Saving Prince James: A James and Sofia Love Story

Set in an alternate universe, James is now 20 and usurped his father as king and conquered every kingdom to create an empire, but he has lived his years as a lonely king with only power and wealth to keep him company. When Cedric summons a banished Sofia, 18, to the castle to secretly save the kingdoms and James, something stirs in James's heart the moment he sees a grown and blossomed Sofia. Can a banished princess save the kingdoms and can a ruthless prince find his way into the heart of a princess he once lost?

Chapter 18: Sofia's Confession

Sofia

Sofia sat on top of James, chewing on the bottom of her lips as she debated on how to tell him a safe version of the truth.

She knows that she couldn't tell him about Queen Anne. That was out of the question. She promised her that her secrets would be safe and she isn't going to start breaking her promises now.

So, what can she tell him?

"Sofia?" James looked worryingly up at her with his bright emerald green eyes, his lips captivating her and trying to draw her back down.

But despite his concerned tone, Sofia felt his hands playfully dancing on the exposed skin of her lower thighs.

And it was distracting.

It was hard enough for her to try and find a way to tell him the truth, she didn't need him giving her electrical shocks on her skin and unintentionally obliterating every thought in her mind, leaving nothing but the thought of his body and how good it felt to have his hands on her. Her body was filled with goose bumps, aching for more of his touches. And since she somewhat agreed to remain in their current position, straddling his lower torso, his touches and her body was making it increasingly hard for her to remain focused.

Her body and her mind was at battle, trying to win dominance over each other. Sofia knew that her body wanted to just continue where she and James left off, with her lips on his jaw. It was like her lips had a mind of its own, wanting to aim for somewhere lower than his neck. But her mind told her that she needed to tell James the truth – or at least half of it, out of respect for Queen Anne.

"You know, if you keep biting your lips like that," James half grinned, "it kind of makes me want to just forget this whole thing and keep kissing you."

Sofia actually had half a mind to just agree with him and go back to their little tussle of kissing and grabbing. Her body wanted more of his distracting touches, and her lips itched to continue their mission to kiss every inch of his body.

"Tempting, James," Sofia sarcastically replied, staring down at her hands on his chest. Her fingers moved on their own, making small circling motions on his cotton shirt and enjoying how she could feel his defined muscles beneath his fitted shirt. His jacket and vest were both gone the moment they returned back into the castle, but his shirt was now untucked and the first two buttons were undone. Her hands itched to touch his exposed neck and collarbones. "Keep that up and I don't think you'll ever get the explanations you asked for."

He laughed and smiled lopsidedly at her, making her heart flutter and skip a beat. His laugh was music to her ears and the joyous rush that ran through her heart.

"So, what do you want to know?" she asked.

"Oh. Um…." James looked confused, his eyes darting around as if for inspiration. "Okay, honestly I don't know what to ask you. I didn't think up any questions."

"You didn't think of anything before you made me agree to tell you my secrets?" Sofia looked incredulously at him, raising a brow.

"To be fair, I was spilling my guts out to you and you decided to obliterate my mind afterwards with that really sexy kiss," he replied. "By the way, can I get another one of those? If one can erase my mind like that, maybe a second one can restart my brain."

Sofia smacked his chest and frowned down at him. "Stop joking around, James. Be serious here. Do you want my answers or not?"

"I am being completely serious. That was seriously the sexiest kiss of my life. You were the sexiest thing I've ever seen…." His eyes began to glow mischievously as they gazed at her lips. "The way you got up and held my face." He brought her hands to his cheeks and pulling her back down onto his chest. Then she felt his hands lightly caress her sides as they slowly circle her lower waist and press her even tighter to him, letting his body warm her through his perfectly fitted shirt. "And how your voice was like thick honey to me as you told me that I was yours before kissing me."

Sofia's entire body was literally shaking with the combination of James's now husky low voice and the anticipation of kissing him again. Her lips were less than a centimeter above his. If she just slightly tilted her head, they would touch and they could return back to their little world. Their lips and tongues could dance again.

Then James lifted his head just a bit and took her bottom lip between his teeth and lightly nipped on it. She felt a rush of heat cover her entire face and down her neck.

But then he smirked up at her. "I do want answers, Sofia. Can we just do it after kissing?"

