CHAPTER 284: ALREADY HERS

Warning: Mature content in the Chapter

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Oscar:

I kept my gaze fixed on her wide, startled eyes as the bathroom door clicked shut. She had been about to close the door on me, but I slipped in before she could. For once, I couldn’t help it.

I wasn’t supposed to want this much. I wasn’t supposed to need this badly. And yet... here I was, my chest tight, my heartbeat unsteady, my gaze locked on the one person who could shatter me with a single word.

Her lips parted, just the smallest bit. "Oscar..."

That sound alone nearly undid me.

I had built my whole life on restraint, on keeping myself controlled and unshakable. River led, Kieran comforted, Draven fought - but me? I had been the silent shadow, the calculating one, the cold and untouchable one. And everyone believed it. Everyone thought nothing could touch me.

But she did. My mate did.

Every time her amber eyes found mine, I felt it... the unraveling. Every time her hand touched me, I burned. Every time she breathed my name, I broke a little more inside.

And here, in the silence of the bathroom, she was staring at me with questions swarming her beautiful eyes.

I reached for her before I could think. My fingers brushed her arm, then slid down until they caught her wrist. I wasn’t rough. I wouldn’t dare after previous night.

Letting go of her wrist, I started unbuttoning Draven’s shirt she had put on earlier. I removed it and put it aside on the counter. Then I crouched to pull down the shorts, and she complied without a single word.

The last piece of fabric to go was my own pajama. The moment we both were naked, I pulled her into the shower and turned on the warm water.

The sound of rushing water filled the space between us, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the pounding of my heart.

"Don’t run from me," I said quietly, the words almost breaking against my tongue.

She blinked, surprised. And then, she smiled.

Her body softened, leaning into mine, and in that moment I knew... I wasn’t going to be able to keep myself restrained for too long.

The heat of the shower sprayed against us, soaking both of us as I bent down and pressed my lips to her forehead. It was such a simple kiss, such a small thing, and yet I felt the weight of it in my chest. She stilled against me, her breath hitching, her hands moving to my waist before she finally touched me back.

Her fingers came in contact with my bare skin, clinging. And I - Moon Goddess help me - I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her head up, and when our eyes met, there was no thought, no restraint left in me. Just her. Always her.

When my lips brushed hers, I swore my entire world shifted. The first kiss was soft, testing. But when she sighed against my mouth, the dam inside me broke.

I deepened it, desperate and aching, my tongue brushing hers, swallowing her small sounds. She rose on her toes to meet me halfway, pressing herself against me with a need that echoed my own. And suddenly, there was no space left. No distance.

I pressed her back against the tiled wall, my palms braced on either side of her head as I kissed her like she was the only thing that mattered. Because she was.

"Eva," I murmured against her lips, my voice rougher than I had intended. "You have no idea..."

Her lashes fluttered. "Then show me."

I wasn’t expecting her to say that, not after knowing fully well how sore she was after last night.

The water streamed over her shoulders, over the curve of her neck, and I bent to taste it, to taste her. My lips moved along the line of her throat, down to the hollow of her collarbone. She shivered, and when I felt it, my chest constricted painfully.

I wanted to mark every inch of her, to memorize her skin beneath my mouth. My wolf kept telling me that we should mark her, claim her as ours for the rest of her life.

But I couldn’t do it. Not now. Before marking her, all four of us needed to sit down and talk. And right now, her relation with River was too fragile for such an important talk.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when she lightly nipped at my lower lip, taking me aback for a second before I was consumed by her kiss.

She arched into me, her fingers threading into my hair, holding me closer as if she couldn’t stand the thought of letting go. And stars, the sound that tore from me then... it wasn’t something I would ever let another person hear. A low, broken groan.

She had no idea what she was doing to me. Or maybe she did.

Her softest touches were enough to undo everything I thought I was. Every drag of her nails along my neck. Every sigh against my ear. Every quiet gasp when I pushed closer.

I wasn’t just kissing her anymore... I was worshipping her.

When I finally entered her, it wasn’t with the roughness she experienced last night. No, there was only reverence. My hands shook as I held her hips, guiding her slowly, carefully, until she gasped against my shoulder.

I buried my face in her neck, my breaths uneven, my chest pressing to hers as though I needed her heartbeat to keep me steady.

"Eva," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Mine."

She clung to me tighter, her nails biting into my back, and I knew she had heard me.

Every thrust was measured, tender despite the desperation burning through me.

Her cries filled the bathroom, her body trembling against mine, and I kissed away every sound, every shiver, every tear of pleasure that escaped her. I wanted to take it all, wanted to give her more, wanted to be the reason she forgot everything else.

And when her body clenched around me, when she shattered with my name on her lips, I lost myself completely.

The release tore through me, but even then, I couldn’t stop holding her. Couldn’t stop murmuring her name like it was the only word I would ever need.

Afterward, I didn’t let go. Not even when she sagged against me, breathless and weak. I held her in my arms under the warm spray of water, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other tracing slow circles down her spine.

Her cheek pressed against my chest, and I swore I could feel her heartbeat syncing with mine.

And in that fragile silence, I realized that I had long lost this battle.

I was already hers. Entirely, hopelessly, and irrevocably hers.