Chapter 159: Devouring Her Before Dinner

Adeline’s POV~

"Say that to me again, Adeline," he demanded softly, his voice trembling with barely suppressed emotion.

I held his intense gaze without pulling away. "I said it is not fear, Blake. I don’t fully understand everything that is happening between us yet, but I know for a fact that I am not afraid of you."

Blake lowered his head until his forehead rested heavily against mine, his hot breath fanning across my lips as he fought for breath.

"You have absolutely no idea what you are doing to me right now. I am holding myself back by a single, fraying thread. One more word like that out of your mouth, and I am not going to be able to keep my promise to be patient with you."

"Then kiss me," I said, and I surprised myself. "Just kiss me. Because I want you to." He didn’t hesitate for another second.

Blake captured my lips in a kiss that felt like a man who had been starving. It was deep, slow, intense, and utterly desperate, one of his large hands cradling the back of my head while his other arm locked around my waist, pulling me so close.

I turned fully in his embrace, wrapping my arms tightly around his broad shoulders and burying my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer as the water moved around us.

His hands traced my back and my waist as though he were still asking permission with every touch, and I answered each time by pulling him closer.

When he finally pulled back just an inch to let us breathe, both of our chests were heaving, and his eyes were dark with an overwhelming fire. He kept his forehead pressed against mine, his eyes closed as he drew in long, ragged breaths to regain his composure.

"Not tonight," he said hoarsely. "When I take you, I want you to be sure. I want you to wake up the next morning and not regret a single second of it. But I’m not letting go of you yet."

"Then don’t," I whispered.

I stepped out of the tub with him, and he didn’t let go of my waist for even a single second.

We steeped into the shower cubicle, the water ran down our skin in warm streams as he reached over and turned on the overhead shower, and within seconds, thick, hot steam rose all around us until the glass door behind me was fogged entirely white.

Blake held me firmly against his broad frame, completely bare, pressing me so close that I could feel every line of his solid muscle, almost as if he needed the physical contact just to prove himself that I was actually real and standing right here with him.

I heard a sound that made my whole body instantly lock up.

It was a quiet, soft clink of porcelain coming from my bedroom, followed by the faint sound of heavy dishes being set down on the table.

"Wait, Blake..." I whispered, my hands instinctively coming up to rest against his chest as I looked up into his face with wide eyes. "There is someone inside my room right now."

"It is just the estate staff," Blake said softly, cutting off my panic before it could even begin. His tone was completely unbothered, and his thumb stroked slow, soothing circles over my hip as he kept me pinned gently against him.

"I ordered them to bring a full hot meal up to your room for you. You haven’t eaten dinner tonight, Adeline, and I know exactly how that overthinking head of yours works. You would have gladly gone straight to sleep on an empty stomach and lied to yourself that it didn’t matter at all. So I made sure your food arrived."

His dark gaze dropped down to my wet lips for a long, heavy second before pulling right back up to meet my eyes. "And to be completely honest with you, I am utterly starving as well," he murmured, his deep voice vibrating straight into my chest as his lips brushed against my jaw.

"So tell me, Adeline... should I go ahead and devour my meal right here first, before I step back and let you eat yours?"

A sudden wave of intense heat rushed right up to my face, and I gave him a slow, silent nod.

That single nod was all the permission he was waiting for.

His palm immediately closed around the back of my neck, his fingers threading through my wet hair, and his mouth came down on mine hard, deep, and completely unyielding.

My back met the fogged, cool glass of the shower wall, his free hand slamming against the surface right beside my head to brace us, and the intense heat of the water combined with his suffocating closeness made my entire head spin with dizziness.

I kissed him back without a single second of hesitation, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck as a soft, breathless sound escaped his throat.

When his tongue pressed against my lips, silently asking for more, I opened for him completely, and he claimed my mouth like a starving man finally given the one thing he had been denied for years.

A sharp gasp broke out of my throat when he ground his hard length directly against my lower stomach, but Blake instantly swallowed the sound, sealing his lips over mine as his grip on my waist tightened to keep me flush against his heat. My mind was completely foggy, and my lungs burned for air, prompting me to tap my hand lightly against his solid shoulder.

He pulled back slowly, leaving us standing chest-to-chest in the heavy steam. We stood there breathing hard into the tiny space between our faces, our eyes locked together as the warm shower water ran down our bodies.

"Blake," I said, my voice shaking. "You said you would wait. You said I should be sure."

"And I meant every single word I said to you, Adeline," he answered, his voice rough, as he rested his forehead heavily against mine.

"I am not going to take a single thing from you tonight that you have not willingly handed over to me. So I am going to ask you right now, and I need your answer, not the response you think I want. Do you genuinely want this? Do you want me, Adeline?"