Chapter 25: Next Level

Ashley sighed as she walked around the Dark Fortress. She stopped and stared at the screen in front of her. She bit her lip as she watched the stars fly by. She missed home, she missed her friends, and she missed her family. Her heart ached, her eyes stung from the tears pressing against her eyes, threatening to fall. She wiped her tears away and looked at the clothes that Demion had given her to wear. The black outfit, but the only thing that was different was the necklace Andros had given her. However, while she was staring outside, she had no idea that Darkonda was walking up behind her. "Not the time to be ruining our plan," Darkonda sneered behind her. Ashley gasped and spun around.

"Darkonda!" She gasped.

"You're ruining everything," Darkonda snapped.

Ashley went to get her morpher when she remembered that Demion took it. "No," she whispered. Darkonda laughed and raised his sword. Ashley jumped out of the way and cried out in pain when the sword came down on her arm.

"Now time for your destruction," he laughed.

Ashley tried to fight him off, but Darkonda threw her up against the wall and she winced in pain. "DARKONDA!" A voice shouted. Darkonda spun around only to be hit with red energy.

"NO!" Darkonda shouted.

Ashley covered her eyes when Darkonda blew up. Demion stood there once everything cleared. "You okay?" He asked.

"I think so," she replied.

Demion walked over and picked her up in a carrying position, taking her to his room. He walked by Ecliptor, ignoring him

He came into his room and set her down on the bed. "Stay here," he told her. He left the room and came back with some things. He slowly removed her jacket to find the bloody gash on her arm. "It's going to get infected," he murmured. He pulled up a chair and started to take care of the gash. "This is going to sting for a minute," he informed. Ashley winced and whimpered slightly. After a minute, he started to wrap it up.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"For what?"

"You just saved my life."

Demion looked at her. "I wasn't going to let that monster hurt you. You're under my protection," he informed.

"Well, thank you," she told him.

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, but at the same time he turned his head to look at her making her kiss him on the lips instead. Ashley pulled back blushing slightly. "Sorry," she murmured. Demion turned her head for her to face him and kissed her. Ashley was frozen for a second before she wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him back. She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him down on her. Her bold movements surprised the Prince of Darkness, but he kept his hands on her waist, since last time he scared her half to death when he tried to do this with her. Ashley pulled back from the kiss and looked into his face. She took his hand that was still sitting on her waist and moved it up to her chest, placing it on her breast. Demion stayed where he was.

"You know there's not turning back," he reminded her.

"I know," she answered.

Demion leaned forward and kissed her again. The hand that was on her breast went down and removed her shirt. Ashley's hands reached up and removed his jacket before removing his shirt. She pulled back from the kiss and touched the machine implants on his face. For a minute, her mind told her to get him off her. However, she couldn't get the words to form to get him off her. Instead, she placed her hand on the back of his head and kissed him again. Her hands went down his back, feeling all the scars under her palms. Demion pulled back from the kiss, but he kissed her cheek, chin, jaw, and neck.

Ashley closed her eyes and tried to at least keep her voice down, knowing that they weren't the only ones on the ship, but his kisses felt so good and she felt like she was floating in the air. Her hands left his back and go to the front of his pants. Demion worked on hers and soon both pants joined the pile on the floor. Demion took her hands in his and kissed her once again. Ashley placed her hands on his chest and cried out when the barrier between them was broken when he entered her. Demion stared where he was and winced when her nails dug into his chest. After a minute, he looked at her. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," she replied.

He stayed still a little longer before slowly started moving in a steady pace, letting her get used to the feeling. The pain Ashley felt was gone and she placed her hands on his back. Soon they were both in engulfed into the world of passion.

The next morning, Ashley woke up and found that she was alone. She let out a small sigh of relief and buried her head into her pillow. She wouldn't have had any idea of what to say now. "I slept with the enemy," she pondered. She winced when she moved a bit, she was a little sore from last night. She lifted her head up when the door opened and Demion stood there. She pulled the blankets tighter around herself and sat up slightly.

"Hi," he mumbled.

"Hi…" she answered.

Demion placed some clothes beside the bed. "Thought you'd want something to change into," he commented.

"Thanks," she answered.

"You know where to go if you're hungry."

She nodded her head slowly. She leaned against the headboard and closed her eyes when he sat next to her. "Listen…if I hurt you…" she cut him off.

"You didn't," she answered.

"And if I took advantage…" she cut him off again.
"You didn't."

Ashley bit her tongue and she stared at the far wall. "Wouldn't matter anyways, I'm your prisoner," she pointed out. She kept her head lowered, but then Demion placed his hand under her chin and had her face him.

"Not anymore," he answered.

He pressed his lips against hers and pushed her back against the bed. Ashley's death grip on the blankets loosened and she wrapped her arms around his neck.