CONTAINS CONTENT:
Strong sexual content, advised to read trivia for most of chapter. Mild language.
{{Unedited}}
The moment that he came through the door, he had her in his arms against him as he fumbled to shut it.
He pressed her against the door as his mouth clamped over hers, and their tongues began to speak wildly to one another. The soft, warm, wet feelings told her everything that was inside of him as his fingertips danced up her back, and into her hair. Planets were aligning and exploding inside.
-I love you. I want you so badly… break that damn contract with me, Marielle. Let me show you how I love you.
-You promised.
He broke away from her mouth with a growl and bent, giving her the tender, gentle bites that she so craved ever since that night that he had tried to seduce her. Groaning, her head rolled back. -Right there?
-There.
Little sounds escaped her lips as her body begged for the satisfaction that she knew she wouldn’t be able to have. It didn’t stop her feeling like she was sixteen again, and getting drunk off the feelings twisting and pulling at her center.
So was he and when she growled frustratedly, -Put me against the wall.
He forcefully whirled her, pressing her chest to the wall and pressing himself against her back where he paused, letting her feel his presence and how it affected her before he dipped, and bit, and bit, and bit.
He bent and swept her off her feet, taking her to the bedroom and laying her out on the bed.
-Not too far. She warned.
-I’ll do my best.
To try and maintain some form of control he sat to her left, instead of laying on top of her and took hold of her wrists, pinning them to the mattress.
She pouted. -But I want to play with your hair.
-You will do what I say.
She smirked with the knowledge that he knew what she really wanted, and he went back to using his teeth on her neck. When he came to her collar bone, he took hold of the tank top strap with his teeth and pulled it down her arm, revealing her bare shoulder before moving his thumb over her collarbone and shoulder hard enough to leave a red mark which faded quickly.
-This is mine. You… are… mine.
-I am.
He let his hair fall a little on her alabaster flesh and dusted it over her skin, and over her collarbone. She bit her lip and a deep groan rumbled in her chest as her eyes rolled back into her head in ecstasy. When he dragged it back down over her skin, and breathed a little cool air on her, she gasped and squirmed a little.
-You stop that squirming, young lady or I’m going to give you something to squirm about.
The pounding of her pulse made her feel like she would come out of her skin. -Yeah? … What?
-You know damn well what… What you want. Every last inch of me… to the hilt.
Staccato groans of desperation came before she went lifeless against the mattress.
He continued to mercilessly kiss and bite her, taking his time and making sure each touch and brush of his mouth stung just enough to cause fresh, new sensations. She panted as he dragged his tongue up from her collarbone to her jaw and he breathed his chilled breath. She moaned tormentedly, forcing her hips still; the ends of her nerves on fire. This time he glanced down and took her in, noting the gentle rise and fall of her breasts.
-You are so beautiful. I wish I could see all of it.
-I’m sorry.
He cocked his head at her, a twinge of possessive passion coursing through him. -No, you’re not… but you’re going to be. He flipped her over onto her stomach and came over her part for part. His fingertips pressed in and moved down from her shoulders to her arms, to her fingertips, melting against her where he threaded their fingers together and squeezed both of her hands in his for a moment. Then he languidly brought them back up feeling every hair, bump, mole, and freckle on her skin. -Remember when we were on the plane? She nodded, trying to find air. -I’ve never been so excited from touching someone’s hand and fingers. This was another never.
He pressed his hips into her, and she reached down, stilling him. -No.
-Sorry. I’m sorry. It’s so natural. He’d panted. -I wanted you, Marielle. I wanted every bit of you. It made me insane, the way that you’re making me insane now.
He continued to run his hands up and down her arms while he gently bit the back of her shoulder and planted kisses against her spine; his hot breath fanning flames that had been embers until this moment. “You said that you wanted to taste me,” she breathed around a groan. “What do I taste like, Austin?”
He gave her another gentle bite, and paused as he thought. “You…” he finally replied, huskily. She wasn’t sure why this response made her core gasp with need, but it did. You… such a simple word, and yet in this moment it made her weak.
He knew how to make each kiss feel like he’d never kissed her before, changing the speed, the pressure, lingering for others, others almost like he was smacking her, a few with a little tongue wetting her silvery skin. Each one burned with sweet, delicious fire coursing through her. -Like this, darling?
