CHAPTER 166: HIS VOW

** Our leads are getting steamier. Only the last 200-300 words serve the story development. **

Aveline went rigid, her knees weakening as his fingers brushed over the spot that ached most, where she needed him most. His fingers weren’t what she wanted, weren’t what she needed, but the slow drag of his touch made her pulse quicken.

He traced her damp heat, his mouth grazing her ear as he whispered something low and sinful.

His voice and the sensation struck her all at once. Her hands scrambled against the glass, searching for an anchor as her legs threatened to give out, but his arm locked around her waist, holding her firmly against him.

"Wait... wait..." she gasped, though the word fractured on her tongue, betraying her with a shiver that begged him not to stop.

"Should I?" His voice was thick, rough with restraint.

"Fuck you!" The curse tore from her lips, half snarl, half plea, the only weapon she had left when he pushed her beyond reasoning.

A dark laugh vibrated against her skin, wicked and amused. "Cursing now?"

Before she could retort, he pressed her against the glass, trapping her with his body, caging her like a captive kitten.

The city lights blurred before her as his fingers moved again, slow and deliberate around the sensitive spot, then stroking it hard and long. Her breath hitched sharply, her body betraying her as a strangled gasp tore from her throat.

She had no chance to breathe, no time to adjust as his fingers began striking her, gentle one moment, wild the next, making her lose her mind.

The wet sounds in the room were muffled by her moans.

She wanted to ask him to stop, to quit tormenting her when her legs shook beneath her, barely able to support her weight. But the words dissolved into moans, swallowed by the fire racing through her veins.

"Alaric..." Her voice broke, caught between plea and surrender, her lashes fluttering shut as every nerve ignited under his merciless fingers.

Her body began trembling, pressing against him, brushing against the hard length beneath her.

His growl cut through her moans. His teeth grazed her shoulder, biting down when her squirming tested his control.

"Sunshine..." he growled against her skin, but she could only gasp his name in return, her voice trembling, lost in the storm he refused to let her escape.

Then her body convulsed, pleasure blinding her vision as she shattered with a long, satisfied moan.

Her knees gave out, her body shaking with spasms as he held her, watching her flushed face dissolve into pleasure in his arms.

His lips continued trailing across her skin when she opened her eyes. Her glare should have burned him. Instead, it only deepened the curve of his lips. She was trembling, undone, yet there was fire in her eyes, a fire that told him she wasn’t finished yet.

He knew what she wanted. Otherwise, there was no way she could sleep, and for some reason, he also knew she would pounce on him with claws extended.

He certainly wouldn’t let her sleep without satisfying her completely. But he leaned close to her ear.

"Ask me," he murmured darkly, his fingers still lingering, drawing lazy torment that made her body twitch.

Her lips parted on a shaky breath, but her smile curved dangerously tempting. Her gaze was sharp when she asked, "Will you give it to me, or..." Her voice trailed off, her fingers grazing his jawline as her cheek brushed against his. "Should I make you beg?"

A sly glint flashed in his eyes. His smile turned devious. "Good." He expected nothing less from her. "Now beg me to stop."

Before she could process his words, his grip shifted. He spun her easily, pressing her back flat against the cold glass window. His hands caught her thighs, lifting and supporting her with ease.

Her breath stuttered as their eyes locked, his gaze dark, hers glazed with hunger. She didn’t wait for him. She pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside. His pants dropped before she knew it.

Bold, impatient, desperate, her hand slid between them, guiding him where she needed him most.

The moment his length entered her dripping core, her head tipped back, a gasp shattering from her throat as her body arched to take him completely.

Her body trembled, already aching for more than fingers, more than teasing.

Alaric’s jaw tightened as he watched her claim what she craved, his control slipping with every breath she took, with the way her lips parted and her body yearned for him.

His mouth found hers again, devouring the moan she gave as he pressed her harder against the glass, her body suspended, utterly at his mercy.

"Ala... ahhh..."

Above, breathtaking kisses, and below, intense rhythm, the room filled with her muffled moans and his groans.

He swallowed her desperate cry as he thrust deeper, pressing her harder into the glass. Her body arched into him, every nerve screaming for more, her nails digging into his shoulders as though he were her only lifeline.

She clung to him, trembling, her legs wrapped tight around his waist while he drove into her mercilessly.

