Page 85 of Untamed

A moan.

Low, breathless and so fucking real.

Ares groans into my mouth like the sound undoes him.

LikeIundo him.

My body melts into his as the kiss deepens, heat curling low in my belly. He’s still gentle, still holding me like I might break, but there’s something else now. Something darker. A flicker of possession beneath the softness. Like he’s wanted this just as badly, just as long as I have.

When we finally pull apart, it’s only just enough to breathe, barely a breath between us, our lips still brushing, foreheads pressed together like we’re afraid to let go.

My lungs ache, but it’s not air that I want. I wanthim.

Ares doesn’t speak.

Neither do I.

We justexistthere, tangled in something too big to name. My fingers stay curled at the back of his neck, his arms still locked around my waist, keeping me locked in this moment. Or maybe he’s afraid if he loosens his grip, I might vanish. He’s looking at me, like I’ve splintered something open inside him, something he can’t close, can’t name, can’t survive.

And I feel it too.

This kiss didn’t feel like a first.

It felt like ashift, like something in the world tipped and it’ll never be the same again.

“I meant it,” I whisper softly, each word laced with sincerity. “Every word.” His thumb gently caresses my cheek, the touch tender and lingering, yet he remains silent, his eyes fixed intently on mine, as if searching for something unspoken. For a moment, I'm captivated, unable to look away from him, this beautiful, broken man who just kissed me like he was praying for forgiveness and begging me to stay all at once.

And I know I will. Even though I don’t know him, and he remains an enigma to me. A labyrinth of secrets and scars, I know I can’t turn my back on this inexplicable connection.

I know Ican’twalk away.

The sensible part of me whispers that I should walk away, but I can't. Because even now, as we stand together in this fragile silence, I can sense the subtle rise of his defences, likewalls being rebuilt brick by brick, guarding the vulnerability he momentarily revealed to me.

I feel it before he says a word.

The subtle shift in his posture. The tightening of his jaw. The stillness that wraps around him like armour. He pulls back, not far, just enough that I feel the loss of him everywhere at once.

“Ares…” I whisper, but the name feels fragile now, like it might break in my mouth. His hand falls away from my cheek.

That small, tender part of him, the part that let me in, is already retreating.

“It’s late, you should go,” he says quietly, his tone stripped bare of warmth. “Before someone notices you’re missing.”

It doesn’t sound like anger. No, it sounds like a man trying to shut a door before the light gets in too far.

“If anyone cared they would have noticed a long time ago.” I state, my voice barely above a breath. Ares stares at me for a beat, and I swear I see something flash in his dark eyes. “You seriously want me to leave?” He doesn’t answer right away. Just turns slightly, his gaze dropping to the floor like the truth is too dangerous to speak out loud. I reach for him, placing my hand on his jaw and bring his gaze back to me. “Why, Ares?”

“Because Jordyn, this...wasn’t supposed to happen,” he finally says. “Not with you.”

“Not withme?” I step closer to him, my heart thudding. “Tell mewhy?”

“Because you’re good,” he says, his voice sharp but pained as he draws his face away from my touch. “And I’m not. I’m the thing good people don’t survive.”

The words slam into me like shards of ice.

“I don’t believe that,” I whisper. “You don’t protect someone as fiercely as you do me if you don’t have any goodness in you, Ares.”

His eyes search mine, but he doesn’t speak.

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