Chapter Text
“Look. We should probably talk—” But the second the words left my mouth, they were met with a stare so sharp, it sliced the rest of the sentence clean in half.
Xaden didn’t even try to hide his amusement. His eyes—dark, devouring things—glinted with something wicked. “Talking isn’t exactly on my radar today, Cadet.”
Gods, that voice. Low, velvet-drenched danger wrapped in the barest echo of a growl. It slid over my skin like smoke, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Still, I rolled my eyes hard enough to make a point of it and crossed my arms.
We sat in the shadows of an abandoned corridor just off the main wing, tucked out of view and out of earshot. Away from curious onlookers. Away from the kind of people who reported straight to the General with nothing but an incentive to earn her favor. My mother didn’t need help watching me, but I had no doubt someone was offering.
“I’m being serious,” I hissed, swatting at his chest—solid, unyielding, that smile entirely too smug.
Xaden just chuckled, the sound lazy and sinfully satisfied as he leaned his head back against the wall and tapped his fingertips rhythmically against one knee. “How else was I supposed to interpret a cryptic invitation to meet you in a dark corridor? Thought maybe you were finally giving in.”
I glared. “As if I’d ever make it easy.”
He tilted his head, just slightly, but enough for that look to slide over his face. The one that unraveled me with a single breath. Chin lowered. Lips parted. Eyes heavy-lidded and hungry. Shadows coiled around him like they were drawn to his pulse, and when his tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip, I damn near forgot what words were. Focus, Violet.
“I needed to talk to you in private,” I said, sharper this time, forcing the words out even as my brain screamed for oxygen.
I stood, or tried to. But before I could even straighten, his hand slid around my hip and pulled me right back down. This time between his legs. His thighs caged my hips, strong and steady, and his other hand brushed my hair from my face with infuriating tenderness. I didn’t resist when he tilted my head back, resting it against his chest like I belonged there. And gods help me, I caved.
His mouth found the edge of my jaw, warm and possessive. I melted into the curve of his body like I’d been built to do it. Like my bones didn’t remember how to hold me upright unless he was the one doing it.
“Much better,” he purred, lips against my skin, and the sound sent a shiver down my spine. The hallway dimmed further, shadows stretching across the stone like they were obeying him, shielding us.
“Xaden—” I managed, fingers curling around the fabric of his pants at his thighs. “We can’t keep doing this.”
His lips paused at my neck. Then, slowly, he pulled back.
“You don’t want to?” he asked, voice low and too close, like he already knew the answer.
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I whispered. “It’s… other people.”
Something cold slid between us as he went still behind me.
“You found someone else?” His voice was careful, but disbelief bled through the edges.
I turned my head slightly, just enough to whisper, “No. Gods, no. My mother…”
His entire body went rigid.
“How does she know?” he asked, each word slow and precise, like he was calculating threats and consequences at the same time.
“I don’t know. But she does. She doesn’t want me alone with you. No more private training. No sneaking around. No touching. No…” I swallowed, the lump thick in my throat. “No, this. Only official orders.”
Silence stretched between us. A heavy, suffocating thing. Then: “And if I order you to remain by my side?” he said, voice quieter now. “I am your wingleader. I can order whatever I please from you.”
A flush rushed to my cheeks as something hot and traitorous curled low in my stomach. “Anything you please?”
He leaned in, breath teasing my jaw. “Anything. I. Please.”
My heart stuttered. “You’re playing with fire.”
“Get on your knees, Violence.”
My breath caught. He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t teasing. He was serious. He leaned down, voice a whisper against my skin. “Did you hear me, cadet? That was an official order. Get on. Your knees.”
I didn’t hesitate. My body moved before my brain could catch up, sliding from between his legs to the stone floor, kneeling as the shadows thickened around us like a curtain. Xaden stood, the leather of his uniform creaking the only sound as he stepped around me. My eyes tracked every slow, deliberate move he made, my pulse thunderous. He reached out and traced his fingers along my jaw, curling them under my chin to tilt my face up. My breath hitched. He looked down at me like I was both sacred and his to ruin.
“Perfect,” he murmured. Then, carefully, he reached up and plucked the pins from my braid, letting my hair spill down around my shoulders. His hand slid into it, fingers tightening at the nape of my neck to keep my chin tilted just so.
“You have no idea what you do to me, do you, Violence?”
My voice was rough when I finally replied. “I think it’s pretty apparent.”
My gaze flicked down, just for a second, to the waistband of his pants, then slowly, deliberately, back up to meet the onyx fire burning in his eyes.
He let out a low, dangerous sound. “This mouth of yours,” he said, cupping my jaw with his free hand, thumb brushing the edge of my lower lip, “is going to get you in trouble.”
“Maybe you should give it something better to do,” I whispered, eyes locked to his.
He crouched down without warning and claimed my mouth with his, kissing me like he was trying to memorize the taste. Like this was the last time. Like he didn’t care who would pay for it. And between kisses, breathless and head spinning, he whispered, “I don’t give a fuck what your mother says.”
His teeth grazed my lip. “I can keep a secret, Violence. Can you?”
Oh, I fucking can. And I would, for him, I would, even if it burned me alive.