The Stains of the Crown

Chapter Fourteen

Trigger warnings: Flashbacks, Wounds/medical care, trauma, inadvertent/unknowing self-harm.

Smut warning.

It's two weeks before Christmas when Delilah and I end up sitting alone in the library. My mates had gone to the village to get a last-minute gift, and Sybil was down in the hospital talking to her brother. We sit silently, her reading a book, and me working on a sketch of the waterfall. I hadn't had a chance to go back, but the drawing was as close as I'd been able to get since the stitches came out.

She sighs heavily, slamming her book shut. She sets it on one of the side tables. I glance at her, immediately looking away when I see the deep frown on her face. She walks over, gently pinning my wrist against the desk, just enough to force me to stop drawing. I look up at her. She sighs again before sitting down.

"We need to talk." I put the pencil down, turning towards her.

"About?"

"I don't like us fighting. Especially this close to Christmas. I don't agree with your decision, but I'll accept it, for now. But I also want to put a deadline on this, because I'm not going to be in this position for the rest of my life. I'm not going to choose between you and my mate. So I think that six months is reasonable." I sigh, running my fingers through my hair.

"I can't promise I'll be able to stick to that. I don't trust her." She rolls her eyes.

"She saved your life."

"Yeah, after deciding to potentially risk my life, not to mention that she's why I needed my life saved. Look, I don't want to fight, either. It sucks, because I haven't been able to tell you anything in weeks. I just don't know if I'll ever be able to trust her, let alone in such a short amount of time."

"I know. But that's as much time as I can give you to at least try. I'm not saying you have to tell her everything. But you can't treat her like a stranger who's putting you in danger forever. You have to try to see her as a person who made a mistake, and if you can't at least do that in the next six months, I can't stay." I frown. Delilah knew me better than anyone, and she knew very well just how long it takes for me to come around to someone. I think for a while.

"I'll make an effort, okay?"

"Thanks," she sighs in relief. Then she grins at me. "So what's happened in the last few weeks?" My face turns bright red. "Oh, my god, did you finally get to have sex with them?"

"More or less, yeah. We were playing a game on the TV, and they cheated by teasing me. I got a little riled up, and they were talking about it with each other, but like, meaning to turn me on more. Jovi ended up doing this weird jaw-hook thing to me cause I bit her thumb, and she made me get on my knees. She tastes good," I say with a deep blush. Delilah cackles.

"Of course you would be the submissive one."

"What do you mean?"

"The one who's not in charge. You like being told what to do."

"I hate being told what to do," I say, my eyebrows furrowed. "Dalla even told me that one of the reasons she made me the Second was because of how bossy I am." Delilah laughs, shaking her head.

"Echo, you let her put you on your knees and then did exactly what she wanted. You might be a bossy person, but it doesn't seem like you are when it comes to sex."

"It's not like I just gave in when Finley was teasing me. I fought back."

"What do you mean?"

"She was teasing me to try to get me to beg. I didn't just do what she wanted." Delilah laughs again.