He's teasing me, dammit, Sofia thought. Fine, then I'll tease him back.

Letting her emotions for James overwhelm her body like last time, Sofia just followed along with whatever her passion and desire to do to him wanted.

With her hands still on his cheeks, Sofia gently pushed his head back onto the bed and smiled smoothly at him. She placed a small, breath of a kiss on his lips before moving to the corners of his mouth and next down to his jaw. She trailed along until she was behind his ear and kissed there too.

His body began to shiver from her kiss, making her feel powerful because she can make him react like this.

Then she started downward, heavily kissing around his neck, but stopped right in the center of his collarbone where the rest of his shirt that was still buttoned laid just under it.

I wonder how far this can go…. Sofia thought as her heart began to beat faster and faster with every one of her actions. How far can I push this?

Rising back up, Sofia's fingers stoked down from his lips, all the way down his neck, and stopped right on top of his shirt's button. She watched him as his glazed eyes grew wide, his lips parted and his breathing became fast and hoarse. With one hand, she slowly unbuttoned just one of them and let the tips of her hands graze the very center of where more of his skin was exposed.

Sofia bit down onto her lips to keep from smiling when she heard his breath hitched.

Her heart was beating so fast that she could feel the erratic beating at the top of her throat. This crazy, wild side of her was so new. She's never behaved like this before and it was thrilling! It was fun and riveting to be able to act so sensual and break James down like this. She's never felt so empowered and sexy at the same time.

But she has to stop before it gets out of control. This was only a tease after all.

Watching as he closed his eyes when she gave one last kiss at the center of the top of his chest, Sofia smiled at him before bringing her lips to his ear and said in a low, sugary tone, "I don't think so."

James's eyes ripped open as she rose back up, sitting on him. "What?"

"I don't think so," Sofia repeated, making her expression calm and even. She tried to leave no trace of her new bold and sensual side visible in spite of liking how thick and throaty his voice was.

"Bu-but I thought –"

"You thought what James?" Sofia asked, faking an innocent tone. She enjoyed seeing his reaction as she continued to tease him. "How far did you really think I was going to go?"

"Well, I kind of hoped…" James said with downcast eyes. Sofia was taken aback by how sad he actually sounded.

Oh my gosh, is he really that sad that I didn't – Then she felt his hands run up her legs. Never mind, I was wrong.

"Yeah, no, James," Sofia sternly said as she smacked his hands away from her thighs. "I already told you that I'm not ready for that. And if you want to stay in this position as I explain what I can to you, your hands have to behave."

"Fine," he pouted.

"Okay," Sofia said, eyeing him skeptically.

"So, just begin with anything," he said, still pouting.

Where do I begin…? Sofia contemplated for several minutes. I can't just blurt out everything…. Well, I guess since he told me about The Evil Voice, I might as well tell him that I already knew about it….

"I already knew about the voice in your head," she quickly spewed out.

"Wait, what?"

"I already knew about it because my amulet told me," Sofia lied with a shrug, refusing to tell him that her "friend" told her. There would be too many questions about her "friend" that she knew she wouldn't be able to lie out of.

"Your amulet what?"

"James, my amulet is magical. And over the years, it has helped me out of a lot of nasty situations. Its purpose is to help and protect every princess whomever wears it and her true love."

"So, it protects me – wait," James shook his head, confused. "How did it even tell you that I have a crazy, evil voice in my head?"

"That's the thing though, it's not in your head. It's in the castle. It's a living person," Sofia explained. She looked at him straight in the eye, hoping that he would believe her and understand. "It just gave me a clue that there was something evil in the castle and it's trying to control you. It wants to gain more power and rule your empire. I found out that this evil feeds on you and your anger, it amplifies your hurt and angry feelings so you would go berserk. It wants to make you look like a murderous monster, James."

"Why?"

"So when the time is right, it'll can swoop in, take the empire, and look like the hero."

James was silent as he looked up at her. His expression was hard and serious as his lips were in a tight line.

"So, I'm not going crazy here?" James said after some moments of tense silence. "There is some evil thing in this castle trying to control me? This voice didn't just pop in my head out of nowhere? I'm not crazy?"

Sofia's heart literally hurt at his words. He thought he was going crazy….

