Page 33 of Frosted Hearts

Turning around, I exit my room and walk back down the hall coming to a stop outside of the room I gave Illeana when we first arrived. I contemplated just trying the handle and invading her space but I'm sure that will just cause even more of a fight and I need to get her to listen to me. So instead I lift my hand and knock three times, waiting for her to come to the door.

"Can I help you?" she snarks, her green eyes flare with her anger as she stares me down.

"Can I come in? We need to talk." I place my hand on the doorframe but make sure to keep my body out of her space. It takes everything in me to not demand her to speak with me, despite how pissed off I am at her. I need to stay calm so this conversation doesn’t get derailed.

"Depends. Are you here to tell me that last night was a mistake? That we should never have fucked? That we don't needto speak of it again? If so, then yes, it was a mistake that I plan on forgetting ever happened." Ouch okay, that stung and is the complete opposite of how I feel but that can wait until after our other conversation. "If you're here to apologize to me for yelling at me about how I fucked up and how stupid I was then, you can do that from right there. I see no reason you need to set foot in the room either way."

"You're right," I state pointedly. A small gasp leaves her but I continue before she can say anything. "I should have calmly talked to you instead of yelling at you. You aren't trained the way I am and it was my job to be here to protect you both. I fucked up by leaving and that's on me. You were doing your best and I can't fault you for that. Now, can we please talk inside your room about your first accusation?"

It was a conversation that needed to stay between us and not one that Grace should be over hearing. The last thing I'm sure either of us wants is for her little sister to hear that we slept together. It would sure make things awkward and I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it.

Illeana stares at me in shock before stumbling back a step or two. It's enough to let me push my way into her room and shut the door behind me. I make sure not to touch her, at least not yet until her mind catches up to what happened. I hadn't entirely planned to apologize nor take the blame on myself but when I saw her standing in front of me like a pissed-off Princess ready to throw the gauntlet down, I knew that was a battle I could concede for now. We would still discuss how reckless she was but I can recognize that I fucked up as well on that front.

"You. What? I...," she mumbles, shaking her head as she tries to form words.

"I'll wait until you're ready for the rest," I state, leaning back against her door and crossing my arms over my chest. My words seem to do the trick and her confusion and shock are quicklyreplaced with her anger once more. The anger I can handle, hurt not so much.

"I told you that we didn't need to talk about what happened. It was a mistake and it won't happen again," she snarls, crossing her arms in front of her chest to mirror my own stance.

"And I told you that we do," I retort with some added snark. "Last night was not a mistake. It was the best damn night of my life and if you think a little fight between us is going to change my mind, then Princess, you need to reevaluate who you're speaking to. We're going to fight. It's going to happen. But you know what," I drop my voice as I stare at her. "The make-up after a fight is one of the best damn parts of a fight."

"How dare you?!" she shouts, stomping toward me and reaching out her hand. I saw the slap coming, but it still stung when her hand connected to my cheek.

"I don't think I deserved that, Princess," I smile down at her. "If anyone deserves a good smack then it's you, right on your ass for disobeying me. I can't wait to see how rosy red your cheeks will get. I'm sure they will look amazing with my handprint on them."

"You are disgusting," she snarls, holding her hand against her chest.

I'm going to need to teach her how to slap someone if that hurts her hand. She barely had any power behind the move.

"That is exactly why what happened was a mistake. You need to leave, Steel. Now!" she snarls, placing her hands on my chest to grasp my shirt as she tries to pull me forward. I don't move an inch as I chuckle at her, watching her struggle to move me.

"I'm going to say this one more time, Princess," I growl. "Last night was not a mistake. If you keep saying it was then I'm going to show you just how very wrong you are. I bet your panties are soaked right now as you stand in front of me. I bet it turned you on how excited I am to see your ass red with my hand print. Youlike the possessiveness of it. You like that I'm going to mark you for only me to see."

Her breath catches at my words and her eyes widen before her hands drop away from my chest and she takes several steps back until her knees hit the bed behind her, causing her to sit down upon it. A normal person would probably leave well enough alone, let her stew with her thoughts before trying to talk to her again, but I never assumed I was normal. No, instead I stalk forward, pushing her legs apart as I move to stand between them and lean down over her body. Both my hands are on either side of her head, holding myself up barely above her.

