Aria Pov
"Years ago, I was my father’s son. Cold. Empty. Incapable of loving anything but power." His eyes t mine in the darkness. "You changed that. Noah changed that. You both showed what actually matters."
I shouldn’t ask. Shouldn’t open this door. But the words ca anyway. "What if we’d never gotten pregnant? What if I’d just been the quiet, convenient wife you thought you married?"
"Then I’d probably still be that empty shell of a man." He turned fully toward . "Which is a terrifying thought. Because it ans I needed to lose you to understand what I had."
"We should go back to bed," I said, not moving. "Noah’s fine. We need to rest."
"I can’t." Damien’s voice cracked. "Every ti I try to sleep, I think about all the things that could have gone wrong today. If the FBI hadn’t found him in ti. If Marcus had" He couldn’t finish.
Before I could think better of it, I reached for his hand. "But they did find him. And Marcus didn’t hurt him, Noah is safe."
His fingers closed around mine, trembling. "I’ve never been this scared in my life. When I thought I might lose him—lose both of you—I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I knew was that I’d give anything, do anything, to bring him ho."
"You did." I squeezed his hand. "You gave up everything without hesitation. That matters, Damien."
"Does it?" His eyes searched mine. "Does it matter enough that you might soday forgive ? Not for Noah’s sake. For... us?"
"There is no us," I said automatically. But the words felt hollow.
"Isn’t there?" He took a step closer. "Aria, I know I don’t deserve it. I know I have years of making ands ahead of . But tell there’s a chance, tell that soday"
"I can’t." My voice broke. "I can’t give you hope when I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust you again."
"Then don’t trust yet." Another step closer. "Just... don’t shut the door completely. That’s all I’m asking."
We were too close now. Close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off his bare chest. See the pulse hamring in his throat. Sll the familiar scent of him—sothing that reminded of the one night things had been good between us.
"Damien." My voice ca out breathless. "We can’t, this is a bad idea."
"I know." But he didn’t move away and neither did I.
"We’re both exhausted, emotionally raw and also not thinking clearly."
"I know," he repeated, his eyes dropping to my mouth.
"If we do this, it doesn’t an anything. It doesn’t fix what’s broken."
"I know." His hand ca up to cup my face, thumb brushing across my cheekbone. "Tell to stop, Aria. Tell to walk away."
I should. I should absolutely tell him to stop.
But years of being alone, of being strong, of never letting anyone touch —it all crashed down at once. The adrenaline from the day, the fear, the relief, the desperate need to feel sothing other than terror.
I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss .
He made a sound—surprise and hunger and relief all mixed together—and then his arms were around , pulling against him, and I was drowning.
The kiss was nothing like the day we first had sex. That had been awkward, fumbling, two strangers going through motions.
This was way different. His hands tangled in my hair. Mine explored the muscles of his back, feeling them flex under my touch. When his tongue swept into my mouth, I gasped, and he swallowed the sound.
"Aria," he breathed against my lips. "Are you sure?"
No. I wasn’t sure about anything but I nodded anyway.
He kissed again, deeper this ti, then pulled back just enough to speak. "Not here, not in the hallway where Noah might wake up and see."
Right, Noah . We were supposed to be responsible parents.
Damien took my hand and led down the hall, past the guest room, to his master suite at the end. The door clicked shut behind us, and suddenly reality hit.
I was in Damien Blackwood’s bedroom. About to sleep with the man who’d destroyed years ago.
"We don’t have to," Damien said, reading my hesitation. "Aria, if you’re not ready, if this is moving too fast"
"Shut up." I kissed him again, silencing his doubts and mine. "Stop talking and just... just make feel sothing other than fear."
His eyes darkened with understanding. This wasn’t about love or forgiveness or fixing the past. This was about two broken people desperately needing to feel alive after almost losing everything.
"Tell if you want to stop," he said, walking backward toward the bed. "Any ti. I’ll stop imdiately."
"Okay."
My legs hit the mattress and I sat, looking up at him. He was breathing hard, his control clearly fraying. But he didn’t move, didn’t rush .
He knelt in front of , his hands on my thighs, and looked up at with such raw need that I felt it in my bones.
"Kiss ," I whispered.
Damien’s mouth was on mine, years of hate and want exploding at once. I bit his lip as he growled and shoved , his hands already ripping my pajama top open.
Buttons pinged across the floor as my breasts bounced free. Cold air hit my nipples; they went rock-hard instantly. He stared like a starving man, then dropped his head and sucked one deep into his mouth.
"You’re so beautiful," he murmured, his hands reverent. "I was blind before, I was so goddamn blind."
I moaned loud enough to wake the house but I didn’t care.
His tongue flicked as he switched to the other breast, biting just hard enough to sting. My pussy clenched so hard I felt empty. I needed him inside .
I yanked his hair, pulled him up, and attacked his belt. He helped, shoving his jeans and boxers down in one push. His cock sprang out, thick, veined, the head already slick. I wrapped my fingers around it—couldn’t close my fist as he hissed, hips jerking into my grip.
"Condom—now," he growled, voice ragged.
I shook my head, frantic. "I don’t know where"
He lunged, yanked the drawer so hard it crashed to the floor. Foil packet in his teeth, he ripped it open, rolled the rubber down his length with shaking hands. I watched every second, thighs rubbing together, dripping down my legs.
He grabbed my waist, spun over the bed. My cheek hit the sheets, my ass in the air as he kicked my feet wider.
One second his fingers were spreading open, the next his cock slamd ho.
No warning, no slow stretch. Just one brutal thrust that punched the air from my lungs. I scread into the mattress. He was huge—bigger than I rembered—and I was tight from years of nothing. It hurt so bad but he didn’t wait.
He pulled out to the tip and slamd back in, again and again. The bedfra smashed the wall in rhythm. His balls slapped my clit every ti he bottod out.
"Fuck—fuck—Aria" he grunted with every stroke.
I reached back as my nails into his thigh. "Harder, damn it."
He snarled, gripped my hips hard enough to leave fingerprints, and started pounding like he wanted to split in half. My pussy fluttered around him, soaking the condom as wet sounds filled the room—filthy and loud.
He reached under , two fingers on my clit, rubbing rough circles. I ca instantly, my vision whiting out, walls clamping down so hard he cursed and almost lost rhythm.
But he didn’t stop. He fucked through it until I was sobbing, oversensitive and pushing back for more.
He pulled out suddenly as I whined at the emptiness. Then he flipped onto my back, shoved my knees to my chest, and drove back in. Face to face now, I saw everything—sweat rolling down his temples, his jaw that was clenched.
"Look at ," he ordered.
I did, I couldn’t look away. He fucked so deep I felt him in my throat. My tits bounced with every thrust. He bent, sucked my nipple so hard so that I ca again, screaming his na, pussy gushing around his cock.
He kept going at a fast pace. The headboard was denting the wall now. I shoved at his chest. "I want on top."
He rolled us without pulling out. I straddled him, sank down slow, feeling every inch stretch open again. His head fell back as his hands gripped my ass so hard it hurt.
I started riding him hard. Up—slam—down. Up—slam—down. My thighs burned, my clit ground against his pelvis on every drop. His cock hit so deep I saw stars.
He slapped my ass. "Faster."
I went wild. Hair sticking to my face as my tits bounced in his face; he caught one, sucked the nipple until I shrieked. His other hand found my clit again, pinching, rolling.
I was close—so close.
"Co on my cock, Aria," he growled. "Milk dry."
I exploded and scread until my voice cracked. Pussy spasming, squirting all over his thighs. He roared, hips bucking up, cock throbbing inside the condom as he ca hard, holding down so I took every pulse.
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