Page 27 of A Clash of Stars

What happened next felt more like a blur. Before I knew it, we were in a tangled mess of hands and mouths. My body felt like it was on fire, and I could sensethe arousal from Madok taking over my body. Almost as quickly as it started, it ended.

Madok pulled back from me, sitting up and adjusting his shirt. I felt my swollen lips and doe eyes rise to his. He leaned towards me, kissed my cheek, and whispered. “You have always been my sweet, Clara. I’ll see you tomorrow. Rest well.”

He stood and waltzed out of my door, leaving me a complete mess. How dare he walk in here and do that to me, then leave? Now I am awake. How can anyone sleep in these conditions?

I tossed and turned for what felt like hours, but I knew it was only mere minutes. I did what any rational woman would do in a crisis and went in search of a late-night treat. Entering the kitchen, I turned on the stove light to cascade a soft glow across the room. I spotted the cookies…only two left.

What asshole came in here and ate all my cookies?

I grabbed what I could and sat on the cool metal countertop battling my inner thoughts about a million things. The door creaked open as I was about to bite one of the cookies.

Impeccable timing.

Chapter 5

Evander waltzed towards the cookie jar, then realized I had the last two. His eyes traveled from the cookies to my sheer pajama top to my short bottoms. I cleared my thoughts and said the only clever thing I could come up with.

“Would you like a cookie, or would you rather stare at my legs all day?”

A captivating smile crept across his face. He constantly surprised me. He walked towards me, pushed my legs apart, and settled between them.

I was pushing him away in my head, but in reality, I just allowed him to do it. His scent had changed slightly, and I thought I almost smelled arousal from him, but that couldn’t be. He said himself we were enemies and that he hated me.

In the light glow of the kitchen, I could see his messy midnight black hair tousled over, his glowing green eyes with specks of lavender, and then I noticed his hands on my thighs.

They were large enough for his pinkies to graze the countertop on the sides of me, and his thumbs nudged where my thighs touched. His hands emitted great strength and power as he lightly squeezed them.

My eyes flickered up to his. How can we communicate in this way without saying anything? I find it difficult to say words to him, so I tried something I had been wondering about, which was using my inner monologue to test him.

You act as though you hate me, but then when you touch me like that. It’s much more than just hate you feel. Or are you trying to seduce me to get me out of your way?

After the inner thought was released, I waited for a change in him, something to indicate that he could read my mind. He leaned his head in towards me as if he was going to kiss me. Instead, he leaned over and bit into my cookie with a smug look at his achievement.

I slapped him on the arm and fussed, “Seriously? That was mine.”

He completely ignored what I had said to him, and his hands started to slide higher, gripping my hips. He breathed sharply, and what he said next left me dumbfounded on that counter.

“Clara Bear, I don’t need to seduce you to get what I want, but when Madok kissed you in front of us earlier…I wanted to tear him limb by limb. I do hate you, but I hate him even more.”

He paused, “I can even smell his scent on you now,” he scoffed before continuing. “But there’s a reason he didn’t finish what he started tonight.”

He leaned over to the nape of my neck as he did on my birthday. When he did, his arms moved to my waist, and he pulled me against him. He placed an ever-so-gentle kiss on the side of my neck. Except this time, I felt a tingle of power fluttering through my veins.

I thought I even saw the reflection of metallic gold in his eyes. His grip turned into an embrace, his right hand wrapped around my waist and his left hand holding the back of my neck, forcing me to look up at him.

“Promise me, tomorrow, stay far away from me. I am unsafe for you. As for the other part of your question, you react naturally, like you are right now. I know you want to fight me in your head, but your heart and body certainly don’t.”

He inched closer to my mouth. “Unlike Madok, if I start kissing you, I won’t stop.”

Before I knew it, he took the other cookie from my hand and walked out the door.

What the actual abyss is happening to me?

Walking into my room, I caught a glimpse of myself. That’s when I noticed it. The purple dots glowing from my eyes, my power mark was beaming, and this new marking had appeared on my neck. This light gold was interlaced and woven into my skin with symbols I had never seen before. With tiredness taking over my body, I had little time to study it.

I sighed and crawled into the bed. Immediately, I fell into a deep sleep.

I felt the burning in my chest. I was running. Where was I running? Why was I running? I heard voices following me. I looked at my hands, a box. Small and golden. I stopped when I slammed into something. No, someone. I couldn’t see who it was. I could hear a voice but couldn’t figure out who it was. All I hear is, “This is going to hurt.”

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