Chapter 332: One Glare At A Time
KAEL
When she stepped out onto the deck, I almost forgot how to breathe.
The lights, the candles, the endless stars, none of it mattered. Not when she was standing there in that slip of silk, her hair brushed back, her eyes wide with that mix of wonder and disbelief that made her look like she’d stepped out of a dream I didn’t deserve to have.
I tightened my hand around the camellias so hard I almost crushed them, because the only thing I wanted to do was cross the distance between us, take her face in my hands, and kiss her until we both forgot where we were. But I held myself back, barely. If I lost my control now, I’d ruin the very thing I’d built this night for.
She caught me staring, of course. Aria always did. Her voice broke through the storm inside me, soft but sharp enough to tether me. "Kael... what is this?"
I swallowed, forcing a smirk onto my face, as if this wasn’t my heart hanging naked between us. "This," I said, stepping forward and placing the camellias in her hands, "is my way of asking you officially... to be mine."
Her lips curved, the smallest chuckle spilling out of her. God, I’d never heard anything more beautiful. "I thought I didn’t have a choice."
I leaned closer, letting my mouth brush her ear just enough to make her shiver. "You don’t," I murmured, straightening again with a hint of a grin. "But I like to give my prey the illusion of choice."
The word prey made her scoff under her breath, her fingers tightening on the flowers like she wanted to throw them at me and keep them forever all at once.
I extended my hand to her, not just a hand, but the closest thing I could give to a vow. "Come," I said quietly.
She hesitated only long enough to make me sweat, then slipped her hand into mine. And just like that, the terror that this was too good to be true dulled under the warmth of her skin.
I led her toward the table, each step feeling heavier, more deliberate, as if I was trying to memorize the exact weight of this moment. Pulling her chair out for her, I let my hand brush against her back, light, careful, reverent, before she sat.
And when she finally lifted her eyes to me across that candlelit table, I swore I was done for.
As soon as she sat, I took the chair across from her, refusing to look anywhere else. The staff moved like ghosts, setting down the first course, polished silver glinting under candlelight.
She narrowed her eyes at the delicate plating like it might bite her.
"This looks... expensive. What is it?"
"Food," I said flatly, lifting my glass of wine with the kind of calm I knew would make her twitch.
Her glare sharpened. "Very funny."
I shrugged. "You were worried it was another street stall, so I upgraded. Don’t complain."
She stabbed a forkful, tasted it, and immediately made a face that was halfway between impressed and annoyed. That little twitch in her mouth, like she hated that she liked it, made me want to laugh.
"Damn it..." she muttered. "It’s actually good."
I smirked, leaning back in my chair. "Language. You’re in front of your boyfriend."
She choked, nearly dropping her fork. "Excuse me?"
"What?" I said casually, savoring her expression. "Should I say husband instead? I like the sound of that better."
She looked two seconds away from throwing the silverware at me, and I swore my chest tightened with how alive she made me feel, how alive she was herself. But then, then she surprised me.
Her eyes glinted, mischief curling at the corner of her lips. She deliberately cut another piece of food, leaned across the table, and held the fork to my mouth like she was calling my bluff.
Bold. Dangerous. Mine.
I didn’t even blink. I parted my lips and took the bite slow, deliberate, never looking away from her. She was the one who shifted in her seat under my stare, not me.
After swallowing, I leaned forward just enough to let my voice drop low. "Careful, Aria. If you keep feeding me like this, I’ll get used to it. And then you’ll never escape."
"Tch! Psycho," she muttered, sitting back too quickly, like she hadn’t just given me exactly what I wanted.
I smirked, letting my voice soften even as I held her eyes hostage. "For you? Always."
She was stabbing her fork into the food like it had personally offended her, muttering at me to stop staring.
I didn’t. I couldn’t. And I wouldn’t even pretend.
This was what I lived for, her cheeks warm, her jaw tight, that little twitch in her brow like she was this close to snapping. Her assumption that she scared me when she snapped but the truth as always was that I wanted her to. It made my blood sing.
"I’m not staring," I told her, voice low, steady, the way I knew irritated her more. "I’m enjoying the view."
The glare she shot me across the table would’ve sent most men to their graves. I leaned into it like it was a goddamn kiss.
"That’s the same thing," she hissed, shoving food into her mouth just to avoid looking at me.
I smirked, resting my elbow on the table, chin against my fist. "Then why do you look prettier angry?"
Her fork froze. I could practically hear her thoughts short-circuiting from across the table, and it made my chest ache with something dangerous, affection, adoration, obsession, all twisted together.
"You enjoy testing my patience Kael," she muttered, eyes flicking down to her plate, but her ears flushed scarlet. She was lying. She loved it.
I leaned closer over the table, lowering my voice until it was just for her. "And you love it."
Her eyes snapped back to mine, wide, indignant, ready to argue. She always was. But she didn’t realize that in her silence, when she looked at me like that, she was worse than any weapon. She stripped me bare without trying.
"Aria," I drawled, letting her name linger on my tongue. "You’re blushing."
Her fork clattered against the plate, and she muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "I hate you."
I smiled. A real one. One that hurt, because it was too soft for me. "Good," I murmured. "Then hate me forever. I can live with that."
But the truth was, I couldn’t. Not anymore. She glared at me across the table, stabbing her fork into the food like it was my face.
I leaned back in my chair, savoring it, smirking just to watch the storm roll in her amber eyes. Testing her patience had become one of my favorite addictions, one bite at a time, one glare at a time