This entire time, he was all alone in this castle, trying to make sense of what was going on. It hurt him so much that he was driven to desperation, so many lives were lost and hurt. And yet, among the turmoil in his head, he still tried to protect her and Amber and their mother….

"No..." Sofia gently stroked his cheek, wishing that she could erase all of the damage and hurt this evil thing did to James all of these years. "You're not crazy. You were never crazy."

He let out a heavy, relieved sigh. He lifted one of his hands and clasped onto hers, pressing his cheek further into Sofia's hand. Her hand was so warm between his hand and cheek, she felt it spread up her arm and twirl around her heart.

"Why me though?" His eyes looked so confused and relieved at the same time. "If it wants the kingdom, why didn't it just latch onto dad? Dad never announced who the heir was, so why did it choose me out of everyone?"

"I honestly don't know… I think that it saw your betrayed feelings from Dad's affair as a way to start its master plan. Anyway, it can't latch onto me because my amulet protects me from all forms of evil. It can't watch me or do anything. The same goes for you. As long as I'm still here, it can't get to you because you're my true love."

"But how is that even possible when that evil thing is already latched onto me? Why didn't your amulet protect us when we first met if we're destined for each other?"

"I honestly don't know. I've had this amulet for eleven years now and I still don't know everything about it," Sofia said. "I think we both needed to realize that we were in love with each other for it to really protect us. Anyway, we met as kids, James; I was seven and you were nine. We couldn't really be in love at that age."

"Okay, you're right..."

Nodding, Sofia gently smiled at him. "Don't worry, James. My amulet protects me and you from that evil thing. So as long as I'm with you, you won't hear that voice in your head. It can't control you."

"Really?"

Sofia saw his emerald green eyes shift, lightening like he's found a new hope to believe in. And her heart swelled to know that she is his new hope.

"Yes," Sofia sweetly said but her tone changed and became serious. "But I need to defeat it. I can't let it remain in our castle, trying to hurt everyone we love."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know," Sofia answered back dejectedly. "I haven't figured out that part yet. All I know so far is that I need to find its source and kill it, but I still haven't found it or a way to kill it."

"Have you been trying to do all of this on your own?"

Yes and no? Sofia guiltily thought. Can I tell him about Amber or Baileywick and Cedric's organization?

"…Kind of. I have friends helping me." Sofia saw James open his mouth, trying to interject. Sofia stop James short of saying anything, already knowing what he was going to ask next. "But I can't tell you about them."

"Does any of them know about the voice in my head? About this evil thing?" he asked instead.

"No. People can't know about it because I think that the more people who know about it, the more vulnerable to it they become. If the more people know or become aware of it, it might feed on the fear and try to hurt everyone. And besides you and me, there is only one more person who knows."

"And who is that?" James asked wryly. "Please don't tell me that it's Hugo."

"No, it's not," Sofia rolled her eyes. "It's the same friend who helped me realize my feelings for you. I still can't tell you who she is."

"So it's only you and me and this mystery girl of yours…." James stared up at her bed's light pink canopy. "That's it?"

Sofia nodded and looked worryingly down at him as another moment of silence drifted between them. James appeared to be like he was deep in his own thoughts and Sofia didn't want interrupt whatever was running through his mind. She was sure that what she just told him was already too much information and he was possibly overwhelmed by it all.

But she couldn't take the silence. She wanted to know if he was okay….

"James," Sofia softly said, "I know that this is a lot to take in, bu –"

"Yeah it is," James absently nodded with a short laugh, his eyes still on her canopy. "But there's something else that's bothering me."

"Okay, what?"

James finally looked back at her and suddenly it was like all of the air in her lungs was pushed out. She was frozen by the fierce and possessive fire in his eyes. And the moment she looked into them, a mind-shattering urge to kiss him all over again almost overpowered her. It took a good deal of concentration for her to restrain herself.

"You and Hugo," he tersely said. "What was that about him waiting until you say 'yes' to his proposal? I mean, the other stuff about this evil thing in the castle, I can handle. But you and Hugo? What's going on?"

He's jealous again…. Sofia's rational side mentally sighed.

"He proposed to me," she apologetically shrugged. "He said that he's been searching for me for about three years now because I was all he could think about. He wanted to find me and court me and later marry me. But now, he wants me and Amber to run away with him as a way to protect us from you. He wants us as far away from this castle as possible and maybe marry me later."

