My savior’s heartbeat was running even faster than mine, yet it brought a strange sense of calmness to me. The soft, diffused light of the moon wasn’t strong enough for me to see my savior’s facial features clearly. And as much as I could see, I could tell that he was a male–a tall, handsome, and nice–smelling male. He smelled like a luxurious blend of dark amber and rich oud with spicy cardamom and a hint of sweet vanilla, just like Kaiden.
Wait a minute.
“Kaiden?” I asked, my voice barely more than a breath, laced with disbelief as I leaned closer to get a better look.
“Sshhh…” he hushed me, gently wrapping his palm over my mouth. His fingertips were cold against my flushed skin as he leaned in, his breath tickling the shell of my ear. Whispering with the softness of cotton, he added, “Don’t make noise. We can’t afford to attract another wild boar.”
He then let go of my mouth, his hand sliding down to intertwine with mine–firm and grounding.
“Follow me,” he said, casting a quick glance over his shoulder before tugging me forward through the dense forest.
As soon as we walked for a couple of minutes, he put his free hand in his pocket, took out his phone, and turned the flashlight on.
His face was now vividly visible, bathed in the pale glow of the LED light.
“Kaiden,” I said, my eyes locking with his hazel ones, which flickered with both anger and worry. My chest tightened at the storm of emotion swirling behind his gaze.
“Let’s go,” he said curtly, jaw tight and shoulders rigid as he turned away. That’s it. He didn’t scold me for running away recklessly or ask if I was fine or anything–he just began to walk.
Indeed, men were born to solve complicated directions. The jungle where I was stuck for more than hours, as if I was in a maze, was just fifteen minutes away from the highway. Kaiden didn’t take even one wrong turn. He walked and guided me through the way as if it wasn’t a jungle but his personal playground.
If I was not a nerd for science but for fantasy romance, I would have thought that he is not a normal human but a wolf shifter who just saved his woman from the darkness of the obnoxious dense forest.
We had been driving for more than forty minutes, and Kaiden hadn’t spoken a word to me till now. He was silent in the jungle as well, but I thought he was just concentrating to get the right direction. But now, his silence felt piercing–like invisible needles pricking both my heart and ears.
I was about to open my mouth and talk to him, but the voice in me echoed inside my mind, “Have you lost it, Lucy? Isn’t he doing exactly what you wanted? Shutting his chatterbox–like mouth off? Why the hell do you love creating problems for yourself?”
My inner self was right. Though this silence was hurting me like slow poison, it was better to let it sting, because if we spoke, then hurting would be the most bearable thing among all the other disasters that might follow.
As we reached the neighborhood, my heartbeat began to grow wild.
“Drop me here,” I finally said, keeping my voice level though my fingers trembled in my lap. I didn’t speak to break the ice- it was a shield I needed. “I don’t want Mom to spot us together.”
Kaiden didn’t even spare me a glance. Instead, his foot slammed harder on the gas pedal, and the car jolted forward with a snarl, the engine growling like it had been waiting to be unleashed.
“Kaiden!” I yelled, my voice nearly swallowed by the rising roar of the vehicle. Panic crawled up my spine like ice, and I 1/2
35 FM, 18 Apr
Chapter 94
gripped my seatbelt so tightly my knuckles turned pale. “What the fuck are you doing?”
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“Today, Selena Sterwalt gets her damn closure,” he snapped, not looking away from the road, his jaw clenched tight and his hands rigid on the steering wheel. “I’m done letting her play god with your life. I will not let her torture you anymore.”
We were hurtling toward the mansion now–its tall iron gates drawing closer with every passing second. But instead of slowing down, he accelerated, pushing the car harder, faster along with the horn. The world outside blurred into streaks of light and shadow. It felt like we were shooting through a tunnel with no brakes, no pause, no turning back.
I sucked in a sharp breath as the gates loomed, bracing for the impact that seemed inevitable. My heart thudded so loud it drowned out everything else. We’re going to crash. He’s going to crash the fucking car.
But then–at the very last heartbeat–the gates slid open with a mechanical groan, and we shot through them like a streak of lightning slicing through the calm before a storm.
Kaiden didn’t veer toward the driveway or the designated parking. He brought the car to a violent halt right in front of the mansion’s grand porch. The tires shrieked against the concrete, leaving behind the acrid scent of scorched rubber and the pounding echo of chaos in my chest.
He threw his door open and climbed out with forceful strides, his shoes striking the stone with the finality of footsteps meant for war. “Selena Sterwalt!” he bellowed, his voice ricocheting off the marble columns like the crack of thunder.
He rounded the hood of the car in seconds, reached my door, and yanked it open with a single pull. Before I could move, his hand found mine–his grip urgent, rough with anger yet trembling with something softer. He pulled me out as if extracting the truth itself.
“Selena Sterwalt!” he yelled again, this time with a rawness that stripped away pretense, a shout laced with gallons of resentment, anger and fire.
Mom came running to the porch. Her silk robe swayed behind her like flames. The moment her eyes landed on our entwined hands, her expression shifted–from worry to blazing fury, as if fire had replaced her irises.
“What the absolute hell are you doing, Kaiden?” she hissed, her voice sharp as broken glass, her teeth clenched in disbelief.
Kaiden looked at me then–his gaze molten with defiance–and stepped closer until I could feel the heat of his breath. Without another word, he tilted his head and pressed his lips to mine.
His kiss was rebellious, shameless, and fearless. It wasn’t just a kiss–it was a war cry, a challenge, and a promise all at once. His lips claimed mine with the fire of all the words he never said, the anger he couldn’t hold, and the love he refused to hide
anymore.
To be continued..
