Chapter 299: Voices And Moonlight
Hello, lovely readers!
Please accept my apology for the delay in updates, as I have not been in the best of health to write. I did not want to give you substandard content merely for the sake of updating, so I took the time I needed to ensure the quality of the story remains consistent.
Thank you for being patient and for sticking with the story. As this is my first novel, I try my hardest to give you all something meaningful, though I sometimes feel demotivated when it does not perform as well as I had hoped. Even so, I will do my very best to complete this book and give it the ending it deserves. There is still much to cover, and I do not want to rush it.
A sincere thank you to everyone who has been sending Power Stones, Golden Tickets, and gifts. Your support truly means more than I can express.
For you, I write, and for you, I want to see this novel through to the end, regardless of its performance.
Stay tuned and enjoy!
...
Outside the room where Eve and Ivan hid, heels clicked sharply against the marble floor before coming to an abrupt stop right outside the door.
Inside, Ivan had Eve pressed back against it, his body close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him. Though the heat radiating between them was a powerful distraction, their senses remained sharply attuned to the conversation on the other side.
A young woman’s voice whispered urgently, "Mother! I’ve been looking for you everywhere! I waited in the room where the Prince was supposed to be taken, but it has been more than an hour. Did you not get him to take the drink?"
Maribel hissed in frustration, "Before we could toast, that wretched server dropped the drinks. We do not have another vial. Those potions have been banned and the vendors have been under strict surveillance for months."
Ivan and Eve met each other’s eyes in the dimness, amusement flickering between them. Their expressions spoke without words. They had been right. The drinks had been laced.
A faint smirk curved Ivan’s lips, pride glinting in his gaze at the thought of Eve orchestrating the spill so perfectly. He could not stop the surge of admiration, and desire, for the incredible woman pressed against him, even as the unwanted presence lingered just beyond the door.
Eve, on the other hand, caught the look in his eyes and swallowed lightly as her throat went dry, heat pooling low within her. Their breaths brushed against one another, and though their gazes burned with raw hunger, they remained perfectly still, as if waiting for the mother and daughter’s rant to end.
"What are we going to do now, Mother? He will not even look at me, let alone speak to me. That duke and that witch are always stuck to his side," Ruby’s shrill, whiny voice carried through the door.
His crimson gaze narrowed and shifted back toward the door; looking as though he wanted to skin the girl alive for daring to call his beloved a "witch."
His menacing aura flared with barely restrained bloodlust, sending an icy wave through the corridor. Outside, Ruby and Maribel both stiffened as a sudden chill crawled down their spines, the hairs on the backs of their necks standing on end.
Sensing Ivan’s body tense, Eve brushed her hand slowly against his chest, a silent plea for him to hold back. As she felt the rigid muscles of his torso relax slightly under her touch, she turned her attention back to the voices outside.
"W-what was that? Is it just me, or did it suddenly get chilly?" Ruby asked, her voice trembling as she rubbed her bare arms, trying to smooth down the goosebumps rising on her skin.
Maribel was more discreet, but her eyes narrowed as she scanned the seemingly empty corridor. Her crimson gaze darted through the shadows, trying to discern if anything was out of the ordinary.
When she saw no movement, she turned back to her daughter, though her expression remained guarded.
"We will figure something out, all right?" Maribel said tightly. "That woman is far sharper than we anticipated. I believe we underestimated them."
She reached for Ruby’s arm. "But come now, dear. We need to leave. Your father has been looking for us."
"Father? Why?" Ruby questioned, her voice still trembling from the cold.
Maribel leaned in further, her whisper sharp and urgent. "He wants to introduce us to some special guests. They will be arriving shortly."
"B-but what about the Prince?" Ruby asked frantically as she was dragged away by her mother.
"You’ll have the Prince once we rid ourselves of that witch!" Maribel hissed. "Once she has been used thoroughly, the Prince wouldn’t dare go near her again, let alone touch her. Now come! I will explain everything."
The sharp click of heels began to fade as they moved away from the room where the couple hid. But before the sound disappeared completely, Maribel halted one of the guards nearby and barked a command. "You there! Station guards all along this corridor. If you see so much as a shadow move, report to us immediately!"
The guards bowed and hurried off to summon reinforcements.
