Page 123 of Emylia

Apparently, I needed to figure out how to stop throwing thunderbolts every time my heart cracked.

I forced a breath through my lungs, blinking hard as I sat up. “Please,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I need you.”

This wasn’t a want. It was an ache. A hollow place inside me that only stilled when he touched me. When I was with him, the pain faded. The self-loathing silenced. The doubt shriveled. He didn’t just distract me from the weight—I forgot it existed.

“Please,” I said again, softer now. “I need this. I need you.”

His restraint wavered. I saw it in his eyes—the torment, the hunger. But his voice remained firm. “Not tonight.”

That damn growl again. Final. Resigned.

“Fuck.” I dropped back onto the bed, groaning in frustration.

After a moment of silence, Maalikai shifted beside me. “You know this isn’t because I don’t want you… right?”

His voice was low, patient—so full of restraint it stole the air from my lungs.

“It’s because you don’t want to take advantage of me?” I bit back, sharper than the edge of a blade.

“Yes.” His sigh was tight. Controlled.

Silence stretched between us, dense and pulsing.

Then a softer breath. “Here. Put this on.” He reached across me, grabbed his discarded shirt, and handed it over.

I stared at it. “What’s this for?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to resist you without it,” he murmured, voice quieter now. Raw. As if the admission cost him more than he could afford. His gaze dragged over me—wanting, aching. “I’m trying to be good, Princess. Don’t make it harder.”

A small smile ghosted his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Because if I break now…” he exhaled, “I won’t stop. I’ll want all of you. Even the pieces you’re not ready to give.”

“Then maybe I don’t want to wear it,” I muttered, defiant.

“Then I guess I should sleep in my own bed.”

The ache bloomed immediately. Sharp. Bone-deep. The last thing I wanted was space.

Without a word, I slipped his shirt over my head and curled into him, tucking myself into the space between his chest and his heartbeat. His scent surrounded me—warm, grounding, devastating.

“Sweet dreams, Princess,” he whispered.

He pulled me tighter, one arm curling protectively over my ribs like if he held me hard enough, I wouldn’t slip through his fingers.

His breath tickled the back of my neck, steady and rhythmic, until it slowed—soft and even in sleep.

And I… I stayed awake.

For the first time since meeting Maalikai, I let myself fall.

Fully. Recklessly. Into him.

Well, maybe not the first—not after what we’d just done.

But Gods… it felt like the first.

Like breathing after drowning.

---