Echoes of Vengeance: The Sweet Wife's Perfect Revenge-Chapter 111: A Night Without Rules

Aveline murmured, "This still doesn’t make it a date."

Alaric wasn’t naive. He knew the gap, her emotional distance, but he didn’t want to make it awkward. He feigned a soft chuckle, thumb grazing her knuckles. "Then I’ll keep trying until it counts."

But she took her hand away and stepped back. "Thank you for the dinner. I’ll rest for the night." She said, her voice losing the charm, her eyes avoiding his gaze.

She took her mobile and began walking away. She didn’t want to regret following him to Silvamus, but she blamed herself for complicating everything in her life. That made her wonder if she was always so complicated.

She had yet to take a breath when she heard him say, "Sunshine..."

"You should rest too." She brushed him off.

She wasn’t embarrassed, he knew that. He didn’t bring her there to watch her drown in another mess. Before she could enter her room, he caught her hand and gently tugged her to face him. "Say it." he probed.

She watched him quietly for a moment. She had already told him that she wasn’t ready for a relationship. How else does she make him understand?

Probably she shouldn’t have gone out with him.

Her fingers clutched the dress, "You won’t understand, Alaric. I don’t want promises. I just needed it to be... simple."

She caught how his green eyes darkened at her words. How could she hope this to be simple? She was such a fool. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

His jaw tightened. "You’re wrong."

He had misunderstood, thinking she would slowly open up without feeling overwhelmed. He was wrong there.

But he did understand her because she had been far too clear from the very beginning when it came to her feelings and what she wanted. He hadn’t forgotten it. Yet he chose her back then, he was choosing her now.

His voice dropped, low and deep, "But I’m still not walking away from you tonight."

The way he said it like a vow, not a dare, struck something in her. She hated how her body betrayed her mind. How it leaned, how it wanted.

Aveline swallowed. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him. It was that wanting him came too easily. And ease was dangerous.

Her breaths grew uneven, as her body screamed yes, but her mind clawed for reasons to say no.

This wasn’t part of the plan; however, she didn’t plan to give him hope when they came to Silvamus, and didn’t mean to leave space for more.

And yet, his presence wrapped around her like warmth on bare skin. His gaze held her captive. It was safe, real, and dangerous in ways she couldn’t name.

Her breath hitched again. Not from fear, but from the simple, terrifying truth. She didn’t want to walk away.

Yet, she wasn’t ready to complicate things further. "You don’t know what you’re saying." She wanted to get in the room before she spilled her fear, lost her control, or promised something she wasn’t prepared to. But she didn’t get to take a step.

His arm wrapped around her waist like it belonged there. His fingers traced her jaw, slow and deliberate, tilting her face to his.

Her skin prickled like her body knew what was coming. The wind rustled the trees but her own heartbeat drowned it out.

His voice was velvet with a warning. "Sunshine, when the charm wears off, you’ll start to see clearly."

Aveline didn’t get to process his words. His lips collided against hers.

Her breath hitched, and her eyes widened, stunned, before fluttering shut as his tongue found hers. The taste of red wine and something distinctly him, warm and addictive, washed over her. His scent, cinnamon and smoked oud, curled around her senses like velvet smoke.

She tried to resist, at least her mind did, but her body betrayed her. Her arms lifted, her fingers grabbing onto his collar, tugging him closer. Her heels barely grounded her, but he held her like he was anchoring them both.

Her gasp melted into a breathy moan as his hand slid over the dip of her waist, down her spine, then curved under her thigh, lifting her leg over his hip, holding her as if she belonged to him.

Alaric deepened the kiss, his tongue coaxing hers into a rhythm that felt carnal and chaotic. Her fingers dug into his hair, tugging slightly, and he groaned into her mouth, a sound that lit a fire low in her belly.

She gasped his name against his lips, "Alaric..." but it wasn’t a protest. It was a plea. A tremble. A warning that she was slipping, fast.

"Say it again," he murmured hoarsely, lips grazing the corner of her mouth, then her jaw, down to the hollow of her neck where he bit, just enough to mark.

Her breath stuttered. "Alaric..." This time softer, needier.

Their lips found each other again. He kissed her like she was the secret he had waited too long to taste.

Their hands weren’t gentle anymore. He traced her curves like he was memorizing her, his palm splaying across her ribs, his thumb brushing the underside of her breast, testing her limits.

They pulled back, barely. Lips brushing, breathing ragged. Eyes meeting. Her lipstick smeared. His eyes went wild.

"I wanted to stop," she whispered.

He brushed his lips across hers again, slow and rough. "Then why are you kissing me like you need it to survive?"

"Because I need to," she breathed, before dragging him down to meet her lips again.

Their mouths crashed, and her moan swallowed in the kiss.

If the kiss they shared at the river was gentle, then every kiss after was wild—desperate, hungry, as if they’d been starving for far too long and finally found their first taste.

He carried her into the room, the door clicking shut behind them. The sound was sharp, her gasp swallowed by his mouth as their lips parted.

Aveline looked at him. His hair was a little messy from her hands. But his gaze, heavy, dark, and impossibly calm for a man whose soul had just tasted fire. It held her in place more than his hands ever could.

Of course, it was the same for her... Her heart had never been this loud before. Not even on the worst days. Not even when she had everything to lose.

It thundered inside her chest, wild and breathless, like it was trying to break free like it couldn’t keep up with the rush he made her feel just by looking at her.

Before she could say anything, his hands slipped into hers. They were firm but warm and steady.

He raised both of her hands slowly and pressed her wrists gently against the door behind her. His body stood close, close enough that she could feel his heat, but not touching. Not yet.

"So... that was you holding back?" His voice came smooth, teasing, like silk wrapped around flame.

A flicker passed through Aveline’s eyes, sharp and heated, but it couldn’t mask the way her breath hitched. Her spine straightened, defiant, yet her body betrayed her, knees softening, pulse crashing like waves inside her as his gaze stripped her bare without ever touching her.

"Don’t flatter yourself," she murmured, though her voice trembled faintly.

Alaric tilted his head, letting his thumb brush her wrist. "Oh? Then why are you still pressed against the wall like you’re scared of what’ll happen if I step closer?"

His body leaned forward just a little—barely an inch, but it was enough to let his breath graze the corner of her lips.

"You want to say something clever again?" he whispered, eyes locked on hers. "Or are you going to keep pretending I don’t already have you trembling?"

That was it.

His voice, husky and molten, curled around her like smoke. That look in his eyes like he already owned every breath she hadn’t meant to give.

Something inside her cracked.

The last thread of restraint didn’t just snap, it shattered, undone by the way he stood there, so sure, so maddeningly patient, like he knew she would break first.

"Then stop teasing..."

In the next moment, Aveline surged forward, her hands slipping from his hold, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down into a kiss that was anything but gentle.

Her lips crashed into his, hungry and demanding, filled with everything she had refused to show him until now.

Alaric’s eyes widened, startled, but only for a second. Her sudden boldness lit something in him. Something primal.

He growled low, almost like a curse muffled between kisses, as he wrapped his arms around her, lifting her effortlessly into his arms. Her legs locked around him instinctively.

"I was going to take it slow," he muttered against her lips. "But hell, if you’re going to kiss me like that..."

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.

In the next breath, she was in his arms, and he was walking toward the bed like a man who had already made up his mind.

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