He was still panting under me, flushed and wrecked, and somehow, despite everything, his hand found the small of my back, sliding up to cradle my cheek.
"You've got me," Kael whispered, voice hoarse but soft, like a secret he'd never dared to say aloud. His fingers brushed a sweaty strand of hair from my temple, then his lips pressed to my forehead, reverent.
My chest tightened.
"You don't even know what you're doing to me," he murmured. "You win, Aria. You always win."
I didn't know what to say. I didn't need to. I thought he'd always wanted me to lose to him.
I kissed him instead in a slow and aching way, full of something terrifyingly close to obsession. And he let me. For a while, we just breathed into each other.
But then—
That fucking glint returned to his eyes.
"You made me lose control," he said, voice darker now, laced with dangerous heat. "Now it's only fair I take it back."
