ARIA
Kael didn't stop touching me. Not once.
His hands stayed in all the small places, my knuckles, the side of my face, the strands of hair that kept slipping forward only for him to tuck them back behind my ear again and again. His lips pressed soft, grounding kisses against my forehead, my temple, even the crown of my head like he couldn't get enough of convincing himself I was still here.
It wasn't that usual heated desire. It wasn't hunger.
It was desperation. The kind that spoke words to me. That said something like, If I let go of you, even for a second, you'll disappear.
And for the first time, I understood. I finally saw why he always came back no matter how cruelly I pushed him away. Why he refused to let me go even when I swore he should. It wasn't ego or control like he claimed or that I wanted to believe, it was because losing me would've destroyed him. The same way it did to me.
