THE ICE KING'S CLAIM

This is how you kiss ..

Raven.

"I found someone that I love, too " I whispered, my eyes locked onto my target.

Before anyone could react, before rationality could kick in, I made a few steps towards where he stood, wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him closer, locking my lips with his.

It was a short and impulsive kiss, clumsy, at best, geared to prove Julian wrong, and the boldness in my movements surprised me, even.

For a hot suffocating minute, silence enveloped the entire arena, punctuated by deep tension.

I had already broken the kiss, and the victim? he hadn't even moved, he barely reacted, even, and now, now that rationality was back, reality pressing relentlessly on my senses, I wanted to disappear, to die, if possible.

I hadn't just kissed anyone. I had kissed Chase Whitmore, the Ice king and the Glacier King's Captain.

He was the country's renowned hockey player, second to no one. He practically ruled the rink world, the youngest captain in history.

Mysterious at best, with a personality as cold as the ice he commanded, and a face so handsome it was almost ridiculous.

Silence hummed softly between us, our gazes locked, his unreadable while mine was glossed by unmasked fear.

Around us, eyes stroked us, me, to be more precise, sharpened by curiosity and disbelief.

A random girl, a no name in the campus, Julian Roth's unpopular girlfriend had not only declared her love for the celebrity captain, she had even kissed him.

It wasn't just ridiculous. It was absurd in all forms and now that I was thinking clearly, dispair and humiliation burned through me in equall measures.

Damn you, Julian! If he hadn't pushed me to that extent, would I have acted so impulsively?

And here, I was about to face conceques of my impulsive actions. Just the thought of the fate that possibly awaited me had my blood turning cold.

" Raven?" Julian's amused voice cut through the silence, and I almost flinched, from just the mockery in it.

" You? In love with the captain?He has to want you back, right?" He jabbed, sarcasm dousing his words, and yet, underneath everything, I could sense a spark of jealous, frustration, maybe?

Well, I chose to focus on the positive. My aim was to prove to him that I wasn't the one who got dumped, but the other way round. Well, you and I know the truth, right? but it doesn't matter. A win is a win.

Julian was bothered, more than he was willing to admit, actually. I mean, Chase had always been a person that he admired, looked up to, and envied at the same time.

To see the girl he had just discarded, labelled as nothing, latching into him, and locking her lips onto his idol's, that must have been unsettling, right?

The mere thought had twisted satisfaction burning through me, and I visibly relaxed.

Whatever punishment the king of Ice was going to give me, I was going to take it, it was better that way than allowing Julian to humiliate me in front of the whole campus. I still had my dignity.

I didn't say anything. I just shot Julian a challenging look, provocative in all aspects, and after knowing him for so long, of course, I could see it in his calm exterior. He was losing his calm..He wasn't as unbothered as he was trying to paint.

" You? A girl from the suburbs? Why would the captain want anything to do with you?" After trying to make sense of it, he asked, disbelief contouring his features.

He was right. Chase was the definition of talent, grace and elegance. Why would he want anything to do with me?

"I know I broke your heart with the way things ended between us " His voice was laden with surgical concern as he went on.

" I understand that you were trying to make me jealous by kissing the captain." He added, and soft humms reverberated through the arena, as they all agreed with him and yeah, I almost nodded, too..

But I couldn't. My pride wouldn't let me admit to having done exactly what my ex, the man I thought I had a solid forever with, described.

"He is my captain," He paused, pride painting his privileged features.

" On the account of my past with you, I will ask him to forgive you, if," His gaze traveled to the Captain, as he played the magnanimous ex card.

He even had the guts to look at me like he wanted a bow for being kind, and looking at him, I nearly scoffed.

He had broken my heart. Was I supposed to thank him for it?

" If you apologize sincerely, I will ask the captain to forgive you." He declared, a proud grin tagging at the corners of his lips.

I wanted to wipe that stupid grin from his lips with a tight slap, but I clenched my hands, instead.

Julian wasn't just my ex, my Mom worked for his family business too. No matter how mad I was, I had to swallow it all, for the sake of my Mom's paycheck.

" You heard him.. Apologize to the captain and cut the drama short!" It was Victoria Hale who spoke this time, impatience clinging to her voice. From the looks, she couldn't wait to go back to kissing him, my ....ex.

I steered my gaze from them, redirecting it to Chase Whitmore, the star of the show, the man who had been quiet all along, watching the whole drama with indifferent, as if it had nothing to do with him.

My eyes were almost pleading as they held his.

' Please..' I almost whimpered, fingers tightly clenched, as I waited for his verdict.

' Please, don't humiliate me...' I chanted under my breath, and the fear of the possible humiliation, the fear of possibly turning into the campus joke had my legs almost buckling under my weight.

Christ! I had never wanted to take back time as much as I did.

" So, Captain Chase, what do you say?" I almost yelped when Julian asked. He couldn't wait to humiliate me, could he?

" What should I say?" A deep and husky voice seeped through the air, rich, teasing, almost musical.

It was Chase's, there was a subtle smile on his lips as he lifted my chin with one finger..

His eyes were hoisting mine, and for reasons I couldn't name, my heart missed beats..I was still scared, and yet, there was something else pulsing with the fear ..

" Why should my girlfriend apologise for kissing me?" He asked, his eyes still on me, and I froze in place, shock churning through my skin..

Girlfriend?

"That's not how you kiss, little muse..." He whispered, and before I could react, his lips claimed mine.

" This is how you kiss," He paused, whispered, before he locked his lips with mine, again...