Chapter 12: Past and Present

I wish seeing him do that didn’t make me feel somehow, but it did. Seeing the Alpha King step in, crush Ezra in front of everyone, and call me his made my entire head spin. I couldn't stay in that place for another second. The air felt too heavy, and hundreds of eyes were burning into my skin. I quickly excused myself, slipping out through the side doors into the hallway. Luckily Alexander didn’t follow me but Terence rushed out right behind me. A royal guard met us in the hallway and showed us up the way to our private guest rooms on the top floor of the palace. The moment the door to my room closed, I locked it and walked straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the hot water steam up the mirrors. I stripped off my dress and sat down right on the cold tile floor under the falling waterfall. I sat there for about an hour, letting the water pour over my head and shoulders. I haven’t cried in ten long years. I don’t know how to cry anymore. My eyes remained dry, but inside, my chest felt like it was bursting open with buried pain. If I could cry, this was the moment where I felt like I wanted to cry. Seeing Ezra, feeling the mate bond with Alexander, and facing all my buried trauma at once was just too much. When I finally turned off the water, I dried off and pulled on a short silk gown. I unlocked the bathroom door and stepped back inside my bedroom and I was shocked to the point where I took a step backward, my back hitting the doorframe. Standing right near the edge of my bed was King Alexander. This whole situation was affecting my reflexes as well. On a normal day, my hyper-sensitive Alpha senses would have felt that somebody was in my room even before I entered. I would have smelled his scent or felt him but this time, my wolf wasn't alert at all because we were too distracted and confused by his presence. "What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly as I pulled my gown deeper over my chest, trying desperately to cover myself. But that didn't work because the gown was a lot shorter, and it definitely didn't do a good job covering me whatsoever. Alexander turned around, his piercing blue eyes locking onto mine. He didn't say a word at first. He just took in my wet hair, my bare legs, and the short silk gown clinging to my skin. He started stepping closer to me, his tall, powerful body filling up the room. I took a step backward until my back hit the wall. "Your highness, don't--" I whispered. He didn't listen. He reached out, and I closed my eyes when his hand touched my face. Electricity shot straight through my blood, making my entire body shiver as he kept caressing my cheek with his thumb. "Please just-" I tried to say, trying to build my walls back up but I honestly don't know what I was backing for weather for him to continue touching me or let me go. Before I could finish my sentence, he pulled me into a breathtaking kiss. His mouth pressed against mine with so much passion and hunger that it lasted until I couldn't breathe. My hands gripped his broad shoulders for support as my head spun out of control. When he finally pulled back , I opened my eyes. He was looking at me like I was where his whole world begins and ends. "I’ve been looking for you for years, my mate," he said and his words hit me, snapping me back to reality. No. I can't do this. I pushed him away with both hands, shoving his chest and started pacing up and down the room. "You have to leave me alone. Just get out" I said, my voice cracking. He stepped into my path and grabbed me by my arm to stop my pacing, but I pushed his hand away. "Why don’t you get it?" I yelled, staring at him with wide, frantic eyes. "I just want you to stay away from me" Instead of stepping back, he pulled me in again. He refused to let me push him out. His possessive Alpha energy spread into the room and he backed me up until the back of my legs hit the side of the bed. "I am not staying away from you, Maya," he growled his blue eyes flashing with intense gold. "You're my mate. I am not letting you shut me out." He grabbed both of my wrists, holding them gently but firmly above my head, and leaned down to press his lips against my neck. Sparks exploded on my skin as his mouth kissed down my jawline, making my knees go weak. "Alexander, please" I gasped, trying to push him off with my hips, but my body was betraying me. The mate bond was too strong, making my blood boil for his touch. His free hand slid down my side, pushing open the front of my short silk gown and his fingers traced over my stomach, making me shiver before moving down my waist and moving under the silk fabric. My breath hitched as his fingers slipped between my thighs, touching my sensitive skin. "Alexander " I whimpered but he didn't stop. He parted my folds gently and slipped his finger inside my wet p***y. A loud, breathless gasp came out of my throat, my back arching off the mattress. He began moving his finger slowly, sliding in and out of me while his mouth claimed mine. My body was melting under his touch. His thumb rubbed small, fast circles against my pusdy, driving me completely out of my mind with pleasure. "Your body knows you belong to me, Maya." I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. My wolf was purring inside my chest as the tension built up fast in my lower belly. Alexander pushed his finger deeper inside me, his thumb rubbing faster, and a loud, gasping moan burst out of my mouth as an orgasm crashed over me. My body shuddered violently and my inner muscles clenched tightly around his fingers as wave after wave of pleasure washed through my veins. As the intense pleasure began to fade, reality slammed back. I looked up at him, panting, my chest heaving. The horror of what just happened hit me. I just let a man I barely knew touch me like that and I let my guard down completely. "Get off me" I yelled, using all my Alpha strength to shove his chest back. I scrambled off the mattress, my hands shaking violently as I pulled my short gown back around my waist, covering my body. My cheeks were burning with shame and confusion. "Get out of my room" I screamed, pointing a trembling finger at the door. "Get out right now" I walked toward him, physically pushing his chest towards the door. "I told you to leave me alone. Get out" he didn't look angry, his piercing blue eyes were calm and filled with an unbreakable determination as he looked down at my frantic face. He stepped out into the hallway, and I grabbed the door, ready to close it. "I'm not giving up on you, l don't care how many times you push me away but I'm going to give you some time to come to termss with that."