｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★, "all I wanted was to be your friend. Maybe more if you had let me" ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

This kiss isn't the end of our argument, it's a continuation of it, and his lips press against mine with bruising intensity. Like he's trying to shut me up and prove something to me at the same time. My body goes rigid with shock for a second, but then it responds with a fierceness that surprises even me. My hands thread through his hair, gripping the roots like I'm trying to yank the strands out, as I attack his mouth with lips, teeth and tongue.

It's not a sweet kiss.

It's not even a hot kiss.

It's more like a natural disaster, a tornado tearing through the landscape, destroying everything in its path and leaving the world as it once existed in ruins.

It's fire.

It's pain

It's need.

I'm clawing at Sky's scalp, trying to climb his body, gasping and panting and mocking low incoherent noises. His large hands are everywhere, sliding down my sides, cupping my hips, pinching at my waist, curling up the sides of my breasts. Then suddenly his hands are on my shoulders shoving me away.

I nearly stumble as he pushes me away, breaking my hold on him. His hair is wild from my fingers, his face flushed, and his lips are swollen from the attack. He blinks and stares at me like he can't believe what just happened, like he's not sure how he got here, or how I got here, or who either of us are anymore.

He looks almost... scared.

His gaze shutters as he takes another step away from me, shaking his head. "I'm not doing this again, I'm not getting dragged into your mess only for you to turn around and hurt me. I can't do this, Octavia, I can't feel this connection to you and then feel it shatter and break every time something happens to cause doubt in my mind."

Then he turns around and walks through the corridor, his steps fast and heavy.

Oh abso-fucking-lutely not. I seethe, wishing I had my shadows to yell at him for me.

My mind appears to be several seconds behind my body, however that doesn't really matter since I'm already moving. Storming after him and barrelling up the stairs onto the next floor. Sky Ashford has been yanking my fucking emotions back and forward since the moment I met him, and there is no way in hell I am letting him get away with the last word on this.

Over my dead-fucking-body.

"I cause doubt! How dare you blame me for your own trauma clouding your judgement. We might not have caused the shit that happened to us but we are all fucking responsible for our mental health and how it affects us and others. You don't get to just blame your issues on me. Your doubt is not my fault. It's not my fault you don't know how to have a healthy relationship. Or how to talk through your problems or how to love someone without trying to fix them." I catch up to him on the top landing and shove at his back. "What are you so afraid of, huh? What is this mysterious thing that keeps causing you to pull back, that's driving you towards Bloom when we can all fucking see you only want to fix her. I don't give a fuck about your daddy issues Sky, all I wanted was to be your friend. Maybe more if you had let me but noooo. No one can close to great Sky of fucking Erakylon."

We're halfway down the hall that leads to the meeting rooms when he suddenly whirls, grabbing my arms and slamming against the wall so hard a painting nearby shakes on its hook. His pupils are dilated, contrasting with the bright blue of his irises, and his lips curl back from his teeth, "I told you, sweetheart, stop bullshitting me."

I hurl my body against his, using every bit of training I have against the pressure of his grip, trying to force us away from the wall. But he's too strong and using his full weight to pin me. "I'm not lying, you asshole! Helios, I hate y-"

For the second time his lips cut off my words, and I was wrong before.

That kiss downstairs, in the foyer? That was fucking gentle.

This is the kind of kiss that steals souls.

His body is pressed against mine, trapping me against the wall, and his lips are a torrent of desire and fucked up cravings I'm about to drown in. He draws my tongue into his mouth, and mine clashes with his as of there's some way for either of us to win this battle. He smells like musk and spice, and there's just a hint of something sweet on his breath.

He's got me pinned now, he knows I'm not going anywhere, his grin is savage and full of delight as his hands leave my shoulders, sliding down to massage and squeeze my breasts, tugging at my nipples through my bra, sending little shocks of pleasure and pain through me. I whimper helplessly into his mouth, and he draws away slightly. We're both breathing hard, the harsh sounds filling the quiet, dim hallway.