"Like hell tha –" James angrily cursed.

"James," Sofia quickly covered his mouth with her hand, stopping him before he got too loud. "I said no. I refused his offer to run away and his proposal. Do you want to know why?"

With his mouth still covered, he could only narrow his eyes at her as a way of silently asking "why." She could see some annoyance in his eyes, but Sofia knew that it was more targeted at Hugo than at her.

"Because he thinks he can save me. He thinks I need saving, James. That I'm some damsel that is waiting for a prince to come and rescue her, and I can tell by the way he looks at me that he honestly believes I am weak. I know that he only wants to be with me because he thinks that I am the perfect weak and submissive princess like in the classic fairy tales. But you don't."

James looked up at her with a now skeptical expression, as if he was unsure of what she was trying to say to him.

Jeez, he can be so dense sometimes, Sofia rolled her eyes when he didn't catch on as to what she was trying to imply to him.

"When I'm with you," Sofia said, hoping that he would finally understand her. "I don't feel like you look at me as if I'm some pathetically weak princess, you make me feel like I am someone strong and fierce. You make me feel so many things, James, and Hugo doesn't. You support me at my strongest moments and hold me during my weakest; I don't think he can even accept me as someone who can be independent. That's why I refused him. He only wants me, but doesn't need me. You do; you want and need me, you desire and value me."

Her hand was still on his mouth, so she could only see his eyes soften a little. She doesn't know how to explain it, but from the look in his eyes, it was like he was truly listening to her now. Like he was finally understanding what she was trying to say.

"And that's what I love about you, James. You know when to let me just be free and have no expectations of me. You don't try to change me or want me as anything else. Instead, you help me grow; you stand by my side and try your best to help me live and grow," Sofia continued. "And besides that, I like that you're possessive and overprotective sometimes. It's almost endearing to see you a little bit selfish when it comes to me."

James's hand removed her hand off of his mouth, "wait – you like it when I'm like that? You like seeing me jealous and possessive about you?"

"I said 'sometimes.' But yeah, it's almost cute to see you like that."

He began to laugh, shaking his head like he was in disbelief. "You honestly like me when all I want to do is beat Hugo or any other boy around you?"

"Wha – no, I didn't say that. You're only cute when you're a little bit possessive. Going on a jealous rampage because some guy was saying 'hi' or standing too close to me is not cute, James."

"Okay," he breathed after his little fit of laughter. Sofia rolled her eyes again at him when he mockingly wiped away an imaginary tear. "So, what else do you love about me?"

Wait, what?

"What?"

"What else do you love about me?" he smirked up at her. "I want to hear about what other things you love about me."

She hated the feeling of a blush growing on her cheeks from his arrogant smile. Against her will, even her heart was starting to beat fast again.

Dammit, heart! Stop it! Sofia mentally cursed at her own heart. Don't show him that his smug smile can make you beat like this! He doesn't need another boost in his ego! Okay, heart? You hear me?

"Wait a minute, I only told you that so you won't freak out and think that I'll leave with Hugo."

"Then what if I need to hear more so I can be reassured some more?" he pretentiously grinned in an innocent tone. "Hmm?"

"James," Sofia tried to scowl.

"Oh, come on," he whined. "Tell me more. Reassure me. Set my mind at ease. Please?"

"...Fine!" Sofia gave in, giving him her best annoyed glare.

"Yes!" he grinned even wider, making her roll her eyes again.

Jeez, how many times have I rolled my eyes? I can literally feel an ache in the back of my eyes.

"Even though it can be annoying," she sighed, "I love that you're always trying to touch me, like you need to brush your hands against mine or else you'll die or something." Sofia tried to fight against her smile, the memories of his attempts to touch her returning back with a blissful warmth. And despite herself, she brought his hands up to her cheek and kissed the center of his palm "I like how calloused your hands are; they're so big and strong but whenever you hold me, they're so warm and soft and gentle. I like that they engulf my hands and make me feel so tiny."

Her voice grew softer as she continued on, as if she was subconsciously trying to quiet her voice so that only James could hear. She didn't even want the starry skies to hear it. It was for James and James alone.

