Why was he staring at me like that? I shuddered under his intense gaze. Axel's darkened eyes sparkled as his delicate finger drew circles on my hip.
He didn't ask what I was ready for. I permanently blocked my thoughts, but it looked like Axel didn't need magic to read my thoughts and emotions. With a harsh snap of his hips, I gasped as I slipped further down on his crotch. Involuntarily I was about to back away but Axel outsmarted me as he wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me closer as he aimed for my ear.
"Don't tempt me, little one," I shut my eyes tight at his husky voice. The fact that he always knew how to have this effect on me made me go nuts. An alluring smile tugged on his lips.
"I'm not tempting you, but if I need to, I will." I declared. Hell! He narrowed his eyes at me and suggested I was already naughty. But I was just testing the waters...
"Hm?" Axel hummed as his lips almost grazed mine while his embarrassingly hot gaze remained on them.
A knock on the door snapped us out before we committed something we both craved at the moment.
"But I'm ready, Axel," I grumbled in disappointment. I needed for him to gain his powers. It was the least I could do for him after my betrayal.
"I want you to be developed for that, Rebel."
"But you-"
"Enough," Axel's eyes were impassable as the authority was leaking from his voice.
I couldn't believe he could change so suddenly. Was I going to live with this Axel all my life?
"We discussed that matter, Rebel."
"You care about me that much?"
"I do."
His confession licked my skin and made my heart do the summersaults. How could he affect me so much?
"How sweet."
A malevolent and utterly sexy voice earned my attention as I failed to notice a horrified look in Axel's magical eyes. Axel gently lifted me and placed me beside him as now we were directed to the intruder. And damn, was that intruder bewitching! A woman who stood at the door was mesmerizing. She wore a black poofy dress and silver crown. Her clothing as well as her imperious stance screamed royalty.
A crow was adorning her petite shoulder while she didn't come out as short. She was definitely taller than me and appeared as formidable as a creature of darkness, night, and the silver light of the moon.
"Mother," The words left Axel's lips as he bowed slightly and shook my mind. Mother?
The woman trailed her gaze from Axel to me as her light yellow, pale brown eyes were so cold it licked down my spine. And her white hair accentuated her sharp and defined features. Even only her appearance was deadly.
My head bent to its accord as staring into her bottomless eyes pressed a heavyweight on me.
"Nobody makes me wait."
As her lips parted, my head lifted to take in her voice as well as splendid features while commanding.
A male servant stood beside her as she cut in before he could announce her presence, I supposed.
"To what I owe your visit, Silver?"
Axel smirked carelessly as the cold demeanor of Queen Silver never changed. Not even an ounce of warmness betrayed her as her own son was standing before her. She looked like she could rule over the whole universe. With power-hungry glimmering eyes and raised head, the way she held herself as she stood there unaffected.
"To her."
She laid her ruthless eyes at me again. One word and I knew she wasn't going to favor me. And my assumptions were approved when Femme walked in beside Silver.
In a snap, the door shut, and black curtains covered the only light coming from the outside that consoled me.
"And next time, I'll close your eyes," Axel stated in a cold voice as the aura around us was becoming chillier.
Shivers ran up and down my spine. Their relationship was on the verge of war. Nothing motherly reigned in Silver as her face remained unmoving.
In a few seconds both, Silver and Femme bowed at the king. Axel, satisfied, clutched my hand and led me out of the hall. We stopped beside the newcomers as Axel's commanding voice echoed in a dining room:
"Rebel Wu, your queen, Silver. When you decide to express respect towards her, I will let you meet her."
Oh, my god! I smirked. Axel was savage!
This time he didn't drag me, but we walked together to our room.
As we stepped inside, I couldn't even blink as Axel's lips found their way to mine. Swiftly he picked me up as I wrapped legs around his waist. He growled in a kiss with approval. I didn't know what was happening, but butterflies evoked in my stomach, and my heartbeat raced like crazy as Axel instilled overwhelming sensations into me.
"Axel," I breathed out as Axel laid me on the bed and settled between my legs. Developed, huh?
"Hm?" He peppered butterfly kisses on the exposed skin of my neck.
"You didn't want to um…." I averted my gaze from him. Axel looked up, and from the corner of my eye, I could detect his smug smirk.
"I want that thing you can't even utter more than you'll ever imagine," he gently yet firmly grasped my chin and made me face him, "But I don't want to force you into something."
"You don't, dummy! Can't you see? I want this!" I pulled him by the collar as I deepened the kiss. Axel placed his hands beside my head, so I was caged between them. A smirk was building on his face against my lips. The confidence that dripped from him was arousing me to no end.
