Chapter 106: Passion

It was nothing more than a small peck. Ilaria’s heart thudded like a drum in her chest, each beat louder than the last. She shifted on her tiptoes, her trembling fingers resting lightly on his broad shoulders.

The warmth of his arms around her made her feel like she was being held together by more than just muscle but by something steady and endless, something that had been patient all these years.

Her lips curved into the smallest, shyest smile against his. The air between them felt impossibly thick, weighted with the quiet of a hundred unspoken words and a thousand little moments that had led them here.

Levan did not move, his hand loose around her waist when his mind was suddenly overcome by something fierce and impossibly tender. He could feel the quiver in her lips, the racing of her heart against his chest, and it stole his breath for a moment.

Ah… such a witty woman.

When she pulled back, her cheeks were flushed, her lips still tingling from the contact. Her eyes shone with a mixture of hope and something far bolder than she expected herself to feel.

His gaze drank her in, every small, delicate movement, every trembling sigh, every soft inhale, and every heartbeat… And in that silence, both of them knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

Oh, what had she done…

Ilaria exhaled as she leaned her cheek back against his chest, listening to the now frantic beats of his heart. Her voice was barely above a whisper, soft and trembling, like she was sharing a secret meant only for him.

“You know,” she began, her words meandering like a gentle stream, “sometimes… I think about what it would be like if we could just stay like this forever. No worries, no palace, no duties… just… you and me, like we’re the only people in the world.”

Her hands brushed lightly against his chest, her fingers tracing small, absentminded patterns. “I’d want to wake up every morning and see you there… and maybe, every night, we’d just hold each other. Talk, laugh, and maybe even share silly little secrets we never tell anyone else.”

A small, nervous laugh slipped from her lips. “I’d tell you things I never tell anyone. And you’d just… listen. Or maybe… you’d coax me again even if I said or do something dumb.”

She looked up at him, noting the unreadable look on his face as if he was looking at something bizarre. Had she surprised him too much? Was that kiss not allowed? But even with that thought in mind, she could not find herself being sorry.

Instead, her voice softened even more, laced with a mixture of courage and shyness. “…Sometimes I think about what it means to be your wife. Not just in name, not just because the palace expects it… but because I… I want to be someone who stands by you.”

She hesitated, her gaze dropping to the floor for a heartbeat before meeting his again, timid yet unwavering. “I always thought you were so far away, so… untouchable that you wouldn’t want me near, and I was completely okay with that because we’ve been married. And I am your wife. That’s enough even if you never needed me.”

“But then you started caring for me. And I realized… I don’t want to just exist as your wife in name. I want to be your partner in everything. Your confidante. The one who stands beside you through everything no matter how far apart it might feel sometimes.”

She smiled. “I want to share your world… I want to carry it with you. I want to be with you, in every way I can.”

Levan did not say a word. He could not. His eyes followed her every subtle motion of the way her fingers brushed against his chest and the way her head tilted in nervousness. He watched her lips move, and for a long moment, all he could do was listen, utterly spellbound.

Her words sank into him slowly, but every sentence landed like a stone in his chest. He heard what she said, really heard despite not being able to respond, and it unraveled something inside him that he did not know could be undone.

She always thought he was untouchable… untouchable and indifferent? Many thought so and kept their distance. But here she was, trusting him with the quietest, most intimate part of herself. And he had done nothing to deserve such faith.

When she fidgeted, adjusting her hands, biting her lip, his gaze followed her like a tether. Every small movement drew him in and made him impossibly aware of the soft warmth of her presence and the steady rhythm of her breath against him.

And when she spoke again, finishing a sentence, he could feel himself falling deeper and faster than he had expected, and the thought of moving, or looking away, or even speaking suddenly seemed absurd.

Levan’s brows furrowed as he watched the tremor in her violet orbs, every word she spoke tugging at something deep and unguarded within him. His jaw worked silently as he weighed the audacity and the raw honesty of her confession.

She was unraveling herself in front of him, piece by piece, and he had no map for how to respond.

A soft exhale escaped him, almost a rasp. At this point, he might as well lose his mind. He reached up and tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, tracing the curve of her cheek.

“…Why are you talking like this?” His voice was quiet, rough with disbelief and something more tender and almost pleading. “Suddenly… all of this, Aria, why?”

Her lips parted, a small, uncertain smile forming. She could not meet his gaze fully, afraid that if she did, the flood of years of quiet longing, secret worries, and tenderness would pour from her in an uncontrollable wave.

Levan’s fingers lingered against her cheek, warm and steady, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear again as he cupped her face with both hands. His eyes softened, no trace of the earlier frustration remaining, only the quiet intensity as he looked at her like a man afraid of falling.

“Why, hm?” he murmured gently, as though coaxing a secret from a shy bird. “There are words that once spoken cannot be taken back. And this, what you’re saying, it’s one of those words.”

Ilaria looked away in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, only for him to drew her face back to him.

