8

Chapter 8

Aria's POV

I couldn't sleep.

I tried for three hours. Tossed and turned until my sheets were tangled around my legs and my pillow was warm on both sides. Every time I closed my eyes I saw my mom's hand on his thigh and then my brain replaced it with my hand and then I was back at The Veil with his body on top of mine and his mouth between my legs and I had to shove my face into the pillow to stop the sound that crawled up my throat.

By midnight I gave up.

I got out of bed wearing the red silk nightgown I'd thrown on earlier‚ thin straps‚ mid-thigh length‚ nothing underneath because I hadn't planned on leaving my room. I wasn't trying to look good. I just needed water and maybe some air and five minutes where my brain wasn't eating itself alive.

The house was dark and quiet as I made my way downstairs. The only light came from the kitchen‚ a dim glow from the light above the stove that someone always left on at night.

I walked in and stopped dead.

Kael was leaning against the counter with a glass of whiskey in his hand‚ still in his dark pajama pants and a grey t-shirt that stretched across his chest in a way that should've been illegal. His hair was messy like he'd been running his hands through it and his eyes were heavy and tired and when he looked up and saw me standing in the doorway in that red nightgown his entire body went rigid.

His gaze dropped. Just for a second. Down the thin straps over my shoulders to the silk that barely covered my breasts to the hem that stopped mid-thigh. Then back up to my face.

He looked away and took a long drink.

"Go back to bed‚ Aria."

"I can't sleep."

"Try harder."

"Believe me‚ I've been trying." I walked past him to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. My hands were steady but my pulse wasn't. I could feel him behind me like heat from a fire. "Looks like I'm not the only one having trouble."

"My sleeping habits aren't your concern."

I turned around and leaned against the opposite counter‚ facing him. About four feet between us. Four feet and a whole lot of bad decisions.

"How was your evening with Mom?" I asked‚ keeping my voice casual even though the words tasted bitter coming out. "She seemed really excited about the whole reconnecting thing."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't do this‚ Aria."

"Do what? Ask my stepfather how his night was? That's just being polite."

His grip tightened on the glass. "You know exactly what you're doing."

"And what's that?"

He didn't answer. He just stared at me with those grey eyes that looked almost black in the low light and I stared back and the kitchen suddenly felt very small and very warm.

"She had her hand on your thigh at dinner‚" I said quietly. "Did you like it?"

"Aria—"

"Did you?"

"No." The word came out hard. Almost angry. "No‚ I didn't."

"Then why did you let her?"

"Because she's my wife."

"Your wife who cheated on you."

"And that somehow makes what happened between us acceptable?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you saying?"

I set the water bottle down and crossed my arms‚ which pushed my breasts up against the thin silk‚ and I watched his eyes fight not to drop. "I'm saying that you sat there all night letting her touch you and flirt with you and practically beg you to take her to bed‚ and the whole time you looked like you wanted to be anywhere else. So either you're punishing yourself by staying in a dead marriage or you're just a coward. Which one is it?"

He set his whiskey down with a sharp clink. "Watch your mouth."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll—" He stopped himself. His jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle jumping.

"You'll what‚ Kael?" I took a step toward him. "Finish the sentence."

"Aria… Stay away from me.”

“Why? Because you're scared you can't resist me?”

“Aria. What happened in that classroom can never happen again‚" he said. His voice was low and controlled but I could hear the cracks in it. "I am your mother's husband. I am your professor. Whatever happened at The Veil—"

"You keep calling it ‘whatever happened’ like you don't remember exactly what you did to me."

His breath caught.

"I remember everything‚" I said‚ taking another step. "Every single second. Do you?"

"Aria‚ stop."

"Do you remember how I tasted?"

"Fuck— stop talking."

"Do you remember the sounds I made when you—"

He moved so fast I didn't even see it coming.

One second there was space between us and the next his hands were on my waist and he was lifting me onto the kitchen counter and his mouth was on mine.

Hard. Desperate. Like he'd been drowning for weeks and I was air.

I kissed him back with everything I had. My fingers raked through his hair and I pulled him closer‚ wrapping my legs around his waist while his tongue swept into my mouth and swallowed the moan that ripped out of me. He tasted like whiskey and heat and want and I was already falling apart.

"Fuck‚" he growled against my lips. "Fuck‚ Aria‚ I can't—"

"Then don't stop."

His hands slid under my nightgown and up my thighs and when his fingers grazed the bare skin between my legs‚ no underwear‚ nothing between his hand and me‚ he groaned so deep it vibrated through my entire body.

"Jesus Christ‚" he breathed. "You're not wearing anything under this."

"I wasn't expecting company."

"You're fucking soaked."

"That's what you do to me."

His fingers pressed against my clit and my back arched off the counter as a gasp tore out of my throat. He circled slow and deliberate while his mouth dragged down my neck‚ his teeth scraping my skin‚ his tongue tasting me like he couldn't get enough.

"This is insane‚" he murmured against my collarbone while his fingers kept working me. "This is completely fucking insane."

"I know." My voice was wrecked. I was already shaking. "I don't care."

His other hand came up and pulled the strap of my nightgown down. The silk slipped off my breast and he stared at it for a second with dark‚ hungry eyes before he lowered his mouth and sucked my nipple between his lips.