“Countries?” Ashley forced herself to ask, shooting a look over at Emma that made clear the fact that this was a question to be answered.
Emma waited until all of the servants were done measuring Ashley, and then, slowly, almost somewhat tediously, she cleared her throat.
Ashley was glad that she had chosen Emma out of all of the maids, if only because she was fairly certain that any other maid wouldn’t humor her in such a way.
“Now that the dragons have taken over everything, they have begun to create their own country lines. The Opal House controls the majority of what was once known as Eastern Europe, where the Slavic nations live. It belongs to him now, butyour brother has his eyes set on more of the world. He wants to expand his territory, but there are only seven gem houses and so much land to be claimed. Of course, people assume that the dragons will divide it up by continent and stuff like that. Still, everyone wants more land,” Emma said, sighing as she shook her head at the very idea, almost like she couldn’t understand it. Ashley wasn’t sure she could understand it either. She had never been the overly ambitious type of girl.
“So, he wants more than what was once Romania?” Ashley asked, only to receive a glare in return.
“Your brother would prefer that we no longer call it Romania, if only because it calls into question his rule, which can cause problems with villagers going down the line,” Emma informed Ashley.
Ashley had to hold her breath, if only to stay quiet. The more she learned, the more it seemed like her brother was a massive dick. She knew Emma was the last person she should say that to, since it seemed Emma was collaborating against him in her own way.
And so, instead of telling Emma anything, Ashley turned to Emma and, in her lightest and most pleasant voice, made a request.
“Could I possibly have a moment alone? I just need to think about things,” Ashley said. While anyone else would have realized that her thinking about things could lead to Ashley finding a way out of the situation, Emma nodded, probably because she knew there was no way out.
In a matter of seconds, the young woman left the room, leaving Ashley finally on her own to think about things. There were apprentices and the master tailor running around her, but they weren’t paying her any attention. She hadn’t been alone since she was last running down the mountain. Worry and asense of being overwhelmed made her want to find a quiet corner to cry in, but she didn’t have time for that.
She knew she had to stay in the moment, so Ashley took a breath as she waited for the tailor to return with all the fabric choices, knowing that they would probably dress her in white or maybe a pale blue. Something she would look virginal and innocent in. Ashley didn’t care and her thoughts began to wander back to possible escape routes. It would have been far too easy for her to slip out of there and try to hunt down the Diamond King’s room to catch a single glimpse at him and learn what he looked like before she was forced to confront him in the ballroom. The idea was becoming more and more appealing by the second.
But before she got too far with that notion, the door to the corner of the room opened, and Ashley’s eyes widened. She turned around, ready to berate Emma for deciding to invade her space once more. But it wasn’t Emma standing at the door. It wasn’t a woman at all, but it wasn’t the tailor or his apprentices either.
Ashley smiled, her heart beating frantically in her chest as she saw him. It was Alexander. But this Alexander was different. He was dressed for a formal ball, looking different than before. His hair was no longer in a state of disarray, and his kind eyes were dimmed. For a moment, he looked so severe that she was unsettled. But then, his eyes found her, and his lips parted, and all of that anger and severity melted away the second he looked at her.
He was her Alexander once more. For once, the two of them were alone in a room where no one else was present. And before anything could change, before he could run away, she found herself walking calmly to the other side of the room and clicking the lock shut, her eyes never leaving him. She knew what she wanted and didn’t care about the consequences.
“Alexander,” Ashley murmured his name, the word slipping from her lips, and before she knew what she was doing, she crossed the room, approaching him, wanting him, her feet moving of their own accord.