Axel separated our mouths that melded into each other. A drip of saliva trailed between our lips as we caught our breath with a contented smile.
"I'll give you time till the night."
Not night! Not night! Abigor would transport me to his realm when the arrow rang two. I couldn't afford to risk Axel unfolding webs I knitted behind his back.
So I let myself mutter desperate words that would kill me from shame in the past.
"What is holding you?"
Axel let out a sexy, breathy chuckle before murmuring against my lips, "Well, aren't you an impatient brat?"
"Huh?" My eyes widened at his warning words.
"Bad girls get punished, sweetheart. Don't make it any harder for me than it already is," Axel knotted his eyebrows in as if pain. But soon, a smirk of his own came to grace his flawless face. He was on the threshold of stepping into the pleasure he would never be able to leave.
My blush made him chuckle as it blessed my ears even more. I was wrapped around this man's finger. He was wicked and merciless for that. I recalled him apologizing to me for spurring me on to fall in love with him. Was I falling with him, or did I already?
***
Axel left me to search for his father and vicious powers took advantage of it. Olivia came to deliver the mother queen's wish to see me.
As I tottered in the alleys of the vast garden, I fondled my fingers in alarm. Femme, Adriana, and that ominous woman all would stand on their feet to make me miserable.
There was an old saying: "Misery loves company." So they should know better than to distress me for no reason.
The fireflies started arising from their refuge as a soft evening grew into a serene night. The night was a classy confidante that buried our secrets, mistakes, and sins, but we still managed to unfold and drown in them. Moon wrapped its silvery cold and graceful arms around us to pacify our misery.
"You are here," an uninterested and almost bored voice pulled me to reality.
As I had expected, queen Silver, haughty Femme, and an ass-licker Adriana all had gathered in a circular covered area of the garden. Roses cheered around us as they snaked around the wooden pillars of the shelter.
"Sit," Silver ordered as I bowed before sitting beside Adriana. Across me sat Femme and at her right – queen. "So, Rebel, tell me," Silver's serpent yellow eyes were pulling me while warning me at the same time. "Do you like my son?"
I studied the other two before facing her again. I was late. Her expression turned into a more deadly one. I had an interest in how much of a monster she could become.
"When I'm talking to you, you look at me." Her cold voice emphasized just how much brutality she was compressing inside her.
"Yes, queen Silver."
She raised her eyebrow but nodded without further bicker, silently ordering me to go on.
"I do. Your son is a good man."
"Axel isn't my son."
I was lost in Silver's taunting yellow eyes, but her words were heard loud and clear.
A beautiful smirk tugged on her plump orange-colored lips, "I'm his stepmother but also his mentor, so he appreciates me."
She paused and seductively licked her lips. Well, Axel's parents barely looked older than him himself.
"I hate sugarcoating, dear. So, I prohibit you from sexual intercourse with him."
My brows furrowed, and my lips went in a flat line. I didn't understand what her deal was. "So you don't intend for Axel to regain his powers?"
Silver laughed before lighting me with her enchanting eyes again, "Femme will take your place, and you will let her do it in peace."
She waved her long nails at me while I fumed with rage. Femme's smug smirk didn't do anything to placate nasty scenarios in my head.
"You wouldn't come to me without a prepared threat."
"Oh? I don't need a smart plan. Don't do as I say, and I will make sure you live in a nightmare while everyone will believe in your death."
I wanted to counter that nobody would allow a queen's murder, but something told me Silver had a plan even though she claimed she didn't.
Silver didn't even see my reaction as she and her lackeys headed to the palace. The sentries stood ten meters away, unfazed and unmoved.
FUCK! My eyes were throwing sparkles from a rage while my throat itched for me to scream my heart out.
My whole body shouted at me not to obey the queen, but I had to discover how she could blackmail me. It seemed like people had mastered threatening me, or I was terrible at sheltering my secrets.
"My lady."
In the darkness, a light from the light ball fired my face. I lifted my head and jumped up as Penum and Lee appeared before me with light orbs levitating above their palms.
"My lady, I know who your opponent will be."
"Who?" My animosity had picked up. This day was full of challenges, and something whispered to me that it was only a start.
Lee tilted his head in displease as he uttered, "Femme the priestess, Rebel."
That blonde fool! Did they uncover my plan?
"We hope she doesn't know about your identity there."
"How did Axel allow her?"
"It's a free entry. Anyone can participate from king Axel's allies."
I would make sure Femme wouldn't take my place. I had to win against her!
"Rebel?"
Axel.