Chapter 31 "Tension?"

Today song is Mind games by sickick

This has to be my new fav chapter now...

  ENJOY

After what felt like the longest walk in the history of hallways, we finally made it to the dining room.

Leonelly had invited the injured soldiers to eat—at least the ones who were conscious and could walk. The others had food sent to them, which honestly surprised me. It was… thoughtful.

More and more, I was starting to realize this supposedly bloodthirsty kingdom wasn't as monstrous as people claimed.And that terrified me.

Because if they weren't the villains—Then maybe we were the bad ones in the story.

"You alright, Petal?" Louise's voice was soft against my ear, pulling me back.

"Huh?" I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Earth to Petal?" He raised a brow, smirking.

"Sorry, spaced out," I said, taking a bite of food to distract myself—and maybe hide the emotional whiplash I was feeling.

"No kidding. You looked completely gone, Petal."

"That obvious?"

"Oh, for sure." He leaned closer, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Now, how about we talk about the ten-ton tension from across the table?"

"What tension?" I frowned.

Louise tilted his head toward Alex with a flick of his eyes. "Petal, don't play dumb. The man hasn't stopped staring at you for the past thirty minutes."

I rolled my eyes.

"At this point, I fear for my life," he added dramatically.

"He's always like that. Breathing near him pisses him off," I muttered, stabbing my food.

"You're kidding, right?" Louise gave me the seriously, Lilith? look. "Ever heard of sexual tension?"

My fork froze mid-air.

Oh.No.

Nuh huhNo, no, no.

My face went red—like fiery, sunburned, caught-in-the-act red.

"Don't make it so obvious,Darliiing" he teased, sipping his drink as I curled into myself.

"Shut up." I whispered, hiding behind my hands.

"Oh, Petal… you've got so much to learn about men."

I shot him a glare that screamed choke on your wine, and he just laughed.

Alex? Sexual tension? Oh Please.

Okay, yeah—he's hot, Like Really hot.

Infuriatingly hot.And sure, maybe he made me feel things I shouldn't be feeling. And fine, our relationship wasn't as hateful as before.But Alex feeling anything for me besides irritation?Impossible.

I took a long, very unnecessary sip of my drink.

"Careful there, darling, don't choke," Leonelly said kindly.

"Oh, sweetie, you're red as a tomato!" Ms. Adele chimed in.

Kill. Me. Now.

"Jaja, I'm fine!" I lied through a strained smile.

Louise laughed into his cup.

I side-eyed him with pure malice and kicked him under the table.

"FUCK!" he yelped.

"LANGUAGE, YOUNG MAN!" both Leonelly and Adele yelled in unison.

"BUT SHE—"

"No buts! Mind your manners!" Ms. Adele snapped.

"She literally just—"

"Oh shut it, boy," Leonelly added with a chuckle.

I laughed into my food, grinning from ear to ear.Louise glared at me, and I smirked back.Who's laughing now, huh?

After dinner, I politely excused myself. "Sorry, may I use the restroom?"

"Oh, of course, dear," Leonelly smiled. "Left door at the end of the hallway. Careful not to get lost, darling."

I nodded and stood, feeling Alex's gaze burning holes into my back. But I didn't turn. I couldn't.

The hallways were dark and elegant, trimmed in black and gold. Massive paintings, velvet drapes, ancient vases—I should've been admiring the art, but my mind was still spiraling.

I finally found the restroom and sighed in victory.

Inside, I took one look at the mirror and winced.Yikes.

My dress was wrinkled, my hair looked like it had wrestled a hurricane, and my makeup? Total battlefield.

Well… considering the actual battle earlier, I didn't look half bad.

I cleaned up, splashed cold water on my face, and just stood there for a second, trying to breathe.

Then I opened the door—and walked straight into a wall of tension.

Alex.

Standing there like a statue carved from fury and shadows.

I froze.

He looked pissed. Like murderous pissed.

"Uh… hi?"

He paused to look at me for a couple of seconds

"What's your deal with that idiot in the suit?" he growled.

My stomach dropped.

"Deal?" I blinked.

Uh what now?

"Don't play dumb. What do you have with him, Lilith?"

He stepped forward. His breath was sharp, his voice deep—dangerous.

"There's nothing going on," I said, backing up slightly. "Hey can you give me some fucking space?"

"Space?" He scoffed. "Didn't seem to want space earlier when he was whispering in your ear."

"What?...God That wasn't even what you think we were just —"

Talking about you, I thought.But I couldn't say it.

He narrowed his eyes.

"So there is something," he said bitterly. "I'm going to kill that fucker."

