Oriana parted away, her gaze locking with the pair of intense blue eyes before her. The surprise lingered in them, reflecting her own astonishnt at her sudden boldness. She withdrew her hands from his shoulders, preparing to retreat, taken aback by her own audacity.
But before she could retreat, a firm hand encircled her waist, pulling her back against his solid fra, forcing her to et his gaze once more.
"You intended to comfort , but this won’t suffice," he remarked, looking into her beautiful eyes that looked even more alluring with the tinge of shyness in them.
Realization dawned upon Oriana that he had discerned her motives for approaching him. Flustered, she struggled to find an excuse.
"I... I was just..." Her words faltered, failing to form a coherent explanation.
His grip tightened around her waist, and in the next instant, Oriana found herself clutching his clothing as he effortlessly lifted her in her standing position, her feet hovering just an inch above the floor. Arlan’s arms remained securely wrapped around her waist as he carried her forward, settling her gently onto the work table behind her.
In that mont, Oriana felt weightless, as if her very existence held no burden for this man to move her with such ease. Was she truly that light, or was he simply that strong? It seed the latter was the case.
Once he settled her on the desk, he leaned in close, one hand resting next to hers on the desk top for support. His face drew nearer, his eyes locking intensely with hers. "You should know, your husband is a beast," he murmured, his voice low and seductive. "And a beast can’t be satisfied so easily. You should work hard to comfort him."
His free hand’s thumb brushed against her slightly parted lips, sending a shiver down Oriana’s spine. Leaning back slightly, she placed both hands on the desk for support, her gaze shifting between his eyes and his lips.
He leaned even closer, his lips barely grazing hers. "Oriana," he whispered gently, his breath warm against her skin, "be good."
Her heart raced, and as if compelled by his words, she closed her eyes and t his lips with hers. One of her hands moved from the desktop, sliding along his chest before settling at the back of his neck.
Her heart raced, quickening with each passing mont. With a soft exhale, Oriana closed the distance between them, her lips eting his in a tender, tentative kiss.
Arlan responded with equal tenderness, allowing her to take the lead. It wasn’t often that she chose obedience, let alone yielding to his desires.
As their kiss deepened, fueled by desire and longing, Oriana pulled him closer, her arms wrapping around his neck as she surrendered to the intoxicating sensation of their lips eting. His hands found her waist, drawing her nearer, their bodies lding together in a fervent embrace.
Ti seed to lose aning as they lost themselves in each other, the world outside fading into insignificance. Their kiss overflowed with raw emotion, with yearning and longing and aching need. And as they finally parted, breathless and dizzy with desire, they knew that this was rely the beginning of sothing electric and undeniable between them.
For Arlan, it wasn’t just him; his Dragon growled within him with satisfaction. It yearned to erge and continue where they left off, but it remained weak enough for Arlan to control.
Breathless, Oriana kept her eyes closed, grappling with the reality that she had succumbed to the temptation she had harbored for him for so long.
Arlan continued to caress her flushed, rosy cheek gently with his hand as he spoke, "I’m glad this ti you kissed while I’m entirely sober and not drunk."
Confusion clouded Oriana’s expression as she looked at him, but before she could respond, he continued, "From now on, you don’t have to wait for to be inebriated to kiss ."
Realization washed over her. There was that night when she had taken advantage of him and kissed him, thinking he was too drunk to recall it the next day. Was she caught? Seems like it.
"You... rember it... you weren’t drunk..." she managed to articulate, her voice trembling slightly.
"I was certainly intoxicated," he confessed, "but if I can’t even rember beautiful monts with my woman, then what kind of man am I?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You... you rembered everything? You lied..."
"I never claid otherwise," he replied calmly. "You never asked if I rembered. If you had asked, I would have given you honest answer."
"The way you acted... I thought..."
"Oriana Verner," he interrupted softly, "from the very first day, I knew you were a woman and not a man. And from that day on, I’ve been deeply invested in you. You have no idea what you truly an to ."
"Why did you act that way?" she asked, her mind swirling with questions about his conflicting behavior during those past few months when she was his aide.
"Because that was the only way I could keep you by my side," Arlan confessed. "I couldn’t accept you as a woman, yet I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. Having you with as my personal aide seed like the best compromise. I wasn’t permitted to have soone significant in my life."
"Because of Edna," Oriana murmured, understanding his conflict, before asking, "Would we have remained like that forever?"
Arlan nodded solemnly. "Eventually, I would have hidden you away sowhere far, much like I did with Snowflake. Because I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied with just having you as my aide. I would have wanted more of you, far more than you can imagine, where you and I..."
She pushed him back gently, creating so distance. "I understand," she said softly.
There was a brief silence before Oriana shifted her attention to his hand. She traced her finger along a delicate accessory hanging from his wrist. "Do you still need to wear this?" she asked.
Arlan extended his hand, gazing at the accessory with tender affection. "I don’t need to, but I keep it with because it was a gift from my mother. It makes feel her presence."
She looked at him curiously. "So if you remove it, nothing changes?"
"As I grew older, I learned to control him on my own," he replied. "Would you like to see how I looked in the past without this bracelet, my true form I was born with?"
Oriana didn’t know what to say. If she said yes, would she seem like prying into what he was trying to hide and if she said no would he think she despised it?
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