-Yes, don’t stop.
-Which of my kisses do you like the best? Like this? A soft, tender peck against her spine. -Like this? He lingered a little longer. -This? His lips pressed into her flesh like both were clay and he would remain a part of her even if he pulled away. She moaned in pleasure, her back lifting a little as tears of need rimmed her eyes. -That. Okay… He continued, letting out a passioned sound as well. He could feel just a bit of her pleasure moving into his own body and it felt like warmth, and a giant hole inside of her. -I can fix that, Marielle… I can make you not feel so empty.
-I know. But it has to be this way.
He sighed, desperately. She was blooming for him, and it was making him crazy that he couldn’t caress her petals and water her; quenching her thirst… her misery.
Their bodies clung to one another as if by an unseen force. When their skin spread over the other’s it felt like it didn’t want to let go, as if when they pulled apart, bits of them would stick to one another.
He rolled up over her, putting his forehead to the mattress and clearing her body entirely, as he panted for a few moments.
-I have to take a break, here… I’m just a man. I’m going to totally lose it if I don’t stop.
-I know, darling. It’s okay. Enjoy these feelings. They’re for you.
He squeezed his eyes shut, biting back bitterness and tears, “Marielle… just choose me,” he whispered. She could hear how crushed he was in his tone, and her spirit wilted.
She inched closer to him until she was next to his body and stroked through his hair, using her fingertips to move over his scalp. With each gentle touch his breathing calmed, even though his excitement and need did not. He smiled at her boyishly through his hair as she combed it back from his eyes. It didn’t stay; gravity was at work.
She flushed. -You’re like… facedown here.
-Yeah, well I’m a little… he glanced down. -Obvious.
-You don’t think I haven’t seen or felt that like thirty times now?
He chuckled, reddening a little. -Are you looking for a show?
-Do you want to give me one?
His expression darkened as he slowly turned. She froze and swallowed hard. He smirked salaciously, not hiding his arousal from her anymore, and she curiously let herself look at him. Once her eyes moved down far enough and she took him in, her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. “Sorry,” she whispered, blowing out through rounded lips and tucking them in for a moment.
“About what? I was inviting you to look,” he whispered gently.
She shook her head, abashedly. “Know what’s funny?”
“You’ve looked there before, but right now it’s more intimate so it makes you squirm a little because I know that you’re doing it?”
She laughed, “Yeah… that.”
“I know that you’ve looked at me,” he stated flatly.
“Yeah, well,” she leaned in towards his face like she was sneaking up on him and he grinned, anticipating her attack. “I know that you’ve looked at me, too,” she purred.
Both stayed with their foreheads pressed together for a moment as they laughed.
She stood and put a finger up as if telling him to wait a moment, and went to her storage space in the hallway. She found a few of her tealight candles and the matches and came back into the room where he was waiting expectantly. He smiled at her when he saw the candles as she set them around the room, lit them, and turned the light off.
The dark space danced with flickering orange flame and she slowly came back to him, looking him over. He was wreathed in shadow and gold and he looked angelic to her. He combed his hair behind his ears. She took a deep breath and sighed, dreamily. -You are so gorgeous.
-So are you. He returned.
-So sexy… almost irresistible. She breathed.
He sat up on his elbows a little. -Almost… but not quite.
-Oh, trust me, Austin… it’s taking me everything within me not to give in.
-I know. Which is why I’m going to play with you a little so you understand what I’ve been going through the last three months.
-Please don’t…
He smirked mischievously and lifted his hand, slowly running his fingertips down his face- his middle finger lingering on his bottom lip a little, and then pulling them down further, over his neck where he gently squeezed just enough for the visual. Then he pushed his fingertips down his collarbone, to his chest and pressed his palm in, down over his ribs, and lower stomach. Her heart danced inside her chest… -Oh, you’re really going there aren’t you?
-Mhmmm. He paused for a moment, listening to her breath jerk and hitch before he slipped his palm lower. She couldn’t find air. He smiled. Then he moved back up, recreating the path that he’d taken in reverse. When he was done, the only thing that his eyes reflected was the confidence of the effect he’d just had on her. There was no trace of embarrassment now. His fingertips lingered over the rim of his sweatpants for a moment. -Do you want to see me?
