CHARLOTTE’S POV
Ace has been watching me like a hawk since I woke up hours age he has refused to take his eyes off me even for a second. He was sitting on his work table doing absolutely nothing but stage at me. Right now I wanted to go into the bathroom and have a bathe but he wasn’t moving.
“Do you mind?” I muttered. “I need to take a shower.” I muttered hoping that he’d get the point and leave the room.
His lips curved slightly. He didn’t move from his seat, “I mind.”
I looked at him. “Ace.”
“Come, I’ll bathe you,” he replied, his face serious. The moment he words left his mouth, he was already moving toward me on the bed. He lifted me up and I screamed in horror.
He stopped when we got to the bathroom, still holding me in his arms. He didn’t bother putting me down.
With my arms wrapped tightly around his neck, I breathed, “What are you doing? You can’t bathe me. Les will do it.”
“Les stepped out to get something and took Liam with her. They won’t be back for an hour, so you’re stuck with me till then,” he explained calmly.
“In that case, I’ll do it myself,” I insisted, trying to get out of his arms. It was useless. His hold was so strong and unyielding. He stared at me for a moment and my thoughts scattered. Gosh, his face was unfairly handsome, a light stubble on his jaw that made him look even more manly. How was it possible for someone to look this good without trying? It had to be illegal somehow to keep looking like this.
He finally set me down gently, then crossed his broad arms over his chest. “Oh yeah? And how do you plan to do that when one of your hands isn’t working and your neck is still stiff?”
I had hit my arm hard against a rock. The bandage ran from my arm up over my neck, and my body still wasn’t fully responding to me. My wounds were healing, but far too slowly for my liking.
I really needed that shower. I was pretty sure I smelled like sweat mixed with blood, and my mouth felt awful too. I needed to brush. Les wasn’t around, and the only person left to help me was this hot mess standing in the bathroom with me.
“Do you still want me to leave?” He lifted a brow toward the door “It’s easier if you accept my help. Or I can carry you back to the room. I don’t mind how you smell, and your morning breath doesn’t smell bad at all.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “I’ll kiss you senseless right now if you give me permission” He had this super hard to resist roughish little smirk on his face that made my heart trip. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.
Heat rushed to my cheeks and I glared at him with everything I had. He didn’t flinch, not even a little.
“You’re asking for permission before kissing me now? That’s new Alpha Virel.” I blurted out before I realized what I had just said.
His eyes turned pitch black with desire in a way that made my stomach flip. It wasn’t rushed or wild, it was like he was holding himself back. The kind of look that made you feel seen, wanted and claimed, all at once.
“Hmmm,” he drawled softly. “So you like it when I kiss you without asking?” His lips curved slightly. “Is that an invitation, Graves?”
He kept stepping closer until there was no space left between us, I could feel his hot breath fanning my face. He felt like a drug, very intoxicating, and I wanted more even though I knew I shouldn’t. My lips parted on their own, my body betraying
- me.
“Just say the words, Charlotte.” His mouth brushed mine, barely there, enough to make my knees weak but not enough to
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Chapter 43
satisfy my desire. I leaned in to capture the hips for be milled had a line and chickled hay she murmurd Tell what you want me to s 1 Year
1 wasn’t thinking straight anymore. My head was coquy, all I warded was his lips on mine, devening it
kixx ime, please” I meant to say it clearly, fun it came out as a wasper. He will heard it
How do you want me to kiss you” he murmured, his voire low and rough “Hard, soff? Because if I start. I won’t be alde to stop myself. I won’t be able to control myself from eating you u
The look in his eyes was unbearably dark and full of restraint, for he was forturing himself to hold back Flis jaw rientheri, ragged breaths escaping him, and my chest tightened with every glance. My body ached for him, the way he could make the air around us burn.
“Then eat me up.” I whispered. That was all it took for the animal in him to break free.
He crashed his lips onto mine and I melted instantly. His mouth devoured mine, sucking and claiming, every inch of my lips. His teeth grazed my lower lip before pulling it into his mou again, he was very greedy, and so intoxicating. I couldn’t think or breathe properly, all I knew was the way his lips moved how his tongue traced and claimed mine.
