CHAPTER FIVE: KEEP WATCH

Kael sat in the dark, the glow from the monitors casting a cold blue across his face.

One hand rested on the desk. The other held a remote. He hit a button.

The screen flickered.

There she was. Eden. Sitting in class. Head tilted as she took notes. Innocent. Focused.

He stared.

His jaw clenched. His eyes didn't blink.

She didn't know how much he watched her.

He had cameras in every hallway. Every classroom. Even her favorite library corner.

He didn't need them.

He wanted them.

He watched the way she tucked her hair behind her ear. The way her legs crossed when she sat. The way she bit the end of her pen when she was thinking too hard.

He watched every little thing.

And it drove him insane.

She was too soft for this place. Too untouched. Too unaware of the hunger she stirred.

The wolf inside him paced. Pushed. Wanted out.

He leaned closer to the screen, voice low. "You don't even know what you do to me."

His eyes darkened as the footage switched to the bathroom camera. He had turned off the auto-record feature when he stepped inside. No one else would ever see it.

But he had the memory.

Her gasp. Her trembling hands. The way her lips opened for him like they were made for his mouth.

She responded to him. Every cell of her body knew who he was.

He hit pause.

Her image froze.

She was standing there against the tiles, flushed and breathless.

His voice dropped into a whisper. "Mine."

He pushed the remote away and leaned back.

He let the feeling burn in his chest. Hunger. Possession. Rage.

Because he had seen the way Liam looked at her.

And it would be the last time.

No one would take her from him.

No one would touch what belonged to him.

Not in this school. Not outside it.

He had already started erasing names. Files. Records.

Soon, Eden would have no past but him.

No future but what he gave her.

He licked his lips, tasting the ghost of her kiss.

And waited for the final bell to ring.

•~•~•~•

The last bell rang.

Chairs scraped. Voices filled the air. Everyone rushed for the door.

Except Eden.

She stayed seated, just like he told her to.

Her fingers curled around the edge of her notebook. Her pulse was too loud in her ears. She hadn't written a word. Her skin felt too hot. Her breath too shallow.

She waited.

The door creaked open.

Kael stepped in, quiet and calm. He shut it behind him. Locked it.

The sound echoed in the classroom.

Eden looked up.

He was already moving toward her. No suit jacket this time. His sleeves were rolled, his jaw tight.

"You listened," he said.

She nodded. "You told me to stay."

"And you did."

He reached her desk. Close enough to steal the air from her lungs.

"Do you know why?"

Her voice was barely a whisper. "Why what?"

"Why I wanted you to stay."

She shook her head.

Kael leaned down, placing his hands on the desk, caging her in. His scent wrapped around her. Wood. Heat. Him.

"You feel it too," he said.

Her throat dried.

"I told myself I wouldn't touch you again." His voice was low. Rough. "But then you walked in this morning looking like that. Looking like mine."

Her breath caught.

His hand moved to her chin. He tilted her face toward him.

"Say something," he murmured.

"I waited for you," she said.

That was all it took.

Kael kissed her.

It was not gentle. It was not slow. It was the kind of kiss that made her knees buckle. The kind that burned deep and ruined all sense of reason.

He pulled her to her feet. Pressed her against the wall. One hand in her hair, the other gripping her hip.

"You kept thinking about me," he said against her mouth.

"Yes," she breathed.

"So did I."

He kissed her again. Slower this time. Deeper.

Then he pulled back just enough to speak.

"You belong to me now."

Her lips trembled. "Kael..."

He looked her in the eye.

"No one else will touch you. Look at you. Think about you. If they do, I will find out."

She didn't speak.

She didn't have to.

Her eyes said it all.

He kissed her again, longer this time. His hands were still firm, still claiming her.

Then he pulled back, steadying her by the waist.

"Come with me," he said.

"Where?"

He didn't answer.

He just opened the door and waited.

She followed.

The dorm bathroom was quiet. Steam hugged the air like a blanket, clinging to the mirrors and curling around Eden's skin. She gripped the edge of the sink, her hands warm and damp. Her heart beat too loud in her chest.