She smashed her eyes closed as he watched her swallow thickly. “Yes… but… don’t, okay?” He nodded, lifting his hands and dropping them at his sides. She shakily breathed out, “Okay,” she said. He chuckled. “Time for a break.”
“Too much?”
“Yes,” she giggled.
He sat up and put his forehead to hers. They both stared into one another’s eyes, grinning like children. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” she purred. Then she flicked a brow at him, “but you’re going to be,” she replied coquettishly. She’d get him for that one later when he didn’t see it coming.
His grin was full of excited torment. “Was it torture?”
“It’s always torture.”
He swallowed thickly, “that’s how I feel,” he was brushing through her short hair, “all the time.” He pulled her against him, and they held one another in silence for several minutes feeling and listening to one another breathe. Marielle was filled with so much peace that she wasn’t sure how to respond to it. Cry? Laugh? Dance? Scream? All of the above. -Oh, God… this is how it actually feels to be in love, isn’t it?
-I feel it, too. It’s impossible to describe. He exhaled, shakily as he glanced at the clock. A little past ten. He wanted to smash that contraption. Never in his life had he felt so much hatred for an inanimate object… well, except maybe for that crown from his past. His eyes rimmed with tears and one leaked out.
She pulled back a little bit, and looked up at him. They met eyes as she thumbed the tear away. “Do you trust me?” She asked gently caressing his face.
“With my life,” he replied.
“Do you trust me with the deepest, darkest parts of you?” She bit her lip for a moment.
He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. “What do you want to know?”
“Not know… do you trust me?” She repeated.
She felt his heart speed up in anxiety. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, before he blew out through rounded lips. “I do.”
She nodded, pausing for a moment. “I’m with you, remember that. Trust me, Austin,” she whispered.
He shifted, uncomfortably. What was she going to do to him?
She leaned over the left side of her bed and slowly brought a box up onto the mattress. It was about a foot wide and long and about eight inches tall. He shifted again, but remained, keeping his eyes locked on her. -Please, don’t hurt me.
-I won’t, Austin, trust me… trust me.
She sat back, gesturing to it. “I want to reframe some things,” she explained. His eyes flicked from her, to the box, back to her again. She sighed and noted that he was suddenly reaching his hand out to her in that way that said, please take my hand… please help me. She saw him glaring at the box. “What do you think is in there?”
“A crown,” he breathed in terror.
“Do you want to see it?” He shook his head. “Will you trust me, Austin? As a profiler, and someone who knows you and cares about you, I know what I’m doing.” He closed his eyes, his hand still reaching for her. She threaded her fingers through his, and squeezed. “I’m with you, Austin. I know what I’m doing.”
He filled his lungs and nodded, slowly, “I trust you.”
She slowly opened the box, and pulled out something that resembled ice shards, and crystals. It reminded him of The Fortress of Solitude as she lifted it from the box and it glimmered and sparkled in the dim candlelight. “Listen to me,” she whispered, and she took it to her chest in a gesture that looked like she was hugging it. “I’m no priest, I’m not a pastor, I’m no wizard, witch, mystic, or healer…” she began. He was glaring at the crown with haunted, confused eyes. “But I am your best friend. In this moment? Your girlfriend, your lover, the person on this planet who has the most sway over your spirit right now,” she explained.
His eyes flicked to hers. “My whole heart.”
“What?”
“You… you’re my whole heart, Marielle,” he explained, staring once again at the crown.
She nodded, understanding now. “And I want to reframe some things, and I want you to trust me.” she explained. “I’m going to crown you.” His teeth chattered as icy breath came out, she didn’t think it was by will. “As what you really are,” she said seriously, deeply. He shifted, and twitched uneasily, “to me,” she finished. They were silent for a moment as he considered this in confusion, horror, and slight interest.
That crown was beautiful; not the twisted branches with thorns and covered in blood. “Will you let me crown you?”
His jaw tensed as his eyes watered. It only took a few moments, but he nodded nervously. She blew out through rounded lips, and came to him, slowly lifting it, and gently resting it on his brow. He closed his eyes tightly. “Not pleasure god,” she stated, strongly, shaking her head. He opened his tear-filled eyes and looked at her, searching. She took his hand and led him to her floor mirror to see himself as she stood behind him, squeezing his arms gently. “Ice King,” she whispered.
