Chapter 46

Chapter 46
Aria’s eyes widened but no thoughts could form beyond how much heat was radiating from Aston’s body.

She held on to his lapel, but not to pull him closer, because there was already no space between them. 

“As—mm,” she couldn’t get a word out.

His hands snaked around her, one at her waist and the other at her neck. He was nipping and nibbling and Aria could feel heat all over her body, her core burning like she’s been set on fire. 

She could barely breathe, and Aston noticed. She expected him to pull back completely but he just withdrew the slightest bit, a small breath of air was enough to send them kissing again if Aria wasn’t careful.

Her heart was pounding frantically in her ribs, her pulse, and her ears. The unsteady rough thumping sound surrounded her entire environment. Was she smoking? She felt like she was smoking?

“Aria,” he brought his mouth to her ear and whispered, his voice husky. “You…you need to…”

Aria didn’t hear what she needed to do because in the next second he once again claimed her lips in a searing kiss. He bent slightly without letting go of her and hooked her at the knees, lifting her to his level effortlessly, their breaths and sweat mixing together.

Aria’s was lightheaded. She saw stars behind her eyes and subconsciously writhed against him. Aston let out a groan and held her ass more firmly, pressing her against him like he wanted to merge them together.

Aria was two seconds away from forcefully tearing at Aston’s clothes, her hands were itching to touch Aston’s bare skin, to scratch at his bare back, to make him feel what he was making her feel too.

Until she smelled it.

A faint sickly sweet smell, so familiar and repulsive she nearly gagged. No.

No.

“Asto—,” he interrupted her again.

She almost lost herself in this one but the stakes managed to knock her out of it, despite how drunk in lust she was.

“Aston, stop,” she managed to say, hoping he even heard her. 

Aston’s actions took a sharp pause and Aria finally regained her breath. “Put me down,” she said raspily, trying not to use her normal voice. She was certain her voice was thick with lust, and she couldn’t have Aston hearing it.

She felt his hand tighten on her thighs before — almost reluctantly — dropping her to the floor. 

She rubbed her thighs together to get some feeling going on in her legs — and to get some feeling to stop going on in her lower stomach.

She could see Aston’s jaws tightly clamped together as he stared down at her, rough breaths pushing out of his nose. Aston was so tall, impossibly so.

“Aston, you’ve been poisoned,” Aria rushed out, her chest still heaving. Aston’s eyes narrowed on her mouth.

“Was it Zaphen?,” he asked, his voice sounding far away, like he was making the realization on someone else.

Aria’s ears itched at the frequency of his voice. 

They all had their signature ‘poisons’ in Wotushong. Aria’s was her fire, and Zaphen’s was an aphrodisiac. He had always been a twisted brat.

But the last time she checked, his poison required penetrating the victim’s bloodstream. It wasn’t a gas, he had ranked as the bottom of the class back then and she vividly remembered laughing at him.

“Did he somehow inject you?” Aria asked, leaning in to check his eyes and how dilated they were. Aston’s mouth crashed against hers again, but before she could lose herself she pulled his head back by the back of his hair.

She couldn’t take advantage of him. She wasn’t a monster, not like the Rothschilds. She knew that Aston would never voluntarily kiss her, not unless there was a show they had to perform. She knew it was only because he was out of his mind and drugged. She knew it wasn’t his choice.

That didn’t make it any easier.

“Aston you need to focus,” he kissed her. She shot back. 

This was harder than trying to get a baby Asher to put on diapers. He wasn’t staying still, Aria couldn’t check his eyes or inspect any part of him, her only saving grace was that he wasn’t using force.

“Aston!” She yelled. His eyes snapped up to her eyes, and she sharply inhaled through her teeth. His eyes were so dilated that all she could see was the pupil. There was only a slight ring of his irises struggling to peek out. 

Sure enough, he’d been poisoned.

“Dammit,” she pushed away and grabbed at her head. “Dammit what was the solution?”

She couldn’t remember at all. It had been so many years ago. They had all vehemently memorized the solution — in case Zaphen wanted to use it on any of them — but it’d been so long ago.

She looked at Aston’s again, his eyes never left her, but he stayed right where she kept him. 

It had to do with shock. That was all Aria could remember. She had to shock Aston’s brain back online.

She looked back at him and shivered. It felt like she was the target of a sniper that wasn’t giving up until he got his death count. In a way he was almost succeeding. Aria truly felt like she would die if he started kissing her again, she’d die of a heat she couldn’t expel.

“Let’s get you upstairs,” she murmured, gesturing for him to follow her like she was politely suggesting a bath to Asher.

“I am not a child.”

His voice was strained, and despite the gravity of the situation, she felt the urge to smile. His petulance was exactly like her child’s.

“Alright, but you still need to get upstairs,” Aria said, walking ahead of him to open the door. 

“Wait, I need assistance,” he gritted his teeth, his breathing heavy again. Aria turned back and bit her lip, her heart thudding painfully against her chest. 

He was in pain.

It felt harsh, like he couldn’t bear even standing upright. He looked normal, save for the excessive sweating, but his voice was gruff and shaky and she knew that Zaphen was the vilest of them all and her husband was currently going through pain that she couldn’t solve.

She walked back to him to support him, to at least move forward.

Wrong move.

It was a trap.

He firmly hooked his hand behind her neck and dragged her forward, crashing their lips together. 

Aria let out a muffled sound of protest, her hands coming up to push at Aston’s shoulders, but her fingers betrayed her still, curling instead into the damp heat of his neck. "Aston, you need to-"

Aston swallowed the rest of the sentence, tilting his head with a predatory snap to deepen the angle. His tongue was a blunt instrument, surprisingly coordinated and demanding, forcing Aria’s mouth open. It was frantic.

He let out a low, frustrated growl into Aria’s mouth when their noses bumped, refusing to pull back even for a microsecond.

"Stop, Aston!" Aria gasped, finally managing to wrench her head to the side. Her lips were swollen, slick and stinging. "You're going to... you're going to collapse if you don't let us find the antidote."

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling sharply, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin there with terrifying lack of control.

"I don’t care," Aston rasped, his voice a ruined thing. He found her mouth again, harder this time, his hands framing Aria’s face with a grip that was as secure as it was burning.

"More. Give me more."

He was a man drowning, and he was trying to breathe through her lungs.

Aria could barely think like this. How was she supposed to get him out of the basement?