Chapter 206

Aiden

Noah kissed me again—slow, hungry, the kind of kiss that made my knees shake—and for a moment the whole world narrowed to the feel of his mouth on mine, his hands gripping my waist like he was afraid I’d disappear.

I pulled back only long enough to breathe, brushing my fingers through his hair. “Let me adjust the lights—”

I turned toward the dimmer switch on the wall, just half a step away.

And that was all it took.

His breath hitched behind me.

Sharp.

Immediate.

Wrong.

“Aiden… what’s that?”

I froze.

Before I could answer, his fingers gently touched my back—right over the fading lines, the reddened marks where Hale’s flogger had struck.

His voice broke. “What happened to you?”

“It’s nothing,” I said too quickly, too softly.

He stepped around me, eyes wide, desperate. “Don’t—don’t tell me it’s nothing. You’re… you’re marked, Aiden. Did—” His throat bobbed. “Did you do something with someone?”

“No.” The word tore out of me. “No. Noah, no. Absolutely not.”

“But then—”

“It wasn’t like that.” I dragged a hand through my hair, searching for the words. “I needed a breakthrough. A way to release my pain, my control. But it was… emotional. Only emotional. I swear to you.”

He looked at me like the ground had cracked under his feet. “I don’t understand.”

I exhaled slowly, ashamed and exposed in a way I hadn’t expected tonight.

“Hale… he’s been helping me,” I admitted. “Not like that. Not physically. Not sexually. Just… helping me hold myself together. I’ve been drowning, Noah. Every night. I tried to pretend I wasn’t, but he saw it.”

Noah’s eyes softened, but he stayed quiet, letting me speak.

“You know how I am,” I said, voice rough. “How much control I hold. How hard I grip everything so nothing falls apart. And Hale… he saw that it was killing me. He offered to take some of it. Just once. To let me break safely. To… relieve the pressure before I lost myself.”

I swallowed hard.

“My mind has been in a dark place. A very dark place. I won’t lie about that.”

He inhaled sharply. “Aiden…”

“I didn’t want to scare you. I didn’t want to make you worry more.”

“Too late,” he whispered. “I’ve been in that darkness too.”

My eyes flew to his.

He nodded—small, trembling. “I’ve thought horrible things. Desperate things. You were gone. I was alone. I didn’t see a way out sometimes. Not a real one. I even considered… well, William is the root of our problems, and if he wasn’t there…”

A slow ache spread through my chest, deeper than anything the flogger had left.

I reached for him, cupping his face.

“Noah… do you know how stupid that is?” My voice cracked. “Baby, listen to me. Never, ever let any thought that might pull us apart forever crawl up that pretty head. We already have enough walls between us. We don’t need to add bars. That was the only thought that stopped me, and I need you to swear to me—”

“I swear.” He dropped his gaze, breath shaking. “But only if you swear the same. I can’t lose you to anything permanent, or to… anyone.”

“You won’t, baby. Not ever.”

That softened him—his shoulders dropped, his eyes warm and wet.

“Then I’m glad you had someone,” he whispered. “I’m glad someone held you when I couldn’t.”

He stepped closer behind me, fingertips brushing the marks again—but gentler this time, reverent.

“And now,” he whispered, leaning in, “let me give you a different kind of release.”

His lips pressed to one of the marks—light, careful, worshipful.

A soft sound escaped my throat.

Then another kiss.

And another.

His breath warm against my skin, his hands sliding around my torso, pulling me back against him.

“Noah…” I whispered, already trembling.

“I don’t want this night to end,” he murmured against my shoulder. “Please, hold me tight.”

And God… something inside me cracked open.

This was it.

Our night.

Our one night before the world swallowed him again.

I felt him tense in my arms, a tiny shudder he couldn’t hide. When he kissed me again, it was different—harder, almost frantic, like he was pouring every buried fear straight into my mouth. Every desperate thought. Every unspoken goodbye.

I cupped his jaw and slowed him down, letting my lips soften against his, coaxing his breath into something steadier. His mouth met mine again, slower this time, deeper—his tongue brushing mine in long, aching strokes that made my chest feel too tight.

When I pulled back to look at him, his eyes were shining.

And there it was.

Everything he felt.

Everything he couldn’t say.

“Come here,” I said, my voice rougher than I meant.

I took his hand and guided him away from the wall, toward the bed—black velvet, red silk, the whole room glowing low and intimate. He didn’t hesitate. He followed me like gravity had him by the spine.

I didn’t push him down.

I couldn’t.

I lay back first, offering myself to him in the only way I knew how, and tugged him gently over me. He settled on top, warm and trembling, his chest pressed to mine, his breath shaky against my cheek.

My hands roamed instinctively—down his back, up the dip of his spine, over his hips—slow, reverent strokes that felt like branding him into my palms. I felt the faint tremor running through him, barely there but impossible to miss.

So I tightened my hold around him.

“Shh,” I murmured, brushing my nose along his jaw. “I’ve got you.”

Our legs tangled together, heat sliding against heat. He buried his face in the side of my neck, breath warm, stubble rough enough to make me gasp softly. I closed my eyes, feeling him settle against me, fitting perfectly into the shape of me like he always had.

He exhaled a long, shaking breath before he shifted against me, nuzzling closer, his voice barely a whisper.

“Aiden… what if I stayed?”

I froze.

He swallowed hard, gripping my waist. “I don’t want to go back. I can’t go back. Not after seeing you again. Please… ask me to stay with you.”

My heart stopped.

Just stopped.

He lifted his head, eyes wet and burning with something between fear and hope.

“Just say the word,” he breathed. “Tell me to stay.”

God, this boy…

This boy was going to ruin me.