Medusa (A Fairytale Green FanFic)

Chapter 23.5: Theft of the Tome

A/N: This is the chapter that won the competition for writing in Stone's POV from KaylaSilverss. I thank everyone who read it and thought it worthy of any praise at all.

(Chapter 22: Rumpelstiltskin and Ricochet Rules)

*Dialogue only mine after Ella leaves. The rest is OG Fairytale Green Dialogue

Stone's POV

"Guess my name."

A halo of bright green decorated her pillow as she gazed up at me, and I inwardly grinned at her expression. There was no way she could be thinking straight—I knew I couldn't. I moved as close as I could to her without crushing her, holding my weight on my forearms as I hovered.

I was confident she'd never be able to guess my name, but in the off chance that the name was in her repertoire, distraction seemed a sure fire way to win. Her lips were mine.

"James?" she asked, breathlessly.

Lips brushing the shell of her ear, I denied it. "Try again." Her lithe body radiated heat, and her apple scented hair assaulted my senses. Without much thinking involved in the matter, I took her earlobe gently between my teeth. Her body stiffened immediately and her body stretched out as though trying to close the distance, arching. So responsive.

"Tom?"

Lips marking a meandering path through the junction of her neck and jaw up to her lips, I inhaled; the thought of her lips parting for me, the memory of her tongue, the mix of sunshine and sea and her... the thought of winning another kiss was enough to make my heart batter within the confines of its cage. My blood thundered through my body, galloping, nearly painful as it stampeded down south.

"I am starting to think that you want to kiss me," I whispered with downcast eyes, afraid she'd see exactly how I was feeling if she met gaze, seeing through to my fettered soul, tied to her. She did not rise to my challenge and instead proceeded in her own determined way. My Ella.

"David?"

I closed my eyes, seeing images of Ella with faceless men—anyone but me, and even the implication brought a rumbling to my chest. The melody of her laughter snapped me out of it.

"What are you growling at?"

"I don't like other names that are not mine leaving your mouth."

Ella rose onto her forearms and returned my earlier ministrations, delicate pink lips tracing the outskirts of my ear. I stifled a choked moan at the contact—I could hardly believe my own restraint.

"Then tell me your name," she whispered, and I shook my head. Her remedy was logical, but I didn't want logical; I wanted something undefinable, an enigmatic dose of pure Ella. I wanted to lose my mind, not be brought back to it.

"I am getting that kiss, Medusa."

She laughed. "Someone told me that a kiss from Medusa turns one to statue."

I kissed her button nose. "Then it's a good thing I am already Stone." In more ways than one. She remained silent then. In the silence, we shifted. I could tell she wasn't thinking of names any longer, but instead, it was as though she was analyzing me – trying to understand me.

There wasn't much to understand: I love you.

A noise interrupted the moment and she jumped, eyes darting to the door. I stayed still, willing the moment to last, but the universe had other plans as she ran to the front door upon a second sound. Sighing, I dragged myself up from our cradle of happiness and followed her to the hallway.