Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2) by Rina Kent

My brows draw together in questioning as I remove his finger. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I know my feelings well, thank you very much,” I snap.

The dickhead manages to piss me off even when I’m confessing my feelings to him.

“Maybe you don’t.”

“I didn’t ask you to say it in return, but you don’t get to tell me how I feel, arsehole.”

I shove my feet in the shoes, pick up my — his — jacket, and storm in the direction of the house.

I’m so fuming that it takes me some time to find my way through the trees.

Okay. Maybe I was lost. So what?

Aiden catches up to me, his trousers are barely done and his hair is a wet mess. The jacket is open and his shirt is barely buttoned.

He points in the opposite direction. “The house is that way.”

“I know that,” I snap.

He smirks in that infuriating way. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

I start to push past him, but he grips me by the hips, his fingers teasing.

“Let me go. I’m pissed off at you right now.”

He nuzzles his nose in my cheek. “I told you, we can be mad at each other while I touch you.”

I melt in the way he drags his nose down my throat. My body ignites to life.

“Why do you not want me to love you?” I whisper.

“Loving me is a one-way road, sweetheart. You can never go back. You can never fall out of love or any of that shit. It’s permanent and it’s for life.”

For some reason, those words don’t scare me as they should. It’s almost as if I want all that with him.

“Promise you won’t go back,” he wraps his hand around my neck, stroking my pulse point.

“I promise.”

He presses his lips to mine.

His kiss tastes of sweet, bitter surrender, of pain, and of desperation.

I want all of that. As long as he offers it, I’ll take it.

Loving Aiden didn’t start now. It started at that moment I found him in the basement.

It was put on pause for eight years and resumed when I first saw him at RES. He gripped me from first sight.

Although I hated him during the past two years, I was always aware of him. Of his dark gaze.

Of his silent madness.

It was only at the beginning of this year that the awareness morphed into something more.

The first droplets of rain hit my nose.

I step back, giggling. “Let’s go back.”

“I’m good right here.” He starts to kiss me again.

I stop him with a hand to his chest. “I’ll let you do anything you want inside.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Anything?”

I nod.

“You shouldn’t give me the anything option. Now, you’re well and truly fucked, sweetheart.”

Maybe that’s exactly why I told him he can do anything.

A burst of excitement shoots through me at the thought of what he’ll do.

I take his hand in mine and we run to the house. We go through the back entrance, laughing.

In fact, I’m the only one laughing. Aiden watches me with that intensity.

That intensity used to suffocate me, but right now? Right now, it warms my heart and makes me all fuzzy inside.

Aiden lunges at me when a rustle comes from the lounge area.

Both our attentions turn towards the sound.

Aiden and I freeze at the sight of the two people sitting on the sofa.

Jonathan and Silver.

Jonathan smiles at us, but it’s downright cruel.

“Nice of you to join us. Sit down. We have news to share.”





40





Elsa





Jonathan and Silver are here.

I stand rooted in place, trying to wrap my head around that piece of information.

Jonathan takes the chair at the top of the room like a king in his court.

Silver sits diagonally from him, looking as if she’s about to throw up. Her skin is pale as she clutches her phone with stiff fingers.

The urge to turn around and get out of this place overwhelms me.

It flows in my blood and creates an itch under my skin.

I don’t give in to it.

My fear won’t consume me.

To say Jonathan is intimidating would be the understatement of the century. He’s not only intimidating, but he’s also able to crush me with one word.

He’s able to turn my life into a living hell.

I choose you.

Aiden’s words explode in my chest like fireworks.

Aiden chose me. Jonathan wouldn’t scare me anymore.

The other time, I shrunk behind Aiden, but today, I stand right beside him and stare at Jonathan and Silver head-on.

They don’t scare me.

I might not have figured out all of my past but I will. I choose to do it with Aiden by my side.

It’s not only my past.

It’s our past.

As if in tune with my thoughts, Aiden grabs my hand and interlaces our fingers together.

I smile up at him and he gives me a small nod.

Together.

We’re in this together.

“I thought Levi told you that you’re not welcome in this place,” Aiden deadpans at his father before he directs his attention to Silver. “You, too, Queens. Leave.”

“Slow down, now.” Jonathan appears calm. Too calm. It’s the type of calmness Aiden shows before striking.