Chapter 369: The Phone Call
Evaline:
When my eyes fluttered open, I half expected to find myself still cradled in Oscar’s warmth. The faint weight over my waist, the steady heat enveloping me, the strong chest beneath my cheek... it all felt so much like him.
But when my lashes lifted and my gaze adjusted to the sunlight filtering through the curtains, the first thing I saw was not Oscar’s familiar face.
It was River.
His face was inches from mine, bathed in the late-morning glow, and for a second, my breath caught.
It was strange, almost unfair, how different he looked like this.
His hair, always perfectly styled back in that commanding way that screamed Alpha, now lay messily across his forehead, strands catching the light like ink and silk woven together. The sharp suits he lived in were absent, replaced by the casual softness of sleep. His usual calm, cold mask - the one he wore like armor in front of everyone - had slipped away, leaving behind only tranquility.
And stars... he was beautiful. Too beautiful.
The kind of beautiful that made my chest tighten and my fingers itch to reach out.
A smile crept across my lips before I even realized it. Slowly, hesitantly, I lifted my hand and let the tip of my finger hover over his features. I traced the curve of his eyebrow, the slope of his nose, before stopping just shy of his mouth.
I shouldn’t. I knew I shouldn’t. But oh, how tempting it was to trace the shape of his lips, to see if they were as soft as I remembered.
Instead, I forced myself to pull back, my gaze flicking over my shoulder in search of someone far more important... Lioren.
But not only there was no sign of my son, even his crib was missing.
Panic shot through me, faster than lightning. My son. Where-? My eyes darted around the room only for another realization to slam into me. This wasn’t my bedroom.
It was Oscar’s.
I let out a small sigh, and tried to shift away from River’s arms, careful not to wake him. But the moment I moved, his hold tightened, pulling me flush against him again.
"River-" I started in a whisper, but before I could say more, his deep, velvety, and maddeningly calm voice brushed against my ears.
"He’s with Madam Elira," River murmured, his eyes still closed. His lips tilted faintly, as if he knew I would be panicking. "Our son is fine. You, however, are not paying me enough attention."
My brows shot up, though my heart skipped in a way I couldn’t quite control. "What is that supposed to mean?" I challenged softly, unable to stop the small smile tugging at my mouth.
Finally, he cracked open one eye, the piercing deep green gaze locking on me with enough force to send my pulse into chaos. "It means, Evaline," he said, his voice low, measured, and terribly intimate, "that your son isn’t the only one who needs your love, your care... your attention."
The way he said it - like it was an unshakable truth, like I was denying him something vital - made my stomach flip and my breath stutter.
I should have argued. I should have reminded him of yesterday’s fright, of the blood on his knuckles, of the storm behind his calm. But when River Thorne wanted something, he had a way of tilting the entire world in his favor.
And right now, all he wanted was me.
My lips parted, ready to give some clever retort, but the words tangled in my throat when he leaned closer. His forehead brushed mine, his nose grazing my cheek. That calm expression he wore for the world was gone, what he gave me now was raw, unguarded intensity that made me shiver.
His thumb swept lightly over my jaw, almost reverent, almost a warning. "Do you have any idea," he whispered, "how hard it is to lie here with you in my arms and not take what I want?"
The butterflies in my stomach turned into a full-blown storm.
I swallowed, barely able to think straight as his breath mingled with mine, warm and teasing. "River..." I tried to protest, though it came out softer than I intended, more plea than argument.
"You test me," he continued, his tone dark but threaded with heat. "Every time you look at me with those eyes, every time you put someone else before me, you test just how much restraint I have left."
The air between us grew thinner, hotter, until it was unbearable.
And then, just as he tilted his head, just as his lips were a breath away from mine...
The shrill ring of a phone shattered the moment.
I jerked slightly, the spell breaking, but River didn’t move. His jaw clenched, irritation rolling off him in waves. With a growl low in his throat, he snatched the phone from the bedside table, his arm still caging me against him as if he dared the world to take me away.
"This better be important," he snapped, his voice sharp enough to cut steel.
On the other end, Kieran’s familiar voice carried clear as day... too clear for my newly sharp hearing to miss.
"River," Kieran said, his tone grave, "an elder from the Council has been found soul dead."
The words froze me instantly.
Soul dead.
I felt my blood run cold, my body stiffening in River’s arms. His eyes, which had been burning with frustrated desire a moment ago, now hardened into something else entirely. A sharp, dangerous edge that made even the air in the room feel different.
Neither of us spoke for a moment. The weight of Kieran’s words sank deep, and the sweet, teasing intimacy that had filled the air seconds ago was replaced by dread.
"I’ll there soon."
River ended the call and his gaze shifted to me. But before he could speak, I did. "Go. And handle it."
He placed a kiss on my forehead before he was climbing out of the bed and walking out of the room.