[Music recommendation: Jacob LaVallee - Pathways]

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"Just to know whether I would become like this with anyone else... or whether this madness exists only because of you."

Aliana felt as though the air had been knocked from her lungs as she absorbed Gavriel’s unfiltered words.

’What is this?’ she thought, her mind spinning. ’What does it even mean?’

Her eyes searched his, desperately trying to dissect the man holding her. Her anger began to waver, fracturing and mixing with a chaotic wave of newfound emotions churning deep within her chest.

’Does he mean... that he only went to that woman to check the difference between her and me?’

Even as that sounded completely ridiculous, her thoughts continued to race. She knew one thing for sure.... Gavriel was a completely different breed. Nothing was ever simple when it came to this man.

’He said I am driving him insane. Truth be told.... so is he. But the question is... how exactly did he check? Did he allow her to touch him? Did she draw close to him the way he is close to me right now? He said nothing happened... but even so... did something happen?’

Aliana did not know how to stop her thoughts from spiralling completely out of control.

Not even in her wildest dreams had she imagined that when she came downstairs for breakfast today, she would have to bear the full brunt of Gavriel’s ruthless assault on her senses. It was an onslaught that was slowly beginning to swallow every bit of her reason.

Her fingers tightened around his shirt, crushing the crisp white fabric under the pressure of her palm.

Her other hand, still holding his wrist, squeezed it with everything she had. Yet, Gavriel did not flinch. Instead, he welcomed the pressure, deeply satisfied by her possessive grip.

Finally, she parted her lips, her voice came out as a fragile, demanding whisper. "So... what did you find out?"

At her question, the hand cradling her jaw shifted. His thumb brushed lightly against her skin before travelling lower, his fingers curling around her neck only to pull her face an inch closer to his.

"It’s becoming harder to control myself around you," he whispered, his gaze falling onto her lips once again, making her heart skip inside her chest.

He then lowered himself, burying his nose into the crook of her neck, and Aliana felt herself shudder as his warm breath brushed against her skin.

"Your scent, your body... your face..." His grip around her waist and neck tightened as he pulled her closer against him before continuing, "Everything about you allures me... making me want to.... ruin you, Aliana."

Aliana’s eyes fluttered shut as his nose lazily dragged along the curve of her neck.

"It’s driving me insane... because I don’t know..." he murmured softly, "how much longer can I stop myself from doing something you wouldn’t like."

With her eyes still closed, she finally let go of his wrist and slid her trembling hands along his broad shoulders before weaving them behind the nape of his neck as another trembling whisper left her lips.

"And... this... is something you didn’t feel towards that other woman?"

In response, he let go of her neck and instead reached down, running his hand along the curve of her spine, making her back arch subconsciously at the touch. Gavriel buried his face deeper into her neck as another answer left his lips.

"No..."

She felt him press a searing, open-mouthed kiss against her collarbone, making another shudder pass through her, and she could not help but weave her fingers through his hair.

"Only you, Aliana," his husky, muffled voice vibrated against her skin, making her pulse jump in response, and a soft, breathless moan slipped past her lips.

His hands continued to stroke her back, his movements slow yet deliberate. It was as if he were readying her to be pushed over the very edge of sanity. As if he didn’t want to suffer this obsession alone.... he wanted to pull her straight into the madness along with him.

On hearing that sweet sound from her, he finally dragged his nose all the way up to her ear before running his tongue along the shell of it and hissing, "It’s driving me to the point that I cannot seem to keep my hands off you."

He pressed a lingering kiss just below her ear, then dragged his lips across her cheek until his gaze finally settled on the intoxicating state he had reduced her to once again.

Her cheeks were deeply flushed, her beguiling grey eyes opened and dilated as she continued to breathe softly through her trembling lips.

Bringing his thumb up to press gently against her parted lips, he whispered, "Tell me... tell me you are feeling the same way.... as I am."

Leaning forward, his lips barely brushing against hers as if testing the last thread of his own control before asking once again, "Tell me... you want me just as much as I want you, baby."

And Aliana felt herself turn into putty at the first time he used an endearing term for her that wasn’t ’little rose.’

The struggle was real.

Her rational, logical self was fighting fiercely not to be seduced by the devil before her. Yet, she knew that any other woman in this exact position would not have survived even a few seconds without melting into him completely, allowing him to ruin her.

Aliana felt no different, but there was still one nagging thing holding her back.

With a Herculean effort, she dragged her hand away from his hair, sliding it down to cradle his cheeks, and forced herself to look straight into his eyes.

Her breathing was uneven, yet she willed the words past her lips, asking in a low voice, "Not before you tell me... did you let her touch you?"

She saw his eyes widen ever so slightly at her question, but she pressed on.

"Tell me... where did you let her touch you?" This time, her eyes burned with fire so intense that it made him realise he was about to get burned.

Gavriel could have lied to her.

He could have hidden the fact that he went to meet Diana altogether, but a primal part of him continued to claw at his conscience, demanding he tell her everything before she found out on her own.

Besides, strangely, he loathed the idea of having to hide anything from her.

So, regardless of the consequences, he gave her his answer. "I was fully clothed. She did not get a chance to touch me... directly."

"Hmm..." she murmured.

Her face remained as calm as a frozen lake, masking the tempest beneath, before she demanded in a low, dangerous whisper, "Show me, Gavriel."