"Alex, no—"

He turned to walk away.

My heart stuttered.

"Alex"

I couldn't let this happen.He could actually kill him. He would.

Obvrovosky was a clear example, he didnt care

I clenched my fists, shaking.

Then, without thinking, I screamed it.

"IT WAS YOU!"

His steps halted.

He didn't turn. Just stood there, back to me, staring into the hallway like my words had broken something.

"We were talking about you, alright?" I said, voice trembling. "Some stupid thing Louise said… about you having feelings for me. I told him it was ridiculous. I laughed. But—"My throat tightened."Don't hurt him. Please."

Silence.

He turned.

His eyes locked onto mine—and for once, they weren't furious. They were… haunted.

One step.

Two.

His hand caught my throat—not to hurt me, just to hold me still. pulling me close.

His lips hovered over mine for a second.

And then he kissed me.

It wasn't soft

It was deep—desperate. Like he'd waited forever to taste me.

And I?

FuckI kissed him back.

"It's not ridiculous, Lilith," he said quietly while still on my mouth

Everything around us faded. His mouth on mine, his body pressing mine into the wall like he couldn't get close enough.

He kissed like he wanted to devour me.

And I let him.

My lips followed his, shaky but eager. I'd never done this—not like this—but it didn't matter. He took the lead. I followed. And soon, it was a dance.

One that set my body on fire.

But for the first time since our twisted story began, my conscience screamed—

DANGER.

STOP.

"Alex," I whispered against his lips. They were still so close—too close—barely a breath between us.

His gaze flicked down to my mouth, then locked with mine again.

And mine… couldn't look away.

"This can't…" I breathed, the words trembling as they left me. "We… we can't, Alex."

This was wrong.

So Fucking wrong.

Yes, he made me feel—things I shouldn't—but he kidnapped me, nearly destroyed me, hated me.And I was supposed to hate him too.

"Tell me you don't want this, Lilith," he whispered, his voice low and dark, grazing my skin like smoke.

One hand tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet the full weight of his emerald stare.

My mind screamed—RUN

LILITH NO

"Tell me, princess," he murmured, his grip tightening, his other arm snaking around my waist, pulling me flush against him.

FIGHT.STOP.My conscience roared.

But my body?

It betrayed every warning.

My heart slammed against my ribs, my fingers curled into fists—until I said screw it.

"Fuck it," I hissed.

I grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down to me, crushing our mouths together—this time, I kissed him.

I wasn't thinking. I wasn't hesitating.

I was burning.

Alex groaned into the kiss, hands gripping my waist, the one on my chin sliding to the wall beside us as he pressed me harder against it—pinning me there, like I belonged.

Fuck.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, anchoring myself to him.

It wasn't our first kiss.

But this time…I wasn't scared.I wasn't disgusted.

I wanted this.With every aching, desperate inch of me.

His knee slid between my legs, creating a friction that made me gasp. I felt it everywhere. My skin, my stomach, my chest—

A soft moan slipped out.

"Fuck, princess,"

He groaned against my lips, panting.

"I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry princess"

He kissed my jaw, then my throat.

"I'm sorry for treating you like that."

Gods, how was I supposed to resist that?

But I had to.

I pulled back, breathless.

"This was a mistake," I whispered.

He didn't stop me. His hands dropped away.

"Princess—"

"No," I cut him off, voice trembling. "I'm not a toy you can use when you're lonely or angry."

"You're not—"

"We should go back Alex. They must be worried already."

I walked past him.Didn't look back.

But I felt him.

Behind me.

Following—like a ghost I couldn't shake.

When I stepped back into the dining room, Louise caught my eye.

His smile faded the second he saw my face.

I tried to smile but it was impossible

You are the worst in acting, Lilith, The worst

"Petal… what happened?"

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"Not now," I whispered.

He didn't push.

The rest of dinner was a blur. They talked about Leonelly's pregnancy. I smiled when I had to. Lied when they asked questions.

Alex didn't say a word.

But his gaze?

It never left me.

Later, we all said our goodnights. The soldiers showed us to our rooms. Leonelly gave Adele and me some clothes. Louise gave me a soft smile. I promised I'd tell him eventually—but not now.

Right now… I needed space.

Alex and I didn't say a word.No goodnight.No apology.Just silence.

And maybe that was worse.

After a long bath, I dropped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Almost killed by my own people.Almost killed someone else.

And then kissed the man who kidnapped me.

Willingly.

I was a mess.

A dangerous, confused, burning mess.

And I had no idea how much longer I could keep pretending I was okay.