She had stayed.

Kael had asked her to, and she said yes. Not because she was brave. Not because she knew what she was doing. She had stayed because something about him pulled her in, deeper each time.

Water ran faintly in the background. She thought she was alone until she heard the soft sound of the door closing.

She didn't need to turn.

She knew it was him.

Kael's presence filled the space. She saw his shape through the mirror, a shadow through the steam. He came in, slow and certain, and closed the door behind him.

Then the click of the lock.

Her breath hitched.

Kael's footsteps moved closer until he stood behind her. She could feel the heat of his body, not touching her, just there. Heavy. Sure.

"You stayed," he said, his voice deep, rough with something that didn't feel safe but felt so good.

"Yes."

She kept her eyes on the mirror. On the foggy shape of his chest behind her. On the way her own lips trembled just slightly.

He reached up, brushing her hair away from her neck with the backs of his fingers. The touch was so light it made her shiver.

"Do you know what that means?" he asked.

Her mouth opened before her mind caught up. "I think so."

"No. You don't."

His voice was low, like it belonged to the shadows curling around them.

He stepped closer. Her body tensed, then softened into his heat. Still, he didn't touch her fully. Just stood there, close enough for her to feel the energy between them.

"I told you I would not touch you until you were ready," he said against her ear.

"I remember."

"Are you ready now, Eden?"

She couldn't speak.

Kael's hand slid around her waist, firm and slow. His palm rested flat on her stomach, pulling her back against him. Her head tilted, breath shaky.

"I asked you a question."

Her voice was barely a whisper. "Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

His breath grazed her skin. His mouth hovered at her neck but didn't press down.

"I will not take what is not mine," he whispered.

"Then take me," she said.

That broke the space between them.

Kael's lips found her neck, soft at first, then hungrier. Eden gasped, her hands gripping the edge of the sink again. She felt the way his fingers slid lower, dragging along her thighs, not rushing, just teasing.

His hand moved under her shirt, fingertips tracing the soft curve of her hip. She arched toward him.

"You feel this?" he said, his voice husky. "This is what you do to me."

She nodded, breathless.

His other hand came up and rested lightly on her throat. Not to control. Just to hold. Her heart thudded beneath his palm.

Kael kissed up her jawline, slow and burning. His lips hovered over her ear.

"I'm going to take my time with you," he whispered. "But not here. Not like this."

Eden turned her head toward him. His lips caught hers before she could speak. The kiss was deep. All hunger and heat. Her knees went weak and he held her tighter.

Kael pulled back, just a little. Just enough to look her in the eyes through the fog.

"I want you to remember this feeling," he said. "So when I finally have you, you'll know nothing else will compare."

Then he kissed her again. Slow. Lingering. And left her breathless.

The bathroom was still.

Steam clung to the tiles. The air felt thick. Eden pressed her palms to the edge of the sink, trying to steady herself, but her chest wouldn't stop rising and falling so fast.

Kael had left without a word.

Just that last kiss and the weight of his voice in her ear, and then the door opened, and he was gone.

She stared at her reflection, blurred behind the mist. Her lips were swollen. Her cheeks flushed. Her eyes looked different. Not like a stranger, but someone new. Someone who had been seen and touched in a way that left a mark.

Her fingertips lifted, grazing the spot where his hand had rested on her throat. Not to hurt her. Just to feel her. To remind her.

Eden closed her eyes.

Everything in her still buzzed. The heat. The ache. The need. And yet he had stopped. Pulled back when it would have been so easy to keep going.

He had wanted her. She had felt it. Every part of him pressed against her had told her so.

But he had stopped.

A sound escaped her throat. Something between a breath and a whimper. She pressed her forehead to the mirror. The cool glass grounded her.

She didn't know what she had expected. She wasn't even sure what this was between them.

Kael was danger. Power. Wildness. She had seen it in his eyes when he looked at her like he could devour her and be satisfied with nothing less.

But he was also the one who stopped.

The one who waited.

The one who asked.

Her stomach twisted. Not from fear. From something that felt too big to name.