Page 104 of The Commons

I don’t know if he is here or if he isn’t. I am not sure if he is still playing or if he isn’t. Suddenly, before I can react, I hear the door in the distance slam shut, and Pesh slides from my blind spot, stopping in front of my face. I gasp.

He puts his hand on the glass wall and draws close to my face.

“You never were very good at hiding,” he whispers with a twinkle of a smirk.

I start to smile, but I don’t finish it before he begins to draw closer to my lips. I bend nervously… longing, but reluctant. Just before I can express it, he cuts me off with a passionate fire, kissing me with a strong and intimate vigor.

Oh, it is everything! It is hot and fire and ice cold in the corners of my heart. This time around, our kiss is not merely one of passion or intimacy, our kiss is of delight. It is like a first kiss. This is not the Pesh I had hoped would notice me. This is the Pesh I could see was meant for me. This is not the Pesh I had read like a challenging book. This is a new book, one that begs me to flip to another page and uncover all its thrilling mysteries and addictive adventures. This is not the Pesh I couldn’t trust. This is the Pesh who gave up everything to save my sister and me. And a part of me kisses him to thank him for that. A part of me kisses him to validate and affirm him. And the majority of me kisses him because I am in love with him.

He lifts me up and presses my body against the glass wall. A silent scream of longing sprints out of me. He shuts it up vigorously, kissing me incessantly. A sudden break. A sharp moan breaks through. I’m terrified of his effect on me. He looks into my eyes with his royal glare, then kisses me once again—taking me by surprise. He bites my bottom lip, then puts me down suddenly. I close my mouth, immediately overwhelmed by what just happened.

I look to the side, at a loss for words. He looks to the other side, letting the heat blow off for a second. He turns to me and my eyes are blinded by the strike of his sun eyes. I look down in fear of being blinded by its intensity.

His hands grab mine, pulling me. My legs quicken before I trip, trying to keep up with his pace. Where is he taking me? “Let’s take a walk.”

We walk down the hall and enter through another door.

He turns away from the door and turns me toward himself, pushing me into his arms. His back against the door, he slams it shut. Without turning, it seems he begins to secure the lock. Staring at the door, I watch his fingers press in a password, swirling a special lock thing in a very detailed and confusing way. My eyes squint to try and keep up. Then he bolts it, and my eyes immediately collide with his.

His eyes stay on me as he slowly backs away. And I can barely breathe. I gulp as I look around to see where we are. This looks like his private library or study room… I assume. There are several ginormous books that shine and glow and comfort my soul. Gosh, this is so hot—That he reads. Now, he reads me... And I see in a reflection that he is on the other side of the room, sitting on a sofa, still looking at me.

His voice is so smooth that I don’t realize how terrifying the words are until he’s done saying them. “I suddenly remembered, I haven’t punished you for your many crimes.”

I turn to him, stunned.

He smiles.

I stare at him, frozen.

He stands with a light smirk on his face, walking toward me, drawing close. “You didn’t really think I’d let you get away with staring at me all that time without bringing you to order.” His fingers trace my neck so sensuously, before tilting it back in a sudden jolt. A gasp escapes my lips as I stare at the dim light above. I notice writing on the ceiling in the shape of a number. Am I seeing things? Just as I do, my hands are suddenly strapped by the twinkling light… how are my fingers cuffed by a light? I gasp as the light now pulls both my hands up, raising my dress so high, it’s on the edge of my upper thighs.

The light cuff feels so soothing. It doesn’t feel like my hands are even being held by anything. I simply feel like I’m floating in the air… or perhaps flying. Wow. He draws close, grabbing my neck in his grip, his fingers somehow softly lingering on my face, the edge of my ears, my cheeks, the top of my lips—as though to make me drool. Then, he slides his hands down.

“I told you I’d teach you how to fly.” His fingers linger on my lips so strongly he could cut them like a dagger if he wanted to. “Do you wanna learn how to fly, Tavia?” His voice sinks into my chest, into the depths of me, into my eardrum.

Tavia! The way he says it. My World.

“Mm-hm!” I nod.

My heart is drumming. He knows I want this. I don’t even know what this is, but somehow, the moment he said it, I immediately wanted it. Though I know for a fact he won’t teach me, even if I begged him to, until I become a Junior or Senior—and I’m not even planning on continuing in The Commons after what I’m doing, so how am I supposed to learn that from him?

But my head can’t help but nod. Again. As he stares deeply into me, his breath lingering on my lips.

“Careful what you ask for.” He turns away.

My gosh. The taste of his breath is so addicting. I would open my lips wide and grab it and eat it, but… I would be utterly consumed, so I don’t. My tongue salivates deep within, longing for him to dive his tongue into me. But he doesn’t. Mmm… I would beg. Just once, even. But he draws back, eyes merging with me.

I’ve never been forward. But. I can’t do it anymore. I have to ask him, tease him, anything to gain some agency over him. “I thought you said my wish is your command.”

His eyes like fire dart to me, narrowing, dark. If eyes could growl, his just did, and it tells me to be careful in this moment before it tears me up. My lips shut immediately.

He responds, “I won’t teach you that till your third year if you stay in The Commons. If you don’t, I won’t teach you that till you beg me to. And you’re not gonna do either. Are you?”

I don’t know how to respond. Is that a challenge?

Are we still talking about flying?

My lips open to speak, but the golden rope pulls my hands up farther, causing my feet to dangle. A horizontal board morphs from the corner, sliding between him and me, creating a shining barrier between us that reminds me of how it was when we first met. It may just be a moving board in this library of his—not that unexpected to be honest.