CHAPTER 417: THE MASSAGE SESSION

Kieran:

I watched as she quietly nodded, her fingers brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. For a moment, she simply stood there, framed in the light filtering through the curtains. The golden glow traced the outline of her shoulders, the curve of her neck, the hesitant lift of her chest when she breathed. It hit me then... how easily she could undo me without even trying.

I turned away before she could see the storm that had already started inside me. The scent of sandalwood filled the room as I warmed the oil between my palms, trying to focus on the small, ordinary sounds as if grounding myself in them would quiet my pulse.

When I looked back, Evaline had settled on the bed, lying on her stomach, her face turned toward the window. She had taken off the shirt, now left in a sleeveless crop top. She looked relaxed but not entirely, tension still lingered in the way her hands clutched the pillow.

"Is this okay?" she asked, her voice quiet, uncertain.

"Yes," I said softly, taking a seat beside her. "Just breathe for me."

I let my hands rest on her shoulders first, the warmth of the oil seeping into her skin. She inhaled deeply, and so did I. Her scent - soft, faintly sweet, familiar - filled my head until it was all I could think about.

I began slowly, my thumbs tracing gentle circles down her spine. Her muscles were tight from exhaustion, from the strain of the last few days, and I focused on easing that. Every sigh that left her lips felt like a victory, every quiet sound a kind of trust I didn’t know how to deserve.

"You are good at this," she murmured after a while.

"I have had practice," I replied, though my voice came out lower than I intended. "River and Oscar used to get awful back pain after training. I helped them sometimes."

She made a small, sleepy noise, halfway between amusement and contentment. "And now you are stuck with me instead."

I smiled faintly. "There’s nowhere else I would rather be."

Her breath caught, just a little. I felt it beneath my hands. The air between us shifted... I could sense her awareness as clearly as my own heartbeat.

I should have stopped there. I should have kept it professional, controlled. But the way her skin warmed under my palms, the way she trusted me completely.... stars, it was undoing me one breath at a time.

My hands drifted to her lower back, slower, firmer. She arched slightly, a quiet sigh escaping her. I froze, every muscle in my body tightening in restraint.

"Too much?" I asked.

She turned her head to meet my eyes, a faint flush coloring her cheeks. "No... it feels nice."

Her gaze lingered on me, soft yet searching, and something inside me simply broke.

I moved my hands up again, tracing her shoulders, then her arms, memorizing the warmth beneath my fingers. Each touch felt heavier, filled with everything I hadn’t said in months - admiration, longing, the quiet ache of wanting her.

"Evaline," I said, her name rough on my tongue.

She rolled onto her side, facing me now. For a moment, neither of us moved. The air between us shimmered with unspoken words, the kind that hovered between friendship and something deeper.

Her eyes searched mine. "Kieran..."

That single whisper undid what little control I had left.

I lifted my hand to her face, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. My thumb lingered on her skin, tracing the faint line of her jaw, the corner of her lips. She didn’t pull away.

"I shouldn’t... at least not right now," I murmured, though my hand refused to listen.

"Then don’t think," she said quietly. "Just... feel."

Something raw and helpless surged through me then. I leaned closer, slowly, giving her time to stop me. She didn’t. Instead, she tilted her chin up, and that small, trusting gesture was all the permission I needed.

Our lips met softly at first - barely a touch, like testing the weight of a promise. Then she moved against me, and the world fell away.

The kiss deepened, slow and searching. Her fingers slid into my hair, pulling me closer, and I lost myself in the taste of her breath, the warmth of her mouth. There was no urgency, only the slow unfolding of everything we had held back - the quiet nights, the stolen glances, the unsaid things that now burned between us.

I felt her tremble, felt her heartbeat flutter against my chest. I cupped her face, kissed her again, longer this time, until I could no longer tell where her breath ended and mine began.

When we finally pulled apart, both of us were breathing hard. She kept her eyes closed, her lips still parted, as if afraid the moment would disappear if she opened them.

"Kieran," she whispered, "let’s not hold back from now on, okay? You can kiss me, hug me, hold me... whenever you want."

My throat tightened. And instead of speaking, I brushed my thumb across her lower lip and pressed another kiss on her lips.

When I pulled back, she opened her eyes slowly, her amber orbs shimmering with something that made my chest ache. She leaned forward again, pressing her forehead against mine. We stayed like that, breathing each other in, our hearts racing in the same rhythm.

Eventually, I pulled back even though that’s the last thing I wanted to do. "Let’s continue with the massage session."

She pouted as if the idea of pulling away from me didn’t set right with her either, but she still moved - laying on her back this time.

As my hands returned to massage her shoulders, her arms, her collarbone, and belly... I realized this session wasn’t going to be an easy one no matter what.

Still, I somehow survived the next half an hour without doing something as stupid as claiming her right then and there. She needed rest.

"Thank you. I feel so much better now." She smiled softly as she sat up.

I opened my mouth, ready to speak... but the words never made it out of my mouth as they got stolen by her sudden... surprise kiss. I felt her soft lips press against the corner of my mouth for a fleeting second before she was already pulling back.

"I hope this isn’t the only massage session I’ll get." She whispered against my ear before she was walking out of the room as if she didn’t just stole my breath.

Stars! This woman was going to be death of me.