” Easton says, giving me another kiss.
“But what about—“ I say, looking up.
“They can watch if they want to.”
I shrug. This doesn’t feel right.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to?” he asks.
“Yes, of course, I want to. But what about…the competition?”
He looks at me perplexed.
“I mean, isn’t the point of this whole thing for your father to find a wife? Isn’t that strange that we’re going to…you know. If I am to be your stepmother?”
That word lands like a blow. He looks at me.
“I’m his proxy, Everly,” he says.
I know what those words mean, but I don’t know what he means.
I stare at him. And then…suddenly, something occurs to me.
What if my first instincts about this were right?
What if this isn’t a competition to marry his father?
What if that’s just a play, a game of pretend?
Just like everything else is in this fucking place.
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
“I can feel that something is…wrong. I mean, is this competition really about your father?”
His face tenses up.
“What aren’t you telling me, Easton?” I demand to know.
“I don’t know for sure,” he says slowly, carefully mulling over each word.
I wish he would just spit it out already, but he refuses. He looks around a bit, and then takes a deep breath.
“You’re not supposed to know this,” he says.
“Know what?”
“I just found out myself.”
I wait for him to continue.
“My father has decided to not take a wife this time,” he says slowly. “He just told us.”
I nod and wait for him to continue.
This sounds like good news to me, but by the look on his face, I’m not so sure.
Where is this going?
What’s going on?
“He will be picking two women for us to marry,” he says.
“Us?” I ask.
“Abbott and I.”
Abbott.
There’s that terrible name again.
I thought I could get away from him. I thought that maybe he was gone for good. But, of course not.
“Why…um…when…” Questions keep popping into my head without any accompanying answers.
“Everly, I don’t know if this is true or not. I mean, he can change his mind at any moment. This whole thing is just one elaborate game to him. Nothing special. It’s something he does for fun.”
“And now he’s going to find you a wife?” I ask.
He nods.
“And you’re not happy about that?” I ask.
“I have plans, Everly. To leave this place. For good after this. And now…now, I don’t know.”
He walks back and forth, pacing like a caged tiger.
There are things we shouldn’t say and there are things we cannot.
I shouldn’t talk about this.
But we absolutely cannot talk about what he told me about Alicia.
And yet, there are things that need to be said.
Planned.
Explained.
Chapter 29 - Everly
When we are alone…
“Let’s go for a swim,” I suggest. “I want to be somewhere private.”
“Then we should go down to the beach.”
We walk down hand in hand.
There’s not a soul around, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t watching.
“I have to tell you,” I say when I think we are close enough to the water so that the waves can hush some of my words. “I’m kind of relieved that this isn’t about your father anymore.”
“You shouldn’t be,” Easton says, shaking his head.
“But why?”
“My father doing this, isn’t a good sign. He’s becoming more and more erratic. He has always been cruel and unforgiving and if you think he would just let us get married, you’d be very, very wrong.”
I know that I should think about that. I should worry about it.
And yet, the only place my mind goes is what he had just said.
Marry him.
The thought of marrying Easton gives me butterflies in my stomach.
“If you could marry me, would you?” I ask shyly.
He looks at me, furrowing his eyes.
Then he shakes his head.
My hopes drop.
I’m such an idiot. What am I even thinking? This is neither here nor there. I need to worry about getting out of this place, not about whether Easton wants to marry me.
“Of course not,” I say quietly. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Everly,” Easton says, turning my whole body to face him.
The moonlight illuminates him, giving his whole face a soft cool icy glaze.
“I would marry you tomorrow, if I could,” he says. The words just hang there in mid-air between us.
This is the last thing that I ever expected to hear and yet it’s the only thing I need to hear.
“I love you, Everly. And I will love you forever.”
The world back home isn’t devoid of love, compassion, and hope. It’s not cruel, dark, and painful like this one. And yet, it is in this world that I have Easton.
“I love you, too,” I say and stand up on my tiptoes.
