Chapter 18 When Jealousy Wakes
Elias gave Leitana a teasing smile.
“So tell me, Avery…” he began smoothly, “how are you finding the Ashbourne life so far? Must be… intense. Ravial is famously intimidating.”
Leitana’s cheeks heated. Intimidating. Yes. That fit him much better.
She had slept on a straw mat her whole life. The Ashbourne villa, old bones wrapped in silent technology felt like walking inside a sleeping giant.
She tried to answer the way a classy woman would.
“Ahh… yes, it's very… very big house,” she said politely. “M…I still… ehm… learning where everything be.”
Elias chuckled warmly. “That’s understandable. That estate is a maze. He always did enjoy… privacy.”
She laughed softly, shy, unsure.
He tilted his head, watching her with genuine interest.
“Your voice,” he said gently, “it has this… soft, musical tone. Where did you grow up? You really don't sound like what I had expected, if you don't mind me saying...”
Her heart jumped.
Oh no.
She couldn’t say Vanuatu.
She swallowed, forcing a small smile.
“Ah… small place,” she said lightly. “Far… far from here. Very quiet.” She waved her hand vaguely. “People there talk… different kind English.”
Elias’s brows lifted faintly but kindly. “Different can be beautiful.”
Her stomach fluttered.
He wasn’t mocking her.
He found it… nice.
She blushed, looking down.
“Tank yu,” she whispered instinctively then quickly corrected, “Thank you… sir.”
He laughed softly. “Just call me Elias.”
She giggled before she could stop herself.
Warmth.
Safety.
Ease.
Things she didn’t know she missed until now.
Elias rested an elbow casually on the table, eyes kind.
“So, Avery… tell me,” he said with a teasing spark, "What's Ravial like as a husband? The man never lets the world see… that side of him.”
Her mouth opened.
Closed.
Panic.
She didn’t know anything a wife was supposed to know.
So she tried the safest thing.
“He… he very quiet,” she said. “He no…. doesn't talk too much. But… he good.” She nodded quickly. “Very good. Very… ahh… strong man.”
Elias laughed. “Oh, yes. Ravial can silence a whole boardroom with one look.”
She giggled again, shoulders slowly relaxing.
He noticed.
“You know,” Elias said softly, “you’re much sweeter than I expected from the rumors.”
“Rumors?” she blinked.
“Well, yes. People say Avery Hayes Ashbourne is a cold beauty. Sharp. Untouchable.” He leaned slightly closer, lowering his voice.
“But you’re warm. Gentle. And you blush easily.”
Her whole face went hot.
She covered her cheeks with both hands.
“Ahh no, no… mi just… mi face do that,” she mumbled through her fingers.
He laughed, genuine, delighted.
“My God, that’s adorable.”
She peeked between her fingers, mortified.
He was still smiling at her, kind, amused, not cruel.
She lowered her hands slowly.
Elias nodded toward the ballroom.
“Do you enjoy parties like this?”
Leitana shook her head instantly, forgetting herself for a moment as she responded.
“No. Mi no used to… all this.” She gestured around at the glittering chaos. “Back home, party small. People dance, sing. Eat coconut. Laugh loud. This one…” She wrinkled her nose, making him laugh again. “This one too shiny.”
“Too shiny,” he repeated with a grin. “Perfect description.”
She smiled wider.
He asked another question, easy, gentle.
“So what do you like to do in your free time?”
And she forgot again, forgot Avery, forgot pretending.
“Mi like weaving mats,” she said softly. “And cooking laplap. And… playing in rain.” Her voice went tender. “Rain back home very warm.”
Elias’s eyes softened, surprised, charmed.
“That sounds… peaceful,” he said quietly. “I can picture it.”
She grinned shyly.
He leaned closer not flirtation, just connection.
“You really don’t look like you belong in a place like this.”
She laughed, really laughed, the sound soft and bubbling like warm water.
“Yu right,” she giggled. “Mi no belong at all.”
He laughed with her, eyes crinkling, a warm spark flickering inside them.
She didn’t see it.
