Chapter 5 #2
His eyes traveled down my body slowly. Deliberately. Like he was cataloging every inch of exposed skin. When his gaze came back to my face, something dark and hungry burned in those depths.
"We need to talk."
His voice was rough. Low. It did things to me that were absolutely inappropriate given our situation.
"You can't be here." My voice came out breathier than I wanted. "You need to leave. Now."
He pushed off the doorframe and stepped into my room. Into my space. Closing the door behind him with a soft click that sounded impossibly loud in the silence.
"Kai—"
"I said we need to talk, Aria."
The way he said my name made my stomach flip. Like it was something intimate. Something that belonged only to him.
I backed up instinctively. He followed. This was bad. Really bad. Because part of me—a significant, treacherous part—didn't want him to leave.
"There's nothing to talk about. That night was a mistake. We were drunk, I was grieving, it shouldn't have happened."
He stopped moving. Looked at me like I'd just said the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.
"A mistake."
"Yes. A mistake. One we both need to forget about immediately because—"
"That night was a lot of things, Aria. Reckless? Yes. Irresponsible? Absolutely. The best sex I've ever had in my life? Without question." He moved closer, his eyes burning into mine. "But a mistake? No. That's the one thing it wasn't."
My breath caught. He kept coming, slow and deliberate, backing me up until my spine hit the wall.
"I've been thinking about you for two weeks straight. Couldn't get you out of my head. Your taste. Your sounds. The way you felt wrapped around me." His voice dropped lower. "And now you're here. In my house. And you think we're just going to pretend none of that happened?"
"I'm supposed to marry your father." The words came out desperate. Panicked. "You're going to be my stepson. This is insane. We can't—we can't do this."
His expression went dark. Dangerous. Something flickered in his eyes that made my heart race for entirely different reasons.
"My father isn't touching you."
The certainty in his voice was absolute. Final.
"Ever."
"That's not your decision—"
"You belong to me, Aria."
The words hung between us, heavy and possessive and completely inappropriate.
"That night proved it. I was your first. That means something. Whether you want to admit it or not, you're mine."
I was backed against the wall now, trapped between expensive wallpaper and a man who looked at me like I was already his. Kai was right in front of me, close enough that I could feel his body heat, smell whatever cologne he was wearing mixed with something darker. Him.
He wasn't touching me. But somehow that made it worse. The anticipation. The tension crackling between us.
"You're crazy." My voice shook. "This will get us both killed. Your father will—"
"I don't give a fuck what my father will do."
The bluntness of it shocked me silent.
"You think I care about his threats? His rules?
His plans?" Kai's hand came up, fingers brushing my cheek so gently it made me shiver.
"I'm going to be watching you every single day.
Spending time with you. Getting to know you.
And you're going to stop fighting this thing between us because it's not going away. "
"No." I forced the word out. "I won't do this. I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
"Both. Neither. It doesn't matter." I pressed harder against the wall, trying to create distance that didn't exist. "You need to leave. Now. Before someone sees you here."
His hand moved from my cheek to the back of my neck, fingers tangling in my hair. Not pulling. Just holding. Claiming.
He leaned in, his mouth right next to my ear. Close enough that I could feel his breath against my skin.
"Do you remember how good it was between us, Aria?" His voice was pure sin. "How you begged me to make you come? How you screamed my name when I finally did? How you dug your nails into my back hard enough to leave marks because you couldn't handle how good I made you feel?"
My face burned. Heat flooded through my entire body. Every word was like a physical touch, dragging up memories I was desperately trying to suppress.
"Stop—"
"You think you can just pretend that didn't happen? That you didn't come apart under my hands? That I wasn't inside you, making you feel things you'd never felt before?"
I shoved against his chest. Hard. He didn't move. Didn't even budge. Just stood there, solid as a wall, his eyes burning into mine.
"Leave. Now."
For a long moment, he didn't move. Just stared at me with those intense dark eyes that saw way too much.
Then he stepped back. Slowly. Deliberately.
"Fine. I'll leave."
Relief flooded through me. Then terror when he kept talking.
"But Aria. You're mine. That night proved it. And I'm going to keep proving it to you until you stop lying to yourself about what you want."
He moved toward the door. I thought that was it. He was leaving. This nightmare conversation was over.
Then he turned back. Crossed the space between us in two strides. His hand cupped my face and before I could process what was happening, he pressed his lips to my forehead.
The kiss was soft. Gentle. Completely at odds with everything else about this situation.
And somehow that made it so much worse.
"Sleep well, Aria."
Then he was gone. The door closing softly behind him.
I stood there, frozen against the wall. My heart was pounding. My skin felt hot. My legs were shaking.
This was bad. Really bad.
Because part of me—a significant, treacherous, completely insane part of me—hadn't wanted him to leave.
Part of me had wanted to pull him back. Kiss him properly. Let him touch me the way he had that night.
And that was the most dangerous thing of all.
Because if I gave in to what I wanted, if I let Kai get any closer, we were both dead.
But god help me, standing there in the dark with my body still humming from his proximity, I wasn't sure I had the strength to keep resisting.