"Zhask? Is she related to Leon Zhask by any chance?" Ashton asked another question, but before the man could reply, he collapsed with a loud thud.
He wasn't the only one either. All of the soldiers who had managed to walk out had also collapsed in the corridor at the same time.
"Anna, you were a bit late to the show- wow..."
Ashton turned towards the bathroom to see Anna standing there with a towel clumsily wrapped around her. She hadn't even bothered drying herself... which meant the towel was hugging her figure quite... intimately.
Either she wasn't aware of how desirable she looked, or she was feigning ignorance to that fact in order to get Ashton all riled up. Whatever her intentions were, they were working flawlessly.
"Are you alright?" Anna asked turning her gaze away.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good. Ahem, thanks for the help." Ashton replied and tore his eyes away from the captivating sight in front of him, "I'll dump this idiot out in the corridor. In the meantime, why don't you go ahead and settle down?"
Ashton might have asked her to settle down, but he needed to settle down his aroused mind and physical work was the most effective way to do so.
***
A couple of minutes later...
[I don't know what's your problem.]
"What do you mean?" Ashton asked while dumping the leader's sleeping body beside his soldiers.
[You know exactly what I mean.]
"Then you also know the answer."
Astaroth was referring to the relationship between Ashton and Anna. Since he resided in Ashton's head, he was well aware of how Ashton felt toward Anna. The boy clearly liked her but was afraid of committing to fulfilling his desires.
Why? Because Ashton felt by transforming Anna into a succubus, he had bound her to himself without considering what she might or might not have agreed to it.
In other words, he thought Anna wasn't doing whatever she was because she genuinely had feelings for him, but she was only doing what she was obligated to do so for her 'master'.
This guilt of 'forcing' Anna, was the thing preventing him from making the leap of faith and confessing his feelings. However, Astaroth had taken it upon himself to get rid of his bullshit thinking. Even though he wasn't a 'human', even Astaroth knew the girl too had feelings for him, but wouldn't do anything to reveal her feeling.
Both of them were stupid brats who thought the other was bound to them due to some 'obligation' and not love. Seeing the two behave like awkward idiots was super infuriating.
That was the reason, Astaroth had made it his life's mission to have Ashton reveal his feelings to the girl. He probably decided to make Ashton confess, because Astaroth had no control over Anna, so convincing Ashton was all he could do.
[I say you're scared she would turn you down.]
"You know what? Yes, I am scared that she wouldn't reciprocate my feelings. I am scared that she would reject me and then everything would get even more awkward than it already is." Ashton lost it after being nagged over and over about the same topic.
He continued yelling, "You of all people should know how it feels to be abandoned by someone you love and I don't wanna go through all that! So yes, I love Anna but am I ever going to confess to her? No! Because I don't want to ruin whatever relationship we have for my selfish greed of wanting more. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
[No, but someone else did.]
Once Astaroth said that only then did Ashton realise he had been yelling this entire time. Which meant... someone else could have easily heard him yelling. And by someone, he meant Anna.
He frantically turned around, praying to every god he knew of. But his prayers weren't answered because Anna was standing at the doorway when Ashton yelled he loved her.
Her eyes were fixated on him, as she emotionlessly stared at him. In his mind, Ashton threw every foul word he could at Astaroth who had gone silent after making the mess.
'I swear I'm gonna kill that bastard when he gets his own body! Right now, I should try and sort out this mess... come on you 200-points worth of intelligence, show me your magic!'
His stats might have helped him against his enemies, but in a matter involving hearts, no matter how high intelligence one possessed, they were at the mercy of the heart.
"A-Anna, I'm sorry. I-I was just rambling to myself. Maybe one of those idiots hit me in the head or something. Yeah... that was it. You know I would never force you into something like that. Come on please say something..."
Anna didn't reply, instead, she pushed him into the wall next to the room, pressing him down with her elbow and looked right into his eyes, "Do you have any idea how tough it has been on me?"
"I-I know And I'm sorry. Let's just forget that I ever said anything alright-"
"You're an idiot, you know that?" Anna smiled, while still pressing him against the wall.
"I know I am. Hell, I'm probably the biggest one to ever-"
"Shh... you talk too much."
Anna pressed her finger against his lips, before moving her head closer to Ashton's. He stood there frozen, from both the fear of losing her and the excitement of having her so close. She leaned in, so her forehead rested against his. They close their eyes, both of their breaths were shaking frantically. Having her so close, slowly but surely, withered away the feeling of losing her.
"I have been waiting for long enough to say this... Ashton, I love you too."
She then gently leaned in further and kissed Ashton's warm lips. They slowly pulled apart to take shaky, shallow breaths. Unable to contain themselves anymore, Ashton held Anna's head in his hands and pulled her into a long, fiery and passionate kiss while her hands work their way around his body, feeling each other's love, each line along with his perfect physique.
She kissed him and the world melted away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that he never thought he'd experience. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. She ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.
They pull apart and open their eyes and stared at each other, looking deep into each other's eyes. Anna's eyes were full of wonder and love, while Ashton's had curiosity, confusion and passion in them. No words are spoken but a story worthy of them is communicated.
Astaroth decided to give the two some much-needed privacy and faded away for the moment, knowing that his job was done.
Visit freewe𝑏nove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience