CHAPTER 10— The Night He Kneels
738 Words
The moment Vionn Blackwood finally falls — and falls hard.
Kaela couldn’t sleep.
Not with Vionn’s presence burning next to her.
Not with the memory of his hands on her waist.
Not with how close their lips had gotten — so, so close — before he stopped himself.
He had taken the armchair across from the bed, loosened his tie, unbuttoned his shirt halfway like he couldn’t breathe.
He’d been staring at the floor for an hour.
Not moving.
Not speaking.
Just… fighting himself.
Finally, Kaela whispered, “You didn’t have to stay.”
His head snapped up instantly.
His eyes were different.
Dark.
Ragged.
Like he’d been through hell.
Like she was the only thing keeping him sane.
“I did,” he said, voice low.
“Why?”
He stood.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
Like every step toward her was a choice.
A surrender.
When he reached the bed, he didn’t touch her at first.
He just looked at her — really looked — his chest rising and falling like he had run miles.
“You almost died tonight,” he murmured.
Her breath caught.
“Vionn, no one—”
“Don’t.” His voice broke. “Don’t say it like it was nothing.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, not touching her yet, but close enough that her skin tingled.
His hand lifted, hovered… then settled gently on her cheek.
Warm.
Soft.
Unbelievably tender.
“Kaela,” he whispered, thumb stroking her cheekbone, “I can’t lose you.”
Her heart stuttered.
She opened her mouth to speak—
He got off the bed.
Then he did something she never, ever expected.
Vionn lowered himself to his knees.
Right in front of her.
Like she was royalty.
Like she was precious.
Like he was begging for something he didn’t know how to ask for.
“Vionn…” her voice trembled.
“No,” he said quietly, head bowed. “Let me say this. Just once.”
He looked up at her — that fierce, cold man — with eyes so raw it made her chest ache.
“You terrify me,” he confessed. “Not because you hate me. Not because you challenge me. But because you make me feel—”
He clenched his fists on his thighs.
“—things I don’t know how to control.”
She swallowed hard.
He moved closer on his knees, his hands sliding up to rest on her thighs — not forceful, not demanding.
Just… a touch he needed.
“Tonight, when I heard you scream in that tunnel…”
His voice faltered.
“…I lost my mind. I would’ve burned the entire estate down if someone touched you.”
Her breath shook.
His hands gripped lightly at her knees, thumbs brushing slow circles.
Not s****l.
Not aggressive.
Just intimacy so deep it rooted into her bones.
“Kaela,” he whispered, “look at me.”
She did.
He leaned forward, resting his forehead gently on her knees.
“I’m losing myself in you.”
Her entire world froze.
“Vionn…” she breathed, overwhelmed.
His voice dropped to a whisper so soft she felt it more than heard it.
“Tell me to stop… and I will.”
His fingers trembled against her skin.
“But if you don’t… I’ll give you the one thing I’ve never given anyone.”
She touched his face, gently lifting his chin.
“What is that?” she whispered.
His eyes met hers — molten, hurting, yearning.
“Me.”
Her heart skipped.
He rose slowly from his kneeling position, his hands sliding up her thighs, her waist, her arms — every inch a confession.
When he cupped her face again, she didn’t pull away.
“Kaela,” he murmured against her lips, “don’t run from me tonight.”
Her breath shivered.
“I’m not running,” she whispered back.
Something inside him shattered.
Vionn exhaled shakily, forehead against hers again, breath mixing with hers, fingers trembling as he held her like she was the most fragile, precious thing in the world.
Their lips brushed.
Barely.
Soft.
Slow.
A whisper of a promise.
The first real, intentional touch between them.
He didn’t kiss her yet.
But he stayed there — trembling, breathing her in — like he couldn’t survive without her.
Like kneeling hadn’t been enough.
Like this…
She…
was the beginning of his undoing.
- Writer