Our lips touch.
I haven’t said those words in a long time. I haven’t felt anything close to love since I’ve been here, and yet…nothing is more true.
I stand close to him, timid and unsure. Darkness wraps around us, making me feel safe and warm. He stands towering over me. He is tall, broad-shouldered, and strong. Suddenly, he seems so much bigger than he did before. So much more powerful. He takes me into his arms and I know that he will protect me.
Easton’s breathing remains calm. Even. He kneels down and kisses me again. He digs his hands into my hair, pulling me closer to him. Our faces touch. The touch is gentle and sweet. Familiar. It’s like we have known each other for years, centuries even. It’s not so familiar that it’s boring. I don’t know what to expect, but it feels comfortable. I look up at him. I haven’t felt this at ease since I’ve been here. No, that’s wrong. I haven’t felt this at ease ever. No man has ever made me feel so…loved.
I pull away again to make the moment last longer. I want to look at him. I want to make sure that he’s real. But this time, the mood changes. It’s sudden, but intense. And very surprising.
Easton grabs me by my shoulders. He looks straight into my eyes and says, “I’m going to take you.”
Shivers run down my spine. I cough a little, trying to catch my breath.
I glance at his lips. “I need you,” he says and licks them.
I reach up and brush my fingertip over his lips. Then I take his head in my hands and press my lips onto his. The kiss is slow and deliberate. We are feeling each other out. We are getting to know each other. There’s a tenderness that he exudes and I welcome. This moment is fragile and uncertain and we are still feeling each other out. And yet, there’s something else here. There’s a kind of passion that I only thought existed in books. I yearn for him. I need to feel his touch. I have to have his hands on my body. I stand up on my tiptoes. I press my body into his. I wrap his arms around me. But it’s not enough. Our clothes are in the way.
With every moment that our lips are locked onto each other�
��s, there’s a warmth that flows from the core of my body outward. Easton’s breathing gets more rushed and I taste each breath that he expels. His hands make their way up and down my back, but after a few minutes, it’s not enough. He pulls my shirt over my head. Looking down at me, his eyes grow wide and hungry. He craves me. He wants my body more than I ever saw anybody want anything.
Pressing his mouth against my neck, his kisses become more harried and hungry.
“I have to have you,” he mumbles, moaning into my ear. He gives me a little nibble on the top of my shoulder. It’s a playful bite. It’s just for fun. It hurts a little, but only enough to make me want him even more.
After unclasping my bra, he lets the straps slide down my arms. It’s warm and humid outside. The breeze is soft and inviting, but I start to shiver. Goose bumps run up and down my arms from the excitement of what is about to come, what he is about to do to me. He drops my bra onto the sand on top of my shirt and looks at me in the moonlight. My nipples stand up as if at attention. They harden just from his gaze, and they become sharp enough to cut through glass when he places one of them in his mouth.
Easton pulls on my hair, tilting my head back. My neck becomes exposed to his touch and he runs his fingers up and down my neck, toward my breasts. He keeps his lips on my breasts, giving each one equal attention. With the other hand, he cups my breast, massaging one and then the other. He gathers my hair in one big handful and gives me a strong tug with each kiss. After a few moments, it becomes too much and I try to straighten back out.
“Stay,” he says.
His command makes me lose my footing for a moment. But he steadies me, by grabbing my waist.
“Stay put,” he says, planting me firmly into the ground. I lick my lips. I haven’t seen this version of Easton before and it makes my nipples even harder. I love how he takes control of my body, allowing me to relinquish myself to him.
Chapter 30 - Everly
When there’s more…
As I stand before him, he gets down on his knees. My breasts are right at his mouth level and he trades his lips for his hands. I don’t know which I enjoy more. His hands are strong and powerful, but when they cradle my breasts, they are soft. His fingertips are almost effervescent. His lips and tongue, on the other hand, are flirtatious and mesmerizing. I have never been so…adored before.
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