A/N: hello readers. this is chapter 15. please remember that we don't shame others for their choices (plays more into the chapter ;))

hope you enjoy this spicy chapter

*RATED M FOR MATURE*

My family was more than suspicious when Maxon and I left from my old bedroom almost two hours later. Especially since we both didn't bother to slip our shoes back on. I ignored Kenna and James' sligh eyes, trying to tell if either of us had the 'post-sex glow' as Kenna called it (gracefully enough). I ignored May's overly round doe eyes as she made her own guesses as to what went on behind those closed doors. She was probably wondering what the King and Queen of Illea could be talking about or doing together in our free time (nevermind that she still wasn't over the fact that I was the Queen of Illea or that her brother in-law was the King of Illea). I ignored my mother's shifting eyes between the two of us, trying to ask us both silent questions and not receiving any answers from either of us. I ignored Kota's grunts of (what I assumed was) disapproval for whatever he thinks we did. The only people who didn't give us strange looks were Gerad and Astra, only because Astra is only an infant and Gerad doesn't care about what we did.

The truth is, Maxon and I didn't do anything. Well, not anything sexual or something like that. We thought it was better to keep the moment pure, almost as if we wanted something we could tell our children about when we are older.

We sat in the tree house for about an hour, but after a while, it started to hurt our butts to be up there, so we trailed down and went back inside the way we came. Then, we laid on my old bed and talked. He asked me a question and I would respond and ask him a question and he would respond. Most of these questions that we tossed at each other were serious questions and not too funny. I was okay with that, though. We need it, and it was nice and relaxing to not have any duties except for being with him.

It was my idea to leave that room when we did. Maxon wanted to lay there all day with me, but I said that we should probably help my family pack everything up so that way the professionals can start to preserve this old house and so we can get back home. So, he listened to me and we both left that room together.

"May, are you all packed up?" I asked her.

She nodded, "I know I don't need it, but I have my paints and I have all of my art stuff."

"Well, you know, just because you won't need it to make money any more doesn't mean that you still can't pursue a hobby." Maxon reminds her.

"What hobby do you have?"

"Photography."

She smacks her forehead in a 'duh' moment, "Oh my God, I'm so stupid. I saw you with your camera literally yesterday!"

"It's alright, my Dear. We all have moments where we go on autopilot and sometimes we make silly mistakes."

"You too?"

"Especially me, my Dear."

"But you seem so… so…"

"Perfect?"

"Yea, perfect…"

"You know, your sister said something very similar to me when we first met." He laughed and paused, probably thinking about me calling him stiff and shallow. "Regardless, everyone has their flaws. Everyone." He kisses her head and looks up at me, almost as if to tell me that he is acknowledging his own flaws and his own mistakes without spelling them out for everyone to hear. I nod in approval to him. May pulls away from his grasp to only grab his hand and pull him off towards her bedroom. I laugh at him as he looks at me with warmth and smiles behind his eyes.

While they go off, I walk over to my mother who is sitting with James, Kenna, and Kota. I sit down next to her and lean into her arm. It has been a rather long day and I have been overly emotional for no reason at all.

"America, are you okay?" I nod to her, "Alright. I'm just checking. You just seem a little shaken."

"I'm okay. Maxon and I just had a very informative and emotional talk and I'm still recovering from all of it."

"Everything alright between you two?"

I nod, "I'll tell you about it later, okay?"

She nods. James whispers something in Kenna's ear and he pulls Kota away. I'm not an idiot, so I know that he is trying to leave the girls alone to talk. We watch the two boys go off to hang out with Gerad in the living room.

"So…" Kenna turns back to me, "what was this talk about?"

I sigh, "As much as I want to share the details, Maxon and I love to keep things like this private. He is very closed off, and I respect that for him."

"But you were going to tell Mom later?"

"You got me there," I throw my hands up in defence, "But I'm not sharing every detail."

"That's fine with me, I just want to know what's going on in my little sister's life!"

