The medical team hadn't taken long to confirm that the Princess had been deceased from the initial autopsy. She had suffered from the attacks, and it was identified that it had been one of the guards that were still alive at that present time. As to why their systems finally picked up on his location? It was assumed that he had emerged from the crawl space they were hiding in.

He, like the other guard, held wounds that weren't treatable. The blood loss from the attacks suggested how violent the night was for all of them inside the palace—telling from the immense and brutal force unleashed on the servants that there was no intent to leave any survivors behind.

Cid dismissed his soldiers after that, wanting them to return in the morning, to which they would release the information to the high officials and work on the funeral that would then take place for both the Queen of the two worlds and her Royal Highness.

After intensely scrubbing off the day, Matthew turned off the searing hot shower. For one of the most exhausting nights he had in a long time, tonight was in the books. It was also the knowledge he now held that everything would change in the next few hours once the news broke.

His mind consistently drummed over contingency plans, anticipating what it meant for them and where it took them next.

How was it that his day began not too different from the many others he has had over his lifetime, turning into the normal nights when he could escape Escobar?

Yet she, with her smart little mouth and greedy little hands, forced him to forget about his world momentarily when she kissed him, taking the air out of his lungs and keeping it all to herself.

Why had he thought about how it felt to have Eko's skin against his own or the sway of her body when the lights had hit her perfectly between the beats of the drums?

Matthew shook his head, baffled at that piece of fact alone.

He didn't expect his night to go to shit, being on the moon, inspecting the palace and finding the deceased Princess as they did. Comforting Eko the way he had, then escaping for his life as the palace crumbled around him, leaving the dirt and ash covering his body.

He could smell the blood as he sat there with Cid; it was over his hands, his shirt and tangled in his hair. The longer it sat, the more nauseating it was and the further it consumed him.

Matthew was left with these abhorrent feelings of death, eating at him further as his body remained on autopilot.

Pulling on his briefs, he snapped from what he was doing when there was a small rap on his door.

Cocking his head at the noise, he decided to avoid it, knowing his track record; it had been one of the fan girls. He needed to keep focused as much as he would appreciate it any other given time after tonight and the morning he was about to have.

Moving amongst the narrow closet to find fresh clothing, and before he could reach out to grab his pants and shirt, the second rap on his door echoed again, this time a fraction faster.

Ignoring his better judgement, he relented and moved to the door, shoulders relaxing. Maybe it was Jesse or one of the guys; perhaps they needed something else; it was coming to two in the morning.

The option that it was one of them was a far higher probability than that being the Fanclub.

Tapping into the control panel for the door, he allowed it to slide open, and the person that stood staring at him was not the person he expected.

Even if it became the one that he was most curious to see at this time of the morning.

"Eko?" Bare-chested, chiselled abdomen, the soft bulge was staring at her, now leaning against the door frame. A surprised and delighted look on his face as he took in the brunette goddess curiously.

"I was just getting ready to leave. I need to head back to Cid with this situation."

Sky blue eyes softened, for Eko was here acting on what she felt; she knew what she needed to sedate this feeling. She knew that this would allow it; she knew this would allow her to gain control of some part of her spiralling life.

And just like all the other men she's had, all the random helpless saps. Matthew could nullify her pain, cancel out the grief, and momentarily numb the anger and fear of the loss that boiled her core.

The petite temptress proceeded forward, dangerous in her look; it caused Matthew to become uneasy in her approach to him. He lowered his arms, pushing off from the doorway.

"Don't," his voice was dangerously restrained.

"Why not?"

His space was interrupted completely; Eko was so close that she could see the flecks of blue in his eyes. His brows were arched and elegant, and she traced one of them lightly with the tips of her finger.

Matthew abruptly grabbed her hand, and her eyes flew to him; her skin seemed to burn with his touch.

"I know what you're doing."

Her eyes continued to bounce between his blue steel, "good."

Matthew's eyes shifted with intensity between them, a seriousness washing over them. This was different from the other times. "If you continue with this, then I will not be held responsible for my actions."

Eko held his gaze. She wanted this, and he would be her helpless sap—end of the story.

In response, the brunette stood on her tippy toes, pressing her lips against his, tiny, strong hands running themselves through his damp hair. Grasping at it, for the first time in his life, Matthew was caught off guard.

The pleasure of her mouth and what it was doing to him forced him to the end of his rationality with this situation. He then snapped her wrists back, pulling her backwards. Bewildered when his eyes met her own of immense pain and inconsumable lust, it was the perfect storm waiting for him, it seemed.

"We can play this game tomorrow."

"I don't care for the game right now. That isn't what this is. I want you." Eko's words were a challenge, a request, an order, a command, whatever it was, he felt his entire core submitting to her.

He was running a hand up to her chin, lifting it a touch higher so that he could stare at her completely. Eko smirked at the man, rising onto her toes again, her hands had found their freedom from his own, and she placed them gently on his chest.

This was utterly dangerous and not at all how he wanted this to go. "We're not doing this."

"Oh, we are, and then we can continue to play again tomorrow like you said," her breath was inches away from his skin, and those bright wide blue eyes continued to hold his gaze.

How the fuck was she doing this to him?

Taking control, Matthew felt her soft, manicured fingers gently make their way down his chest, the tips of her nails running further down his stomach, inching closer to the band on his briefs. The purr in her voice and the hunger in her eyes were undoing him in a very different way than what anyone else had done in these private moments of seduction.

"Eko," trying desperately to concentrate on his self-control. The feel of her fingers now running along the band of his briefs that pulled at him eagerly made a part of that said self-control falter.

Funnily enough, he didn't stop her when she pulled eagerly, nor when she pressed her body into his half-naked one, delighted to feel his erection against the lower part of her stomach.

"You want this," she whispered, the very evident truth between them. Her tongue along the shell of his ear, "give into it. Stop overthinking this."

He swore he would give her anything with how she was behaving, but the nagging voice in his head told him that she needed him to sedate the pain. He's been used like this plenty of times before, and he knew that look.

While he doesn't mind, he wanted to make it very clear what it was between them.

Taking a step back into the open space of his bedroom, creating some form of distance between them both, welcoming the submission, Eko took a step forward. Turning her head briefly to the panel and pressing the keyboard immediately allowed his doors to close behind her, locking with a soft click.

The two occupants were alone in his room, and he needed to really, really fucken control this situation because she was torturing him mercifully like this.

Staring the man up and down before her, Eko bit the bottom of her lip, and striding forward, she closed the distance between them both again. The Commander before her was debating on what he should do next.

The very same that was all but naked if it wasn't for his briefs.

Briefs, she wanted to rip off him immediately.

"This is nothing," he indicated between their bodies, making it very clear to her, "sex only."

"Agreed," she smirked, placing her hands behind her back and the little minx bit harder on her bottom lip.

"That look is about to get you fucked in every inch of this room."

"What look?" The coy voice began, and the heat in her eyes didn't dissolve.

"That look," and still, she kept going, inching closer to her prey.

"I warned you," striding to her now, for, without any further thought, he needed only to taste her, feel her, fuck her to stay sane.

This was going beyond a skin crush at this point, it was becoming a fucking lust storm that was electrifying their blood, and for Matthew, it wouldn't stop until he was buried deep within her.

SOOOO I have intentionally spilt this chapter into two, for those that don't like smut... skip a chapter... for those here for it!!! ...

HIT THAT NEXT BUTTTOOON --- ITS HERE ---