Twisted Kingdom: A Dark New Adult Romance (Royal Elite Book 3)

The energy in RES is volatile, to say the least.

It’s been a long time since I walked down the hall and had everyone watch me this closely. Like I’m an animal on display.

Beside me, Teal scrolls through her phone, oblivious to the attention and words said behind our backs.

“It’s because of her.”

“What do you think will happen now?”

“Is she really all that?”

“Shut up or you’ll be next.”

Despite my best attempts not to get caught in the drama, curiosity gets the better of me.

This must be about me, not Teal. Not only is she new, but she also doesn’t speak to anyone.

Kim runs towards me, shooing the students out of her way. She’s panting, her green hair flying in all directions. “Did you… Did you hear what happened?”

I shake my head.

“Adam Herran.” She breathes, a smile breaking across her face. “He’s quitting the rugby team and the school. He’ll enroll in the military academy. Isn’t that brilliant?”

On the surface, yes, it is brilliant. However, after Aiden and Cole’s reaction yesterday, I’m sure this isn’t a coincidence.

I grab Kim by the sleeves and pull her into a corner, away from the crowd of students and eavesdropping ears. Teal follows us, but she’s still too engrossed in her phone to pay us actual attention.

“What happened?” I ask Kim.

She closes in. “I heard the horsemen gave it to him good. They threatened to expose his use of performance-enhancing drugs and other drugs. Apparently, he has a record.”

Aiden.

I can sense Aiden’s conniving mind behind all of this.

Since the moment Silver told us that Adam pushed me in the pool, he was up to no good, all lost in his conspiracy thoughts.

To say I feel sorry for Adam would be a lie, though.

He had it coming. Everyone should know better than messing with Aiden King. He’s known to destroy his opponents until they can no longer stand.

“Isn’t Adam’s family powerful, though?” I ask. “Surely they can bring him back.”

Kim shakes her head frantically. “I heard there was also pressure from Xander and Cole’s parents. They hold some dirt on Adam’s father and they used it against him. He already signed the papers for his son’s transfer.”

Interesting.

Jonathan wasn’t involved. I wonder if it’s because Aiden kept him out of it or because the older King refused to help.

“Why didn’t you tell Dad?” Teal asks without lifting her head.

“I didn’t have the chance. Besides, Dad has a lot on his plate.”

Teal meets my gaze. “Nothing comes before us for Dad, especially when it comes to you.”

Still, I’d rather not bother him. He’s been working late with Agnus, pulling all-nighters. The good thing about Dad, though? He’s always there for breakfasts and dinners no matter how busy he is.

The three of us walk to class. Kim talks about how cool the horsemen are — except for Xander. According to her, he doesn’t count.

In class, Ronan is passing a ball with Xander and Knox. Cole sits at his desk, reading a book titled Corpse that appears to be non-fiction. He seems completely detached from his surroundings.

I know better.

It’s a façade. Cole is more attuned to his environment than anyone else. He just hides it well.

Silver sits two seats in front of him, earbuds in, and her gaze lost in the distance. Even her minions aren’t there. Now that I think about it, Summer and Veronica don’t hang around her as much anymore.

Aiden is nowhere to be seen.

I fight the tug of disappointment and fail.

He and I need to talk. A lot. He needs to give me a heads-up about the disasters he’s planning. I want to hear it from him first, not from the gossip floating around the school.

Biting my lower lip, I contemplate asking the others about his whereabouts.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I smile when I see the name on the screen. Maybe he has telepathic powers after all.

Aiden: Meet me at the pool.

I don’t even think about it. We still have time until the start of class, so I drop my backpack in my seat and take off in the direction of RES’s pool.

Upon arriving, the smell of chlorine clogs my nostrils and my feet falter at the threshold.

I was so excited about seeing Aiden that I forgot how much deep water freaks me out.

Since it’s the early morning, the place is empty. Taking a deep breath, I cross the last few steps on unsteady legs.

“Aiden?” My voice echoes in the large space.

“In here, sweetheart.”

I round the corner and freeze. Aiden stands in front of the deep side of the pool. I would’ve taken a moment to appreciate his built, his black strands falling over his forehead in abandon, but he’s not alone.

Adam is there with him, his eyes bloodshot, puffy, and all wrong. Even his shirt is in disarray like he pulled an all-nighter in a drug cartel.

“What’s going on?” I stare between the two of them.

“Herran came to apologise.” Aiden pats his shoulder, but there isn’t an ounce of camaraderie in it. If anything, he appears on the edge of something sombre and diabolical. “Didn’t you?”

Adam remains quiet, his face reddening by the second.

“She’s waiting.” Aiden grips the rugby team’s captain — former captain — by the shoulder.

He’s broader and buffer than Aiden, but for some reason, Aiden is the one who appears more powerful. All godlike and invincible.