Back in the room, Eve could not bring herself to relax. The aura Ivan had barely contained now surged in full force, making the hair at the nape of her neck rise in instinctive alert. She knew the vile words they had overheard would enrage him beyond reason, just as they had ignited fury within her. Yet she also knew she had to remain calm for his sake, to keep him from tearing them apart into pieces.
Slowly, she turned away from the door to face him. Before she could utter a word, Ivan crashed his lips against hers in a demanding, possessive kiss.
Eve was momentarily stunned by the raw intensity of the assault, but it took less than a second for her to respond with a fire of her own. Ivan ravaged her plump lips hotly, sucking and licking every corner of her sweet mouth, drawing a quiet moan from her when he deepened the kiss into something slower yet more heated.
Eve’s hands moved from his chest to his neck before she laced her fingers through his soft, raven-black hair. She curled her fingers into the strands and gave them a gentle tug, a move that only excited Ivan further.
Ivan kept one hand against the door, caging her in, while his other hand moved along her sexy curves before settling firmly on her round hip, giving it a tight squeeze. Eve arched into him, pressing her softness against his hard frame as they continued to ravage each other’s mouths, kissing as if they had been starving for days.
Ivan’s hand traveled from her hip down the length of her shapely thigh before he hooked his arm beneath her knee and lifted it. He dug his fingers into the supple skin, separated only by the fine fabric of her dress, before sliding his palm down to her ankle to finally find the warmth of her bare skin. He dragged his hand back up, bunching the fabric of her gown as he went, exposing her milky, shapely leg before winding it firmly around his waist.
Eve felt his hot length against her heated flower and finally opened her eyes, breaking away from their fevered kiss. Her eyes, glassy and clouded with desire, met his intense, burning gaze.
Their chests rose and fell heavily against one another as they struggled to catch their breath. Ivan’s focus immediately dropped to her swollen, parted lips the moment she tried to speak.
"I-Ivan....we need to..."
She didn’t get to finish.
He swallowed her words with another kiss before whispering hoarsely against her lips, "Eve, I want you now..." His voice was a jagged edge of need, restraint, and raw fury as he added, "Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what I’ll do to those insects out there."
There it was....the warning sign that his chains of restraint were snapping.
The temperature in the room began to rise as his mind looped over the vile things they had dared to say about his Eve. Bloodlust began to overpower his senses, and the urge to see their blood staining his hands flashed behind his eyes.
His gaze shifted to a glowing, molten orange and Eve knew that if she didn’t stop him now, a bloodbath was inevitable.
She couldn’t allow that to happen. Not with so many court officials present, seeing their Prince go berserk would be a political disaster. It would provide the perfect catalyst for a revolt, and Eve would not let his reputation or his crown to be destroyed tonight.
Cupping his face in her hands, she forced his molten orange eyes to focus solely on her. "Don’t," she whispered against his lips, grazing them ever so slowly. "Take me now, darling." She spoke with such a seductive purr, her blue eyes peering through the dark curtain of her thick lashes that the effect was instantaneous.
Ivan’s rage began to ebb, replaced by a desire that ignited tenfold.
Before he could lose himself in her again, he caught the sound of movement outside. Without a word, he locked the door. He scooped Eve up in one smooth motion and moved through the darkened room with supernatural speed.
Eve clung to him like a koala as they passed through a secondary door, which he shut firmly behind them. It was only then that she felt her heels touch the ground again.
She didn’t have a chance to ask any questions before he turned her around, her back now facing him. As the soft moonlight filtered through the large windows, her eyes adjusted to the dim light, revealing they were in the suite’s spacious bathroom.
She felt his heated presence surging behind her. Closing her eyes, she shivered as his large, warm hand traced the line of her spine. He dragged his palm upward, coming to rest between her shoulder blades, and applied a firm pressure.....a wordless command for her to bend.
Eve did as he asked and opened her blue eyes to the sight of the white marble floor, veined with delicate black lines. Her gaze travelled upward, from the polished tiles to the marble counter with its large basin, and she placed her hands on the cold surface for support. Her heart began to thud loudly, ringing in her ears as anticipation pooled low in her belly.
Her breathing hitched when she felt warm breath brush against her back. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to the mirror above the counter and met the molten orange gaze watching her every expression and movement.
Eve swallowed hard at the sight of him, the absence of a smile and the smouldering intensity in his eyes promising something raw and unrestrained.