"Alright, so I took Maxon to the tree house. I had a romantic thing planned, but it didn't really work out. It backfired on my end, and he got really upset. He's always had a temper, but he learned how to control and manage it growing up with the strictness of his position and then even more so around me. He… Well, the bottomline is that we both know why he has to manage and control that temper. I can't tell you guys about that side of it, but we agreed that his anger and rage would be as subdued as possible around me. Today, he just blew up and his temper got a little out of hand, and he raged out on me." My mom's eyes grew to the size of the moon. I had to reassure her that he didn't hurt me at all. "I'm okay, though. He didn't hurt me, he just yelled which is out of character for him. I was okay that he felt safe enough with me to take that out on me, if I'm being honest. Anyway, he apologized for lashing out and I apologized for having the idea in the first part. Then, we stayed up in the tree house for the next hour or so talking about serious things."

"What type of serious things?" Kenna prys.

"Like our fears, our future, our future kids, this crazy family, our friends, royal stuff, and things that I literally can't share."

"I see how it is…"

"If I could tell you, I would."

My mother huffs, "Well, I know he won't hurt you. He's a kind soul, even with the temper. He's that same as you, in that regard."

"I do not have a temper, thank you very much! I am rather insulted!" I roll my eyes.

She looks at me in disbelief, "You have a temper."

"I do not! I can't believe that you think such things about your Queen!"

She laughs, trying to lighten the mood. "America, your hair is a direct reflection of your soul, and you know it."

"While you are not wrong, I am offended!" I joke.

Kenna and Mom laugh again. I joined in. I love hanging out with them. Once we calmed down, my mom said, "You should probably go save your husband from May."

"May is practically harmless. The most she is going to do is talk to him, and I want her to. The sooner she gets over this whole 'the king is my brother in-law' phase the better off she'll be. Besides, maybe if she talks to him, then maybe she'll be able to just be May and not a boy-crazy teenager like she is now." I brush off what my mom said.

I lean back into her while Kenna just observes from across the table. Her eyes scan the room, trying to find something to focus on. She sighs before she brings the conversation back to what we were talking about earlier, "You really do love him, don't you?"

I sigh, "I do. He's my best friend and my whole world, and I don't know what I would do without him. He changed me for the better. He opened my eyes to a different life for myself. One where he's with me through it all. He's the most supportive, kind, loving, and just sweet person I've ever met. I just had the opportunity to fall in love with him. I just… I love him with everything I am. I can't even describe it in coherent words. Just pure love and admiration towards him. And, I know it's improper of me to say this, but he is rather attractive. Like…" I whistle to myself and fan myself off to emphasize my point, "you guys haven't seen him shirtless, but he is really, really hot…"

"That's awfully sweet of you, Darling." He says. I turned back to where I heard his voice. He leans casually against the fridge, arms crossed over his chest and a smug look on his face. He most definitely witnessed my confession.

I blush and stick my tongue out at him. He comes up and wraps his arms around my body, effectively pulling me away from my mother. He kisses the side of my head, whispering in my hair, "I love you, too, Darling. And you are beautiful with and without clothes on too…"

I giggle shamelessly, "Oh yeah?"

He whispers back, "Definitely. Wanna go back to your room so I can show you just how much I love you without clothes on?"

I nod and stand up to address my family at the table. "Well, I think we are going to be going to spend some more time together. Still can't be apart from each other for too long. So, uhm, be ready to leave in…" I look to him for a time to say.

"One hour?"

"Yes, one hour. We will be in my old bedroom, knock 5 times if it's an emergency. Otherwise, we would like to be undisturbed for the next hour."

I grab his hand and pull him away from them before they can even say anything. We laugh the whole way back to my room. I push him in, close the door, and lock it. It's just me and him. I shed my cardigan, just to get it out of the way early. Then I go to him, My lips meet his effortlessly. I wrap my arms around his neck and rub up and down his back, almost clawing at the fabric that keeps me from touching his warm skin. He grabs at my waist, my hips, and my butt to pull me into him. His left hand trails down my thigh, but eventually gets pulled up by his hip. I jump up a little, our lips never leaving. He supports me as I straddle around his waist, him still standing. He walks backwards a few steps to find the edge of the bed. He then turns around and lays me down.

He breaks away from me. "Do you trust me?"

