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 entirebody. 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.
Chapter Six
KAI
I'd spent the entire night thinking about how Aria looked in those tiny cotton shorts, and now I was supposed to act professional while showing her around the estate.
This was going to be a fucking disaster.
