Kael's POV – Beat One
The door clicked.
That familiar little metallic sound of the lock twisting open, quiet but sharp, slicing straight through the heated tension in the kitchen. Aria stilled beneath me, her breath hitching against my lips, her fingers tensing where they'd curled into my shirt.
But I didn't stop. Didn't even flinch.
Because honestly? The thrill of it—the risk, the heat, the way her body squirmed under mine—it only made me hungrier. I smiled against her skin, lips brushing the edge of her jaw as she tried to pull back.
"Kael," she hissed, half whisper, half warning.
I let my teeth graze her throat in response.
Big mistake.
Her elbow came out of nowhere, fast and pissed. It cracked against my jaw with enough force to make my head turn and my pulse jump—and not just from the hit.
"Shit!" she gasped, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
But I was already laughing.
Quiet, low, the kind of laugh that rumbled in my chest and made her glare at me harder.
