Chapter 272: Chapter 272 – The silence after the kiss

Seraphine froze completely, her eyes flying wide open as Voren claimed her lips like a man who’d gone without water for days.

The kiss came in hot and deep, hungry in a way that caught her totally off guard.

Strange sparks shot through her whole body, but instead of pushing him back, her mouth started moving with his on its own.

She matched every slow pull and press until she felt him growing hard against her thigh, pressing right there through their clothes.

"Voren," she gasped, finally yanking her face away. Her cheeks burned like someone had slapped them before she rolled sideways across the mattress, the cool sheets hitting her overheated skin and making her shiver.

His body still gave off all that warmth right next to her, but her brain kept screaming how wrong this whole thing was. Only one person deserved the blame here.

’Marsha, what the hell did you just do?’ she chastised her wolf, wondering how she was going to face Voren after this. The fact that she enjoyed it was what heightened her embarrassment and this time, her naughty wolf refused to save her from herself.

’Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy every second of it. You both needed that,’ Marsha shot back, sounding way too smug.

Seraphine stayed quiet, words failing her. She lay there staring at the ceiling, heart still hammering, already dreading the next time she’d have to look Voren in the eyes.

How was she supposed to act normal around him after this? There was apparently no relationship between them except business and she was already crossing lines because of her wolf.

Maybe things would be better in the human world where her wolf would be asleep and not cause her this kind of trouble anymore.

She risked a quick sideways glance. Voren’s face looked far away, eyebrows drawn together while his eyes rolled to the back like he was communicating with his own wolf. At least she wasn’t the only one whose head had gone fuzzy.

’For the first time ever, Marsha, I’m actually glad you’re about to go quiet for a long stretch. You cause way too much trouble when you’re active, and I swear I’m never getting close to any pack territory again after this mess.’

If her wolf hadn’t pushed so hard, she never would’ve let it get that far. This wasn’t the kind of thing she could just laugh off tomorrow. It would stick with her, and her greatest fear was it repeating itself.

That was how forbidden relationships always kickstart.

’They like us too, so what if you aren’t mates? You wouldn’t be the first couple to cross that line,’ Marsha added, completely unbothered.

Seraphine shook her head slowly. Her wolf ran on pure gut feelings and instincts. The human part of her saw every single problem that could explode from this—feelings, complications, guilt, all lined up and waiting.

She already had her heart broken by Ravyn and his best friend was a no, no. She reached over and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Three missed calls from Corvine stared back at her. She called him right back.

"Sera, damn, you had me stressing out here," Corvine’s voice came through, full of relief and worry mixed together. "I’m right around the corner from that hotel you told me about."

A big breath of relief left her lungs. She glanced over at Voren again, and he still looked lost in his wolf conversation, so she kept her voice low. "I’ll freshen up really quick and meet you down in the parking garage." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The second the words left her mouth, Voren snapped back to the present. He blinked hard a couple times, then focused on her with a confused frown. "You say something just now?"

"Corvine’s almost here," she said, already sliding off the edge of the bed and smoothing her clothes. "I’m gonna jump in the shower. This isn’t exactly your room anyway."

Something changed in Voren’s expression. The light in his eyes dimmed fast, like she’d just thrown cold water on him. His wolf might’ve started the kiss, but the way his shoulders dropped showed he’d enjoyed it too.

Now he was conflicted, having crossed lines he shouldn’t have crossed with his best friend’s ex-wife but her brushing it off so quick clearly hit him somewhere deep.

He hoped that things could level up better between them but Seraphine had somehow managed to build that invisible wall between them again, just as she did over one and half decades go.

He stood up without saying anything, jaw clenched tight, and walked straight out. The door clicked shut behind him with a soft final sound.

Only then did Seraphine let out the breath she’d been holding. She leaned back against the wall, pressing a hand to her chest like that could slow her heart down.

From now on she had to keep real distance between them. Whatever that kiss was, wolves taking the wheel or not, it couldn’t happen again. She repeated that to herself like a promise.

She moved fast in the bathroom, splashing cold water on her flushed face, brushing her teeth twice, and changing into fresh clothes.

The outlands hotel room felt smaller than before, with the constant howling noise of outlanders and rogues shifting. There weren’t much guests in the hotel but Seraphine suddenly felt as if it was crowded.

Strangely, she still followed Marsha’s advice in choosing her outfit, including grabbing her black sunglasses and slid them on to cover up the nervous look she knew was still in her eyes, then stuffed the last bits into her bag and zipped it up.

When she stepped out into the hallway, Voren was already standing right there in front of her door like he’d been waiting. Her stomach flipped.

He looked even sharper now, black shirt fitted nicely across his chest and shoulders, black pants, and those black sunglasses that matched hers exactly.

It was like they’d coordinated outfits without meaning to, both of them going full dark and mysterious.

"Sera..." His voice came out low and rough, sending her heart straight into a wild, uneven rhythm.

She curled her fingers into tight fists at her sides, heat crept up her neck again.

"Did you sneak up on me while I was picking my outfit or something?"

The words slipped out before Voren could stop them, and Seraphine immediately understood exactly what had happened.