"Tell me to stop, Octavia." Sky's voice is rough and low, nearly unrecognisable. It's nothing like the smooth confident tenor I've come to love and loathe from him. "Tell me to walk away."

The words sit in my chest, I should say them. After everything that has happened between us, everything that has happened between Riven and I, but I don't. We stare at each other, dazed gazes locked and hands still groping each other possessively.

The words sit in my chest and stay there.

He waits, giving me enough time to push him away, time to run. But I don't, I don't flinch or move and as the seconds stretch on, I see the dawning realisation in his face that I'm not leaving.

A thrill of excitement, anticipation, fear and lust wars through me. Building and building as one large hand slides up my body to grasp my jaw.

"Last chance, Octa."

I shudder at the name. So different from all the others. Not sweet Tavi or the princess Octavia. Something strange and new. I lose track of everything. Of how I feel about his accusations, of how all this will affect us, how I feel about him. I don't even remember why this fight started in the first place.

There's nothing left in my mind except the feeling of his large body holding mine against the wall and his pale blue eyes glowing, ice so cold that it burns.

And then his mouth descends on mine again, claiming another kiss from my already bruised lips.

Sky's hands are tearing at my clothes, and I realise with a jolt that mine are doing the same to his. I hastily yank his shirt over his head, raking my fingernails down the warm, silken skin of his arms. He doesn't even bother taking my shirt fully off, just rips the damn thing down the middle, and the sharp sound of fabric ripping makes my clit throb.

I don't know why I want this, why I need this. It's like I've been waiting for this moment for weeks. I'm not sure why I'm reacting like this, I've never had rough sex before, granted I've only ever had Riven, and that was yesterday. I jolt at the reminder, unable to stop the sharp gasp at the thought of Riven from escaping my lips. Helios, that was fun. But the harshness of Sky's movements, the bites of pain mixed with pleasure, are making me so fucking wet for him.

His hand is on my low belly, fingers working the buttons on my trousers and I can't help but bump my hips away from the wall as I desperately urge him on. I reach down and grip him through his pants, squeezing just hard enough to make him grunt, but before I can do more than that, he's got my fly down. Then he's tearing my trousers down my legs, the action so fast and rough I almost stumble and fall. Sky rips off my shoes and disregards them in a pile with my trousers, and without letting me catch my breath, he buries his face between my thighs.

A breathy, plaintive cry falls from my lips as he sucks and nips at my clit through my panties, making the already damp fabric even wetter. When I grab at his hair, tugging roughly until groans, I don't know if it's to push him away or pull him closer. Maybe I'm just desperate for some kind of anchor in this storm, but I keep hanging on as he shreds the delicate fabric from my body and runs his tongue all the way up my slit.

He circles my clit with hard demanding strokes, nipping and tugging at it as he slides two finger inside me, pumping them fast and deep, and when my legs begin to quiver, he surges to his feet, unzipping his pants and shoving them down around his hips as he uses the slickness left on his fingers to coat his cock.

Sky's expression is near feral, determined, and hot as he releases himself to lift me in his arms, palming my arse as he moves like I weigh nothing. He kisses me in a frenzy as his hips bump against mine, and the second the head of his cock slips inside my pussy, he drives forward, pinning me to the wall again.

He's big, but I'm so wet the intrusion doesn't hurt. I just feel full. Totally consumed by him, overtaken by him. As if the last thin barrier between us has vanished, and with every hard thrust, he's literally melding us into one being.

I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on as the collision of our bodies shakes the paintings on the wall behind me. We're not even kissing anymore. Our faces are millimetres apart, our noses practically brushing, our lips nearly connected. His eyes are too close to mine to focus on them properly, but I stare into them anyway, unable to look away.

My clit is throbbing, my walls clenching around him. Every time he drives into me, pleasure spikes in a higher wave, and when he finally jerks to a stop and grinds his pelvis against mine, when I feel him pulse inside me as he lets out a deep grunt, it makes me come harder than I've ever felt before. Harder than on my own. My legs lock around him as if I'm trying to keep him from ever pulling out, and I roll my hips over and over, riding his dick until the last aftershocks of pleasure die out.

