Page 77 of The Commons

“Yep.” I nod immediately. I’m so done for. This kind of claim for my all. “Why didn’t you claim me then?” My voice whimpers to find out. I want to know so bad now.

He doesn’t answer me yet. I really hope he will. I honestly didn’t even think it was a big deal back then. I thought of it as a silly rule, but it clearly made him sad that I held him in little regard, which could not be farther from the truth—Now. He looks at my thighs, noticing that my short skirt is pulling up. Before my hands can touch my skirt, he stops my hands and does it. He pulls my skirt down.

“Why did you ask me to pull my skirt down before? Jealousy?”

“Burning red-hot jealousy. Hope that helps.”

I gulp. Yep.

But I can’t help but wonder. “What do you have to be jealous of?”

“The common man for breathing the same air as you. The wind for flying past you. The common breeze for exhaling softly against your neck. The sun for shining on your iridescent body. Your common clothes for hugging every line of your divine silhouette. Your shoes for embracing your feet. Your common pen for touching your hands. Your skirt for touching your thighs. And… the universe for daring to think that you won’t be mine.”

“So nothing. Got it. Thanks for the concise explanation.”

“Anytime.” His smile fades as his jaw tightens, his gaze turning serious.

I straighten up.

Then he continues, “And to answer your previous question, as much as I wanted you, I cared about you more. And I didn’t want you to come to this school and suffer.”

“So that’s why you said for them to take me out when you heard my name?”

“Correct. I tried to take you out the first time. Then I tried to force you to see it for yourself why you shouldn’t come here, through Oblivion, but when I saw that the system tagged you, I knew it’d never let you win, so I had to remove you from the game to protect you.”

“You still threw me out of a flight. Well, commanded for me to be thrown off.” I’m not still bitter about that, am I? I think I am a little. Urgh.

He smiles, looking at me. Why is he smiling? It’s not funny. My face frowns. He smiles even more at my reaction. Why? My mouth is pouting now. Dang it.

He responds, his fingers tracing my face, my hair, my lips. “I know that must have been scary for you, but that was the safest part of the entire thing for me. Because I flew you out myself.”

“No you didn’t—” I try to recall… it was dark and I was flung. I assumed it was the proctors who took me, but I suddenly remember… the snake tattoo on his wrist. That was the arm that threw me out. “Oh!” My mouth widens in realization.

“I have really… good aim,” he says that so slow, sliding his finger up my thighs at the same speed. Oh my world. “I’m good at flying. I could catch you in the air at any speed if I wanted to. If you make it to my zone of study, I’ll teach you how to fly. Well, I would have.” He turns away.

My eyes blink, melting now. “Teach me how to fly. How would I do that?” This is the first time I contemplate staying here, for me.

He turns back to me. “It’s an upper-class thing.”

“Gotcha.” I guess I now understand why he didn’t claim me then… to spare me from the pain of being here. “Will you claim me now?” I’m not even sure why I ask this. I think I just want his validation so bad.

Crap! What’s wrong with me?

He smiles. It’s a dark smile, as his tempting breath whispers into my neck, biting the tip of my ears. “If anyone touches you, suddenly I will relay to you the true meaning of being screwed. I am the only one allowed to screw you. In this life or in the next. Capiche?”

“Yes.” I nod immediately, barely even managing to respond. A wave of warmth rushes through my cheeks in a fiery blush. My hands tremble, clutching onto the fabric of my skirt as though it will save me, knowing full well I am utterly, unadulteratedly screwed for the rest of my God-given life. As long as Pesh lives on this earth and shares this universe with me, the universe is his and I am barely fitting inside of his heat.

His voice sinks into me like a crescendo. “Patrons monitor students long before they ever apply. I didn’t want to show then—I didn’t want you here because I cared deeply for your safety. I would rather protect you against my feelings. Even if it meant I wouldn’t be breathing the same air as you. But your mind was resilient.”

I can’t help it. I confess, “Every time I’m breathing the same air as you, I can hardly breathe.” I fold my lips, twiddling with my skirt.

He smiles, tucking a strand of my midnight hair behind my ear. His voice lowers, sinking into my chest. “You are yet to hardly breathe, Shantavia Lerogaski. You will shudder to know the things I will do to you.”

My skin tingles, the inhale of his presence is sending shock waves through me. A rush of sensation, the scent of his affection, the taste of his vigor, his virile desire for me is throwing me into a flame of fire.

Gosh, I want him. I want it all with him. I’ve never had feelings like this before. Every part of me is now actively shuddering. I stare, speechless. I don’t even know what to say. My mouth opens, then it shuts. I have no clue how to respond to him.

There is utter silence.