And to make matters worse? Well, Alexander made little to no effort to stop her. He only held out his hands, far too ready to grab her the moment that she came near him, and it seemed like the two of them were destined to fall together.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
If Ashley was forced to make a list of what she most certainly shouldn’t do with Alexander, she would likely say that stepping towards him was at the top. Then there’d be the parts about wanting to touch Alexander, wanting to feel him, wanting to press her lips against his, but the funny thing about listing all the things that she shouldn’t do was that the more she listed them, the more inclined she felt to do those things, or at least, that was Ashley’s experience. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice that sounded vaguely like her brother’s was lecturing her about morals, what was right and what was wrong, and something about her duty to him. But that voice was drowned out by the siren call of Alexander’s hungry eyes, and she didn’t give a single flying fuck about it. Not when Alexander was standing right in front of her and looking as gorgeous as he always did.
Alexander had this classic beauty to him, one that was only found in film stars from the 1950s. The strength of his jaw drew the eye. You could tell that by the sinfulness of his smile what his thoughts were, and Ashley didn’t mind it at all. Alexander knew that he was gorgeous, and, for some reason, he had chosen to set his sights on her, turning towards her with that billion-wattsmile that made her feel like she was the only girl in the world or at least, the only girl that he cared to acknowledge in the world. Which made it very hard to resist him.
Tired of being told what she could and could not do and the frequent reminders that the world was currently working against her, Ashley decided that she was done holding back. She had to give in because if she didn’t, it was very likely that she would finally lose her fucking mind. She took a step towards him.
She wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel his mouth on hers, and by the way that he was currently eyeing her, forcing Ashley to remember that she was standing there in nothing more than her underwear, he wanted to touch her just as badly.
“Ashley,” Alexander said her name as more of a warning than anything, a plea to her to not do anything insane, to allow him just a moment of clarity.
But Ashley couldn’t be warned off. She couldn’t resist him anymore. She decided to reach towards him, twining her arms around his neck. She didn’t care about whether or not he saw her underwear or what he thought of her body. She could tell by the way that he relished her curves, worshipping them with each and every swipe of his eyes, that he was attracted to her just as she was attracted to him.
Ashley looked up from underneath her eyelashes at him, silently begging him to make any move. All she wanted was to feel his skin on hers, to know what it would feel like to be touched by someone like him, someone who saw so much in the world. Someone who had captivated her from the moment that she met him, and he did not disappoint.
It took a matter of moments for Alexander to decide to dive forward, swearing to himself and possibly muttering Ashley’s name amongst the haze as he placed his hands to either side of her face and pressed his lips against hers, so tired of resisting. Their mouths moved as one, his hands dominating Ashley’sbody as he slowly began to roam and explore it, confirming for her that he felt just as she did. She was undeniably attracted to him, unable to pull away, unable to so much as dream of looking away.
The only problem was that Ashley was aware that there were people nearby who would want to see her soon and would check in on her to ensure that her dress fit properly. Not to mention, it would only be a matter of minutes before Emma would reappear, eager not to let Ashley too far out of her view after the incident earlier in the day. Ashley had to be careful, but her mind rebelled against the idea. She had to think logically, but there was no logic left in her as his mouth dominated hers, his body shifting ever closer, the realization of the fact that he was real and he was there hitting Ashley.
“I don’t know why, but I can’t pull away from you,” Ashley murmured to Alexander, pleading for help, for him to say the right words that would make sense. Instead, he growled, all too eager to take advantage of what she had said and to use her body against her.
His mouth pressed against hers with more urgency, more of a demand playing out between their lips as he shifted closer to her, his hands cupping the back of her head and making it so that there was no escape. Ashley couldn’t help the moan that tore out of her lips the moment that she felt his hips press against hers, driving home the point that he was more than attracted to her. She could feel the thick swell in his slacks. His cock was standing at attention. He wanted to fuck her. She knew that.
More importantly, he wanted her to know that. He made it clear with each movement of his hips, groaning as slid his tongue along hers. She could practically feel every inch of his length, an impressive eight inches grinding against her leg, and Ashley imagined what it would feel like having that pound inside of her, even though she had never been fucked before. The idea oflosing her virginity to this man, in the tailor’s workshop, of all places, was enticing. Her mouth was practically salivating at it.
