Heirs of the Gods

Ch 45: In the thick of it

Ella observed her reflection in the mirror. Hair still a little damp from her bath, cheeks still slightly pink. It was a far cry from how she'd looked when she locked herself in her room almost an hour earlier, heart beating wildly, nerves a damn mess.

It had been over an hour since the training room incident, and she still couldn't completely process it. It was insane. Twenty types of insane. She'd been screaming at Aedion and wishing him ill, and the next minute, they'd been rolling around the training room like two animals in heat.

She dug her fingers into her temples and squeezed her eyes shut, as some very choice images popped into her mind for the thousandth time. How could they not? The memory was now seared into her brain, etched in permanently. So tangible, she could physically feel the mark they'd left on her.

The heat of his touch on her bare skin, his lips on her neck, the taste of his mouth, the possessive curl of his hands around her thighs. If she pressed her fingers to the underside of her jaw, she could feel the tender skin there, carefully covered to hide the little red bruise Aedion had left, as if to ensure she'd never forget.

Her eyes popped open. The reflection that stared back at her was off-kilter. Pupils blown wide, wide enough to swallow the grey. Skin flushed, pulse racing.

"Damn it," she muttered, pressing the back of her hands to her cheeks, willing them to cool down. "Pull yourself together."

It was just a kiss. Just a kiss. Ella had kissed boys before. Plenty of them, to be honest. She was no blushing flower, that was for sure. And yet, none of them had ever managed to rile her up so much. Not even when she'd kissed Theodore Gladstone, a boy she'd had a bit of a crush on when she was younger. It had been nice and she'd had fun, but it hadn't been more than that. Fun. Ella's experiences with men had always been amusing, a way to pass time.

She never replayed them in her mind to oblivion. She never caught herself thinking so obsessively about these interactions. She never reacted so viscerally.

Then again, no one other than Aedion had ever managed to dredge up that much intensity from her in anything. Cool, composed Ella had never had an intense experience before, because up until then, no one had ever managed to reach her so easily.

Ella sighed in frustration, counting backwards from ten, willing herself to stop thinking about it. To stop thinking point-blank. When she was sure she'd managed to lock down her traitorous emotions—rather, when she could no longer hide in her room any longer—she smoothed her dress, steeled her spine, and made her way to the dining room.

————

Ella was composed. She kept an easy, blank expression on her face as she took her spot on the dinner table, directly in front of Aedion, the only other person in the dining room.

I should have faffed around a bit longer, she cursed herself. Still, she didn't react, nor did she risk glancing at him. Not because it affected her, of course. It was merely because she had no reason to. Yes, that's what it was.

Instead, she busied herself with the wine, pouring herself a more than generous amount. From the corner of her eye, she saw him shuffling; she could feel his gaze on her, could feel him gearing up to say something.

Thankfully, some higher power heard Ella's silent prayers, and he was once again interrupted.

"Hello, brother o' mine," Val said, plopping down on Aedion's lap with enough force to cause him to let out an "oomph". She sprawled theatrically, laying against the armrest of the chair, almost completely vertically.