Author's Note:

Thanks for your patience! I re-edited Chapter 1, after receiving tips, so I hope that you like this. All rights belong to Kiera Cass. P.S. This chapter is mainly from The One, so there is no plagiarism intended. This is more like a background/prologue chapter than an actual one. The next chapter will be my own with only bits of The One in it. Thank You! All rights belong to Kiera Cass.

Maxon had promised me that he would me in my room tonight, so where was he? I remembered our conversation from earlier…

"America, wait for me tonight. I want to give you something."

"I have something to give you too, bring some sort of protection." I whispered back to him.

"For what?" he whispered back, looking confused.

I mentally berate myself and raise my eyebrows a couple of times before he gets the hint.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yes."

"I'll see you tonight then," he concluded before he was needed somewhere else.

He was never late, but this time he was. Almost 30 minutes later than his expected arrival time, he finally showed up with two packages in his hand.

"Hi," he said. He seemed a bit stunned like his words had failed him.

"Hi, do you want to come in?" I asked before our staring got awkward.

He questioned me about my family and approached the delicate subject of my father's death.

"I glad I at least got to meet him. I can see bits of him in you, you know," Maxon stated.

"Really?"

"Absolutely," he led me to my bed after shifting the packages to one hand and sat down next to me. "You have his sense of humor and your tenacity, he and you both wouldn't let me off the hook either. It's okay to be sad, but just know that the best of him is still around," he concluded.

"Thanks," I snuggle closer into him and he places an arm around me.

"It's true."

"I know," changing the subject before I became a sobbing mess was currently my number one priority.

"What's that?" I questioned nodding my head in the direction of his parcels.

"Oh," he paused, thinking of what to say,"These are for you, a late Christmas present." Holding up a thick envelope stuffed with papers, "I can't believe that I'm giving you these to keep, but you have to wait until I leave to look at it."

He hand me a badly wrapped present, and I tried not to laugh at the crooked seams of the paper.

"Sorry the wrapping is terrible," he apologizes.

"It's fine."

Inside the wrapping, I find a picture frame containing an image of a beautiful house. I was confused, why did he give me a picture of a house? As if he could sense my confusion, he quickly explained that the house was the present, not the picture.

Patient as ever, Maxon gave me the explanation he thought I already understood. "You told me to send everyone home. I did. I had to keep one other girl—those are the rules—but . . . you said that if I could prove I loved you . . ."

". . . It's me?"

"Of course it's you."

I was speechless. I laughed in shock and started giving him kisses and giggling between each one. Maxon, so pleased with the affection, took every kiss and laughed along with me.

"We're getting married?" I yelled, kissing him again.

"Yes, we're getting married." He chuckled and let me attack him in my excitement. I realized then that I was in his lap. I didn't remember getting there.

I kissed him on and on . . . and somewhere in there the laughing stopped. After a while, the smiling dwindled. The kisses turned from playful to something much deeper. When I pulled away and looked into his eyes, they were intense, focused.

Maxon held me close, and I could feel his heart racing against my chest. Guided by a deep hunger for him, I pushed his suit coat down his back, and he helped me as best as he could while holding on to me. I let my shoes fall to the floor, thudding a little song on their way down. I felt Maxon's legs shift underneath me as he slipped his off as well.

Without breaking our kiss, he lifted me, crawling deeper onto the bed and laying me down gently somewhere near the middle. His lips traveled down my neck as I loosened his tie, throwing it somewhere near our shoes.

"You're breaking a lot of rules, Miss Singer."

"You're the prince. You can just pardon me."

He chuckled darkly, his lips at my throat, my ear, my cheek. I untucked his shirt, fumbling with the buttons. He helped with the last few, sitting up to toss it aside. The last time I'd seen Maxon without his shirt on, I didn't get to really appreciate it because of the circumstance. But now . . .

I ran my fingers lightly down his stomach, admiring how strong he was. When my hand got to his belt, I gripped it and pulled him back down. He came willingly, dragging a hand up my leg, resting it comfortably on my thigh underneath the layers of my dress.

I was going crazy, wanting so much more of him, aching to know if he'd let me have it. Without even thinking, I reached around and dug my fingers into his back.

Immediately, he stopped kissing me, pulling back to look at me.

"What?" I whispered, terrified to break this moment.

"Does it . . . does it repulse you?" he asked nervously.

"What do you mean?"

"My back."

I ran a hand down his cheek, staring directly into his eyes, wanting to leave him with no doubt about how I felt.

"Maxon, some of those marks are on your back so they wouldn't be on mine, and I love you for them."

He stopped breathing for a second. "What did you say?"

I smiled. "I love you."

"One more time, please? I just—"

I took his face in both of my hands. "Maxon Schreave, I love you. I love you."

"And I love you, America Singer. With all that I am, I love you."

He kissed me again, and I let my hands move to his back, and this time he didn't pause. He moved his hands beneath me, and I felt his fingers playing with the back of my dress.

"How many damn buttons does this thing have?" he complained.

"I know! It's—"

Maxon sat up, placing his hands along the bust line of my dress. With one firm pull, he ripped my dress down the front, exposing the slip underneath.

There was a charged silence as Maxon took that in. Slowly, his eyes returned to mine. Without breaking that contact, I sat up, sliding the sleeves of my dress down my back. It took a little bit of work to get it all off; and, by the end of it, Maxon and I were kneeling on my bed, my hardly covered chest pressed to his, kissing slowly.

