CAMELLİA

Part 24

Violet

As I slowly opened my eyes, I realized that my back was pressed against a sweaty, bare chest. Lifting my head slightly, I was greeted by Mattia's sharp jawline. A foolish grin spread across my lips as I carefully tried to rise without waking him. He was deeply asleep, seemingly with a faint smile on his face. Were you dreaming of me, Mattia?

The memory of our escapade last night made me giggle. It could be considered cliché. He had come back to my room, insisting he couldn't sleep without me. Despite my protests, he stayed, eventually pulling me into bed with him. After some struggling in bed, the inevitable happened. He climbed on top of me, holding my arms tightly and kissed me. I reciprocated his kiss, not because of any magic spell. His hands roamed all over my body. Our lips continued to kiss until they were swollen and slightly bruised, and then we fell asleep in each other's arms.

I couldn't help but admire Mattia's bronzed skin. Pressing my lips against his chin, I silently prayed for him to wake up. As I withdrew and kissed him again, he slowly furrowed his brows. After I kissed his furrowed brows, he opened his eyes. His emerald eyes looked at me and my silly grin questioningly, then he too smiled.

"Good morning," he murmured in a sleepy voice.

"Good morning," I replied, and he laughed, probably at the huge grin on my face.

"Are you okay, Violet?" he asked, with a genuine smile on his lips.

"I'm fine, how about you?" I babbled, to which he laughed heartily, sat up, and took my face in his hands, pulling me in for a slow, passionate kiss. His hands continued to explore my body as he pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my arms around

his neck, kissing him more fervently.

When I pulled back, his fingers continued to stroke my hip. "We're going to fence," he said, and I nodded excitedly. Fencing always thrilled me. It was one of my favorite classes. By the way, I'm a sophomore, just in case there are any doubters out there.

"I can't wait to beat you," I declared, to which a dismissive smile spread across his lips. He pulled me in for another kiss.

"Quick breakfast, then we start training. Come on, Purple Violet, I'm going to trounce you," he said, lifting us both out of bed.

Breakfast was ordinary, and we quickly went down to the fencing hall. When Mattia faced me, summoning his red steed, I called forth my own creature without hesitation.

A purple phoenix.

"Hello, pretty bird."

"Hello, master."

"We're going to beat the red knight, right, pretty bird?"

"We'll do our best, master."

I hadn't given my phoenix a name. I guess I was a bit lazy about that. Mattia took a deep breath, nodded, and signaled the start.

His horse charged at my phoenix, attempting a headbutt. When I quickly repelled his attack, I laughed and stuck out my tongue at Mattia.

"Is that all you've got?" I taunted.

"Oh, you naughty girl," he said, then quickly attacked again. His horse sent its hooves flying at my creature, to which I countered instantly.

"Mirror!" I whispered. The counter-defense reflected all the incoming blows back to the horse, which stumbled and fell but quickly recovered.

"You're in for it now..." Mattia said, attacking with a powerful blow.

His horse cloned itself, and around twenty red steeds overwhelmed my phoenix, knocking it out. Its body quickly turned to ashes, and I glared at Mattia, who was smirking triumphantly.