CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 79
ARIA
I wiped at the tears streaking my face, my hands trembling as I tried to steady the storm raging inside me. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let him slip away again. My chest heaved with the weight of my certainty, my desperation, and my hope all tangled together, raw and unrelenting.
“No,” I whispered to myself, voice breaking but fierce.
“I won’t give up… not so easily.”
I moved before I even thought, my legs carrying me across the hall with a force I didn’t know I had.
My mind narrowed to one singular purpose: I had to stop him from disappearing behind that door. He couldn’t pretend, couldn’t deny what I knew was true.
Not now.
Not ever.
The second I reached him, he was turning the knob, about to disappear behind the door, to retreat from my certainty, my accusations, my heart spilt wide open. Without thinking, I shoved the door forward, slamming it shut with a sharp, final thud that echoed in the small hallway.
His eyes shot to mine, wide with shock and disbelief.
“Aria… what—what the hell?!”
He didn’t get to finish.
Something inside me, raw and urgent, drove me forward before he could react.
The air between us thickened, charged with the months of longing, the ache of absence, the unanswered questions that had clawed at my chest for so long.
His scent hit me first—warm, sharp, intoxicating—and my pulse stuttered.
Every thought in my head narrowed to him, to the undeniable pull I felt toward him, the force that had dragged me across floors and corridors straight into his orbit.
My hands flew up, gripping his shoulders, holding him impossibly close as if I could anchor him to me, to the moment, to reality itself.
And then my lips found his.
The kiss was everything I had been starving for—desperate, raw, a collision of months of imagining him, aching for him, yearning for him.
Every ounce of restraint I had held onto shattered, leaving only the fierce, unrelenting need to claim him, to feel him, to know he was real.
For a heartbeat, he stiffened beneath me, as if trying to resist, as if he could somehow push back against the force I carried.
But I didn’t relent.
I couldn’t.
I had waited too long.
Suffered too much.
And I wouldn’t—couldn’t—step away now.
His hands rose, pressing against my chest instinctively, trying to create space between us.
“Aria… stop!”
His voice was strained, panicked, eyes wide with disbelief.
“—What are you doing?!”
His words cracked as he tried to step back, the tension in him raw and unguarded, every motion shouting his struggle to maintain control.
I didn’t let him.
I held on tighter, leaning into him, letting my body and heart plead in every inch of the contact.
My lips pressed harder, my hands clutching his shoulders like anchors, refusing to let him pull away.
He tried again, more forcefully, to break the connection, to pull back—but the moment he tried, I pressed closer, my insistence refusing to relent.
Then, something broke.
With a low, rough growl, his lips returned mine, first tentatively, testing, then with a consuming intensity that matched my own.
His arms wrapped around me, holding me as if letting go would tear us apart, and the resistance melted into something fiercer, hungrier.
Every second stretched, every touch burned, every kiss shouted the words neither of us could say aloud.
The kiss exploded from there—no hesitation, no holding back.
It was desperate, fierce, a storm of need and relief crashing into each other.
My hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer still, feeling every inch of him, memorising him, claiming him.
His arms wrapped around me, strong and possessive, and for the first time, the barrier between us shattered.
Every heartbeat, every gasp, every shiver of our bodies screamed the truth neither of us could deny: he was here, he was real, and he couldn’t hide from me—not now, not ever.
His hands moved, hesitant at first, brushing against my back, then gripping me tighter, as if he were trying to anchor himself to the reality of me.
His lips finally parted against mine, answering the heat and urgency that I had poured into that first desperate press. The world shrank until it was just us, our breaths mingling, our hearts beating in a chaotic rhythm that only we could hear.
I pressed myself against him, letting my hands roam over his shoulders and chest, feeling the taut muscles beneath my fingers.
My lips found his again, insistent, demanding, a silent plea I couldn’t voice.
“Aria… we shouldn’t—”
But I ignored him.
My hands tangled in his hair, gripping the back of his neck, pulling him closer.
“No,” I whispered between kisses
“Don’t hide from me,” I whispered against his mouth, my forehead resting against his.
“Don’t deny who you are. I won’t give up… not ever.”
His hands trembled against my back, gripping, releasing, unsure whether to push me away or pull me closer.
His eyes—wild, fierce, and unguarded—locked with mine, raw emotion spilling from them in a way that terrified and thrilled me.
“Do you hear me?” I said, my voice steady, unwavering.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not giving up on you. Not now. Not ever.”
I saw the flicker of conflict in his golden eyes—the push and pull, the battle between instinct and desire, denial and recognition.
I could feel the restraint fighting inside him, and it only spurred me on.
If he thought he could resist, I would break him.
Not cruelly, not with malice—but with everything I was, everything I had, everything I had waited so long to give him.
“I know it’s you,” I said again, voice low but firm.
“I know it’s you, and I won’t give up. You can fight it, you can deny it, you can hide—but I will find you. I will never let you disappear like that again. Do you hear me?”
I leaned closer, brushing my lips along his jaw, trailing kisses that stoked his desire. His breathing hitched, deep and ragged, and I felt him press into me, finally letting go of the restraint he had kept so tightly wrapped around himself.
Every movement, every glance, every shiver spoke of the desire and connection that had always existed between us—untamed, unbroken.
His lips found mine again, harder this time, answering my words with a desperate intensity that mirrored my own.
Every kiss, every brush of our bodies, spoke a language we had never needed words for: recognition, relief, longing, fear, and something feral that had been held back too long.
My hands trail down his body, feeling the hard planes of his chest, the ripples of his abs, until I reach the waistband of his pants.
I can feel his arousal pressing against me, and I can't resist the urge to touch him. My fingers deftly undo the button and zipper, pushing the fabric aside to reveal him fully.
He is hard and ready, his length throbbing in my hand. I wrap my fingers around him, feeling the velvety smoothness of his skin, the way he pulses and throbs against my palm.
He groaned, a low, primal sound that sends shivers down my spine, his hips bucking into my touch, seeking more friction, more pressure, more of everything.
I look up at him, my eyes locked with his as
I slowly lower my head, my lips brushing against the tip of his cock.
His breath hitches, and I can see the raw, animalistic desire in his eyes, the golden orbs flashing with a hunger that matches my own.
I take him into my mouth, my tongue swirling around the sensitive head, tasting the salty drop of pre-cum that beads at the tip.
He groans again, his hands fisting in my hair, holding me in place as I begin to move, taking him deeper, sucking and licking with a fervour that leaves us both breathless.
My other hand joins the first, stroking and squeezing in time with my mouth, drawing out every last shudder of pleasure, every last gasp of ecstasy.
I can feel him growing harder, his body tensing as I bring him closer and closer to the edge.
"Aria," he groans, his voice a low, guttural sound that vibrates through me.
I redouble my efforts, my mouth and hands working in perfect sync, my own desire building with each stroke, each suck, each lick. I can feel his body trembling, his breath coming in ragged gasps, and I know he is close, so close.
With a final, fierce thrust, he comes undone, his cock pulsing in my mouth as he spills his release, marking me, claiming me as his own. I swallow every last drop, my body thrilling at the taste of him, at the knowledge that I have brought him to this height of pleasure.