She was too happy talking, really talking.
He lifted her hand again without thinking, thumb stroking her knuckles gently.
She didn’t pull away.
He was nice.
He wasn’t scary.
He didn’t make her feel wrong or foolish.
She glanced across the room, just to check.
Ravial wasn’t looking.
So she relaxed even more.
Her accent slipped deeper, warmer.
“Mi really like talking to you,” she said shyly. “Yu very easy person.”
Elias’s smile softened like sunlight.
“And you’re refreshing, Avery. A breath of fresh air in a room full of statues.”
She giggled again, cheeks glowing.
He held her gaze, warmth spreading in his.
“You have a beautiful smile.”
Her breath hitched.
Heat crawled across her skin.
She looked down shyly.
“Yu make mi shy, sir…”
Elias chuckled, eyes warm.
“You’re so fuckin’ cute, Avery. I swear….”
Leitana never heard the rest.
Because something shifted behind her.
A presence.
Huge. Heavy. Cold.
Her breath froze as a large, rough hand wrapped around the side of her neck, fingers spanning almost from her jaw to her collarbone. Not squeezing, just claiming.
Her heart thundered.
She lifted her head slowly.
Ravial.
His face carved from stone.
His black blindfold seemed to be glowing.
Before she could say anything….
His mouth came down on hers.
Not gentle.
Not asking.
Just… taking.
Right in front of Elias.
The kiss stunned her, heat, possession, command.
Her fingers curled helplessly against his hand around her throat as the world tilted.
Elias blinked, startled at first then smirked, amused understanding flickering across his features.
Of course.
A warning.
A reminder.
When Ravial finally pulled his lips away, he didn’t look at her.
He didn’t need to.
His eyes were locked on Elias like a predator staring down prey.
His voice dropped, silky and cold.
“Cute?”
A slow, dangerous smile touched his mouth.
“Did I hear you say my wife is cute, Elias?”
Elias lifted both hands in a mock-surrender.
“I mean, she is. Relax. I was just talking.”
Ravial didn’t blink.
“Oh, I’m perfectly relaxed,” he murmured, lying so well the air itself trembled.
“Just making sure you remember where you’re standing.”
Elias’s smirk widened a fraction.
“Crystal clear.”
Leitana’s cheeks burned in pure embarrassment.
People were staring.
Her lips still tingled.
Her heart was pounding too fast, too loud.
She wanted to disappear.
Ravial didn’t give her the chance.
He leaned down, voice brushing her ear like a dark whisper.
“Come.”
Then without waiting,
his hand closed around her wrist and he pulled her away from Elias, away from the tables, away from the glittering eyes watching everything.
They slipped out of the ballroom doors into a silent, empty hallway lit only by soft wall lamps.
Ravial spun her, pressing her back against the wall.
He braced one hand beside her head.
The other pushed through his hair in pure frustration.
His chest rose and fell like someone trying to breathe through fire.
He paced once.
Twice.
Stopped in front of her, staring at nothing and everything.
“What…” his voice came out rough, unfamiliar, “what the hell was that?”
Leitana blinked, confused.
“Mi… mi no understand….”
He cut her a sharp look.
“Why do I feel like this?” His jaw clenched, his fists tightening.
“I don’t…” He dragged both hands into his hair again, the most human gesture she’d ever seen from him.
“I don’t get jealous. I don’t feel that.”
He stepped closer, breath shaking with something he didn’t want to name.
“But the moment he touched you…” His voice dropped into a growl, quiet but lethal.
“When he called you cute…”
His eyes lifted to hers, raw, dangerous.
“I wanted to rip his fucking throat out.”
Leitana’s breath hitched.
He leaned in closer, shadow falling over her.
“I don’t understand it,” he whispered.
“I don’t get jealous. I don’t get… angry like that.”
He swallowed hard, staring at her like she was the only thing in the hallway.
“But with you…” His voice cracked, barely audible.
“I feel like I’m losing my damn mind.”
She stared up at him, heart trembling.
Her lips still swollen from him, parted slightly.
