Chapter 99 Chapter Ninety-Nine

Chapter 99 Chapter Ninety-Nine
For a beat, he didn’t move.

Like his body had forgotten how to function beyond the single fact of her in his arms—warm, wrapped around him, mouth still swollen from the kiss, eyes steady and sure.

His throat worked.

His hands tightened on her—one firm at the curve of her ass, the other sliding up her back, anchoring her there as if he let go—she’d vanish again.

Violet still shimmered faintly in the air around them, the aftertaste of her power prickling along his skin.

And the words—

They hit him like a blade and a blessing all at once.

His wolf surged so hard it nearly knocked breath from his lungs.

Julian shut his eyes for half a second, forcing control back into his bones. Not to deny her—never that—but because he needed to be careful with her. With this. With the thing he’d already broken once.

When he opened them again, he looked at her like she was something holy.

Something he didn’t deserve.

His voice came out rough, barely steadied. “Kaelani…”

Her name sounded like a confession.

His forehead tipped forward until it rested against hers. He breathed her in, slow, grounding himself in her scent—warm skin and sugar and that wild undertone that always made his wolf go feral.

“I want to,” he admitted, the words dragged from somewhere deep. Honest. Unfiltered. “God, I want to.”

His hands flexed on her again, betraying him—how hard he was, how close he already was to losing what little restraint he had left.

“But I need you to tell me you’re sure.” His eyes searched hers, intense. Unblinking. “Not because you’ve had wine. Not because it’s quiet and it feels… safe.”

His jaw tightened. “Because once I start, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself from wanting more than you’re offering.”

Kaelani’s fingers slid into his hair, tugging lightly—an answer without hesitation. Her mouth brushed his.

Julian shuddered at the contact, a low sound catching in his chest like a growl he refused to let out.

“I’m sure,” she said, her voice soft and seductive. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

He pulled back just enough to look at her again. His control hung by a thread.

“Say it again,” he murmured. “Look at me and say it again.”

His thumb traced the underside of her thigh—slow, deliberate—feeling the heat there, the way she tightened around him even from the smallest touch.

“Tell me what you want.”

He kissed her jaw once—then her throat, just beneath her ear—each press of his mouth a promise he was trying not to make too fast.

“Because I can be gentle,” he said, voice low, strained. “I can take my time.”

His breath hit her skin, hot.

“But if you want me to make love to you…” His hands slid down, gripping her again as his body reacted, hard and unavoidable. “I’ll do it like I’ve been starved.”

He swallowed, eyes lifting back to hers.

“And I have been.”

She pressed in, grinding her core against him again—just enough to make his control stutter.

“If you’re asking permission…” She kissed his neck, slow. “Here it is.”

Her lips curved—faint and dangerous. “Take me like you mean it.”

Julian adjusted his grip beneath her thighs, lifting her a little higher against him. The movement pressed her closer, and the sound she made—soft, involuntary—hit him like a match to gasoline.

“Hold on,” he murmured, and started walking.

Every step down the hallway felt unreal, like he was carrying a dream in his arms and terrified the world might wake him up.

Kaelani’s fingers stayed threaded in his hair, her mouth brushing his jaw in soft, lingering kisses. Her lips traveled higher until her tongue grazed his earlobe—slow, teasing—as his control cracked in tiny, dangerous increments.

Julian’s pulse spiked. He inhaled through his nose, forcing himself not to stop and take her against the nearest wall like his body begged him to.

Not like that.

Not tonight.

He reached the bedroom and pushed the door open with his shoulder. The room was dim, lit only by the weak spill of warmth from the living area and whatever light found its way through the curtains.

Julian crossed to the bed and stopped at the foot, like he was at the edge of a cliff.

For a moment, he just held her there, chest heaving, eyes fixed on her face—on the way her lips were parted, on the flush in her cheeks, on the steadiness in her gaze.