At this moment, he reminds me of a general who never lost a war. A hero through and through.

Thinking of Aiden as a hero is strange, though. He’s not the hero, he’s the villain.

But right now, as he grips Adam, after he kicked him out of the school for hurting me, I can’t help but think of him as a hero.

Just this once.

“I’m sorry,” Adam spits.

“No, no.” Aiden tsks. “Repeat it and mean it this time.”

“I don’t care about his apology,” I say. “He’s nothing.”

“That’s true.” Aiden’s lips curve into a smile. “But he still needs to apologise. You can do it standing or on your knees, Herran. Your choice.”

Adam’s red-rimmed eyes meet mine, but they’re filled with maliciousness more than anything else.

The bastard doesn’t feel guilty about what he’s done.

“I’m sorry.”

“Apology denied.” I glare at him. “I hope you rot in hell, Adam.”

A sadistic spark ignites in Aiden’s eyes. It’s as if he summoned his demons and they’re now taking reign of the situation.

Or maybe I summoned them. After all, he’s doing this for me.

Aiden turns into an unstoppable force for me.

“You heard her. Not that I was going to let you go.” He circles Adam like a predator before the attack. Smooth, silent… terrifying. “You dared not only to look at what’s mine, but you also touched her. Do you know what that means, Herran?”

Adam’s throat works with a swallow. I can see him hold his breath, as do I. The darkness in Aiden’s metal eyes can only mean trouble.

I’m on my toes, waiting for what he’ll say next.

“It means you’re out.”

One moment, Adam stands there, the next, Aiden pushes him. The rugby player loses balance and splashes into the water, flooding the edge.

Aiden isn’t done.

Not even close.

He crouches at the edge of the pool. The moment Adam comes up for air, Aiden grabs his head and thrusts him back down.

No hesitation.

No mercy.

Adam’s limbs flail all around, splashing water everywhere. He struggles for breath and only finds water.

Aiden fists his fingers into the rugby player’s hair and wrenches him out. He gasps for air like a dying man.

“Were you suffocating in there, Herran?”

Aiden shoves him back into the water. His expression is neutral, serene even. “Good. Now you know what it feels like to drown.”

I stand there, my limbs shaking as Aiden holds Adam underwater.

The calmness on his face sends shivers down my spine. I know, I just know, that Aiden would murder Adam and not bat an eye.

He’d do it on school grounds.

He’d endanger his future.

I run up to him, ignoring my fear of the water nearby. “Stop it, Aiden. Let him out.”

“Not yet.” He uses both his hands to keep Adam underneath the surface. “He hurt you. He hurt what’s mine.”

“You’re going to kill him,” I hiss.

“Small price to pay for touching you.”

“I hate him, too, but I’m not ready to lose you this way.” My voice is loud and clear. “He’s not worth it.”

Aiden’s head tilts in my direction. His steel eyes immediately soften when they meet mine.

I fall to my knees beside him, uncaring about the water soaking my skin, and grip his arm. The tight muscles ripple underneath my touch.

“He’s not important, Aiden. You are.”

That must’ve worked.

Slowly, too slowly, Aiden allows me to pull his hands from Adam’s head. The latter surfaces, gasping for air.

Neither of us pay him attention, not even when he climbs out, wet and shaking like a dog.

We’re too lost in each other’s gaze to pay attention to the world surrounding us. We’re barely touching, but I feel him all around me, like a constant.

Right now, I’m sure that if I somehow fell into the pool, he’d bring me out. He’d protect me and be my hero once again.

I should probably stop thinking about him as a hero.

“You’re a fucking psycho,” Adam spits once he’s out of the water. He’s wet and dishevelled, but I couldn’t feel sorry for him even if I tried.

Aiden’s left eye twitches as he meets Adam’s ashen face. “Fuck off before I finish what I started.”

Like the coward he is, Adam limps out of the pool area with his tail tucked between his legs.

And then, Aiden is back to watching me as if I’m the only person in his sights.

What does he see when he stares at me this intently? Is it Ma? Or is he perhaps trying to erase her similarities from my face?

Both Knox and Teal admitted to wanting to hurt me due to how much I look like her, so maybe Aiden feels the same.

Maybe deep down, he wants to hurt me, too.

What if everyone I love hates me because of my genes? It would be tenfold more painful if it’s Aiden.

But would he have been willing to commit murder for me if that was the case?

And yes, he was seconds away from killing Adam. If I hadn’t intervened, his body would be floating in the pool by now.

Aiden’s lack of boundaries should scare me, but for some reason, a halo of calm submerges me.

I stopped him. He allowed me to stop him when he easily could’ve kept going. That fact fills me with overwhelming internal peace.

“Repeat it,” Aiden says.

“Repeat what?”

“The part about how I’m important.”

