CHAPTER 47 — Almost Devoured.
687 Words
Silence clung to the room like a second skin — thick, warm, suffocating.
Kaela’s fingers were still curled into Vionn’s shirt, her breath brushing against his lips. His hand cupped her jaw gently, thumb stroking her cheek as if he needed confirmation she was real… alive.
Her eyes flicked between his — searching, daring.
“Vionn…” she whispered, voice trembling with need and something dangerously close to love.
His resolve cracked.
He leaned in slowly — painfully slow — their noses brushing, breaths mingling. His lips hovered over hers, torturing them both.
“Tell me to stop,” he rasped.
Kaela didn’t.
Couldn’t.
Instead, she tilted her head up… closing the remaining inch between them.
Their lips collided.
Not soft.
Not polite.
Hungry.
Warm.
Desperate.
Electric.
Vionn groaned against her mouth — low and broken — like he’d been starving for far too long. His hand slid to the back of her neck, pulling her deeper into the kiss. Their bodies pressed together, heat sparking everywhere they touched.
Kaela’s fingers tangled into his hair, pulling him closer, anchoring him to her. Vionn’s other hand gripped her waist possessively, pulling her onto his lap, breath hitching as her thigh brushed against him.
He kissed her like she was oxygen — his only source of life.
Kaela gasped when he trailed kisses to her jaw, her throat.
“Vionn…”
He shuddered.
The sound of his name on her lips… undone him.
He captured her mouth again — slower this time — as if memorizing every shape, every taste. His thumb traced her lower lip after each kiss, watching it tremble.
She cupped his face, eyes wide and vulnerable.
“I’m yours,” she breathed.
Those words—
They set him on fire.
Then poured ice over the flames in the same second.
His grip suddenly tightened — too tight — as if he was fighting himself.
“Kaela…” His voice broke.
She leaned forward, trying to kiss him again, but he turned his face away, breath ragged.
Confusion… hurt flickered across her eyes.
“Why… why are you pulling away again?”
Vionn stood abruptly — like distance was the only saving grace.
His fists clenched at his sides, shoulders shaking.
“If I don’t stop…”
he exhaled shakily,
“there won’t be anything left of my restraint.”
Kaela’s heart pounded.
“Why is that bad?”
He finally faced her — and she had never seen him look so destroyed.
So terrified.
“Because the last time I loved someone…”
His voice cracked, barely a whisper.
“…she died screaming my name.”
Kaela’s chest tightened.
“A-Adriana…”
Vionn looked away, pain slicing through his features.
“I was supposed to protect her. Instead, she was taken. Used.”
His eyes glistened — rage and grief swirling like a storm.
“And now he’s after you.”
Kaela slowly stood and approached him — one small step at a time — until she was close enough to reach for his hand.
He flinched.
From her touch.
From how much it meant.
“Vionn… I’m not her. And you won’t lose me.”
His jaw locked.
“You don’t know that.”
She wrapped her arms around him anyway, pressing her cheek to his chest.
His heartbeat was wild — frantic — like he was fighting invisible chains.
For a long moment…
he couldn’t touch her back.
Then… very slowly…
he hugged her.
He buried his face into her hair, inhaling her like a prayer.
Like a possession.
Like a promise he didn’t believe he deserved.
“I want you so much it terrifies me,” he confessed in a broken whisper.
Kaela’s arms tightened around him.
“Then be terrified,” she murmured. “But don’t run.”
He didn’t reply.
He didn’t move.
He just held her… like he was scared she’d vanish if he loosened his grip.
And for the first time…
he allowed himself to feel everything he’d been denying.
But he wasn’t ready.
Not yet.
The war wasn’t over.
And desire this dangerous…
could destroy them both.
- Writer
