I pulled away to look up at her. She allowed me space to move but kept her arms tight around me.
“You think I’m pretty,” I asked teasingly.
“Breathtaking,” she whispered before pressing her lips to mine in a gentle kiss that quickly turned heated.
The idea that anyone could walk into the auditorium at any moment and catch us quickened my heart with excitement.
Disappointingly the Princess ended our kiss all too soon, and barely a second passed before the auditorium doors opened as other students made their way inside.
9. Midnight Conversations
Persephone Flores
“What did Heidi Coactus want with you?” the Princess asked me lowly, pulling me into her embrace as we settled in bed to sleep.
“She gave me quite the fright speaking in my head,” I started. The Princess released a quiet growl but didn’t interrupt me. “She told me how to kick her out after annoying me, of course, and then approached me when the class had ended. It was a bit strange. She asked me to go dress shopping and then said she could help me grow my magic. I asked what she wanted from me, and she said she was lonely; there were no other pureblood witches at the Academy and something about me not being influenced by House relationships. Are all purebloods so demanding?” I asked her.
She pressed her lips to my shoulder. “Demanding? I suppose to those lower in status or rank; we may appear so,” she answered. “Do you think me demanding?”
“You are the most demanding person I’ve ever met,” I told her. It was true. I knew of no other who seemed to take whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.
She laughed gently, her arms pulling me in tighter to her. “Very few people can tell me no. Perhaps that’s led to a character flaw,” she mused.
“Who can tell you no?” I asked her sarcastically.
“Only my father and, perhaps, you,” she answered. I was shocked by her answer.
“Me?” I asked disbelievingly.
“Yes, you,” she said, pressing her nose to the top of my head. “If you were ever to tell anyone, I would deny it and turn your backside red.”
“Of course you would; any excuse to spank me would do,” I replied cheekily. She growled in return, her fingers finding my sides and running up my ribs in a ticklish fashion, causing me to giggle and try to squirm away, turning in my squirming until I was facing her.
“I’m quite fond of you,” she whispered as I caught my breath and her fingers ceased to tickle me. Her eyes met mine, glowing brightly in the dark grey room. “I would deny myself for you. I often do. As much as you tear at my control, I have been finding a new kind of control that forces me to consider you before I act. It’s terrible. I think about you far too much,” she confessed.
My heart was pounding against my chest. She had never confessed such a thing before. She told me I was pretty, a good girl, valuable to her, and that I belonged to her, but she never said she cared about me like I was more to her than property, more to her than blood and a body.
I couldn’t speak to reply, emotion blocking my throat.
“Percy,” she whispered my name, leaning forward to rub her nose against mine. “Do you doubt my affections?” she asked when I didn’t respond, her forehead pressing against mine, lips so close to mine.
“I,” I began, swallowing the lump in my throat, my voice cracking, “I believe you would never speak such words if they weren’t true,” I told her.
“No, I would not,” she agreed and pressed her lips to mine in the sweetest kiss I’d experienced. It was not heated, there was no sexual tension, but it was the most powerful of kisses she had ever given me. It meant more than any other. I knew it was meant only for me. I knew she had never kissed another the same way.
When her lips left mine, she gently rolled me back to my side and resumed her position behind me, drawing me into her embrace.
“Would you like to go dress shopping?” she asked me quietly after a few minutes of comfortable silence. I had forgotten what we had initially been discussing.
“With Heidi?” I asked her.
“Hmm, with me, but perhaps I will invite her. I have not met the Lady of Coactus; it would allow me to discern her interest in you,” she replied.
“Am I going to the ball?” I asked her.
“Yes, I wouldn’t allow you to miss such an event. The servant students seem to enjoy it greatly. It is the one event during the year for which all Sanguis Academy students, regardless of status, enjoy together,” she explained, “What made you think you would not attend?”
“You haven’t spoken of it to me, and you’re going with him,” I told her, trying not to let the thought of Lord Halvorsen ruin my happiness.