He stared at them.
Then at her eyes.
Then back at her lips.
As if fighting himself.
As if losing.
For one long second, Ravial didn’t move.
Just stared at her mouth like something inside him was breaking open.
Then he snapped.
He grabbed her face with one big hand, fingers spreading across her cheek and jaw, and crashed his mouth onto hers.
Not gentle.
Not careful.
Just raw, hungry possession.
Leitana gasped into the kiss, her hands frozen uselessly at her sides.
Her mind emptied.
Her knees trembled.
It felt like all the air in the hallway disappeared.
His other hand slid to the back of her neck, holding her in place as his lips moved against hers, rough, fierce, consuming.
She didn’t fight.
Didn’t push him away.
She just took it, trembling beneath the force of him, her fingers curling lightly in his jacket as her body responded without her permission.
Her head spun.
Her lips tingled.
Her whole body felt hot, confused, alive.
When he finally ripped his mouth from hers, he didn’t move far.
His breath hit her lips as he growled:
“Look at me.”
She did, eyes wide, dazed, lips red, swollen and parted.
He brushed his thumb across her cheek, slow and careful, his breathing sharp.
His voice was low, rough.
“You let him touch you.”
His thumb traced the corner of her mouth.
“And you smiled for him.”
“Mi… mi no mean….” she whispered breathlessly.
He didn’t let her finish.
He kissed her again, hard, punishing but this time her hands lifted instinctively, gripping his jacket, not to push him away, but to hold herself steady.
His lips dragged to her cheek, kissing her softly there then harder.
He kissed her jaw next, slow and claiming.
Leitana’s breath hitched as heat rushed through her.
Then his mouth reached her neck.
He kissed her there once, twice, slow, dangerous kisses that made her whole body tighten.
His hand stroked up her face, thumb brushing her cheekbone, palm warm and possessive.
Leitana, dizzy, overwhelmed, lifted her own shaking hands and placed them gently against his cheeks before she could stop herself.
Her thumbs brushed his face, soft, innocent, worshipful without knowing it.
She didn’t kiss him back with her mouth…
But she peppered tiny, trembling kisses against his face.
Little kisses on his cheekbones.
On the edge of his jaw.
Barely-there, fluttering kisses like warm raindrops.
Ravial froze.
As if the world tilted.
As if he’d been touched by something he didn’t know how to handle.
He pulled back just enough to look at her.
His breath rough.
His pupils blown wide behind the dark blindfold.
He stared at her like she was hurting him.
She stared back, cheeks flushed, lips swollen, chest rising and falling too fast.
He touched her mouth with two fingers, tracing her lower lip, feeling the heat, the softness he’d caused.
Then his voice dropped into a whisper so dark it felt like a sin:
“What are you doing to me, little lamb?”
Her breath trembled.
“Mi… mi jus’… standing here,” she whispered, voice small and shaken.
He laughed, quiet, humorless, almost broken.
“No,” he murmured, thumb dragging over her lip again.
“You’re ruining me.”
Her heart jumped so hard she felt it in her throat.
“Mi no understand…” she whispered.
He leaned closer, nose brushing hers, his breath warm on her cheek.
“That’s the problem,” he said softly.
“You don’t understand what you make me feel.”
His fingers slid into her hair, gently but firmly tilting her head up.
“You blush for anyone,” he whispered, “and something in me wants to burn the whole room down.”
Leitana’s pulse thundered; her breath came shallow.
“Mi no want make you angry…” she whispered.
He smiled, dark, slow, devouring.
“You make me angry just by breathing.”
She swallowed hard.
He leaned even closer, lips
barely touching her cheek.
“And I can’t fucking stay away from you.”
She whispered, trembling:
“Why…?”
His jaw clenched.
His hand tightened in her hair.
His lips brushed her ear as he answered:
“…I don’t know.”
He pulled back slightly, just enough to see her eyes, her confusion, her innocence, her fear, her heat.
It did something violent and possessive inside him.
He pressed his forehead to hers and breathed out:
“But I will find out.”