With every thrust, her cries grew louder, breaking against his mouth, echoing through the dim-lit room until she had no strength left to hold them back.

The glass chilled her spine while warm lights flared and blurred through her lashes as pleasure built, unbearable.

He growled into her neck, the sound raw, his jaw tight as though holding himself back cost him everything. But the way her body clenched around him, pulling him deeper, cracked a curse from his lips.

"Mine," he bit out, voice hoarse and low against her ear, as if he had to remind them both.

She shuddered, unable to answer with anything but his name. "Alaric..." She whispered it, moaned it, cried it.

Her body moved with his, the sound of their joining, the ragged mix of his growls and her gasps, filling the penthouse like a rhythm no silence could tame.

Her control snapped first. Her vision splintered, the world dissolving into molten pleasure as she shattered against him, her cry muffled into his shoulder.

Her whole body quaked, trembling violently in his arms as her climax rippled through her, every muscle surrendering.

Alaric held her tight, carrying her through her explosion, his own growl breaking into a groan as he buried himself in her, lost to her heat, to the way she clung to him like she would never let go.

When it was over, she sagged boneless against him, breath ragged, forehead pressed to his shoulder. Her skin burned, damp with sweat, trembling as though the release had hollowed her out.

His lips trailed along her shoulder, the edge of his mouth curving into something dark and satisfied. But her eyes, when she finally lifted them to his, still burned with fire, fire that promised she wasn’t finished yet.

As if it were a challenge.

He carried her effortlessly from the window and tossed her onto the bed, his eyes dark, his chest heaving as if restraint had finally snapped.

"Wait... Alaric..." she gasped, voice breaking as he spread her thighs wide, the stretch almost painful, her body still trembling from the storm he had just brought her through.

He didn’t wait. He plunged into her again, harder, deeper, each thrust fierce and ruthless, rattling through her bones.

"Alaric..." Her cry broke into a scream, her nails raking down his back as the bed creaked beneath them.

"Stop... I can’t..." The words spilled out between moans, her body writhing beneath his. But her pleas dissolved into raw sound when he drove her toward another peak, merciless in his rhythm.

Her vision blurred, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes as another overwhelming climax crashed over her.

"Ala... ric..." She screamed his name, her voice hoarse, her body shaking uncontrollably as she shattered around him again.

Alaric groaned raggedly as her tight spasms pushed him over the edge. His thrusts turned brutal until, with a final shudder, he released deep inside her, trembling against her skin, his growl breaking into her name.

The room rang with echoes of their cries, the scent of sweat and intimacy heavy in the air, until the only sound left was their uneven breathing.

When he pulled out, her legs were still trembling, so weak she couldn’t close them without pain, an aching reminder of his intensity, a lesson not to provoke him.

She buried her face in the pillow when he placed it under her head. Her voice muffled, she murmured, "I give up. You win..."

Alaric’s mouth curved against her damp temple, dark satisfaction flashing in his gaze. "No, Sunshine," he whispered, covering her with a warm duvet.

He disappeared into the ensuite for a sometime, then carefully gathered her trembling body into his arms.

Aveline, who had just slipped into sleep, woke up to the movements, murmured against his chest, almost incoherent. "I can’t... not anymore..."

His lips brushed her temple as he carried her into the ensuite.

Steam rose as he entered the bathroom, the wide marble tub already filled with hot water. He stepped in without hesitation, settling down with her cradled against him. The heat enveloped them, soothing the ache in her muscles, wrapping them in quietness.

The moment her skin met the water, Aveline exhaled a trembling sigh and melted against him, her cheek pressed to his chest. For the first time that night, her body relaxed fully, with no tension left to hide behind.

Her lips curved faintly before she spoke. "I want to move in with you." Her voice was soft.

It wasn’t surrender. It was her carefully weighed and decided choice, a step forward in their relationship.

Alaric’s hand moved lazily through the water, circling her hip, holding her closer. He didn’t answer right away, understanding the weight of her decision.

His gaze lowered, unreadable, but his low voice was unyielding, leaving no room for doubt. "You will never regret it, Sunshine."

It wasn’t reassurance. It was a vow, a dangerous promise forged in the only way he knew how.

Aveline smiled, listening to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. For once, she let herself believe in ’never.’ And for the first time in a long while, the thought didn’t terrify her.