The Forbidden flame

His car came to a stop in front of me. It was black and sleek and screamed dangerous, just like him.

I stood rooted to the spot until he opened the door and slowly made his way out.

I don't know if it was in my head or if it was real but I could have sworn he came out of the car in slow motion.

He walked towards me, taking confident calculated steps, you could just see the power in his stride.

He came to a halt right in front me. Axel Creed.

No steamy dream could have prepared me for this.

He looked taller than I remember, if that was even possible.

 His shoulders looked broader too.

His white T-shirt clung to him in all the right places.

Tattoos crept down his arms and I couldn't take my eyes off of them.

Overall, he had gotten sexier than he was the last time I saw him.

"Ellie," he said, his voice low and deep.

"Hi," I squeaked, suddenly forgetting how to speak in his presence.

He smirked and pulled me into a short friendly hug. The hug was too short and way too friendly for me.

"I'll grab your bags,"he said. He carried my bags effortlessly and put them in the trunk of his car.

I watched his muscles flex underneath his shirt and I could have sworn I drooled.

"Are you ready to go?," he asked. I just nodded mechanically because I didn't trust myself to speak.

We got into the car and he took off immediately.

The first few minutes of the ride we were both silent. Axel wasn't someone who made small talk.

I kept trying to think of what to say to fill the silence but came up with nothing.

When I was alone I planned out a whole conversation with him in my head but now that he was here with me I was at a loss for words.

"So what's your major?" Axel asked, to my surprise.

He kept tapping his finger on the steering wheel, a nervous habit of his.

"Creative writing," I muttered, still stunned that he's actually making small talk.

"I'm not surprised, you've always had your head in the clouds," he remarked.

I blushed and turned to the window. I couldn't believe he remembered.

When I was 14, I wrote a story about a beautiful princess and her prince charming.

 Only that her prince charming was tall, athletic, had shiny black hair with stormy gray eyes that peer into your soul.

Oh, he also had tattoos, does that sound familiar?. Yes, I described prince charming exactly like Axel, although I never wrote his name.

And if you haven't already guessed, I described the princess as me. Petite, brunette, brown eyes, I gave her a different name though, but it was obviously me.

I wrote about how the princess was captured by evil people and her prince charming came and saved her and they kissed and fell in love.

You know the way those Disney princess stories go, yes that's what I wrote.

It would have been fine if my story never saw the light of day but to my utter humiliation my dad found the book on my table open when he came looking for his stapler and when Axel came around later on, my father proudly showed him what his creative daughter wrote.

Dad was completely oblivious to the fact that prince charming was literally Axel but the man in question was way more observant.

As he read it, he smirked, I just stood there mortified, willing the earth to open up and swallow me whole.

I was transported back to the present when I heard Axel chuckle beside me.

For a second I swore it was the same exact way he laughed when he read the story that day.

My blush intensified, did he really remember the story?. I couldn't dare to ask, I had to hold on to what was left of my dignity.

I continued looking outside then I suddenly felt his gaze on me, I shivered. I wasn't sure if it was because of him or if it was actually a bit chilly.

Without a word, I heard the soft click of the air conditioning dial. The cold air eased.

He noticed.My heart thudded. He always noticed.

We enjoyed  the rest of the ride in silence.

It was probably just my imagination but I felt like the silence held a lot of weight, the weight of unspoken words.

"We're here," he said as he pulled into the parking lot of my dorm.

My shoulders sagged, I didn't want to say goodbye to him.

"I'll get your bags," he said reaching for the door handle but his hand just hovered as if he was stalling.

Then he opened the door and stepped out before I could even blink.

With a defeated sigh I got out of the car too.

He effortlessly lifted my bags and dropped them in front of the dorm but I looked at him, puzzled.

"What?" he asked.

"I need your help to get them inside, they're heavy," I replied.

He sighed and carried them again with little to no effort and followed me inside.

As soon as we stepped inside he stopped, I looked back and saw that his demeanour had changed as he took in the environment.

A guy walked past us right at that tie and nodded at me. Offering a flirty smile then disappeared into one of the rooms.

"Ellie, by any chance, is this a mixed dorm?" he asked in a tone that told me he already knew the answer and he didn't like it one bit.

"I guess you could call it that," I replied with a shrug.

He shook his head and put the bags down, looking at me with a straight face.

"Does your dad know about this Ellie?"

I loved the way he said my name, it reminded me of this morning's dream, when he was hovering above me and muttering my name in between kisses.

"Ellie?" he called again.

I shook my head to get rid of all the naughty things running through my mind.

"I asked if your dad has any idea you're staying in a mixed dorm," he questioned.

I winced, "not exactly," I answered, shuffling on my feet.

"Ellie, you're-"he ran his hand over his face and sighed. "You're 19 years old living in a mixed dorm all by yourself."

"But I'm not alone, I am in college," I argued, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You know that's not what I mean," he retorted, shooting me a hard look.

"The single gender dorms were all filled, what was I supposed to do, find a bridge to sleep under?" I asked.

He shook his head, "you should have called me," he replied, his voice a bit softer this time.

"What would you have done, offered me a place to stay?" I asked, my voice a bit daring.

He paused for a moment, his jaw clenched and hands clenched by his side.

For a hot minute it seemed like he was actually considering it, then his eyes widened, as if he came back to his senses.

"That's ridiculous, not everything is a joke Ellie," he said, stepping back.

"Who said I was joking?" I muttered under my breath, but he heard and he looked at me.

My heart thudded because for once he looked at me different, with a fire in his eyes.

For the first time ever he didn't look at me like a child, he looked at me like a woman.

He suddenly walked close to me and stopped right in front of me, then he leaned forward till he was the same height as me.

"You're playing a dangerous game, little one," he whispered, his hot breath fanning my face.

Then he picked up my bags like nothing just happened and went towards the direction of my room while I was still standing there, reeling from him being that close.