Contractually Yours, Alpha by Giftemmy

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventeen

We drove in complete silence. I didn’t know where he was taking me to, but I didn’t care to ask.

“Aliyah, I’m sorry,” Ash says, sparing a glance at me. “It was dangerous of me to tell the Empress your location. They could have killed you, and it would’ve been entirely my fault. But I couldn’t bear to do nothing–not when I knew what he does to you.”

I couldn’t look at him.

“I’m really sorry, okay? I know I had no right to force all this on you.” He tried again, but when I remained silent, he gave up.

A few minutes passed in silence before I finally said, “You were right.”

His eyes snapped to mine.

“I shouldn’t have let him… feed from me. It was stupid. But after being locked in a castle and controlled for most of my life, I guess I craved something reckless–something fun. And maybe that’s what draws me to him.” I looked away. “I know he’s dangerous, but I’ve spent my whole life being kept away from danger. I want to know what it feels like to abandon caution. I miss him… And I miss him feeding from me. I guess the latter is just a side effect.”

“It will pass. He hadn’t been feeding long enough to cause permanent damage.‘

I nodded, not knowing what exactly to say to that–and then he stopped the car.

Both sides of the road were thick with forest, and the road itself stretched endlessly ahead.

we

walked around to let

about you, but I

the plants scraped my skin, and I stumbled more times than I could count, but eventually,

little of the Lake of Youth–the one Julia showed me. Not particularly because they looked similar, but because they both had that magical

was already out of his shirt and pants and dove into the stream. When wet, his dirty blond hair looked closer to black, making his

slipped off my dress and stepped into the water, surprised by its warmth. Then I realized he was watching me–our eyes met for a moment before he looked away, sinking deeper into the water to give me some

soft sound of satisfaction escaped my lips as I sank neck–deep into the stream. The water held a strange kind of comfort.

“Ash?”

He hadn’t resurfaced.

louder, panic creeping into my

right in front of me.

“You scared me.”

****25 BONUS

Two Hundred and Seventeen

He laughed. “Sorry.”

I was struck by a sudden feeling of déjà vu. It took only a split second to realize why. Daemon and I had done something similar. Strangely, having this moment with someone who wasn’t him- even if it was just two people

my discomfort because he quickly put