"I love the way I can see all of the love and affection in your eyes, and that it's only for me. I love how I am the only one who gets to see your unguarded eyes and how your lopsided smile only appears for me. And it is amazing how one moment you're so playful with me and the next, you're passionately kissing me. I love that you try to spoil me even when I tell you not to. I think it's adorable that you have a tendency to wrap me in your arms and shower me with kisses the moment when we're alone." Sofia smiled at him, unable to fight against the wonderful feelings inside that is making her break out into a smile. "There is a long list of what I love about you, James, and I doubt I can ever fully tell you everything because it just keeps growing."

He just laughed and tenderly smiled up at her as his eyes sparkled and looked fondly up at her. It was like her little speech left him nothing but happy and wordless. But his speechless, loving stare just told her everything she needed to know: he loved her even more, that his heart was overflowing and broke his lips into a smile like it was a weak dam.

Then he reached up, gently stroked her cheeks, and pulled her down for a long, loving kiss. It soon gained passion, it would have made her toes curl if it weren't for the fact that they was still bandaged up.

But the moment his arms ran up and down her back, a familiar and sudden boldness began to grow inside of her. His hands stopped on her hips and his thumbs started to make small circular motions, she felt tingles shoot up her spin.

"But you want to know the thing I love most?" she asked as she pulled away for air. "I love that I am your true love and that you're mine. So from this day on, I am going to be utterly and mercilessly selfish when it comes to you."

She could never get enough of how wonderful it felt to have his arms around her, to touch her and set her skin on fire.

This new desire made her want to mark every part of his body, most importantly his heart. These days, her emotions have become so overpowering. It's as if her body began to only follow her emotions more than her mind - no her heart. It only followed her heart whenever it involved James.

And at the moment, she didn't care. She'd happily followed along to what her heart and paralyzing emotions wanted from James.

"Meaning…" she said slowly, making sure he hears the next words that are going to come out of her mouth, "that I have a few rules."

Letting them move on their own, her hands slowly started to unbutton his shirt. And she watched his eyes grow wide when he realized just what her hands were doing. Once his shirt was fully undone, she brushed it off of his shoulders and chest so that she could get a good look at how muscled and perfectly toned his form was. He had defined abs and chest muscles that all smoothly connected and dipped into a v-shape below his hips. James was so lean and chiseled like a statue, ideal and just perfect to look at.

"Rule number one," she said as her hands then ran up his sides and back down his smooth chest. She lightly tickled the tops of his ribs with her fingernails, even going as far as letting it gently scrape at him. Her hands explored and touched every inch of his figure, brushing the top of where his trousers hung low on his hips. "No one gets to touch you."

His chest was heaving up and down now, matching his fast breathing. She heard his breath catch in his throat, making small gasping sounds whenever she move on top of him. His hands were down at his side now, gripped into hard fists.

"Rule number two," Sofia said as she leaned down and blew lightly above his heart. Then she placed one kiss after another, starting from his heart and moving down the center of his chest until she was just below his bellybutton. "No one gets to kiss you," she said before kissing where his chest met his waist in a subtle v.

"Rule number three," she said after kissing her way back up his warm chest, his neck and jaw, stopping just above his lips. She looked at him, knowing he could see all of her unmasked emotions. His eyes were ablaze with so many raw emotions, she could see practically everything mix and swirl and burn with a fiery passion. His jaw looked hard set, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down when he swallowed hard. "I will be the last and only girl that you will ever touch, kiss, and lov –"

Sofia was too caught up with her own emotions and what she was doing that she didn't even realize what he was doing. And before she even finished her sentence, she heard a frustrated grunt as she felt him quickly shift under her. The next thing she knew, she was flipped onto her back in one swift motion. She became keenly aware of how his knees trapped her legs together between his own and his hands were settled up at the sides of her head.

"Do those rules apply to you?" he smiled dangerously down at her.

Dear fates... If it was even possible, his eyes were now intense burning green fires of desire and excitement.

"Duh," she replied. She tried to mimic his smile, hoping that she appeared as dangerous and sensual as last time. Her heartbeat was now ringing in her ears and she was sure that James could hear it too by the way his smile grew more confident.

"Rule number one?" he asked as his hands slowly roamed her neck and parts of her exposed collarbones.

"Yes," she said as nonchalantly as she could. She tried to ignore the wonderful feeling of static from his hands on her skin.