"Maxon?"

"Yes?"

"I want you to be my first," I said.

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to hurt you…" he rambles.

"Maxon, I'm sure, did you bring the condom?"

"Yeah, just tell me if you want me to stop," he says.

In reply, I kiss him back and begin to undress his body. When I reach his pants, I slow down, suddenly I feel shy when I see the tent in his pants. Be brave America, I tell myself. I pull down his zipper and I hear him gasp.

"Are you okay?" I ask him.

"Yeah, keep going. It's just different," he replies back.

I slowly peel off his pants and boxers. I stop breathing when I see his impressive manhood standing at attention. Something within me tingles and I clench my thighs together in a vain attempt to soothe it. Maxon sits up and pulls on a condom before finding reassurance that I still want this. I feel him insert a finger into my wet core and slowly push it in and out before adding another. Now pumping 2 fingers into me, he inserts a third that leaves me feeling full and stretched to the point of almost being uncomfortable. After pushing his finger in me for a minute or so, I slowly feel myself adjusting to the welcome intrusion. He now takes his manhood in his hand and place it at the entrance of my vagina. Maxon slowly pushes himself into me and I bite back a scream when he rips through my barrier. He immediately slows and waits for me to adjust before continuing. When he is completely in me, I let a few tears of pain fall from feeling so stretched. Maxon wipes those tears away and kisses me gently, making me forget about the pain.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?" he questions.

"I'm fine, just wait for me to get used to it." I replied back.

Maxon pulled out slowly and thrust in again, the sensation was delightfully strange, and I wanted to experience it again. I thrust my hips in an attempt to gain the delicious friction against my core as Maxon slowly pulled in and out of me. I moaned Maxon's name just as he began to thrust a bit harder into me. Moving my hips after figuring out the rhythm, Maxon sped up, his breaths became labored and my name on his tongue became mumbled. Our bodies merging into one, the pleasure was incredible and I couldn't stop the moans and screams of euphoria coming from my mouth. He kissed me passionately and began thrusting even harder. The pressure built and I felt the beginnings of my orgasm and I could see it in Maxon's face that he too was close. I come down from my high first and after a few more thrusts he comes down too. I laid my head on his chest, slick with sweat and listened to the beating of his heart. He was still buried inside me, but that didn't matter. I gave him all that I had, and he accepted it. His face was buried in my hair, and I could feel him smile in content.

"I love you," he whispers to me.

When he pulled his erection out of me and rolled off the condom, I spotted what I thought was a tear, but in my hazy state, I was too tired to examine the condom any further. After disposing the condom, he held me and we both slipped into a peaceful sleep.

We wake to the sound of a crash in the hall, Maxon bolts straight up looking terrified. "It's not him," I whispered. "It's probably one of the girls stumbling to her room, or a maid cleaning something. It's okay."

He finally released a breath I didn't see he was holding and fell back onto the bed. He draped an arm over his eyes, frustrated or exhausted or maybe both. "I want to let down all the walls with you America, especially after last night, but I can't," he says-almost despairingly. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

"Are you sore after last night? I didn't hurt you did I?" he inquires.

"I am a bit sore, but no, you didn't hurt me too much," I reply. "It was painful, but I don't regret anything. I'm glad that you were my first."

"I don't regret anything either, but I'm sorry. I should've been gentler," Maxon replies.

"Other than that, how are you feeling, my Dear?"

"I mainly feel like punching you for calling me, my Dear," I reply as I poke his abs.

Laughing, he crawled over to me and rattled off a variety of pet names for me, and started to glide his hands across my body. While he was doing that, I asked what I was supposed to call him; his answer to that? 'Your Royal Husbandness' it's required by law, he replies back.

Maxon's clever hands find a delicate spot, and I shy away just as he lunges for me, making me shriek in laughter. A guard burst through the door with his gun drawn. This time I scream in terror, as I duck under the covers to protect my modesty. I glanced up to see that the stricken guard was Aspen. My face flamed in humiliation, Aspen couldn't even string together a sentence because of the shock at seeing his future ruler with his ex-lover. My trance was broken by Maxon's deep laugh, and his smug words,"I assure you Ledger, she's perfectly safe."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Aspen bowed and left with his head hanging as he closed the door. I collapsed onto my pillow, moaning. I would never live that down. Maxon came to give me a hug. "Don't be so embarrassed, it's bound to happen in the future too."

It's so humiliating," I cried.

"To be caught in bed with me?" The pain in his voice was clear.

"No! It's just… I wanted it to be a private moment," I sat up and toyed with a corner of a blanket.

"I'm sorry," his voice sincere.

Maxon left to get ready for the Choosing Ceremony, and Aspen stepped in to talk. At the worst possible time, Maxon rounded a corner with Kriss and saw me with my body pressed against Aspen's. Looking into Maxon's shocked eyes, I mentally tried to tell him that this wasn't what it looked like. He dismissed Kriss, and sent Aspen away. Maxon questioned me and finally snapped. I burst into sobs, "Maxon, please. I'm sorry; it's not what what it looked like. I swear. I love you!"

He sauntered up to me, his eyes dead, and before leaving my room, he said, "Of all the likes you've told me, that's the one I resent the most."

I broke down, "No, no, no! This can't be happening!" I thought.