Chapter 10
1056 Words
The house was asleep.
The last of the cleanup crew had gone home hours ago. The decorations were packed away, the dishes washed, and the Hale estate had finally settled into silence.
Lena had fallen asleep almost the moment her head touched the pillow, exhausted after two days of entertaining relatives and helping restore the mansion to normal.
Ivy should have been asleep too.
Instead, she found herself wandering the hallway.
She paused outside Marcus's study.
A thin line of light spilled beneath the door.
She stared at it for a long moment.
Go back to bed.
She didn't.
Before she could lose her nerve, she lifted her hand and knocked.
"Come in."
Marcus looked up from the papers spread across his desk.
The moment he saw her, something softened in his face.
He set his pen aside.
"I had a feeling it might be you."
She smiled faintly.
"Couldn't sleep?"
He leaned back in his chair.
"Not really."
"Me neither."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Marcus stood.
He walked around the desk until he was standing only a few feet away.
His bandaged arm rested comfortably at his side.
"Is everything okay?"
She laughed quietly.
"I honestly don't know."
He waited.
Patient as always.
She took a slow breath.
"I've spent the entire evening trying to convince myself we were right."
"We were."
"Were we?"
His expression grew thoughtful.
"I don't know anymore."
She looked down at her hands.
"I keep replaying everything."
"The terrace."
"The study."
"You're avoiding me."
"You admit you missed me."
She looked back up.
"And I realized something."
"What?"
"Distance doesn't make this easier."
Marcus closed his eyes for a brief second.
"No."
"It doesn't."
"It just hurts."
His answer came so quickly that it stole her breath.
He'd been feeling it too.
"I've spent two days pretending I could do this."
He gave a quiet laugh.
"I've spent two days pretending I could."
"And?"
"I'm terrible at it."
She smiled.
"So am I."
The silence stretched between them.
Not awkward.
Just full.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Ivy..."
"If you're about to tell me we should stop..."
"I'm not."
His voice was rough.
"I don't think I can."
She felt her heart stumble.
"I don't think I want you to."
The words hung between them.
Honest.
Terrifying.
Marcus searched her face as though giving her every opportunity to change her mind.
Instead...
She stepped closer.
Only one step.
It was enough.
He lifted one hand slowly.
His fingers brushed gently against her cheek.
"So this is your decision?"
She nodded.
"It is."
"I need to hear you say it."
She held his gaze.
"I'm here because I wanted to see you."
His thumb stroked lightly across her skin.
"I've wanted to kiss you since the night we met."
A nervous laugh escaped her.
"I figured."
"I tried not to."
"I know."
"It didn't work."
"No."
She smiled.
"It really didn't."
He looked at her for one last moment.
"If I kiss you now..."
"I know."
"You can still stop me."
"I'm not going to."
His forehead rested lightly against hers.
"Tell me to stop."
She smiled.
"I won't."
Marcus closed the last inch between them.
His lips brushed hers softly.
Tentatively.
The kiss was gentle.
Careful.
As though he was still asking permission.
She answered by reaching for him, her hands curling into the front of his shirt.
The hesitation disappeared.
He kissed her again, longer this time, with all the restraint he'd been holding onto for days finally slipping away.
When they finally drew apart, neither of them spoke immediately.
Their foreheads rested together.
Both breathing a little harder than before.
Marcus laughed under his breath.
"I've imagined that more times than I'd like to admit."
She smiled.
"I was beginning to think you'd never do it."
"I almost didn't."
"But you did."
"I did."
His hand remained lightly against her cheek.
"I don't regret it."
Neither did she.
Not even for a second.
The realization settled quietly between them.
Along with everything that came after it.
"Lena..."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Marcus nodded.
"I know."
"She doesn't deserve to be hurt."
"No."
His expression became serious again.
"And she won't."
"We'll tell her."
"When the time is right."
"When we understand this ourselves first."
Ivy nodded.
She believed him.
She wanted to believe that would be enough.
"This changes everything."
"It does."
He didn't pretend otherwise.
"It also changes nothing."
She frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"The problems are still there."
"The age difference."
"The pack."
"Rourke."
"My position."
He gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"But now at least we're being honest."
She smiled.
"I like honest."
"So do I."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
The gesture was so unexpectedly tender that it made her eyes sting.
"I've spent five years convincing myself my heart was finished."
His voice was almost lost in the quiet room.
"Then you walked through my front door."
She slipped her arms around him for a brief moment.
Not because she planned to.
Because it simply felt right.
He held her carefully.
As though she were something precious.
Something he was afraid of breaking.
Eventually, reality returned.
"It’s late."
"It is."
"If anyone sees me here..."
"They won't."
"But they could."
Marcus nodded.
"They could."
Reluctantly, they stepped apart.
"We'll have to be smarter than this."
She smiled.
"Probably."
"No more wandering into my study after midnight."
"I make no promises."
He laughed softly.
"I was afraid you'd say that."
She reached for the doorknob.
Before she opened it, Marcus caught her hand one last time.
"Ivy."
She looked back.
"Sleep well."
There was so much more hidden inside those two words.
She squeezed his fingers gently.
"You too."
Then she slipped quietly into the hallway.
The mansion remained silent.
No doors opened.
No footsteps followed.
No one had seen.
Back in her room, Ivy leaned against the closed door and touched her lips with trembling fingers.
She should have felt guilty.
She did.
She should have been frightened.
She was.
But beneath the fear...
Beneath the uncertainty...
There was something impossible to ignore.
For the first time since she'd arrived at the Hale estate...
She had stopped fighting her heart.
And somehow, that felt even more dangerous than the kiss itself.
- Writer
