CHAPTER 462: TEMPTATION AND CONTROL ISSUES

Chapter 462 – Temptation and Control Issues

Warm. Still. Steady. Not the Prince of Greed, not the Hell-born CFO who turned kingdoms into currency. Just... a man in sleepwear and a rare softness in his voice.

Rava hadn’t realized how much tension she’d been holding until now—until her body curled instinctively closer, shoulder pressed to his chest, his scent slipping around her like warm ink spilled across silk. Rich and musky, but smooth. Faintly citrus, faintly sin. And dangerously comfortable.

She hadn’t meant to start anything. She just wanted warmth. A little comfort. That was all. That was what she told herself.

But then...

Her tentacles moved.

It wasn’t immediate. Not obvious. Just a subtle shift beneath the sheets. One of them, the smallest one—curled under her thigh—slid toward his waist.

’Just to stabilize,’ she thought. Just to keep balance. But the second one followed. Then a third, coiling lazily beneath the hem of his shirt like a curious pet sniffing something new.

She tensed.

Lux didn’t say anything. Didn’t flinch. Just exhaled, slow and deep.

Rava cursed internally.

No. No, no, no—this wasn’t supposed to happen.

Except it always did, didn’t it? Her damn biology never listened when it came to him. Because Lux wasn’t just any man. He was an incubus. A walking furnace of charm and seduction wrapped in tailored sleepwear and disarming vulnerability. And the worst part? He wasn’t even trying.

He never tried. That’s what made him lethal.

"Lux," she muttered, warningly.

"Hm?" His voice was a quiet hum, already half-drowsy. "What’s up?"

"Nothing." Her voice came out tighter than she wanted. "I’m fine."

"Are you, though?" He shifted slightly, his hand rubbing slow arcs across her spine again. "You’re stiff."

"Because—" she started, then stopped. Gods. She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t say ’my tentacles are betraying me because you smell like temptation and control issues.’

Instead, she breathed in sharply.

And made the mistake of smelling him.

Salt and smoke and late-night tea and that infuriating incubus undertone that made her thighs tense without permission.

One of her tentacles slid higher, brushing lightly—accidentally, of course—along the waistband of his pants. She felt the heat radiating off him like the low hum of a deep-sea current, slow but undeniable.

"Rava," Lux murmured, voice dangerously amused now.

She wanted to punch him. Maybe drown him.

"...Yes?" she said through gritted teeth.

"You’re touching me."

"That’s not my fault."

His chest shook with a quiet laugh. "Your tentacles are touching me."

"They have their own instincts," she snapped. "Unlike you, I don’t control them with a damn moodboard and a contract."

"Wow," he said, mock offended. "You wound me. I haven’t even offered a moodboard yet."

She groaned and buried her face in his chest. It was hot. Not just warm-hot, but fuck-me-I’m-a-furnace hot. Like sleeping next to a living brand. His heartbeat thrummed against her cheek, slow and confident, like even his internal rhythm knew he was smug.

"Lux."

"Yes?"

"Stop smelling like that."

He blinked. "Like what?"

"Like..." She swallowed, voice lowering. "Like sex. And midnight power plays. And security."

Lux was silent for a moment. Then, lightly, "Security turns you on?"

"Don’t test me."

"I’m not," he said innocently. "I just didn’t realize I was doing anything. You’re the one seducing me with your rogue tentacles."

"They’re not rogue. They’re just—!" She cut herself off with a strangled sound as one of them wrapped around his thigh.

Lux sucked in a breath. "Okay. Now I’m being touched touched."

"You’re an incubus. You can handle it."

"True," he said, voice a bit tighter now. "But you’re also a kraken. That makes this... complicated."

"Why?"

"Because if we don’t stop now, I’m not sure I’ll want to stop."

There it was. The line. The offer.

He didn’t push. Didn’t grab. Didn’t roll over and start tearing clothes off.

He waited.

Which, in a way, made it worse.

Rava breathed out slowly, the tension in her spine unraveling as more of her tentacles slithered out beneath the blanket—half on instinct, half from that craving that burned slow and low in her gut. Her skin tingled where his warmth touched it. Her control frayed with each second of his silence.

And her mind?

Yeah. It was running circles around itself.

Because now she wasn’t just fighting her body. She was thinking. Analyzing. Remembering.

Lux hadn’t tried to bribe her. Not this time. He hadn’t offered gold or trinkets or power or titles.

He’d offered comfort.

He came to her, wrapped in exhaustion and vulnerability, and asked—no, told—her that he needed warmth. That he didn’t want to beg, but craved closeness.

And what did he get in return?

Tentacles.

Violent, needy, kraken tentacles.

She was the one who failed.

Not because she got horny. But because she understood.

He meant to reward her, yes—but not as a prince. As a person. And that alone made her heart twist in ways she didn’t like admitting out loud.

Because Lux was trying.

Trying not to be transactional. Trying not to let centuries of Greed and Lust twist everything.

And yeah... maybe she liked that.

Maybe she loved that.

Rava shifted, slowly pushing herself up on one elbow. Her hair cascaded over her shoulder, her gaze meeting his—sharp, thoughtful, vulnerable all at once.

"...Lux," she said.

"Yeah?"

"I know what you’re doing."

He raised an eyebrow, calm as ever. "Do you?"

"You’re not just here for warmth."

"No?"

"You’re here because you trust me. And because somewhere deep in your beautifully fucked-up mind, you still think offering comfort is some kind of sin against your Greed nature."

He stared at her.

Silent.

Then, finally, "Maybe."

She leaned down, brushing her lips against his cheek—not seductive. Not playful. Just soft.

"You did fine," she murmured. "Your version of ’thank you’ is a little clunky. But it’s real. So stop fighting it."

He exhaled, slow. "Trying."

"Good," she said, her voice lowering again as her fingers slid under his shirt. "Because I don’t want the Greed prince tonight."