~Alaya
He knew. He knows.
A part of me can’t even react. His lips are clearly pressed against mine, his hands on my face, the sparks there… But my body is completely frozen. My entire body is split in half with reasoning. One part of me is disgusted that this man is kissing me, after everything that has happened between us.
Then there’s the other part of me. The part that controls my body, that reacts to the mate bond that has been drilled into our primal nature comes out, and decides to completely dissolve the inch of my sense of reasoning.
“I hate you,” I murmur against his lips, however, there is no point stopping myself, as I wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him back with as much vigor as I could possibly muster.
I can feel him smiling against my mouth, as his hands come out to grip under my thighs, keeping me afloat. Everything about his touch, his warmth and that familiar jasmine scent that is so much more addicting than Sinful. Of course, Asher is my mate, who I am meant to be with forever.
As much as that fact should annoy me, right now, it doesn’t.
With strength I couldn’t consider with my lust fogged brain, Asher lifted me completely out of the pool, following after me while I lay flat on the cool tiles. Asher takes no time at all to lean over me, kissing as if without holding back an inch.
It’s almost as if these past few weeks have built up. All the tension between us has mounted to a breakable point, and now, we can’t keep our hands off each other. I have to wonder whether this would have happened if we were mates or not. All my frustration and irritation only fuels everything.
His kisses are addicting, his touch completely melting my insides. Every part of my body burns, as he draws his hands down my body, from my arms, to my waist and hips.
My hands keep securely in his hair, fingers wrapped around soaking wet strands. I don’t think he could go anywhere if he tried.
His hands play with the edge of my shirt, which sticks my skin. That’s when some sense comes into my mind. I first imagine Sinful watching, judging. Our entire plan would be ruined, if it is even a thing anymore. Either way, I wanted Sinful to think I didn’t care that Asher was my mate. I wanted him to trust me.
That’s about to not be a thing anymore.
As I pull my lips away from his, he doesn’t accept that as my signification that we should probably stop and talk things through. Instead, he only kisses down my jawline, to my neck where he concentrates. My whole body freezes at the idea of him marking me right now. I don’t think I’m anywhere near ready.
I pull my hands from his hair, firmly pushing back at his shoulders. He looks up, golden eyes blazing with unsated lust.
“Don’t you think…” I pant, raising an eyebrow at him. “That would should talk things through or something? Or maybe not make out on the floor of a pool room, where Sinful could just breeze past and see everything. Even Aspen could.”
Asher sighs, catching his breath, however he doesn’t make a move. He continues to lean over me, watching me as if he’s considering to do the right thing, or go against everything that I’ve said. Either way, the water from his half naked body drops onto mine, not helping how cold I’m beginning to get.
“You care about what he thinks?” He questions, seeming genuinely upset about that. That reaction must be because of the night him and I spent together. Thinking about it now, and the mate I have on top of me, I can’t help but feel a claw like creature wrap it’s hand around my heart.
“Not what he personally thinks,” I correct myself, “only what he thinks when it comes to this whole plan.”
There’s a flare of anger in his eyes, but it seems to be swallowed in an instant, as I shift out from under him. He doesn’t have the right to be angry now, I do. I can only imagine what I would be feeling right now if I wasn’t trapped in the immortal lands where every one of my emotions is dulled down.
“I hope you’re ready to explain yourself,” I mutter, sitting up. Asher remains where he was for a moment, before he gets to his feet.
“Ask away,” he prompts.
I watch him carefully, as he walks over to get us towels from a cupboard I never noticed. He passes me one, which I wrap around my shoulders as I consider what to ask him. There are so many options…
“How long have you known we are mates?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
“A while.”
“That’s not an answer,” I snap.
“Since the first party. Sinful told me,” he explains.
I grit my teeth, unsure of how to answer. It makes sense that Sinful would tell him of all people, however, I still can’t understand why he wouldn’t just tell me, let alone get me involved in all of this. It does explain the constant notes and his insistence to get me to show up at the parties in the first place. If only I knew.
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest. Asher continues to pace in front of me. At least he’s talking to me, instead of letting history repeat by being cold toward me.
“Of course I did, many times, however, I came to the conclusion that it would be better to keep it to myself,’ he replies.
I’m utterly dumbfounded, which he can surely see on my face. He gives me an uneasy look before deciding to explain himself further.
“Once you hear what I have to say, you won’t want anything to do with me anyway, so I wouldn’t be so offended. In fact, I would naturally assume you would like to leave once you find out how much I deceived you,” he tells me smoothly, as if that sentence wasn’t loaded with information. “However, I can’t say that attempting to escape will be useless.”
Folding my arms over my chest, I give him a flat look. “If you don’t hurry up and be honest, I will consider leaving right this instance.”
“This entire time, I’ve been distracting you from what is really happening,” he says.”
My jaw clenches.
“It’s been easier to have you think you’re distracting Sinful, when in reality, it’s been the other way around,” he tells me uneasily, twisting his towel up to toss over his shoulder casually. My throat feels stuffed with cotton wool, so I refrain from speaking.
“This is when you start to hate me…”
I glare at him.
“I’m working with Sinful, not Fate, not my brother, none of them. Sinful and I have been working together for a long while, and when it was originally to protect others, it turned into something else,” he explains, refusing to make eye contact with me. “Turns out, I like being on the other side.”
“The bad side?” I ask, to which he nods at I have no idea what he means by that, since I haven’t yet experienced the full wrath of Sinful’s power.
“I’ve been trying to get Fate out of Sinful’s way, however, nothing has made him understand. That is why brought Aspen here…”
My entire body freezes, and not from the cold. I know exactly what he means by that. Sinful is going to kill Aspen, and Asher is standing there, calm as ever, as if his brothers death sentence isn’t about to happen. It makes me want to bend over and throw up everywhere, however, I manage to keep control of myself.
“He’s not my real brother,” Asher adds.
“Does that matters?” I growl, hiding my surprise at hearing that. “You’re getting an innocent man killed for what? To protect Fate? I’m sure as an immortal, he can look after himself, I’m sure of it.”
I don’t know much about Fate from the little time I spent with him, but he has power, and a lot of it, so I don’t doubt he can handle his own problems. Either Asher is really as bad as he claims to be, or he’s trying to be the hero in looking after Fate.
“Yes, it matters,” Asher tells me calmly. “It’s more than just Fate. It’s the other immortals too… are you listening?”
At this point, I’m on my feet, walking toward the exit to the room. I don’t know how much more of him I can take at this point. However, I don’t get far, before he grabs my arm, pulling me back toward him. I place my hands against his chest, but it does nothing to alter the proximity between us.
“Mate,” he breathes.
“You can’t just use that term like that and expect me to just melt into your arms,” I say promptly, trying to pull away, but his grip remains strong.
His eyes are glinting mischievously. “Are you trying to leave?”
“Maybe,” I challenge.
“You don’t even know me yet,” he reminds, to which I frown at.
“I think I know enough.”
My second attempt to pull away is just as unsuccessful as the first one. Asher only smirks at my lame attempts.
“You really don’t,” he taunts. “Just trust me when I say if you decide to leave, you wouldn’t get very far.”
“Are you challenging me?”
He shrugs. “All I’m saying is that it would be foolish of you to even try. You would miss me too much. And anyways, I’ve been told I’m a brilliant hunter.”
My jaw clenches. We’ll see about that.