Sky uses the wall to hold me up, still impaled on his cock, as his head drops to my shoulder, his hot, damp breath hitting the crook of my neck. My heartbeat is a heavy, dull thump in my chest, and I can feel his pounding against my rib cage too.

Neither of us move for several moments. But with each second that passes, reality settles in a little bit more.

I just fucked the golden boy of Alfea, the boy whose been making my life hellish with his bitch of a redhead. I just screwed him in the middle of our very public school, in a hallway I'm not entirely sure is empty. I'm naked from the waist down, my panties and shirt are in tatters, and I can feel his cum oozing from the place where we're still connected.

What the fuck did you just do, Octavia? Is what I know the shadows would say.

Asmodeus would no doubt congratulate me on getting laid, Belial would obsess over the fact the ministers could walk in, or the Queen.

Sky must be thinking something along the same lines, or maybe he has completely different reasons for shutting down, but I can feel it happening. He's still inside me, and I can feel the walls between us going back up.

He pulls out, and although his touch is gentle as he lowers me to my feet, he won't meet my eyes. He gives me a second to get my shaky legs under me before he lets go and steps back.

I can't bear to look at his face either, can't handle what I know I'll see there. So I bend and gather my scattered clothes, clutching them to my naked body like some kind of shield as I hastily pull them on.

"I have to go. I have to... prepare for the defence meeting."

He doesn't speak or try to stop me. I can feel his gaze on me as I make my way back down the hall, but I don't glance back. His cum is sliding down my leg, sticky and wet, and my body feels like it just went to war.

I can't believe how fucking stupid I was. Buttoning up my shirt as I hastily make my way back to my suite, berating myself as I stride through the corridor to the stairs. No one was there when we arrived, and the ministers shouldn't be here for another hour, it's a closed meeting after all - no guards. General Lýkos comes to these meetings before the others, but what if he came early? It wouldn't exactly be unheard of.

Fuck.

As I dart past the north wing stairs from the foyer, I glance over at them, needing to confirm that Lýkos isn't standing there, having heard everything.

He's not.

But Riven is.

He's standing midway up the stairs, and his gray-blue eyes track my movement as I freeze in place. His expression is unreadable as our gazes lock for a split second, and my heart drops into my stomach.

He knows.

Whether he saw it all or not, he knows. There's no mistaking the way I look, the state of my clothes, the smell of sex that probably still hangs on the air.

Down the hall behind me, I hear Sky's footsteps drift away down the hall. He doesn't know Riven is here.

And there's no way I'm fucking telling him.

I've got enough shit going on as it is.

Tearing my gaze away from Riven's unreadable one, I turn and practically sprint for my room.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Sky

Fuck. FUCK.

What the hell was I thinking?

I storm through the halls, hastily making my way to the training grounds, shoving past students with hasty apologies. My throat clogs up with heat and sweat, my emotions beginning to overwhelm me. That- that was-

Stupid.

Wrong.

The best fucking thing to happen-

I shake my head in desperation, hurtling through the corridors in desperation to get out. What was I thinking, to just- Fuck I'm so confused right now. It's like I've been waiting for that moment since the moment I met her, but then Riven and her started getting closer and closer, and Bloom and I have been getting closer.

Bloom.

Shit.

Something isn't right there. It can't be right, there must have been a misunderstanding because Octavia has been out of line at times but I was there at the meeting, where she defended Bloom, even when the reports did indicate the Burned Ones were searching for something. But the way Bloom was acting today, it felt familiar, comforting in that wrong way.

Helios, I don't know what's going on inside my mess of a head.

Breathing in the cold air is a welcome relief as I step outside, that burning feeling finally receding. I stumble out, tilting my head back to feel the bleak sun on my face, slowly beginning to take steadying breaths.

"Sky?" A hesitant voice asks, and I turn to see Irene walking towards me, a hand pressed against her stomach in worry. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," I choke out, definitely not sounding okay.