I suppress a smile. Why am I not surprised he only focuses on that part?

Inching closer, my space fills with all that is him. His scent and his warmth. His cloudy eyes and the chaotic emotions swirling inside of them.

Those emotions are mine.

I want to snatch them up, hug them, and somehow insert them into my chest so they can find company with my own erratic feelings.

The closer I am to him, the more the world disappears. The entire universe is tucked into the small space between us where my knees nearly graze his. “You are important.”

He wraps a strong hand around my nape and his lips crush to mine.

I don’t resist this time.

I don’t stop to think about the consequences.

I just let myself be.

The kiss might’ve started on my lips, but it possesses my entire body. It pools in my stomach and races down my spine. It paralyses my limbs and awakens my internal organs.

His teeth nibble on my lips, his hand fists in my hair, angling my head back so he can get better access. His tongue finds mine, feeding off me, tasting me, inhaling me.

I do the same.

I consume him as hard as he consumes me.

If a kiss had a purpose, this one would be all about finding each other. It’s about a connection that existed since the moment I laid eyes on Aiden in that basement.

Everything started then and it’s since refused to end.

For the longest time, I tried to fight our connection, but it keeps winning.

Losing never felt so good.

My arms wrap around his neck as I kneel, mirroring him. My fingers run into his black strands, and he groans into my mouth.

It makes me proud, that groan. It makes me proud to bring him pleasure and have this effect on him.

Still clutching me by the hair, Aiden tugs on it. My back hits the cold ground, but my burning skin hardly registers it.

He crawls atop of me, larger than life. His solid body covers mine, his muscles and arms mould to my curves like we’re two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle coming together.

He’s everything I shouldn’t want, and also everything I need.

He shoves his knees between my thighs, and they part of their own accord. He doesn’t even have to try twice. I hiss out a whimper at the contact of his trousers against my most intimate part.

Still kissing me, he yanks my skirt up and loosens his belt with the other hand.

The air ripples with tension and heat. I can taste it on my tongue and sense it with the goosebumps covering my flesh.

I curl my nails into his jacket, breathing heavily against his skin. He stole my breath, my heart, and my freaking sanity.

Aiden isn’t only a monster, but he’s also a thief — the kind who never gets caught.

“A-Aiden… Anyone can walk in.” Even as I say the words, wetness shamelessly coats my thighs.

“Fuck them.” Aiden grips my chin with two fingers as his other hand yanks my boy shorts down my legs. “I need you, sweetheart. I fucking need to be inside you like I need air.”

I need you, too.

But I don’t have to say it aloud. Aiden must’ve read it in my eyes. He really knows me more than I know myself.

He wraps a hand around my throat and thrusts balls deep, filling me whole. I gasp, but no sound comes out.

He stole my ability to breathe, talk, or even think.

He stole my fucking heart and soul, and there’s no way I’ll be able to get them back.

He’s a thief, remember? A damn thief.

“Fuck, fuck!” His entire body tightens with the force of his initial thrust. I can feel his rigid abs without having to touch them.

My eyes brim with tears. Could be due to being filled by him.

Could be because of the way he’s squeezing his hand around my throat, barely allowing me air.

Could be because of the intensity in his gaze.

Could be because it’s been such a long time that I felt this whole.

Could be all of them.

Being with Aiden is like going through a roller coaster ride in a dark tunnel. There are ups and downs. There’s black and danger. But most of all, there’s excitement and the euphoric feeling of being alive.

I’m alive.

With Aiden, I never stopped feeling alive.

He picks up his pace, ramming inside me like a mad man, like his body can’t contain his passion. Passion that bleeds into me, flaring inside me in the form of sparks and fireworks.

It’s slightly painful, and I’ll be sore for days, but I revel in that sting of pain. I revel in the way he can’t control himself when he’s with me.

“I missed you, sweetheart.” Thrust. “I missed your tight pussy.” Thrust. “I missed your tiny moans of pleasure.” Thrust. “I even missed your fucking stubbornness.”

Our breaths mingle together, rough and unpolished with raw, unhinged pleasure. Our scents mix and fill the air, killing the chlorine smell and replacing it with pheromones.

Is it weird that pheromones should only be in the brain, but they’re now floating all around us? I can inhale them off Aiden’s skin, taste them on my tongue.

He angles my thighs up, and I gasp as he hits that sensitive spot inside me. He pulls out almost completely until only the tip remains, then rams back in over and over.

And over.

The orgasm hits me with a power I haven’t felt before — sharp, deep, and violent. My back arches off the ground as I scream.

Aiden swallows the sound with his lips against mine. He kisses me through my orgasm. He worships my mouth with his tongue and my pussy with his cock.

I can feel myself clenching all around his length, almost strangling him, suffocating him.

He continues his onslaught for a few more seconds before he growls, “Mine.”