Chapter 362: a little interruption
Aria shifted on my lap, her thighs brushing against mine, her weight a warmth that eased something raw inside me. She glanced at me, eyes sharp even though her cheeks were still pink.
"You definitely took something," she said suddenly, her voice teasing but accusing.
My brows arched, feigning indifference. "Did I?"
"Yes." Her gaze narrowed, playful but insistent. "What did you take?"
I leaned back a little, lips curving in the faintest smirk. "Nothing worth mentioning."
She gasped softly, mock-offended. "Kael Roman. You stole my underwear, didn’t you?"
Her tone was light, but I saw the way her pulse jumped in her throat. The way her hands twitched where they rested on my shoulders. She was embarrassed, flustered and enjoying calling me out all the same.
I didn’t deny it. I only leaned in, my mouth brushing against her ear, my breath low and steady. "Would you be upset if I did?"
Her laugh was shaky, caught between scandalized and breathless. "You’re impossible."
I cut off her protest with a kiss.
Slow at first, careful, my lips pressing against hers like a question. She melted almost instantly, her hands sliding to the back of my neck, her body yielding to me the way it always did. The taste of her flooded me, sweet and grounding, better than any drug I’d ever taken to survive the noise in my head.
The kiss deepened, hunger slipping through the cracks. My fingers dug into her waist, pulling her closer until there was no space left between us. She let out a soft sound, half sigh, half plea that made my chest ache.
It wasn’t just heat. It was the intimacy of it all that destroyed me, the way she kissed me like she trusted me, like she wanted me not for the empire, not for the name, but just for me.
Her lips parted under mine, and I took advantage, claiming her mouth fully. My other hand threaded into her hair, holding her exactly where I needed her. Vulnerability burned through me, quiet but sharp. I didn’t deserve this. Didn’t deserve her. And yet she gave herself to me anyway, like she hadn’t noticed all the broken pieces.
When I finally pulled back, both of us breathing hard, her forehead rested against mine. Her eyes searched mine, steady, tender.
"You okay?" she whispered.
I swallowed hard, my thumb brushing her jaw. My voice came out rough, unsteady in a way I hated showing anyone. "With you, yeah. I’m okay."
She smiled softly, and for a moment, the world outside her room didn’t exist.
Her smile lingered on her lips, soft and unguarded, and it wrecked me more than any blade ever could.
I kissed her again. Harder this time. No hesitation, no restraint. Her hands slid down to my chest, curling into the fabric of my shirt as if she wanted to tear it open. I welcomed it, pulling her tighter onto my lap until her body molded against mine.
Heat sparked. Sharp, consuming.
Her mouth moved under mine, eager, hungry, like she needed this as badly as I did. My hands traveled down her sides, fingers tracing the curve of her waist, the slope of her hips, until I was gripping her thighs and guiding her to straddle me. She gasped, her knees sinking into the mattress on either side of me, her hair falling forward in a curtain that brushed my cheeks.
"Kael..." she whispered against my lips, a warning or a plea, I couldn’t tell.
"I know," I breathed, kissing her again, slower this time, savoring the taste of her. My hands slipped beneath the hem of her shirt, palms meeting the warm skin of her back. She shivered against me.
Clothes became obstacles. She tugged impatiently at my tie, sliding it loose, fingers fumbling against the buttons of my shirt. I helped her, shrugging it off, letting it fall somewhere I didn’t care about. My mouth traced down her jaw, to her throat, catching on the frantic beat of her pulse. She tilted her head back, giving me more, and the soft sound she made when my teeth grazed her skin shot straight through me.
Her own shirt shifted higher, bunching up as my hands explored... every inch of her I could reach, memorizing her again, even though I already knew her better than I knew myself.
She was fire and softness. Chaos and comfort. Everything I shouldn’t crave but couldn’t stop.
Her fingers finally slid into my hair, tugging me back to her lips, kissing me with a desperation that made my chest ache. I felt her move against me, slow but deliberate, and my control frayed dangerously.
I broke the kiss, my forehead pressing to hers, my voice low and ragged. "You’re going to kill me."
Her smile was breathless, trembling. "Good."
Her t-shirt slipped off her shoulder, and I couldn’t help but kiss the bare skin there, trailing heat across her collarbone while my hands gripped her waist tighter, grounding myself in her.
It was physical, yes our bodies colliding with urgency but underneath it all was something else, something that terrified me more than my father, my brother, or the weight of the Roman name.
Love.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t care if it destroyed me.
The air between us was thick, hot, on the edge of breaking into something we couldn’t walk back from when it came.
A sharp little knock.
Followed by a small voice, muffled through the door. "Ariaaa!"
Aria jerked, startled, nearly tumbling off my lap. I caught her waist instinctively, steadying her as she shot me a wide-eyed look.
"It’s Kaleb," she whispered, like I didn’t already know.
Then louder: "What is it, Kaleb?"
"Mom said she needs help!" His voice was quick, restless, little feet scuffing against the floor outside. "She told me to call you."
Aria’s eyes softened in that way they only did for family. She sighed, tugging her shirt back into place, cheeks flushed as she scrambled off my lap.
"I’ll be right there! Tell your mom I’m coming!" she yelled through the door, already smoothing her hair with her hands like she could erase what just happened.
I leaned back on her bed, jaw tight, trying not to curse out loud. The ache between my legs was sharp, punishing, a reminder of just how close I’d been to losing myself completely.
Punished. By an eight-year-old.