"Did something happen?" She murmurs softly, eyes shining with worry and the promise of violence.

"No- I-" I shake my head, "Everything is fine Mãe."

She arches an eyebrow, but there's something sad and small about the movement, not the usual snark and amusement the movement normally carries.

"meu filho." She begins, stepping closer to me in a way that suggests there's a serious conversation coming up. "You know you can tell me if something has-"

"Mãe," I rub at my forehead in irritation, this isn't something I want to talk about with-

"You reek of sex, yet look like you are scared out of your mind." She exclaims, finally saying what she's been wanting to comment on for the past 3 minutes. That hand against her stomach presses harder as if she want to be sick as her eyes cloud with old fears for me.

"No, no Mãe." I soothe quickly, reaching forward to gently grip her arms. "Nothing like that Mãe, I promise you. It's just relationship drama. Nothing more."

"You promise." She demands, and my heart softens at the fear in her eyes.

Guilt crushes my chest as I realise what it must have looked like for her, the child she helped raised coming out looking terrified and as if he had been-

"I promise, Mãe." My voice is filled with conviction and I hold her gaze for a long moment, waiting until she nods in agreement before I let out a sight and bring her in for a hug. "You worry too much."

She snorts but I hear the tears in her voice, "Can't help it, your all I've got."

I tighten my grip, my heart clenching at her words. Irene has no idea how much she means to me.

"You have Silva, don't you." I state, "Though he can be a miserable bastard."

She giggles but immediately cuts them off when- "Oi."

I look up from where my head is burrowed in Mãe's shoulder to see Silva walking towards us, pointing his training sword at me as he raises his brows in mock question.

"I'll have you running drills at dawn for a week if you're not careful." He jokes but I don't doubt his words.

"Oh, leave him be Saul." Irene wipes off her tears as she straightens up. "I recall a certain friend of ours having an even dirty mouth than his."

"And I recall a bottle of soap and many bouts of dramatic choking." Silva challenges and Irene hums looking away in mock thought before grinning at me.

I can't help the smile that fills my face at their banter. I miss the days in the cottage spent like this.

"Don't tell me Mrs Silva has finally gotten sick of the two of you?" Riven drawls as he steps out of the building, eyeing me with a curious expression before hunching down slightly to give Irene's shorter figure a quick hug and kiss on the cheek as per specialist greeting tradition.

I can't help but snort at the thought, blushing when all three turn to face me in question.

"Oh, I'm just thinking of the first year's expressions when they see us greet you." I answer and grin when Silva and Riv nod in instant understanding, that territorial protection filling their eyes as they remember the disrespect that prefaced the introduction of Irene's reputation.

The long scar on her face has always been worn with pride but I've seen the look of doubt on her face when she sees someone she perceives as more beautiful than her, and I've seen Silva's instant dismal of them and sheer adoration for his mate.

"C'mon," Silva states and indicates to the path before us, "We don't want to be late do we."

"Such a stickler for the rules." Irene murmurs conspiratorially to Riven as she links her arm through his. "We should knock them both down a peg or two, Riv."

"What are you thinking," I can hear the grin in Riven's voice, "Shampoo hair dye, get them drunk and post an embarrassing video, beat them assertively in training to assert our own dominance?"

"Oooo, that last one sounds mighty appealing." Irene purrs and Riv chuckles at her glee.

"If you two are done." Silva asks with a weightless glare back at the two, before looking at me and frowning in confusion, "Sky, I know it's been raining and the ground is wet but the sun is coming up you'll be boiling in seconds in that jumper."

"I'll be fine." I say with an eye roll, annoyance flaring in me at his fussing.

"Oh really?" He mocks, crossing his arms as we walk along the path, giving me the 'I know better look' that I hated as a kid. "You're telling me that after I make all the second years run drills for the next two ours you're not going to be wishing you wore your summer specialist kit?"

I make an indigent noise of frustration. "I'll be fine, mother."

A/N: what do you think Riven's reaction will be when he confronts Sky and Octavia?