The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 0358

"I missed you," he murmurs, holding me close and falling back against the wall next to the door.

I grin at him in the dark of the room, my face very close to his, my feet nowhere near the ground. God, I love how he always picks me up. I don't know why it's not like he carries me anywhere or it does any productive good. I just...love it. "You did?" I whisper, delighted.

"I always miss you," he murmurs, leaning forward a little to nudge my nose with his.

"Oh yeah?" I say, sighing a little. "Even like, when I'm in the same room?"

Jackson just frowns at me like I'm crazy. "No, Ariel, that's ridiculous."

I burst out laughing, tilting my head back on my neck.

I can feel him grinning - feel it down the bond, feel it in the way that his chest rumbles. "Why would I miss you when you're still in the room?"

"Because!" I protest, laughing, pulling my head back up to look into his shining eyes. "It's romantic."

"It's dumb," he says, sighing happily and staring into my face, searching it like he's

memorizing the details. "If you're in the room, I'm glad you're there. I can't miss you in the same moment that I'm glad you're there."Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"So, you're glad I'm here?" I whisper.

"Yes," he whispers back, simple and sweet. "Always want you near." And then he moves his head forward, as I hoped he would, and brings his mouth to mine, and kisses the daylights cut of me. I moan a little, loving the feeling of his lips on mine, the way he kisses me languidly, like he has all damn night to do it. I love the way his hands tighten against the silk of my dress, the way his skin feels hot under my hands as I let them slip down his neck, and over his shoulders.

Jackson shudders against me and then breaks away, loosing a long breath. In that, I can feel that he's working very hard to keep his control.

"What?" I mummur, closing the distance between us, wanting him to kiss me again.

"I just, um..." he clears his throat and quietly starts to lower me to the ground. I squeak in protest, bending my knees so that my feet lift far from the floor, so that when Jackson expects my heels to hit there's nothing there.

He bursts out laughing again and straightens up, and I grin with pleasure when I'm pressed again against his chest, right where I want to be. "Your parents were right," he murmurs, taking a deep breath and smiling at me, "trouble."

"Why are you trying to put me down?" I frown at him, not liking that he ended our kiss right when things were getting interesting.

"Because," he murmurs, looking at me seriously, shaking his head slightly. "It is..difficult, to not let myself get carried away with you, Ariel -"

I look at him wide-eyed, like that's kind of the point.

Jackson's face bursts into a grin like he can't help it, but then he forces his face into more serious lines. "And," he continues, like he needs to get this out while he can, even as his arms tighten around me, "you're kind of drunk, and you're exhausted-"

I squeak again, displeased and a little offended. "I am not very drunk, Jackson McClintock!" "You have to close one eye to look at me!"

"Vision aside, I am perfectly able to consent to...stuff." I growl, narrowing my eyes at him.

"All right," Jackson says, smirking a little now as he gets to what I can tell is the truth. "If you really want to know, Ariel, I am having trouble with this at the moment because you smell all over of Luca Grant."

I gasp, my eyes going wide. Then I groan, and slip my arms from around Jackson's neck, covering my face again in my embarrassment.