I nod to him. He gives one nod back, then he attacks my neck with so much passion. I moan unintentionally, but he thrives off of it and it makes him go harder into my skin. My hands feel up and down his body, feeling the fabric under my fingertips. His lips trail downwards my neck to the box cut neckline of my dress. At some point of him kissing close to the fabric covering my chest, my fingers left him, and trailed up my side seductively. He didn't even see it, but my hands still flowed into my hair and then back to his body. His hands worked to pull my dress up past my thighs, which was harder than we both thought with him being between my legs. I pushed him up so I could stand up and remove some of these barriers. Maxon got the hint when I nudged him up with my hand. He backed away, wiping his lip as he moved back against the wall, giving me space to take off this dress and anything else I see fit to remove. I pull the dress up over my head. He took his socks off. After he got those off, I walked over to him and our lips connected once again. A new found electricity filled my veins with unexplainable joy and lust. My hands worked to untuck his navy polo. He broke the kiss to pull it off quickly. We reconnected almost as fast. Another spark of energy. Another burst. I'm convinced he feels it, too. I know he does. He has to. My fingers now work to remove his belt. They don't fumble around like they did the first time I tried to do this, they are fast and concise working efficiently to unlatch the belt from around his waist. Another second later, and the belt is on the floor, soon to be followed by his pants when I get the button undone. Meanwhile, his hands roam around my torso. He feels the lace of my bralette, the lace of my panties, my warm skin under his warm fingertips. He feels it all.

He breaks away again, "I'll get it from here. Do you trust me?"

I nod to tell him yes, but also to accept defeat for removing his pants. Maxon takes care of getting the pants I failed to remove off. I work to remove my bralette. Then, I move onto my panties. They slide down my legs without struggle. He doesn't remove his boxers, but I don't question it. He walks up to me slowly, arms wrapping around me to grab my ass and pull my body into him. My hands feel his muscular chest, enjoying every crevice of his body and the warmth of his skin under my fingertips. He picks me up, without warning. I squeal slightly. I feel his laughter below into my chest from where his mouth is. He looks up into my eyes, and I meet his gaze. My lips kiss his. Before we can get too far just kissing, he lays me down on the bed. He kisses my lips, down my jaw to my neck, making his way down my collarbones. His lips lightly suck at the hollow of my neck, eliciting a moan from my lips. His lips trail further down my chest, leading down my stomach, straight to my throbbing core.

He gladly spreads my legs. He kisses my ankles, up my leg. It's painfully slow, but also feels so good at the same time. He stops on my right leg when he gets to my knee, then he goes to the other side. After repeating the process on the other side, he continues up the same leg stop just mere centimeters away from where I crave for him to be. I whine lightly which makes him chuckle against my skin again. He goes back to my right leg kissing from my knee up to my center. I feel the light suction on my thigh, right by my wet core. I know he is leaving me a hickey, and I don't stop him. It only drives me even crazier with want. Once he's done marking me, he stops in the same place he did on the other side. I whine, again.

"Do you trust me?" He breaths against my inner thigh.

"Always." I vowed.

He nods and without much other warning, I feel his finger dive into me. The sudden contact makes me just about scream his name. My volume is just a tad lower than what I consider a scream, but it was still rather loud. He moves quickly and powerfully inside me. He adds another finger. I arch my back and another scream-like moan of his name is thrown into the air. I feel the stir of electricity forming in my stomach. I'm getting close. My hands grip into the sheets, willing for a release somewhere.

"Keep going Maxon… I… oh my… keep going…"

I was almost over the edge of my climax, but he stopped. He hastily removes his finger from inside my body. My head pops up to look at him.

"Why did you stop? I was so close…"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course!" I reassure him.

"Let me rephrase: do you trust me in this room with your body being at my mercy?"

I swallow hard. Oh. This is about his having power in the bedroom. Do I trust him in that way? I don't even have to think about it. The answer is simple: "Yes."

