"Still mad at ?" she whispered, her lips dangerously close to his neck now.
She tilted her head, letting her nose trace his skin gently, slowly, as if studying the way it burned beneath her.
He didn’t move.
So she moved lower, her lips ghosting the side of his throat, pausing.
"You didn’t even say you missed ," she said sweetly, voice low and velvety. "After I swam through the ocean... ran from guards... risked my perfect hair in seawater..."
Her hand slipped under his coat, resting lightly on his abdon. She could feel the tight muscles beneath the fabric, every one of them taut like drawn bowstrings.
Still, he didn’t turn. But his breathing had changed.
More shallow.
More erratic.
"You’re being an," she whispered playfully, her teeth grazing the edge of his collarbone. "Are you punishing , Human Doll?"
Alexander finally moved—just a little. His head turned the slightest inch toward her. His eyes, no longer cold but glowing with quiet fire, t hers.
And his voice, low and hoarse, escaped his lips like thunder behind stone.
"Why did you escape, Lilith?" he asked, breath tight. "You didn’t feel safe enough with ? You think I brought you there for fun? I had my reasons!"
Lilith sighed, her teasing long gone, and slowly pulled away from him...not out of rejection, but to look at him more clearly. Her hands rose and cupped his face gently, her thumbs brushing along the sharp angles of his cheekbones.
His jaw was still tight. His lips pressed into a line.
But she didn’t care.
"I know you had your reasons," she whispered softly, "but I didn’t run because I was scared of you."
She stroked his face with slow, tender motions like she was trying to calm a storm with her bare hands.
Her eyes held sothing far deeper than amusent now.
Sothing only she could show him.
"I didn’t want you to face everything alone."
His brows twitched, but he didn’t speak.
"That evil grandma of yours... I can feel it," she murmured, voice low and sure. "She’ll try sothing worse... and I won’t wait in a golden cage while you bleed for ."
Then gently so gently she leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose.
Soft. Loving.
Unexpected.
"I’m not as weak as you think," she whispered, kissing his temple next, letting her lips rest there a mont longer.
Alexander’s eyes fluttered shut. Her breath was warm against his skin, soothing sothing buried too deep for words. He didn’t move, didn’t speak...just breathed.
She kissed his left eye.
Then the right.
Then pulled away just enough to slide her fingers down, tracing the tension in his hands. She took his left hand in both of hers and kissed the back of it slowly, then did the sa with his right. Her lips were warm, like a quiet promise on his skin.
And then without asking, without warning, she gently tugged at the lapel of his coat, pulling it aside to reveal the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath his shirt. Her gaze softened.
She leaned forward.
And kissed him...right over his heart.
A slow, lingering kiss.
And he shivered.
His body, usually stone and steel, trembled like glass under her touch.
Because no one had ever touched him there like that.
Like she wasn’t just loving him but healing him.
Lilith pulled back, her voice barely above a breath.
"You belong to , Human Doll."
"And I’ll protect what’s mine."
Her words sank into him like rain on parched earth—soft, warm, undeniable.
Everything inside Alexander that had been raging...his anger, frustration, jealousy, the fear he never voiced, simply lted.
Without a word, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her into his chest. His face buried in the crook of her neck as he inhaled her scent like it was the only thing anchoring him to sanity.
She slled like sea breeze, warmth, and sothing dangerously addictive.
Lilith blinked, slightly surprised, but she didn’t pull away.
She let him hold her.
Let him co undone quietly in her arms.
After a few silent seconds, she shifted slightly...only for his arms to tighten, and in one swift motion, he pulled her fully into his lap.
She gasped softly, not out of fear but surprise, as he hugged her tighter, desperately, like he was afraid she’d disappear again if he let go.
His breath was warm against her neck, trembling faintly.
"I hate how much I missed you," he murmured under his breath, voice muffled. "You drive insane."
Lilith’s expression softened as she let her hand slide into his hair. She gently rubbed his soft, dark strands, her fingers moving with a tenderness she rarely showed anyone.
"You’re such a dramatic human doll," she whispered against his temple, a faint smirk on her lips, though her eyes held nothing but affection.
He didn’t respond. He only held her tighter.
"Why were you smiling with that boy?" Alexander asked, lifting his head from the warmth of her neck, his dark eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at her. His tone wasn’t explosive but it held that unmistakable tone of jealous possessiveness that only he could pull off while still holding her like porcelain.
Lilith raised an eyebrow, tilting her head playfully.
"You an Jack?" she asked.
"He saved . Took to his house. His mother helped too—"
Alexander muttered sothing under his breath.
It sounded suspiciously like "I should’ve let the tide keep him."
She smirked.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing," he snapped, voice low like a grumbling old man, clearly sulking. "Just... unnecessary kindness from strangers."
He let out a huff and took her hands into his, turning them over slowly, checking her palms, fingers, even her wrists...his gaze sharp, scanning every inch.
Then his eyes drifted to her collarbone... her neck... her cheek.
He gently tilted her face with his fingertips.
Searching.
For bruises, cuts, anything.
His thumb brushed over her chin softly, the way one might touch a fragile glass.
"Don’t be reckless next ti," he murmured, the anger in his voice now replaced by sothing deeper. Sothing almost... wounded.
Lilith looked at him for a mont...his furrowed brows, the way he was still holding her as if she’d vanish again and then casually looked away.
"No promises."
He blinked.
"Lili..."
"I don’t make boring ones," she added, tossing him a teasing smirk that made sothing in his chest twist violently.
He groaned and pulled her back into his arms again.
God help anyone who tried to take her from him again.
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