"You are mine. I won't give you up and I won't share you." I softly nip her lips before moving up to place a kiss on her forehead as well.Look at that, I know how to be tender."I'm sorry for making you think that I used you or that you weren't worth anything to me. You, Illeana, are everything to me and that terrifies me. I wasn't supposed to fall for you. I was supposed to protect you and that's it but you have a way of getting under my skin. A way of forcing me to go against all the damn rules. It's going to take time for us to find a happy medium that works between us. It's not going to be there overnight."

I watch the fight leave her as I tell her exactly how I feel. I'm almost positive I'm falling in love with her but that's not something she needs to hear just yet. Pretty sure that will cause her to go running for the hills. As a frosty woman once said, you can’t fall in love with someone you just met. Or was it get married, whatever, it works.

"You hurt me, Steel," she whispers, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. They don't fall but I see them there.

"I know Baby and I'm sorry that I did. I need to think before I speak sometimes but this is going to be a learning curve. And you need to to listen to me. Do you know what could have happened to you? Do you know what could still possiblyhappen?" I sigh, leaning forward until my forehead touches hers as I breath in her scent to calm me. She smells like vanilla and I'm starting to become addicted to it. "I can't lose you, Illeana. Not because you're my responsibility, but because you are mine. If you get hurt under my watch it will utterly destroy me."

"Then why didn't you just say that?" she questions, her hands coming up around my back so she can hug me. "I know I messed up. I know the risk I put myself and Grace in. If I could go back and change it I would, but I can't. I didn't mean to upset you or hurt you. That was the last thing I wanted to do. I just wanted to come out and help you with the groceries."

"I know you didn't mean to," I whisper. Well, at least we weren't fighting anymore. For now. "We're going to have to get better at communicating and working through things."

"You think?" she chuckles, the tears I saw forming disappearing. "I don't expect it to be easy between us, Steel. Hell, if anything I think this will be the easiest thing we are going to face together. But I need you to talk to me, communicate with me. Not bite my head off when I piss you off, which let's be real is going to continue to happen. I won't always lay down and take what you say as the word of god. I'm my own person with my own thoughts and ideals. If you can accept that then you can stay."

"Oh? Only then can I stay?" I taunt, moving all my weight onto my left hand to balance myself as I use my right to wrap lightly around her neck. "No, Princess, I think you'll find that my word is law. You'll learn soon enough." I give her neck a light squeeze before letting go and sliding my hand down the side of her body. Lifting myself up slightly, I push my hand into the waistband of her sweatpants, past her panties and right to her core. "Told you that you were wet for me." I smirk, pulling my hand out and bringing it to my lips as I suck her juices right offmy fingers. "Damn, do you taste good, Princess. I can't wait to feast on you later tonight."

"Ugh, you suck," she pushes against me and this time I let her. Rising up from the bed, I take a step back, holding out my hand to help her up. She looks at my offered hand warily before placing her own in it so I can pull her to her feet.

"Go shower, Princess. We still have a lot to discuss tonight before we can go to bed later and I plan on sending Grace to bed early so I can have plenty of time with you." I don't wait for her to start moving, as I pulled her behind me and yank her bedroom door open, dragging her down the hall to the bathroom. "Come to my room when you're done," I slap her ass right as I push her into the bathroom. Her gasp leaves me chuckling, as I begin to whistle and head back to my room. I need to pack now because I definitely won't have time later. Plus I want to check in with Sky and see if she has an update for me on who any of those guys were. It's about to be a long afternoon and an even longer night.

Yesterday was not what I had expected at all. I'm pretty sure I went through almost every emotion imaginable, and it left me exhausted in the long run. The shower Steel had insisted I take after we talked helped me to relax, and I was ready to pass out by six. I could barely keep my eyes open, even with him telling me that we needed to pack because we would be leaving today to move somewhere else. By the time I found Grace, she was packed and was in the process of handing over her cell phone and laptop to Steel, which had made me pause. He hadn't said anything to me about handing over our electronics during that initial conversation. I guess that's what I got for letting him distract me. He was concerned that someone had tracked us and wanted to secure all our electronics just in case. At least he told me where he was keeping the bag in the office, for emergencies only. Not like it would do much good out here in the middle of nowhere. He said he wanted to be cautious since someone had found us. I tried to tell him it was just a coincidence, but he argued against it. Which is how I found myself in his bed last night, face down into the pillow as he smacked my ass and made me cum.

I didn't even know it was possible to cum from that!

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