Page 128 of Forbidden Empire
She was about to learn a brutal lesson, and I couldn’t wait to watch it unfold.
I found myself smirking, satisfied with the way things had unraveled, even if I hadn’t gotten to see the light fade from Rhea’s eyes. Knowing we’d toppled her entire operation was enough for now.
The promise of sharing the profits with my colleagues was a bonus. I could only imagine how it burned Rhea to walk away from the empire she’d built.
Footsteps drew my attention, and I turned to find Aidon approaching, a snifter of whiskey in each hand. He offered one to me.
Our fingers brushed, the touch sending a shiver up my arm. I took a sip, my eyes lingering on him, measuring and waiting.
“It’s over,” I murmured, letting the whiskey burn its way down my throat, the fire spreading low and deep inside me.
Aidon nodded, slow and unhurried, his bruised, handsome face still marked but healing.
The evidence of what he’d been through was written across his skin, but if it bothered him, he didn’t show it. I reached up, fingertips brushing gently along the battered line of his jaw.
He caught my hand in his, brought my palm to his lips, and kissed it. His gaze locked on mine, a slow, dangerous smile curving his mouth.
“Don’t get too comfortable, Esme. I’m not trying to kill the mood, but you know as well as I do: our enemies are never gone for good. Rhea’s out of the way, for now, but this war isn’t done. Not really.” He shrugged. “But I’ll give you this; it’s over tonight.”
I exhaled, letting the tension bleed from my shoulders.
“I know. I remember. But it wouldn’t kill us to relax for a little while.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” His laugh was more a rumble than a sound, and when he bent to kiss me, it was so casual, so familiar, it almost startled me; as if we’d always done this, as if we’d always belonged to each other.
We hadn’t talked about where we stood, or what we meant to each other, but maybe that was for the best. I wasn’t sure I wanted to define it, not when just being with him felt like this.
“To a brief respite,” he said, lifting his glass and clinking it against mine.
“To rest,” I echoed, grinning at him before drinking again.
I turned toward the window, letting my gaze drift out over the city as the sunset bled fiery pinks and oranges across the horizon.
He moved behind me, sliding his arms around my waist, and held me tight as he rested his chin on my shoulder. I felt the strength in his hold, the warmth, the safety.
“Beautiful,” he rasped.
“The sunset?” I asked, watching the colors stain the wild city below.
Aidon shook his head, a long, shuddering sigh escaping him. “Not the sunset, beauty. You.”
I shivered at the sincerity, the rough affection I heard. He kissed the side of my neck, making me tremble with a need that felt dangerous. I leaned back into him, savoring the ironclad way he held me, the way we were stronger together than we’d ever been alone.
We’d learned that the hard way.
“Aidon,” I breathed, turning in his arms to face him. I kissed him, soft at first, then deeper, letting him know what I couldn’t say. “Thank you.”
He cocked a brow, smirking. “For what?”
“For believing in me. For not getting in my way.”
He laughed. “Oh, I tried, babe. But you’re stubborn as hell.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s one way to put it. So, did you learn your lesson?”
His grin was pure challenge, eyes dancing with heat. “Not a chance.”
“Aidon!”