He pressed himself down onto her as he pulled on the left shoulder of her dress. The cold night air hit her now revealed shoulder before James leaned down and kissed her bare skin, warming it with his hot lips. "Rule number two?" he asked as he made his way up her neck and stopped behind her ear.

"Of course," she barely managed to say as silvery tingles ran through her body. Her hands automatically grabbed onto James, feeling the uncovered muscles of his back and shoulders.

"And what about rule number three?" His breath gently tickled her ear as he whispered to her. "Am I the last and only guy you'll ever touch, kiss, and love?"

When his face reappeared back above her, she smiled and pulled him as close to her as possible. "You already are, James."

He just smiled back at her and crashed his lips to hers, and she enjoyed the way their tongues immediately returned back to dancing with one another. Each time they would pull away and kiss again, it was so familiar and foreign to her. The way his mouth explored her as if it was something new but she would naturally ran her tongue around his like it was so well-known to her.

Their intimate tussle of kissing and dancing quickly became wistful and hot that she didn't even realize what their hands were doing. They were just too consumed by the excited and happy moment between them. Sofia had lost count of how many times they broke for air, and it wasn't until their nth time coming up for air did Sofia's hazy vision registered that James's shirt was now discarded off to the side and the small ribbon on her six-holed corset design on the front of her dress was now undone and pulled out.

Oh, shit. My emotions didn't want this.

Okay, it did but not this, this.

Just before he could kiss her again, Sofia turned her head and managed to avoid his lips. He didn't seem to realize or care where he was now kissing, and instead began to move his lips around her cheek and back down her neck.

"James, wait."

"What?" he absently asked against her skin. He was now kissing below her collarbone.

Sofia fought hard to ignore how great the sensation was when he spoke against her hypersensitive skin.

"Stop." Sofia gently pushed at him.

"What?" he asked as he raised and looked worryingly down at her with still glazed eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, we're just getting a bit carried away."

James looked around, taking in the loose front of her dress and his shirtless appearance. There was a bit of shock as a small blush crept up on his perfectly sculpted face.

"Oh, yeah," he said. But he made no motion to roll off of her or get his shirt. "I guess you're right. But you know, this did start because you unbuttoned my shirt."

"Shut up, James," Sofia blushed as she now firmly pushed him off.

"It was sexy by the way," he said as he lifted off of her and sat down on her bed, still not putting his shirt back on. "I like this new sexy side of yours."

"Funny," she sarcastically said as she tied her white ribbon back onto her dress.

"Again, being completely serious here," he said as he took off his socks and shoes.

What is he doing?

In one motion, he pulled her back down onto the bed, embracing her to him as half of her head rested on one of her pillows and his right bicep. His left arm held her tightly to him, his still naked chest warming her back. He nestled closely into her, burying his face into her hair and lightly kissing the top of her head.

"James, what are –" she protested, trying to wiggle out of his arms. But that only made him tighten his arm around her waist even more.

"You only stopped our little kissing party because it would have led to something else. Well, I kind of doubt this little cuddling would. Let's just stay like this for a while." She felt him smile against the top of her head. "Since you did say that you love it when I hold you whenever we're alone. And if I'm not wrong, we're alone."

No, this cuddling can and might lead to something... But the moment her head felt her pillow, she was too tired to even say that.

Sofia just gave up trying to fight him as tiredness and exhaustion from this eventful night immediately washed over her. The comfort of her bed and James's warmth was too hard to resist. James wasn't even going to let her out of his hands anyway.

"I said it was adorable, I didn't say I loved it," she dryly said.

James just chuckled and pulled her closer towards him. "Same thing."

"No, it's not."

"Yeah, it is." She could hear his smile as he chuckled some more. "By the way, you should do that some more."

"Do what?" she yawned. Her eyes were getting heavier and it was getting hard for her to keep them open.

"Rip my shirt open and kiss my entire chest."

Then again, it wasn't getting that hard for her to keep them open.

Sofia's eyes widened and she blushed as she smacked James's left arm. "I didn't 'rip' your shirt open."

"Yes, you did," he said in a singsong tone.

I can't believe I did something like that, she thought. Even though she was half mortified by her crazy behavior, she kind of liked that it was crazy and sexy.

