Vicious | ongoing

chapter twelve

C H A P T E R
T W E L V E

I went to scream.

A voice was by my ear in moments, breath eliciting goosebumps across my skin. "Sh," the brusk voice whispered. "It's just me."

I felt my muscles relax at hearing Demetrius's voice.

"What are you doing?" I asked, grateful that my heart rate had gone back to normal. I used him to steady me for a few moments, just so I wouldn't black out.

"This," he said, lowly, before putting his mouth on mine.

Our mouths moved together, lips harsh and hot again one another's. With every passing moment, we pressed more into each other's bodies, until I wasn't quite sure where I finished and he began.

I could feel the hard panes beneath his clothing, even when we weren't even skin to skin. I would account all of the training sessions for them... not that I was complaining in the slightest.

It took me a long while, longer than it should have, to break away. I subtly put a little more space between us.

He didn't seem to notice me wanting to distance myself from him as he held me close, head tilted to the sky.

"What is it?"

"The stars," he said simply, eyes solely focused on the night above our heads. He looked entirely enraptured by the small sparkling dots. I'd never been all that fussed about the stars or galaxies or cosmos, not since it was shoved down our throats since we could talk. But, as Demetrius's eyes seemed to take on a glow as he gazed at them, I started to appreciate them more myself.

"You a closeted astrology fanatic?" I asked, making out his sharp features in the darkness.

He laughed lightly. "My dad used to love them, said they humbled him. Made him feel at peace, even if we're just on a clump of rock floating through space." He took a deep breath. "Must have rubbed off on me."

"A strange philosophy I must say."

He tilted his head to look down at me in his arms. I caught the beginnings of a smile creeping onto his mouth, drawing the ends upwards ever so slightly— like the ghost of a smile.

Footsteps were heard a moment later, slow and leisurely. I stood rigid.

Demetrius pulled us further into the darkness and behind a tree.

"It's Josiah," I whispered before we'd even seen him.

He stopped at the small bench for a moment, but didn't sit down. I watched as my best friend let the worry lines decorate his face. He ran a hand over them as if trying to smooth them out, but it did exactly the opposite.

There was a few moments of silence in which he just stood, eyes closed in thought. But then, as if miraculously coming to a decision, his eyes sprung open and he was walking away— more quickly than before.

I let my head slump back onto the tree as I breathed a much needed sigh of relief.

"Now that we're alone," Demetrius said, pushing his hips into mine. "Why don't we pick up where we left off?"