CHAPTER 15— The Aftershock
814 Words
The mansion was too quiet.
Too still.
Almost like it was holding its breath for them.
Kaela lay on the edge of the bed, her heartbeat slowly settling, her skin still tingling where Vionn had touched her… held her… almost destroyed every boundary he’d ever set.
Almost.
Because he’d stopped.
Barely.
And now—
he stood across the room like a man who’d just crawled out of hell.
Vionn’s hands were braced on the windowsill, his head bowed, his back rising and falling in uneven breaths.
Moonlight carved sharp edges across his shoulders, his jaw clenched so tightly it could’ve cracked.
He wasn’t calm.
Not even close.
He was shaking.
Kaela sat up slowly.
Her voice was soft. Careful.
“Vionn…?”
He didn’t turn.
He didn’t breathe for a moment.
Then, low and razor-edged—
“Don’t.”
She froze.
His voice was harsher than she expected.
Harsher than he meant, she could tell.
But it cut all the same.
Kaela swallowed. “Did I—?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
A pause.
A jagged inhale.
“I did.”
He turned finally, and she had never seen him like this.
Eyes dark.
Face torn between anger and something that looked suspiciously like fear.
Not fear of her—
fear of himself.
“I shouldn’t have touched you like that,” he said quietly.
She opened her mouth to protest, but he lifted a hand—shaky, commanding, pleading all at once.
“Don’t defend me. Don’t excuse me. I lost control.”
His eyes flicked down to her swollen lips, her flushed skin, the proof of how close he’d come.
“And I almost didn’t get it back.”
Kaela’s throat tightened.
She wrapped the blanket around her tighter, not out of shame… but because she didn’t know what else to hold onto.
He took one step toward her.
Then stopped.
As if a single inch closer would break him again.
“Kaela.”
His voice dropped—deep, tortured.
“You have to understand something.”
Her breath caught. “What?”
His jaw clenched.
His fists curled.
He forced the words out like they were knives.
“You are the one person I cannot afford to want.”
Her stomach dropped.
Silence swallowed them both.
Kaela whispered, “Then why did you—?”
“Because I’m weak.”
His voice cracked.
“Because you look at me like I’m not a monster. Because every time you touch me, I feel things I’m not allowed to feel.”
He raked a hand through his hair.
He looked wrecked.
“The Blackwood bloodline… the prophecy… the reason you’re here…”
He shook his head.
“You don’t understand how dangerous this is.”
She slid off the bed and stood, bare feet soft against the cold floor.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
His eyes snapped to hers—sharp, pained, disbelieving.
“You should be.”
She took a step.
He took one back.
“You’re not listening,” she said, voice trembling but steady.
“I’m not afraid of you, Vionn. I’m afraid of how much you’re trying to push me away when I… when I don’t want you to.”
That broke something in him.
He inhaled sharply, chest rising as if her words had physically hit him.
“Kaela…”
Her name sounded like a warning and a prayer tangled together.
She kept walking.
He kept retreating until his back hit the wall.
And she stood right in front of him now, their breaths mixing, the air between them charged and dangerous.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Tell me you don’t want me.”
He shut his eyes.
His breath shuddered.
“Kaela…”
“Tell me.”
His hands curled against the wall.
A muscle in his jaw jumped.
He opened his eyes—
—and she saw the truth.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
Undeniable.
“I can’t.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
His forehead dipped to touch hers, his breath hot and ragged.
“You’re going to ruin me,” he whispered.
“And I’m going to let you.”
Kaela swallowed hard.
“Then stop running.”
A long, heavy silence stretched.
Then finally—
Vionn exhaled.
Slow.
Defeated.
Wanting.
He lifted a trembling hand and brushed his fingers down her cheek, tender in a way he had never allowed himself before.
“This is only going to get harder,” he murmured.
She leaned into his touch.
“So?”
“So…”
His thumb traced her lower lip.
And his voice softened in a way that made her heart flip painfully.
“…I don’t know if I can stop next time.”
Her pulse stuttered.
“Maybe I don’t want you to.”
His breath caught—
and the chapter ends on his stunned, shaken expression.
- Writer