"I unbuttoned it, not ripped," she explained through her blush.

"Same thing."

"No, it's not. Anyway, shouldn't you be heading back to your room? With your shirt back on?" Sofia asked. "It's almost two in the morning."

"I thought maybe I could stay," he pitifully pouted as if he was some begging puppy. It would have worked if he wasn't still shirtless. "I promise to leave before any of the staff could catch me. So just let me stay and sleep here."

"Fine," she gave in.

Wow, some fight you put up there…. She self-chided. But she was too tired to go back and forth with his little begging game. She knew that he was just going to keep at it and break her down until she agreed. At least this way, she can save herself some time and remain in his warm arms.

"Yay," he laughed in his low and rugged voice. She smiled at how he sounded so much like a child and a grown man at the same time.

Pulling her blankets up, he wrapped it around them and letting it envelop them in a soft, warm cocoon. Digging deeper into her hair, he let out a contented sigh. With the peaceful silence of the night and James's even breathing, it began to relax her towards the edges of sleep. She watched the dying light of her flickering candles until her vision began to blur as she was getting closer to drifting off.

When she was close to fully falling asleep, she heard James say something.

"You know, you don't have to deal with this evil thing all on your own. I'm right here. I can help you." His hot breath rustled her hair.

"I know, James," Sofia tried to respond against the sleep. "But I don't want –"

"I'm not going to let you do this on your own, you know that. So don't try to fight me here." His voice was so hard and protective, and there was so much serious determination in his tone.

Despite how tired she was, she managed to turn around to face him. "James, I just don't want to involve any more people in this and make them vulnerable to this evil thing."

"Sofia, I have it in my head. I can't be any more vulnerable or involved than that. Anyway, we have your amulet to protect us," he said to her. His eyes were unyielding, they told her that he wasn't going to let her continue on with this little mission of hers without him. "We're a team now, Sofia. And I'm not going to back down from this."

She already knew that he wasn't going to give up on this, he was as stubborn as her. And he was right about how vulnerable he already was to The Evil. All she wanted was to keep him as removed from this evil as possible, but that was impossible because, like he said, it was already in his head. There was no way she could fully protect him from it if it was clawing at his mind….

And there was the factor of her amulet.

If he did help her, then maybe she could remain with him as much as possible and then she could protect him like that. The more he was with her, the more she could keep him safe. And his help could maybe prove vital to bringing this evil thing down once and for all…

But how is she going to explain this from Amber and the others?

Well… they already know that I spend most of my time with James anyway, so I could just keep this from them. Right?

Right. I could just say that I'm trying really hard to find ways to keep him from going berserk again.

Yeah, that'll do. For now. I hope.

"Alright, fine," Sofia looked up at his firm eyes. "But, this is a secret between you and me. The others can't know about this because it might lead to them finding out about The Evil and I can't protect them from it."

"Okay," he smiled, obviously happy that he got his way. Again. "Now, go back to sleep."

"I was almost asleep but then you decided that you couldn't wait until morning to tell me this stuff," Sofia grumbled. "And you never put your shirt back on, by the way."

"Whatever," he retorted. "I like being shirtless sometimes."

Sofia smiled as she felt him kiss the crook of her neck. He tucked the blanket in closer to her and embraced her tighter as she drifted back to sleep in his arms.


Chapter eighteen! Woo!

I'm sorry you guys, but you did not meet my challenge requirements to release a chapter early. There had to be at lease ten of you guys who guessed right for me to publish this chapter early and not enough of you guys reviewed a guess. But there are going to be another challenges for you guys in future chapters, so more chances for you all to either unlock an early chapter or another clue as to who The Evil might be or some extra bonuses.

Challenge: Tell me what you all think of this chapter, review or comment in this chapter. The top three reviewers will get a shout out (fanfic users and guests) and I will release the next chapter a little bit early. This time as a holiday present to all of you. It's going to be release a few days after Christmas (ie, this Thursday, pacific time, USA) because I am a bit swamped with holiday shopping. So there is a time crunch on this challenge, your review needs to be in by December 26 (pacific time) if you want me to release it this week.

I know that it got really steamy in this chapter, but I did put out a warning in chapter seven that this series's rating is T-16 and T-17. Thank you for understanding and happy holidays.

Read. Review. etc.

Thanks :)