Chapter 68 ANGER
Ixora's eyes darted around, the cold air piercing into her skin. Blake was waiting for his response, the crowd was crying while awning happily at them. Audrey's eyes were misty because she already knew what her answer would be, and Nelly—she could understand the nervousness behind her silence.
She locked her gaze onto Blake, and she could see he was anxious, scared of rejecting him. She was worried about him; he had been in the rain for a long time. What if he catches a cold? Her fingers brushed her neck and...
"Come on, Ixora. Say yes!"
A fan shouted, jerking Ixora back to the present.
She looked and was able to see the other fans giving her a nod.
"Come on y'all, give her some hype!"
"Say yes!"
"Yes. Climb up the stage and accept him!"
"He's the best!
"What a perfect match!"
Ixora's gaze found Blake's again, and this time, her lips parted, but the words were just not—
"I... I," she stuttered, clearly seeing the hidden disappointment in Blake's eyes if she turned him down.
The fans' chant got louder, blocking her ears. Sweat clawed at her hairline as she found herself trapped between their chants.
"I..." And that was all she could say before—
Click.
Blackout clouded the hall, causing immediate chaos.
Blake stood, wondering what had happened to the lights.
The light came back on and Ixora...
Was gone.
"Ixora!" Audrey called, wanting to stand, but Nelly held her.
"Drexton took her," she muttered.
From the stage, Blake's eyes were on Ixora's chair. He balled his fist on the hairpin, making sure to wound himself deeply with it.
Audrey's eyes went to Blake.
"Blake," she muttered, rushing to the stage with Skye and Nelly.
Stacy sat with a look that said she was completely lost.
"How could Ixora just disappear like that?"
Bonnie looked at her. "If I'm right, then it's Drexton."
Stacy faced her.
"Blake," Skye shook his body, seeing he was standing on a spot.
"Blake!" Nelly did the same thing.
The rain drenched the four of them.
Audrey grabbed his hand and snatched the hairpin away from him.
She tossed it aside.
Blake didn't move either. He felt his eyelids getting heavy, and his head spinning around. He closed his eyes and began falling.
"Blake!" Skye held him before he reached the ground.
Nelly touched his forehead.
"He's burning up," she muttered.
Skye lifted him, and they rushed out.
\[OUTSIDE\]
Under the shade, with no rain falling on them. Thunder growled in the sky as if warning Ixora of the danger wrapped around her. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, because Drexton had caged her. His chest pressed hard against hers, and his hand held her jaw with a force that said there was no escape.
And then... his lips crushed down on hers. Wild, hunger, obsession. It wasn't a kiss. It was a storm laced with obsession, danger and claims... all colliding at once. His tongue tasted hers, devouring her breath, sharing a mix of his insanity, like her soul was food meant for him alone.
Ixora gasped, trembling against his body. She placed her palm on his chest in an attempt to push him away, but he only pressed harder, forcing her to drown in his darkness.
Every move screamed obsession. Every drag of his lips said you belong to me. Every bite on her lower lip was a warning she could never escape. She tried to push him back again, but he increased his grip, his intense gaze burning her alive. He was a danger, one she wished to hate.
One she wished to run away from.
One she wished to regret for allowing herself to fall into his mad trap again.
One she wished wasn't her undoing and her masters all at once.
And then, he broke the kiss only to drop his lips on her neck. Right on the exact spot he had marked before. His teeth sank, biting and grazing.
His tongue caressed, sending an unknown desire straight to her.
And his lips sucked, licked, and nibbled with a feverish, raw obsession.
Ixora's back ached, her breath caught, and her stomach contracted so much that she hated her body right now for reacting to his madness.
Just then, his whisper cut through the storm, rough, raw and jagged.
"Mine."
Not just her neck or her body. His mouth moved against her skin, inside and out in a ruthless rhythm as he claimed her soul, her breath, her very existence.
Each kiss was a vow, and each bite was a possession, obsession, danger, claim... all of it, wrapped in one and branded into her flesh.
Ixora clung tightly to his shirt, feeling the wetness of his clothes all over her. Him sharing her warmth and her sharing his coldness... together she was trapped between fear and desire.
Her mind kept screaming to push him away, but her body and soul burned, pulling him closer. She was breathless, responding to his insane claims on her body. Her knees were weak, and she was left with no option but to hold onto him tightly.
"You're mine. Your breath... mine. Your soul... mine. Your everything... mine." His words were broken between kisses, his voice as dark and terrifying as his eyes.
It wasn't a reminder this time around, but a certainty.
More breath escaped Ixora at the same pace as the words left his mouth. Her heart was beating at its fastest rhythm, and her soul, as he said, was truly branding herself into his.
She should push him away, yell at him, walk away from him, and go back into the hall and accept Blake... then he'd understand what it means to make someone feel special and then ignore the person for days. He's not the only one who has the right to say how she should behave, nor can he use her whenever he wants.
She balanced on her feet, gathering all the strength she could since her stupid body had betrayed her beyond her control.
She pushed him away.
She wanted to glare at him, but felt speechless when she saw how insane. Smoking. Hot. His hair was damp with water and stuck to his face. Water dropped from the hair onto his face, making the madness in his eyes dangerous. His lips were sexily pink, probably because of the way he just kissed her. Then his white shirt clung to his skin, showing all his crazy abs and biceps.
Crazy thoughts rolled in her head. Rubbing her palms on it. Using the same intensity, he had marked her to explore the body and know every pack, biceps, and any other thing in his body.
She blinked, hurriedly, snapping herself out of her crazy thoughts.
She glared and wanted to walk away from him when he grabbed her hand and pinned them above her head.
"Let go of me." She breathed, glaring hard at him.
He came close to her, leaving just a few centimeters between them. He took his thumb and rubbed her lips. Every corner. Sides. Edges, as if it were an exam he needed to not pass. Master.
Ixora shook her head, and his hand fell. She snapped her glaring gaze at him, wanting to slap him hard if her hands were free.
"Anger. Rage. Name them," he whispered, his breath caressing over her face.
She doesn't know if he was doing it on purpose, as he knows her body always melts at his sight.
"Get away from me. You are nothing but a madman. I am not a property you can claim anytime you want." She traced her gaze down to his leg, an idea, wild and extremely crazy.
Drexton used his knee to pin her leg to the wall.
"Didn't know my firefly is naughty," he said.
Ixora could see a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. Neither her hand nor her legs were free, and she felt what she was scared to admit. Useless. Helpless.
She snapped her glare at him again, gathering spit in her mouth. She was about to spit it on his face when he...
"Try again," he muttered and slammed his lips on hers with a force heavier than a wave itself.
She gulped, swallowing all the spits she had gathered in one go.
He bit her bottom lip, making sure to drag it into his before breaking the kiss.
"Stop this madness, okay! I am not yours! You can't come to me whenever you need something to claim. I don't belong to you! If you hadn't kidnapped me at the concert, I would have said yes to Blake," she said, pouring out all the words at once.
Drexton's eyes shone with darkness. He pressed her knees and hand harder on the wall.
"Really?" He asked, his words cutting through the night breeze since the rain had stopped.
Ixora tightened her bones, despite his crushing hold, refusing to get intimidated by his cruel, sadistic behavior.
"Yes."