He looked at his reflection as if he’d never actually seen himself before. “You are not the god of pleasure,” she said sternly. “You are my Ice King. You are strong, and gentle. You are deep, and romantic. You are manly, and soft. You are unique, and beautiful. You are icy and warm. You are handsome beyond words with an ugly past. You’re a fighter and a warrior.” She rubbed her hands up and down his strong arms. “Innocent and childlike…” Tears streaked down his cheeks. “You are my Ice King,” she repeated. She reached and reapplied her red lipstick. “And I am your red queen.” He avoided the mirror for a moment. “Look at yourself, Austin… you’re perfect.” He closed his eyes, shamefully. “No, no… don’t hear her voice… hear mine.” She commanded. “You’re perfect.”
There was a few heartbeats of silence before his lips parted. “I wanted her to love me,” he whispered. Memories flooded his mind, she saw them, too. “I just wanted her to love me. I wanted to be enough.”
“She didn’t deserve you. An evil woman does not deserve the love of a King.” Marielle shook her head. “You bow and scrape for no one,” she insisted. “Because there was nothing ever wrong.” She turned him back to her, “you didn’t need to prove yourself, Austin.” He was silently crying. She stood back, straight, and tall, her hands clasped before her. “There’s no blood, Austin. Just you and me… Just my words. Just my mouth, desiring yours. Just truths inside of me, pouring out for you.” He looked up into her green eyes. “Who deserves your love, your highness?”
“You,” he breathed, huskily.
“Then give it to me, my king…” She glanced down, finally blushing a little, “but remember the contract,” she whispered.
He lifted her chin to meet his eyes, “I promise.” He bent, picking her up off the floor and taking her back to the bed, where he laid her back again, and thumbed the exposed parts of her hip bones. The lower half of her stomach was open and he tipped forward, brushing his lips to the left of her navel. She squealed, tickled and needy. He laughed, removing the crown and setting it aside as he pushed gentle kisses into that spot.
Her toes curled, and her back arched a little.
“Austin.” she groaned.
–Austin. He repeated in his mind.
He tenderly moved his lips over her navel, and place a gentle, partially sucking kiss there, and she nearly hit the roof as intense feelings thrummed through her insides, pounding at her like a drum, and creating empty spaces that needed to be filled.
He came away, laughing. “What… happened?”
She paused, sitting up a little as she tried to catch her breath as a look of confusion spread across her face. “Uh, I think you discovered something… it might be a landmine.”
“Oh, well in that case,” he said flatly, pushing her back down and diving for it again. She shrieked, and twisted, laughing hysterically as he tried to hold her steady, “no, Marielle,” he was trying to get hold of her wrists, “I have to try and defuse it; it’s ticking now.”
“Landmines… don’t… tick,” she giggled, wriggling.
“Well, this one is, Marielle,” he quipped. She squealed again, and let out a delighted, tickled scream. He pressed her back to the mattress, and went for her again. She bucked, winding away from his tongue. “Ope, it’s armed, now… I’m going to really have to focus.” She was in stitches, trying to get away. He knew that it was all play, as did she. She wanted him to force her. “Marielle, I can’t take care of this thing if you don’t stop flopping around like a fish out of water.”
She laughed, uncontrollably, her entire body alert and sensitive as though he was tickling her. “Guess I’ll just have to die, then,” she whispered.
“You can die in my arms any time, darling,” he breathed, serious for a moment. “I die in yours every time you hold me.” Then he took hold of her wrists and held them together tightly, “Now hold still, young lady.”
She bit her lip, as little high-pitched noises came out through her nose. He breathed icy air on her bellybutton and she trembled, and lifted a bit in anticipation as intense waves curled around her midsection. “Austin… Austin…” She panted.
He grinned. That’d been exactly what he wanted when he first met her; his real name, on her gorgeous red lips in this precise context. “Shhhh.” He swiped a free thumb over her navel, “I’ll help, Marielle. I can make it better.”
She stilled herself, tensing as he gently slipped his tongue into her and swirled. She groaned and gasped, her head rolling back against the sheets. -Good girl.