He tilted my head slightly, dragging his mouth down my cheek, licking the line of my jaw, biting lightly, and then back up. over my lips, sucking again. My hands clutched his shirt, trying to hold on, trying to steady myself as my knees quivered. He groaned low in his throat, ragged and wild, and it made something coil tighter in my stomach.
When he pressed his mouth to my neck, sucking hard, I gasped and tried to pull back, breathless.
“Why?” His voice was rough, almost desperate, still pressing against me.
“I haven’t… I haven’t brushed,” I stammered, embarrassed, trying to make sense of myself.
He froze for a fraction of a second, then laughed, disbelief and heat dancing in his eyes. “Are you serious? You stopped me because you haven’t brushed?” His thumb traced my lips slowly. Charlotte… if you knew what I want to do to you right now, your toothbrush wouldn’t even cross your mind.”
We broke apart just enough for me to catch a ragged breath, my knees were complete jelly. His arm circled around my waist immediately, holding me tight, steadying me, his chest pressed against mine, and I realized I didn’t want him to let go not
now, not ever.
“You’re going to be the end of me, Graves,” his hot breath fanned across my face. His body pressed against mine, hard, his hips rubbing against my belly. I couldn’t think of anything else but him, my whole focus gone.
He brushed his thumb across my bottom lip and I pulled it into my mouth, biting down lightly. He groaned, low and deep, like a beast in heat, and it made something coil tighter inside me
“Unless you want us in the bed with me doing all the things I’m imagining to you right now,” he rasped, voice rough, “you better stop biting your lips.” His words made me gasp, shivering under his control.
He pulled back slightly, and I immediately wanted him closer. My heart raced, my pulse hammering, I must be going crazy, because I loved the way he made me feel, even this close.
He ran the water in the Jacuzzi, letting it bubble and warm. He added scented soap and a few drops of essential oils that made the air wild and intoxicating, it was rich with lavender and cedarwood.
“I don’t have roses, but I’ll get some for you next time,” he said in a hoarse voice. His hands moved over me again, peeling off my clothes with ease. Before I could protest, he scooped me into his arms, gently, and laid me down in the Jacuzzi.
He stepped back for a moment, then shed his clothes, completely naked. I tried, desperately, to keep my gaze on his face, anywhere but the rest of him, earning a low, amused chuckle from him.
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Chapter 42
He got into the Jacuzzi with me and bathed me thoroughly, he was too careful like I would break if he rushed. He washed iny hair too, his fingers gently massaged my scalp. I could feel a tense he was, how hard he was trying to behave. His jaw stayed tight the whole time, his breathing not as steady as he washed it to be. He was holding himself back with everything in him, from doing what he really wanted to do, what we both wanted to do.
When he was done, he carried me out and back to the room. He dressed me in one of his shirts and a boxer, it was too big, they almost swallowed me. He sat me down and wrapped my art in a fresh bandage, careful not to hurt me.
“Tim going to find that animal.” he muttered. “I’ll kill him and use his head as a display for what he did to you, and everyone involved in this.” His voice was full of hurt and something dark derneath.
I reached up and cupped his face, forcing him to look at me. His eyes were filled with anger, revenge, and pain, all tangled together.
“Hey,” I said softly. “I’m fine now. And I’m alive.”
His eyes watered and a single tear slipped free. “But you could have died,” he rasped quietly. “If I hadn’t found you when I did, you’d probably be gone.” His voice cracked. “I wouldn’t survive that. I wouldn’t survive without you. You’re my world. Charlotte. You’re the only thing that keeps me sane.”
He swallowed, breathing uneven. “Just knowing I’ll get to see you makes things easier for me. Even when you’re mad at me. Even when you refuse to talk to me. I still feel better if I can just look at your face and see that you’re safe.” His hand lifted and he gently tucked a few strands of my wet hair behind my ear “But I can’t stand seeing you hurt. It destroys me.”
Everything inside me broke open at once. Fear, warmth, confusion, something deep I wasn’t ready to name. None of it made sense, but I couldn’t deny it. I felt something strong for him, something real. The feelings were new, yet at the same time they felt old, like they had been buried somewhere and were only now finding their way out.
How does he have this much power over me?
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
