Chapter 347: Message
Kael didn’t move at first. He just held me there, fully impaled, my walls stretched around every inch of him, throbbing and fluttering like my body was begging him to ruin me.
His hands spread wide over my ass, kneading me like I was his to mold, his green eyes locked on my face with that terrifying calm he wore when he was anything but calm.
I tried to move, desperate for friction, but his grip pinned me to him.
"Greedy aren’t you?" he rasped, his voice scraping the edges of my sanity. "You’re gonna sit still until I let you move."
The bastard.
He started moving me himself, slow, torturous, rolling his hips up while dragging me down, grinding me over his cock like he had all night to savor me.
Every thrust punched a moan out of me, my thighs shaking, my body melting as his jaw clenched, his own breath coming ragged while he controlled every inch of me.
"Kael..." My voice broke, my nails digging into his shoulders as my head fell forward.
"Look at you," he groaned, eyes blazing. "Fucking dripping for me, clenching like you’ll die if I stop. You’re mine, Aria. Say it."
I couldn’t. I was too far gone, too wrecked, my head shaking as broken whimpers spilled out of me instead.
That’s when he snapped.
His grip tightened, his arms like iron as he started bouncing me on his cock. No more slow grind, he was slamming me down, lifting me up, pounding into me with brutal force while I cried out, half in shock, half in delirious ecstasy. My body shook uncontrollably, and before I could even catch myself, the flood hit.
"Kael!" I screamed, shoving at his chest as my release tore out of me, squirting all over him, my thighs trembling violently.
He didn’t even flinch.
He caught my hand, forcing it around the back of his neck, anchoring me to him, while his other hand dug hard into my ass. "Don’t try to run from me baby," he moaned against my ear. "You’ll cum as many times as I want you to. Until you’re begging me to stop."
And then, without warning, he pushed himself back into me, hard, deep, relentless.
I came all over again, sobbing against his mouth as he devoured my lips, his filthy words sinking into me like another kind of possession.
But he wasn’t done and I knew it was going to be a long night.
...
I woke up sore. As usual. Not just sore, wrecked. Every muscle in my body felt heavy, every bone aching like it had been dismantled and put back together wrong. And I knew exactly why.
Because Kael Roman was sleeping beside me, looking like the devil himself wrapped in soft sheets, completely unbothered, while I was the one lying here with evidence of him still leaking out of me.
I scowled at his perfectly peaceful face. The nerve. The absolute audacity to sleep so soundly after dragging me through hell and heaven a hundred times over like he was born to ruin me. His lashes were too long, his jaw too sharp, his lips curved faintly like he’d dreamt something smug.
I considered revenge. Maybe dumping a glass of cold water over him. Or pushing him off the bed. Or better, biting him hard enough to leave a mark. But even as the thoughts came, so did the warmth in my chest. Because hadn’t this been all I wanted? Him, like this? Mine to wake up to, mine to hate and love and never get tired of?
I sighed, tucking the blanket closer to my body. I wouldn’t trade this soreness, this wreckage, for anything.
I love him.
The buzzing startled me. My head jerked toward the piece of furniture next to the bed. Kael’s phone lit up, the vibration breaking the quiet.
At first, I ignored it. He got a hundred business calls a day; it was probably one of those. But when it buzzed again. And again. And again. My irritation outweighed my better judgment. I stretched across the bed, grabbed it, and the screen lit up just in time to flash a new message.
If you keep ignoring me, I just might tell her the truth about us.
My stomach dropped.
Truth?
Her? As in... me? Or someone else entirely? The words twisted through me like knives, sharp and ugly. I wanted to believe it was nothing, that it was about business or one of the dozen shady things Kael dealt with. But my brain wouldn’t stop replaying it in a loop, hammering it into my skull.
I set the phone back quickly, as if it had burned me.
Beside me, Kael stirred. His arm looped around my waist in his sleep, tugging me close until I was pressed to his chest. He didn’t open his eyes, just buried his face in my hair like he couldn’t stand the thought of distance, even unconscious.
And despite the storm brewing in my head, I melted.
Because I couldn’t forget, I was hiding something from him, too. The miscarriage. The baby he didn’t know about. Maybe he had his secrets; I had mine.
So I didn’t push. I didn’t wake him. I just let myself sink back into his warmth, my mind screaming, my heart aching, as my eyelids fell shut again.
The next time I woke up, Kael wasn’t beside me.
The room was quiet, too quiet, the kind of silence that instantly felt wrong. My hand brushed against cold sheets. My stomach flipped, thinking of the message I’d seen earlier, but I shook my head violently, refusing to spiral. Not now.
A tray sat waiting for me, piled with food like always. Of course. Kael Roman might disappear but he never forgot to make sure I was force-fed like a princess. I staggered out of bed, muttering curses at him under my breath as my legs protested. My bones felt like lead, my thighs screamed with every step, and still, I’d asked for it. Damn him.
The shower made me feel a little less like roadkill, and I practically drowned myself in the food tray afterward. The routine was oddly familiar. When I was done, I wandered down one of the endless halls, staff bowing as I passed. Déjà vu washed over me, it felt just like the castle in Italy. Gilded cage, same script.
That was when I spotted Niko.
He stiffened the moment he saw me. "Miss Thorne," he greeted, voice as dry as ever.
I grinned, sliding toward him. "Well, well. It’s been ages since we had a good conversation."
He blinked like I’d just threatened him. "I’m... glad you’re doing well now."
I knew exactly what he meant. That I’d looked like hell weeks ago. I tilted my head, enjoying his discomfort.
Changing the topic entirely, I shifted closer.
"So," I said sweetly, "do you have a girlfriend?"
His ears went pink. "No."
"Not surprising." I leaned in, pretending to whisper. "So what’s your type? I might have a single friend I can set you up with."
His face stayed blank. "Miss Thorne, I think you should focus more on securing your position as Executive Assistant of X.E. than on my dating life."
Ouch.
The jab hit harder than I wanted to admit.
He was right. Too right. I hadn’t touched work in months. Kael had been carrying everything.
Still, I forced a smirk. "Tell me, Niko, are you my boss or is Kael? Because last I checked, I don’t report to you."
I spun on my heel and stalked off, pretending to fume. Behind me, his footsteps caught up.
"I didn’t mean it like that," he said stiffly. "I apologize."
I ignored him, though the way he mumbled it made me want to laugh. For a terrifying bodyguard, he was hilariously bad at people.
I kept walking until we reached Kael’s study. Or whatever rich men called their sanctuaries, a cavern of glass and polished wood with quiet power.
I pushed the door open without knocking.