“A-Austin.”
“Austin…”
“Please,” she begged, uncertain what she was even begging for.
He blew a little cool air. “Please what, darling? Be specific.” He continued his torture of her.
Heat pooled in her lower half. She was blooming again, and she growled in anguished frustration. “Oh, I want you so desperately,” actual tears fell from her eyes. She ignored the fact that a memory of crying for Vincent flashed into her mind.
“I’m willing if you want to break that contract.” To make his point, he pressed in as deeply as he could go.
“No…” she gasped. “No…” She pushed him back a little. “You promised.”
He sighed, hating that damn piece of paper and loving it at the same time. It gave him what he had right now. “I did promise.”
“And if you keep on doing that I’m going to-”
“What?” he grinned innocently. “Go off?”
She flushed, “Can you stop with the landmine metaphors?” She giggled.
He leaned in towards her face, grinning darkly, “climax?” His expression flickered at her like he’d said a bad word and was now gasping internally in mock horror. She looked away, trying to hide her smile. He took gentle hold of her chin and turned her face back so they were staring, and just inches apart. “I’ve never made anyone climax by doing that,” he continued his list of nevers.
She breathed out raggedly, her mind going numb, her body aching so much that she couldn’t stop the gentle squirming.
As much as she wanted to adhere to the contract, she knew that if they continued, she was going to sway and start allowing him to do things to her that she didn’t agree to. She was desperate now, full of an intense need that she had no idea went as deeply as it did.
Sitting up a little, she combed through his hair with her nails digging into his scalp on both sides. He groaned, softly. She pulled him close, holding his head to her shoulder. “You don’t think that I want that for you?” he whispered. “You give me the most satisfying experience that I’ve ever had every time you are inside me, Marielle.” He shivered a little. “What have I ever done for you except try to seduce you, be a scumbag, and break your heart by using other people to try and satisfy something that is a literal need, now?”
“Save my life?” she reminded; he went silent. “Repeatedly?” He sighed. “Be there for me when I needed a friend. Talk me back into a calm mental state when I went comatose in Kingdom… I heard you, you know?” She asked. He sighed. “Every word. I just couldn’t respond. You even stopped yourself from kissing me because I couldn’t consent.” He nodded, remembering. It seemed like ages ago even though it had only been about a week. “Austin you nearly died for me,” she barely got those words out.
“I was two breaths away.”
“I know,” she started to sob, “remember, I was holding your heart. I could feel it slowing; the beats stopping. It was one of the most terrifying things that I’ve ever felt. It was also one of the moments that I knew for sure, Austin- that I loved you and couldn’t lose you like that.” She sighed, “and one of the things that prompted me into telling you. I watched Wei Ling… I could see her face when she realized that Sasha was gone. She loved him, you know? She never told him.” She cried, raising her hands to her face and shaking her head.
“Oh, darling,” he breathed, pulling her against him and rocking her.
“Not like that… not like that,” she was whispering. “You can’t go to your grave without knowing that I am desperately in love with you.”
“I know, Marielle. I know. But, say it again.”
She pulled his face back and stared into his eyes, “I… love you.”
“I love you too. I love you like you wouldn’t believe.” They gently swayed as he came back against her again. “You don’t understand, darling. There will never be someone else for me; not like you. If you force me to leave you forever, then I may force myself to find someone eventually, but they will never be what you are to me. I’m done. This is it for me.” She cried, knowing altogether too well that he was telling the truth. This was it for him. She could feel it and sense it. He’d never felt this way in his life, and she knew that because of their connections and abilities that he never fully would again. “Oh, my love,” he cried into her shoulder.
“Shhhhh.” She stroked through his hair. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s do something fun together.”
He forced himself still. “Movie marathon? There’s no possible way that I could sleep right now.”
“Popcorn and all?” She asked, her green eyes lighting up like a little girl.
He nodded. “Popcorn, candy, coffee,” his eyes widened with childlike realization, “let’s eat junk and regret it in like three hours,” he laughed, and he’d snuck a pillow into his right hand, which he used to swat her with. She feigned shock, but he hit her again with it. “Come on, this pillow isn’t gonna fight itself.” He tried to hold it back like it was alive and ravenous.
