Chapter 322: Confessions
ARIA
Kael didn’t stop touching me. Not once.
His hands stayed in all the small places, my knuckles, the side of my face, the strands of hair that kept slipping forward only for him to tuck them back behind my ear again and again. His lips pressed soft, grounding kisses against my forehead, my temple, even the crown of my head like he couldn’t get enough of convincing himself I was still here.
It wasn’t that usual heated desire. It wasn’t hunger.
It was desperation. The kind that spoke words to me. That said something like, If I let go of you, even for a second, you’ll disappear.
And for the first time, I understood. I finally saw why he always came back no matter how cruelly I pushed him away. Why he refused to let me go even when I swore he should. It wasn’t ego or control like he claimed or that I wanted to believe, it was because losing me would’ve destroyed him. The same way it did to me.
The realization made me ache with guilt. My throat burned as I whispered, "I’m sorry."
Kael hushed me instantly. His mouth ghosted over my skin, my jaw, my cheek, the side of my face.
But still... it bled through me.
The boy. The one with his eyes and dark hair. The smile that had gutted me awake. My chest hollowed with the grief, my stomach twisted until I thought I might break. I wanted to tell him. God, I wanted to tell him. But the words clawed up my throat only to splinter there.
So I just buried myself deeper into him. I held him tighter, as if I could keep him inside my ribs, hide in the cage of his chest. If I couldn’t confess my grief, then at least I’d choose love in this moment.
When he shifted like he meant to get up, I startled, clutching him. "Don’t leave me." My voice cracked, pitiful. "I don’t want anything else. Just... stay."
He froze, then without hesitation scooped me into his lap like I weighed nothing at all. He tucked me into him, like I belonged there, wrapping me in his arms until I couldn’t tell what was happening around me anymore. His forehead pressed against mine, his voice was like a vow that burned through me.
"I’m not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever."
The words should’ve suffocated me. They should’ve felt like chains. But instead, my chest cracked open with something softer.
But he didn’t stop there.
"I don’t remember the last time I was happy before you Aria."
Tears filled my eyes before I even knew it. I pressed my palm against his chest to steady myself, but he caught it and trapped it there, holding me to the beat of his heart.
I laughed, broken and trembling through my tears. "You’re so cheesy," I whispered, brushing my nose against his, "even though I just confessed I love you."
And then he smiled, something I thought I’d never see again. Not the sharp smirk he used on everyone else, but soft, rare, real. And it killed me.
It destroyed me in a way his cruelty never had.
His smile faltered, and his voice came ragged, torn open. "Even if you hate me tomorrow, even if you push me away again... I’ll still be here. Always."
I couldn’t speak. My chest was too heavy, too full, so I just clung tighter. My tears slipped silently into his shirt, and he didn’t let go.
Eventually, the exhaustion dragged me down. My eyelids fluttered, my body too weak to fight it. I curled into his chest, ear pressed to the steady drum of his heartbeat. His hand stroked through my hair over and over, anchoring me, his lips brushing my temple like a benediction.
I thought I heard him whisper I love you again, maybe twice, but I was already slipping into sleep.
And the last thing I felt before the darkness claimed me was him, warm, unmovable, holding me like he’d never let me go.
I woke to warmth again.
For the first time in what felt like forever, my sleep hadn’t been plagued with blood or screams or shadows, I’d just... slept.
I shifted slightly, intending to slip out of bed, but Kael’s arm tightened immediately, caging me in.
"Don’t," he murmured, voice rough with sleep. His nose buried into my neck like he hadn’t even realized he was awake.
I huffed quietly. "I need to get up."
"No," he said simply, pulling me closer. "You’re not moving."
"Kael, "
"Aria," he cut me off, that warning edge in his tone softened by how husky and tender it came out. "Don’t even try me. You’re staying right here."
I sighed, glaring at his chest because glaring at his face was impossible with how close he had me. "You’re ridiculous."
He only tightened his hold. "And you need rest. You can argue later."
I tried again, wriggling, but the man was immovable. A fortress of muscle and stubbornness. My only escape would’ve been biting him, and even that I doubted would work.
But eventually he let me be. But not really.
Food arrived shortly after we were both awake. He insisted on plating it himself, carrying the tray like it was a priceless artifact, and placing it across my lap while I was still tangled in blankets.
"Seriously?" I asked as he poured juice for me. "I’m not an old woman, Kael. I can hold a cup."
He didn’t even look up. "You don’t get to touch a single thing. Not today."
"Kael, "
He shut me up by leaning over and pressing his mouth against mine, stealing the protest right off my tongue. Slow, soft, annoyingly effective. By the time he pulled back, I was glaring again, my lips tingling, my pulse racing.
"Stop doing that," I muttered.
He finally looked at me then, and for the first time in days, his mouth curved into a chuckle. A real one. Low and warm. "God, I missed that."
My glare wavered, heat crawling up my cheeks, but I tried to mask it with another huff as I picked up a fork. Or at least attempted to, because he plucked it right out of my hand and started feeding me himself.
I groaned, half from embarrassment, half from the unbearable tenderness bleeding from him. "You’re unbelievable."
He leaned in again, kissed the corner of my mouth like he couldn’t help it, and whispered against my skin, "Good. Don’t forget it."
And just like that, I melted into him again, no matter how much I wanted to pretend otherwise.
After eating, I thought I could escape but he didn’t let me walk to the bathroom. He scooped me up like it was the easiest thing in the world, ignoring my grumbles, and carried me all the way.
The steam was already curling in the air before he set me down on the cool marble. His hands were careful, unhurried, peeling away my clothes like I was porcelain, not flesh and bone. He didn’t say a word, but his touch was reverent, like every button undone was a silent apology.
The water washed over me in a soothing stream, and then Kael’s hands were in my hair, working the shampoo gently into my scalp. His big, scarred fingers massaged slow circles, and I couldn’t stop my eyes from fluttering shut.
By the time he rinsed and conditioned my hair, my whole body had turned pliant under his care. He pressed soft kisses to my temple, my shoulder, the crown of my head, like he couldn’t stop himself.
When he wrapped me in a towel and lifted me out, my chest tightened. Not from weakness, but from the tenderness radiating from him.
He dried me slowly, methodically, his touch never straying into hunger but carrying something deeper. Something I finally understood.
By the time he was brushing through my damp hair, I found myself whispering the question I hadn’t dared before. "That girl. Erin. The one I saw you with..."
Kael’s hands stilled in my hair.
For a moment, the silence was unbearable. I almost told him to forget it, but then he sighed, resting his forehead against the back of my head.
"I met her the day I came to the hospital," he said quietly. "After your father." His voice dipped lower, heavy. "She came to me with letters. With a picture of me and Ivan. Said she was his sister..."
My stomach flipped. Guilt lanced sharp through me.
"I verified it," he continued. "Their DNAs matched."
I swallowed, staring at my hands in my lap. My chest felt like it was caving in.
"And that night..." His voice cracked just faintly before he caught it. "...that night you saw us, it was Ivan’s death anniversary."
My heart broke. The air around me thickened, pressing down on my ribs.
I turned slowly to face him. He wasn’t hiding his expression anymore. The weight in his eyes made my throat close up.
And all I could think, how easily I’d believed the worst of him. How easily I’d let my fear paint him cruel when all along he was drowning too.