Mads pulled away from him slightly to look into his eyes, about as curious concerning Sean’s destination as I was. “And why are you going to the palace?” “I bet your brother is trying to get your other brother out of a really shitty situation. And my dad wants his pound of flesh too. Your dad’s ho
CHARLOTTEI crept down the stairs and to the basement, pausing to listen to the sound of screws tightening the closer I got. I landed on the floor and immediately fixed my eyes on the person I had come here to see. Taide, bent over a dismantled, vintage-looking car as he toyed with something under
CHARLOTTETaide had his hands cinched around my waist, and as much as I loved the contact, I was desperate to jump down from the table and bolt out of the room. Reigh’s expression, for some reason, lacked all the amusement I’d initially expected to find once I turned to look at him. My cheeks were
What exactly was I really waiting for? I wanted to give in; I wanted to let go and enjoy this, enjoy him. “What if I want to take it as far as we can go?” My voice came out smaller than I wanted it to. Taide leaned down until his eyes met mine in the darkness. His gaze was heavy, forcing me to me
I moaned out, my hips lifting off the mattress. He kissed along my chest as he moved lower. The heat of his mouth scorched my sensitive skin, heightening the sensations I was already feeling. His head lifted, eyes meeting mine as he captured my nipple gently between his teeth. He held my gaze as he
CHARLOTTE“You knew how seriously I took my sales!” Madeline said, walking into the kitchen. “If you made us wait one more second, I probably wasn’t going to get my hands on anything good that day.”I looked up briefly with my mouth still full of food and held up my hand to stop her from rambling ev
We started driving, and Madeline turned on the radio and sang along off-key to the music. I did too and laughed at Madeline’s singing. After a few minutes, the car slowed to a stop, and with a scowl, Madeline realized that we had run out of gas.“Weird,” she muttered as she turned off the ignition.
CHARLOTTEMadeline and I stayed huddled together and watched the smoke rise and darken."Madeline!" Taide yelled, loudly and clearly panicked.He rounded the chaos of the wreckage and came into view a few seconds later, with a frantic look on his face that quickly shifted into relief when he saw us.
CHARLOTTE I pulled my curls into a bun as I walked down the stairs, my feet moving slowly against the wooden steps. The house was quiet, too quiet, but that was normal these days. My thoughts were scattered until a flicker of movement caught my eye. A flash of black streaked across the foyer. I st
CHARLOTTE Taide was growing out his hair. I sat on the edge of my bed, watching him lean over the mirror on my dresser. His hands combed through his dark hair, smoothing it back and letting it fall forward again. It was longer than I’d ever seen it, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it yet. S
A childish part of me felt like defending that Emma had started it, but why did it matter? It shouldn’t matter and I tried to make myself believe that. Taide’s attention shifted away from the menu to me, and I cleared my throat before turning my gaze from Caeson and down to the menu like I had
CHARLOTTE After a short drive, Taide pulled up in the parking lot of the small restaurant that was a hotspot amongst students in the area. The main area was rowdy and full of students eating and talking loudly, but Taide led me past there and into a quieter, more ambient area. It was still c
CHARLOTTE Taide held the door open and shot me a knowing look. But I didn’t move, I remained in one spot, crossed my arms and pouted. “But Taide—” “I don’t want to hear it,” he cut me off, his expression deep and serious. My lips snapped shut, I sensed that there was no point in arguing. So, wi
I pulled them both back into the house and then to the kitchen. With a small exhale, I let go of their hands, immediately missing the comfort and warmth their touches gave me. “I need to find Madeline,” I told them. “Do you know if she’s back?” Just like Taide, she’d been gone almost all day. Rei
CHARLOTTE Caeson walked further outside, his hands buried deep in his pockets as he eyed the three of us with distaste. He drew closer and said with a slight bite to his tone, “Don’t let my interruption stop you,” then lowered himself onto the bench and met my eyes. “But then, you didn’t seem to
CHARLOTTE I thought about how a whole day had passed since the big sibling swap, and I still hadn’t fully processed it. As I sat in the living room, lost in thought when I heard a noise coming from the backyard. Curious to see if it was who I’d been waiting for all day, I got up and walked thro
CHARLOTTE My life… might have been in danger. It echoed in my head, but like a muted siren. Maybe it was because I’d been overloaded with more information than I knew what to do with. Maybe I was just having the world’s slowest reaction to the scariest possible news a person could ever hear.