He nods, stripping himself of his boxers. I admire his body. It's literally perfectly sculpted, his chest is chiseled to pure perfection and he is just so toned. My eyes continue to scan down his body, landing on his member. I swallow hard, again. Somehow, I forget how big he is between each time we do this. Instead of enlisting fear, seeing him enlists a want- a fire- inside my body. He crawls over my body, breaking my train of thought. He hovers over me kissing me. But he doesn't look at me for permission or anything like that. He lifts my body off the bed. He carries me to the wall across from my window. He pushed me against the wall, rather forcefully, but I understand why. He's adjusting himself right under me. I anticipate the feeling of him entering me, and when he lowers me down onto him, another moan of pleasure escapes my lips. He kisses my exposed neck from me throwing my head back against the wall. He moves me down the wall just a tiny bit, but I hardly notice. He thrust his hips into me, producing the movement inside me that we both crave. He goes more and more. Grunts coming from him and moans and gasps coming from me. I was so close, so freaking close.

"Maxon…"

"I know, baby… I feel it..."

I tuck my head into his neck, the pressure causing so much pleasure. He goes just a little bit longer before he cries out and muffles it into my shoulder, "Oh… shit, America… Fuck…!"

I repeat his cries into his shoulder, "Maxon!!!"

My walls tighten around him and suddenly everything stops. The world around us stops, it's just us in this moment of our releases. He walks away with me, laying me back down on the bed. He exits my body to lay next to me. We both catch our breaths, like we do every time.

"I love you…" I breathe out.

"I love you too." He leans over to kiss my head.

I cuddle into him, butt naked on top of the covers of my old bed. I feel the thin layer of sweat and shine on his warm chest. I breathe in the scent of him, and fall in love a billion times over. I throw my one leg over his, our legs mingling together. I rub my foot up and down his calf, I feel him shiver despite being so physically warm. He held me close to him, one hand reaching over himself to hold me in by my waist. The other is messing with my red locks of hair down my back. I cooled off much faster than he did, so I was ready to crawl under the covers and just be with him. In fact, that's what I tried to do. I sat up and tried to pull the covers so I could slip inside the warmth, but Maxon had other plans. With so much speed, he sat up and pulled me back into him by my waist with both hands.

"I'm cold!" I complain as I worm myself out from his grasp and under the covers.

"I can make you warm, again…"

"Oh, can you?" I love testing the waters with him. Just seeing how close I can get to setting him off in one way or another.

"Only if you trust me."

"I do, but before you do anything nice to me, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." I shoot him a glare, he chuckles, "I'm messing around, of course. What do you wish to know?"

He scoots under the covers with me, covering himself and pulling me into him. I lay on his chest, one hand tapping out his heart beat as I began to ask, "I just want to know what your deal was with asking if I trust you. Like, what was that about?"

"Do you want a real answer or something else?"

"Is there something else other than a real answer?"

"You got me there. Promise me that you won't judge me or laugh at me or something like that."

I sit up to look him in the eyes, "Maxon, if this is important to you, then I won't laugh. I promise you. We just had a serious conversation. I'm okay with having another. Whatever this is for you or will be to me, I promise that I will not make fun of you."

"Promise?"

"Promise with my whole heart. That's why I wear this gorgeous ring. Remember?" I hold up my left hand, showing off the ring, to remind him.

He chuckles lightly then goes back to his more serious face, "I think it's… hot, or a turn on or whatever you wish to call it, when you give me control and let me just go off… in this space."

"You like control in the bedroom?"

He nods sheepishly. I hold back my laughter, "That's alright!"

"It is?"

I nod and giggle slightly. I kiss his cheek and return back to look at him. "That is fine! In fact, I like letting you take control! Oh…" I close my eyes to think about the way it felt when he just did whatever with me. Just thinking about it makes me want it more. "Babe, that is more than just fine…"

"It is?"

"Yes! You do realize that as long as every once in a while I get to take charge and be in control, we can have sex like this any time you want. Well, in moderation so I can walk."

"For real?"

I nod, "For real."

He hugs me excitedly. We stay this way for just a second longer, then he pulls away, "Can I ask you a question now?"

"You just did."

He rolls his eyes, "Ha ha. For real."

I laugh, "Sorry I couldn't resist the opportunity. Go for it."

"What makes you all hot for me?"

"Like… my turn ons?"

"Yea, like your turn ons."

I swallow hard. I hadn't really thought about this. I guess, somewhere deep in my subconscious I know what I like. Am I ready to tell him, though? I guess I don't really have a choice...