The Broken Angel & Her Overprotective Brothers-Chapter 226: Complicated Relationship
Emily’s eyes fluttered open as she felt the warmth of the morning sunlight falling over her body. But at the same time, the cool breeze that was still blowing made her drew closer into the arms of the man who was sleeping beside her.
A small smile made its way to her lips as her eyes settled on Kaiden’s sleeping face. He was looking so cute and approachable in his sleeping form, something that was completely opposite to his usual cold and stoic aura.
She traced his eyebrows with her fingers before letting them trail over to his eyes. She could not help but move her face closer to place a quick kiss on his soft cheeks but at the very last moment, the man turned his face in such a way that instead of his cheek, she ended up pecking his lips.
"You...! You are awake." Emily stated as she hurriedly pulled away her face to stare at the man who was looking at her with a sweet smile.
"Mmhmm."
Kaiden hummed as he moved their bodies in such a way that the very next second, Emily found herself on her back while half of his body was resting above her. His face snuggled in the crook of her neck as he breathed her scent before relaxing in his new position.
"What are you doing?" She asked as she tried moving her head from left to right, checking if she was mistaken or she really was not experiencing the hangover that was supposed to be the first thing greeting her a ’good morning’.
"You sucked out all of my energy last night. So, I’m charging myself now." Kaiden murmured against her throat, making the girl gulp as she tried to stay calm and not think about how she could feel the light touch of his soft lips against the sensitive skin of her neck.
His words made her recall the memories of the previous night and the more she recalled, the more embarrassed she became. By the time she recalled everything, she was ready to disappear into the dark silent depths of the ocean.
Not finding the courage to talk about her drunk acts, she decided to ask something else, "Did you help me with the hangover?"
Kaiden slowly nodded his head in response before replying, "I wanted to let you experience the real taste of getting drunk but my heart can’t seem to handle seeing you in pain."
A small twitch appeared on Emily’s lips as she tried her best to not smile. She could feel her heart fluttering, something that had become common whenever the man opened his mouth to shower her in his love and care.
"Thank you." She murmured as she let out a small breath and looked at the sun that was peeking from behind the tall trees surrounding the cottage.
"It’s time to wake up. You have to drop me at the mansion. Shadow will be returning soon. I want to be there when he returns." She spoke as she tried to pull herself away from under the heavy body of the man who seemed to be too lazy to even open his eyes.
However, as soon as Kaiden heard her mentioning Shadow, his eyes immediately flee open. He pulled his face away to look directly into her beautiful eyes.
"It’s impossible for you to not think about him, ain’t it?" He questioned while placing his chin in his palm as he looked at her with a curious look in his eyes.
Emily remained silent for the next couple of seconds as she tried to read his eyes. But other than genuine curiosity, there seemed to be no other hidden emotion.
"Kaiden... do you oppose my closeness with Shadow?" She asked as she looked at the man who seemed to be slightly taken aback by her question.
Very slowly, Kaiden slightly shook his head in denial as he let out a small sigh. "I should be. After all, you are my mate, my love, my girlfriend. I should be opposed to your closeness with him... But no matter what, I just can’t seem to oppose either that man or the closeness between the two of you."
He was silent for the next few seconds as he seemed to think about something. "To be honest, I’m actually thankful and kind of happy to see Shadow around you. It makes me relax to know that he is always there to protect you and take care of you in my absence. Most importantly, I know that he’s the only person in this world who can protect you at the risk of his own life."
"For people like me or your brothers..., we are bound by rules and our duties towards our people. Our every action and decision holds the power of changing the lives of so many people. And because of that, we can never rush our decisions. But Shadow... he no longer cares about anyone else other than you. He’s the only person in this world who will not think twice before doing anything to protect you at any moment. And that... that makes me grateful towards him. Besides... he makes you happy and that matters a lot to me."
Emily found her lips sealed as she needed the time to process what she had just heard. She never thought that she would receive such a reply from him.
"Do... Do you think that I’m being selfish for keeping him close to me... especially since I’m aware of his true feelings towards me?" She somehow got the courage to voice out the question.
She had come to realize that she could freely voice out her thoughts and opinions in their relationship. Kaiden seemed to never judge her no matter whatever she seemed to tell him.
It’s been a while, though not too long, since she realized that Shadow’s feelings towards her were not just limited to their friendship. She could feel the same energy of affection and care from him that she used to feel from Kaiden.
She had been constantly fighting a fight with herself to find out a way to handle the situation. There was no doubt that she truly loved Kaiden. The man had already won her heart. But it was also true that the mere thought of losing Shadow caused her so much pain physically and emotionally that she had started to hate the idea of ever letting the man slip away from her.
The idea of Shadow not being by her side just seemed wrong to her. Just like how she knew that she needed Kaiden by her side to live her life, something kept telling her that the same went for Shadow.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt fingers grazing her cheek. As she looked up at the man lying beside her, she found his mesmerizing cerulean eyes looking back at her.
"Aren’t we all selfish, angel? I want to always keep you beside me. I think your brothers want the same. To be honest, recently, I have come to realize that Shadow is the only person in this world who can make me jealous when it comes to you..."
He trailed off and lightly bit on his lower lip as if he was trying to find the right words to express his thoughts.
"... but it’s not a bad kind of jealousy. Like... like I don’t want him to disappear from your life and leave the two of us alone. Rather, I want him to stay beside you to take care of you. I know it’s gonna sound weird but... just like you... even I feel safe and peaceful when he’s around."
As he finished speaking out the thoughts that had been living inside his heart for quite some time by now, he noticed that something changed between the two of them.
There was a new sense of calmness and positivity that was surrounding their bond. A sense of security and stability. As if opening up to each other about the weirdest but definitely the most important secret in their bond, had made the connection between them stronger than before. There was a sense of trust that had grown deeper between them.
He found a beautiful smile blooming on his angel’s lips as she looked at him with watery eyes. He could feel his own lips stretching into a warm smile.
"I don’t know what just happened... but it feels so right and good." She whispered as she cupped his face with one of her hands, looking into his eyes as if she was trying to see exactly what this new change was that had appeared in their bond.
He nodded his head in agreement as he moved his face closer to place a soft kiss on her forehead before resting their foreheads together. "It does feel great. The bond is happy to know that we trust each other enough to open about something like this."
He felt her slowly nodding get head as she realized that what he said was right.
"Don’t worry too much about Shadow and our complicated relation with him. Since we have confessed our true feelings, let’s work together to reach a conclusion. Moreover, he is too precious to give up."