He paused, letting the quiet stretch just long enough for her to breathe it in. “If you don’t mean it,” he sighed, “then I’ll pretend I never heard those words. I’ll let them go before they can weigh on you. You’ll have every chance to take them back… before they matter to me.”

It was not a shield; it was an offering. Even in his logic, there was warmth pulling her in without closing his hand around her. He was not angry. He was not frustrated. He was simply looking at her like someone afraid of hoping too hard, studying her the way one examines something fragile enough to shatter and precious enough to keep.

Her fingers clenched his sleeve, not from hesitation, but from certainty that scared her with its clarity. “I… I do mean it.”

And the moment the words left her, they felt irrevocable.

Something in him shifted like a lock turning open from the inside. He would not say he had not expected it; someone like her was always honest to the point of ache. But knowing was different from feeling the weight of being cherished.

How could anyone hold him with that kind of certainty? How could someone look at him and decide he was worth giving something so unguarded? What had he ever done to earn that?

He had not saved her life, had not given her grand promises, had not offered anything extraordinary. He had just… been there. Quiet, flawed, and distant most of the times. Why would someone stay loyal to a man who had given her nothing to hold onto except his existence?

She said it without needing to think too. And that was what undid him the most.

Saints…

He felt undeserving, utterly so, yet every logical thought crumbled in the warmth of her gaze and in the tremble of her hands on his sleeve. She had always been like this with him, always reaching first, always offering more than she asked for, and he would be a fool to keep pretending he did not understand it.

Slowly, he tilted her face up, his fingers pressing softly against her neck, careful yet firm, anchoring her in the moment. His eyes searched hers, bewilderment and longing warring behind their steady surface.

“Aria…” he breathed, almost like it hurt to say her name. “…you’re far too close to my heart right now.”

Before either of them could second-guess, he closed the space between them. His lips captured hers without hesitation. And the moment he felt her respond, soft and yielding, all restraint melted away.

His hands cradled her gently yet possessively as the kiss deepening without haste, a confession far more honest than words could ever be. Her pulse raced against his chest, her small sighs muffled against him, and for the first time in years, everything else faded to nothing.

Levan tilted his head to the side, savouring the softness of her lips and the warmth of her cheek against his. Each movement was careful yet instinctive, a silent dialogue between them, a communion of months of pining, restraint, and unspoken passion.

With a subtle shift, he straightened, lifting himself from the edge of the table where he had leaned moments before. He turned them slowly, the motion fluid yet electric with tension. His hands moved under her back and thighs as he lifted her with ease and grace.

Her small gasp against his lips was swallowed in a soft murmur of his own as he seated her gently on the table. The world seemed suspended. There was only the two of them pressed close, their bodies perfectly aligned and their lips never breaking contact.

Even seated, he held her like she could float away if he let go, his hands securing her in place while the kiss continued intimately. He brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, thumb stroking her temple as his lips moved with hers in quiet rhythm, a steady cadence of shared hearts and unsaid promises.

The moonlight caught the edges of her nightgown, her hair spilling over his arms, and he let himself revel in the closeness and in the simple, breathtaking truth that she was here, and she was his.

He pulled back just slightly, their lips separating in a soft, almost reluctant sound. Their breaths were heavy, hearts still racing in tandem. His hands lingered on her waist before it slid down. And her eyes widened when he slip his hand beneath her gown, hunching the fabric up around her thighs, exposing her pale flesh.

“Here… you’re too far from me,” he murmured, his voice was rough and raspy as he guided her hips to get closer to the edge of the table.

Ilaria’s cheeks flamed at the tender admonishment. She shifted, adjusting herself carefully, letting her legs rest more securely on the table to accommodate him as her hands found his arms again to anchor herself to him.

He then slid his hand beneath her thigh, guiding one of her legs around his side, letting her rest it lightly against him. The movement was careful and grounding, but to Ilaria, it felt like stepping into a whole new world.

Her bare skin pressed against the fabric of his clothes with warmth radiating in a way that made her pulse skip. She stiffened, the foreignness of it sending a shiver through her, but the steadiness of his hands and the familiar press of his chest against her eased her nerves.

Ilaria’s face heated instantly, her words tumbling out in a hurried, embarrassed whisper. “I… I hope I’m not… too… heavy…”

Levan’s eyes flicked down to her, and the tiniest of side smiles formed on his lips. “Heavy? I think you vastly underestimate yourself.”

Her cheeks flushed brighter, and she fidgeted slightly, twisting her fingers in the fabric of his shirt. “I… I mean… I didn’t think anyone… would… hold me like this…” Her voice cracked, shy and breathless.

Levan’s thumb brushed lightly against her hip, steadying her. His fingertips trailed up and down her thighs with a decisive motion until she fully wrapped both her legs around him.

Ilaria twitched, embarrassed at the position they are in.But before she could say anything, he pressed a hand on her lower back, making her arch naturally into him; making her feel even more flustered as she could feel the entirety of him pressing on her.

“Tell me to stop, and I will,” he said.

Her breath shallowed, heart hammering. She blinked at him, unable to speak.

Without another word, he leaned in, capturing her lips again in another searing kiss.

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