Word Count: 1973

*Mature Content Warning! Read At Your Own Discretion!*

~Akara

I stare at the old motel. Huh.

Nowhere in my memory do I remember coming here recently, but I have stepped foot into this shabby old place before. My parents brought me to this town once when they were preaching, and we stayed in this exact motel, which is how I figured out where it was after my dream about Grey.

Marek isn't impressed, standing next to me with his hands shoved in his pockets, frowning.

He wasn't reluctant to spend the day with me. When I revealed my motive, however, he was far more sceptical, wondering if my source of information is accurate.

I need to see though...I need to come back here and see if anymore memories come back to me, so I can track my exact movements, and determine how I came to kill a Summoner, and who this mother is.

And I already waited all week for Tai to spend a day elsewhere so I could sneak out and get this done.

Marek glances at me. "So we are doing all of this because of..."

"A dream. Because of a dream," I affirm. I know I probably sound insane to him, going off of what I saw in a dream, which could very well not be real. But it felt real, and Grey hasn't stopped by for me to confirm whether we have been here before. I need to make sure, for my own piece of mind.

"And you're certain it wasn't just that...A dream?" Marek asks. He wasn't very convinced when I explained the nature of the dream - especially the part where I was kissing Grey. He didn't believe I would be willing to do that ever, desperate or not.

I don't even recgonise that version of myself, so it's impossible to say.

"It felt too real, and it made too much sense, while making none at all," I admit, knowing I sound ridiculous, but it's more so a feeling than anything based off of real evidence.

Marek nudges my side with his elbow. "I don't think I like the idea of you making out with another guy."

"Stop, you're not funny," I snap back, moving to kick his ankle, but he dodges out of the way last minute.

"Maybe I'm not joking. Maybe I am jealous," he muses.

"Marek..."

He reaches out, grabbing my hands with his own gloved ones, squeezing tightly. "I watched you move on with a man I hated. Hearing you made out with some guy so you could find your way to me doesn't really stand up, so no, I'm not too jealous."

I look up at him, the man I am so deeply in love with. Even though he is joking, it's clear from his eyes that there is still a lingering pain there, that he is being forced to relive, now that I'm thrust back into Tai's path.

"Okay, then why that look?" I ask warily, noting his clenched jaw and tense shoulders beneath his classic black hunting jacket.

"Because I see him I'm going to strangle him with my bare hands," he mutters. All seriousness, not joking.

I roll my eyes, tugging on his hand. "Come on, I'll book us a room."

He follows me inside the old motel, waving his hand through dust as we step into the lobby. A woman sits at the front desk, mindlessly reading her book, not bothering to look up, even as we approach her.

"Hello, may I-"

She looks up, a flash of recognition passing through her widened eyes as she looks over me. "Are you the King's fiancee?"

I tense, feeling Marek's grip on my hand tighten. If she finds out who I am, it will surely get reported back to Tai, and although I hardly care what he thinks, I'm trying to keep a low profile, to get him to trust me. This would throw me ten steps back, after I've made such good progress this week, with my purposeful touches of him in innocent moments, to the lingering stares.

"Oh...No, I've been told I look like her, but no, I'm not her," I scramble. I hope it's enough for her to brush off. Usually I'm seen by the public wearing royal garments, and now, my hair is pulled back and I'm wearing gear Marek provided.

"Right, sorry." The girl shakes her head, flushing with embarrassment. "I'm so jealous of her, aren't you?"

I flinch. "Jealous?"

She leans forward over the counter, grinning. "Married to a King. And so the hottest King in all the land, aside from Tyrien, obviously."

I blink, stunned. As much as I hate Tai, I'm not going to deny that he is an attractive man, and doing so to this girl wouldn't benefit me in any way. Thankfully I don't need to, as Marek approaches from behind me,

He drapes his arm over my shoulder, leaning into me. "I heard she's having an affair with a far hotter man."

"Really?" The girl asks excitedly, likely ready to go share the scandalous gossip with her friends. I would be mortified, and I probably should be, but there is something amusing about Marek confident tone that makes me want to play back.

"I heard that too, although the looks part is debateable," I tell the girl, nudging Marek in the side. The girl looks thoughtful, believing it, considering how gorgeous she thinks the King is.

Marek's eyes narrow on me, his fingertips drumming impatiently against the countertop. "We are going to need that room urgently."

The woman wastes no time once I pay her. "Here's your key."

I can feel Marek staring at my back as we walk up the creaking steps and into the musty hotel room, which looks more like it's been tidied, and not so much cleaned since the last person was in here. But it doesn't matter, because this is the exact room from my dream.