Julian swallowed. His voice came low, precise—controlled because it had to be. “Tell me you’ll stop me if anything feels wrong.”

Kaelani’s hands slid to his face, palms warm against his jaw.

“This could never feel wrong,” she whispered.

A tremor ran through him—more urgency than softness, more awe than restraint. He nodded again, like he was anchoring himself to her words.

Slowly, he lowered her to the bed—easing her down as if she were precious, as if this moment was too—like he was returning something sacred to the world with careful hands.

Kaelani scooted back a few inches on instinct, propping herself on her elbows. The dress rode up her thighs as she moved, midnight-blue against her skin, and Julian froze.

His gaze flicked over her—hungry, reverent, wrecked.

He climbed onto the bed and settled between her knees without touching her yet, like he was trying to memorize the sight of her before he ruined himself.

“You’re…” He exhaled, the word failing him.

Kaelani’s lips curved, faint and shy even now. “Go on, Alpha.”

It was teasing—barely.

But it hit him like permission.

Julian braced a hand beside her hip, leaning in until his mouth hovered over hers without claiming it.

“I’m trying to do this right,” he murmured. “I’m trying to not—”

Kaelani lifted her head, closing the last inch herself. She kissed him—slowly this time, tender and sensual.

Julian answered it like a starving man forced to eat carefully.

His other hand came down to her thigh, thumb sweeping along the inside with a gentleness that didn’t match the tension in his shoulders. He kissed her again, deeper, then broke it only to drag his mouth to her cheek, her jaw, her neck—each kiss a quiet vow he hadn’t earned the right to make, but couldn’t stop offering anyway.

Julian finally let his hands find the thin straps at her shoulders and slid them down, the movement unhurried, almost ceremonial.

When the fabric fell far enough to expose the curve of her breasts, he paused.

Like he needed a second to take her in.

He swallowed, admiration tightening his expression before he forced his eyes back to hers, as if looking too long might undo him completely.

When the dress gathered at her waist, he stopped again, palms resting warm at her sides. He eased her farther up the bed, giving her space to settle into the pillows. He followed, hovering over her without crushing her, his weight held up on his forearms—controlled, careful.

His eyes searched hers one more time.

“Still sure?” he whispered.

Kaelani lifted her chin, breath shaking but steady.

“Yes.”

When he began to undress her the rest of the way, he did it like devotion.

Not urgency.

Not hunger.

Devotion.

Kaelani lay against the pillows, hair spilled across them like dark silk, her cheeks still flushed as she watched him with a steadiness that made his chest ache.

He slid the dress down with careful hands, lifting her hips just enough to free the fabric without tugging or rushing, then set it aside like it mattered—because she mattered.

His fingers traced along her thigh afterward, a gentle sweep that followed where the dress had been, as if soothing the skin just from the act of undressing her.

Kaelani shivered.

Julian’s eyes lifted instantly. “Too cold?”

“No,” she answered. “Just… you.”

Something in him eased—just enough to let the hunger and tenderness coexist.

Julian’s hand slid back to her thigh, his fingers finding the waistband of her panties.

He didn’t rush.

He traced it first—barely there—like he was memorizing the line where fabric met skin. His knuckles brushed her hip as he slid them down, inch by inch, letting the silk glide over her curves instead of stripping it away.

Kaelani lifted for him as he slipped the last of the fabric down—past her thighs, her knees, her ankles—then slid it free and set it aside.

Kaelani rose onto her elbows as she watched him—eyes heavy, sultry, unflinching. Her legs parted in quiet invitation, as if she’d decided she wasn’t going to hide from him tonight.

Julian’s gaze roamed over every inch he revealed, taking his time like he was imprinting the sight of her into his bones.

Beautiful didn’t cover it.

She was sex and heat and ruin—ravishing in a way that made his cock twitch and his heart kick hard beneath his ribs.

She looked like an offering—quiet, willing—and Julian knew her giving herself to him—like this—was something he’d always hold sacred.