She threw her head back and laughed, grabbing the other and smacking him back. They engaged in slapping one another in the arms with the pillows for a moment until she tried to get away, slipping off the bed and he came after her, running around it, and cornering her. He grabbed hold of her wrists in front of her, and forced her to drop the wild pillow, enjoying how much she was wiggling against him before he fought her down to the mattress and lay himself over her, part for part. He hadn’t really been thinking when he’d done it, it was just a natural reaction. But with his excited body pressing against all the right spots, both sensed how dangerous this was to their contracts.
He let go of her wrists, and trailed his fingers down her face, gently. Then he came to her neck and gently squeezed. -You want this, don’t you? To feel like I could hurt you, but to know that I wouldn’t?
-It makes me feel safe.
– I know. I could kill you, Marielle, I know that I could. It’s one of the things that terrifies me. It’s the reason that I didn’t want you near me after…
-After Tundra. He nodded. She cleared her throat wondering how much she should tell him or hint at so that he didn’t know what she was doing with these contracts, these actions, and so on. She loved him, yes. She wanted this, yes. But he was also her best friend in the world right now, and he needed all of this. He didn’t understand it, and maybe he never fully would, but he needed her to do this; her specifically. “Tundra… was obsessed with Marielle,” she explained. “He had to have her, force her… if he didn’t he felt like he was dying. But he was always unhinged, too,” she explained. “I could feel it when he…” she stopped herself, starting to shake. “I could feel how much he needed me.” Her eyes started to glaze over as she slipped into the memories. “I could feel his heart… he felt like he was dying,” she peeped, her eyes brimming with tears both compassionate and disgusted. “And he always felt that way.”
He swallowed hard, suddenly remembering that for a moment before she killed him; she had been inside of Tundra. What was that doing to her? He raised a hand to her and put it against her cheek. She pressed it there. “Hey, hey… stay with me. I am not Tundra.”
“I’m not worried that you are.”
He shook his head, ruefully, “I have to apologize to you for something.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, “yesterday, I said that I never traumatized you- that he traumatized her. It’s true. But he also traumatized you, and… I was being selfish and I forgot that for a moment.” He shook his head, “and that was not okay. So, I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry.”
“I forgive you, Austin.” He exhaled, shakily. “Because you don’t want to be associated with him in any way. You even left yourself bald for a few days to disassociate yourself from him.”
“You know me so well, darling,” he breathed, shaking his head at her.
He was still laying between her legs, and he slowly pulled away, understanding that they’d been lost in conversation for a moment.
“What should we watch?” She asked excitedly. “I’ll stay up with you as late as I can.”
“All of the Star Wars movies?”
She giggled, “All forty-five?”
He chuckled, drumming his lip. “Well… maybe just the original three.”
“That’d work. I’ll make it through at least the first one, I’m not really tired.”
“I’m not tired at all,” he replied staring at her, taking her in, trying to remember every last thing about her face. The way her cheekbones lifted, the way her rose petal lips curved, and the little line that followed it. The way her button nose scrunched when he spoke to her in certain ways, the way her green eyes danced like a little girl. He pulled her in for one last hug before they went out to the living room, “You’re mine,” he added, trying his best to hide the sorrow in his voice, because that but just for a few hours… was always hanging above them like a storm cloud. She swallowed hard against his chest feeling what he was feeling. “I’ll go make popcorn,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head, and giving her a false, proud smirk as he pulled away.
She put her face to her knees for a moment. –I don’t want this to end… but I know that it has to… and I know he can hear me.
She could hear him putting the bag in the microwave. –I can. Why don’t you just go with that I don’t want this to end? Marielle, the offer is open wide to you until I get on that plane… after that it’ll be nearly impossible to find me ever again.
She heard him bend down, “hey, Felix,” he was saying, and she heard Felix meow back.
She swallowed hard, –Show me, darling? She asked.
And a blurry image of Felix came into her mind at Austin’s feet as he rubbed against his legs one way, then the other. Then he did a little whirl, and stared up at Austin with big green cat eyes as Austin fed him, setting the dish on the floor. She saw Austin’s hand gently run down his back, and watched him stand back up as the popcorn finished, and he went to the coffee maker.
She swallowed hard. That was the first time that he’d ever successfully shared an image that he was seeing with her.