It's not exactly a beautiful room, but this means my dream wasn't just that...It was a vision, having come back to me from my past.

Before any words can pass my lips, Marek grabs me, kicking the door closed before pressing me against the wall.

"Are you going to take back what you said, or do I need to make you?" he asks, body pressing against me in a way that has me gasping, not expecting his sudden turn in attitude.

"Marek!" I protest, although it's so obviously half-hearted. I writhe against him, trying to pull my wrists away from where he has them pinned against the wall, but it's no use. He isn't going to let me go any time soon.

He tilts his head, smiling deviously down at me. "What's it going to be?"

"We are here for a very serious investigation," I remind him, although my attempts to evade him have fallen short.

It's far too hard to be away from Marek, and I spend each night wishing he was beside me in bed. When I realise all I'm left with is my imagination, I allow myself to fantasise about Marek climbing through the window at night to join me in bed.

He leans forward, gently kissing my neck. "Let me enjoy you, at least for a few moments."

I pause. We probably shouldn't, at least right now. And yet I don't know when we will get a chance to have a moment alone like this...

"Or..." I taunt, finally slipping out of his grip, pushing at his chest, forcing him to back up toward the questionable looking bed. "I could enjoy you."

Marek raises a curious brow, sitting down on the edge of the bed. I bite my lip, knowing what I want, what I missed doing for him when we had that blissful week uninterrupted back in the Emerald Province.

"I know better than to deny you of what you want," he murmurs, watching me sink to my knees in front of him. He doesn't make any move to urge me on, letting me decide what I want.

"Uh huh."

Knowing our time here is short, I'm quick in unbuttoning his pants, watching him shrug off his jacket before focusing fully on me.

As I go to try pull his pants down some more, he leans forward instead, drawing his thumb over my cheek, jaw and then to my lips.

I hold his gaze as my jaw slacks, and he glides his thumb into my mouth, watching with a hood gaze, brows slightly furrowed, as I suck.

"I'm going to get you as far away from that man as I can, as soon as I can," he breathes, pushing his thumb slightly deeper. "I want you back with me again."

I nod numbly as his hands fall away, and he finally helps me tug his pants down enough to free his cock, which I allow myself to admire for a moment. How he can look so good and be this gifted is a wonder to me.

"Wow, so we really are going to do this in the middle of an old motel somewhere in the Jade Province, huh?" I laugh breathily.

Marek only smiles in response.

Bowing my head, I slowly lick up the entire length of him, swirling my tongue around the tip. Marek shivers, head falling back as I take him fully into my mouth, not stopping until I can feel him in the back of my throat.

The breathy moans comes from his mouth, mixed with his fingers tangling into my hair as my stomach fluttering. I love these moments, when it's just us, vulnerable and desperate for one another.

He thrusts his hips slightly, pushing himself deeper into my mouth, but I don't even flinch, blinking up at him.

After a few more moments, he suddenly pulls away, grabbing me by my shoulders, tossing me onto the bed so I'm laying on my stomach.

I yelp, giggling as he roughly tugs my pants down. He pulls me up by my hips, before pushing inside me in one swift movement.

I can't help the loud moan that escapes me, that the neighbouring rooms can no doubt hear. My hands grip the sheets tightly as Marek leans down, wrapping his hand through my hair before tugging gently, before setting an immediately punishing pace.

Pleasure streams through me, accelerating to impossibly high lengths right away. Being away from him, wanting him so badly and now finally having him has my mind spinning.

"You're mine, Akara. Forever," he growls through gritted teeth.

All I can do is moan in response, hardly able to form a coherent thought with the feeling of him thrusting into me at such a merciless pace.

Once the pleasure builds up to the point of euphoria, I don't hold back, letting my release wash over me, the intensity slowly melting away to pure bliss.

Marek finishes quickly after me, and barely pulls out before I catch sight of something tucked under the leg of the bed frame. It's just the slightest glimpse of white, but yet for some reason, it triggers something in the back of my mind.

"You okay?" Marek asks breathlessly, watching me scramble up, pulling my pants up before I get to my hands and knees, pulling at what the piece of paper shoved under the wooden leg.

"This isn't a coincidence," I murmur distractedly, pulling incessantly at the paper before it comes out.

Marek comes to my side of the bed, frowning. "What do you mean?"

I unfold the paper, smoothing it out against the floorboard, gasping as what it says.

Akara. Don't Trust Grey!

🖤••🖤

Remember that you can always find this story 10 chapters ahead on Radish (:

You will find it under King's Possession Season Three!!

~Midika 🐼💜