Chapter 160: Mate bond III
Charis
I sunk my hands on his back, groaning with delight as he teased me to the peak of my pleasure.
I felt my stomach clench as the pressure there was getting intense, a scream escaped my lips as someone latched onto my nipple again, suckling, licking and nibbling it.
"Oh, Rhett!" I screamed, clenching onto him as he pushed me to the edge. I screamed, coming undone. My juices gush onto Rhett’s body. I heard him groan happily as he slipped out of me, slapping my butt cheeks as he sprawled on the bed with me in his arms.
Slater came up to me, French-kissing me.
I was spent and I felt sleepy from what they’ve done so far, but I allowed Slater to kiss me. After a while, Kael came to the bed, taking me from Rhett’s hands.
"She’s tired, she needs to bathe and rest. I’ll do that and tuck her to bed."
Rhett wanted to argue, but Slater touched him and nodded. Kael carried me gently to the bathroom, and placed me gently on the counter as he filled the bathtub up. I was trying so hard not to doze off and must have dozed off a little because when I opened my eyes, I saw I was inside the tub.
Kael was in it with me, gently washing my body with a washcloth. I leaned against him as a sigh escaped my lips.
"Kael?" I called out gently.
He grunted in response and continued with what he was doing. I was dying to ask him about his true identity. There must be a reason for him to be who he is. Isolde hadn’t provided information about his life and who he truly was.
"Are you a bad person?" I asked wearily.
I felt his movements on my body pause, and for a minute, I thought he wouldn’t continue, but he resumed afterwards.
"I am not a good person, Charis, neither am I bad. I do not tell lies, and I would never cause anyone pain intentionally. Why do you ask?"
He lifted me, placing me at the edge of the tub as he washed the front part of my body. His eyes searched mine.
"Nothing," I managed a smile. "Just curious."
He didn’t say anything or ask more questions until we were done from the tub, and then I had to enter the shower to wash out the soap suds. When I was done, he was waiting patiently with a clean towel.
He followed me to my bedroom, and I noticed that the bed was made, and everything was well laid out, but there was no sign of Slater or Rhett. I padded across the room to the vanity table and grabbed only my moisturising cream and lip balm, hiding another yawn as I slipped on the green nightgown Kael had laid out for me.
Quickly, I moisturised my face and applied lip balm on my lips before lying on the bed.
Kael suddenly cleared his throat, making me turn my attention to him. He came to sit at the edge of my bed and had that look on his face for when someone wants to make an inquiry.
"Charis," he started gently. "Is there anything you want to ask me? Maybe something about me that you’d like to clarify? I know there’s something, and I may not be as wonderful as the other boys..."
"You’re wonderful in your own way, Kael..." I interjected
"I know," he nodded, "still, I’m not foolish enough not to know that you cannot love all three of us equally. I know you’re closer to Rhett..."
I scoffed. Was he really blind or something? My wolf liked him more than it did the other boys, and yet he was here talking about who I wanted more. I didn’t say anything, I kept listening to him to finish.
"...and Slater, and they have more experience in dealing with women, I want to do better, Charis. I always want to please you and make you happy. It breaks my heart that I am not able to express how I feel for you, but I’ll be better, I promise."
"This is still a trial, Kael," I shrugged. "Just be yourself, and that’s all. I might end up rejecting the bond."
He nodded. "Fair enough, now tell me about Isolde."
I looked up, caught off guard by the abrupt change of subject. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything. Who she really is, what your relationship with her is, how she found you." He was asking the questions calmly but I didn’t miss the tension in his voice. "I need to understand. I know you already told us the story, but maybe there is something you left out. It might be important."
"Why?" I asked, studying his expression. "Why is it so important to you?"
I could see him struggling, his jaw working silently as he fought some internal battle. Whatever he wanted to tell me, it was costing him considerable effort to hold it back.
"I can’t explain why right now," he said finally. "But Charis, I need you to trust me on this. Please."
The plea in his voice was so raw that it made my chest ache. But I’d learned to be cautious about sharing information, especially information that could compromise Isolde’s plans or put the girls in those facilities at greater risk.
"She saved my life," I said carefully. "When I needed help the most, she gave me a second chance. When I thought I had nowhere else to turn, she appeared and offered me a way out."
"And in return?"
"In return, nothing. She asked for nothing except the chance to help me become who I was meant to be and also to be her heir. I already said these things before, Kael. What are you fishing for?"
His expression suggested he didn’t believe a word of what I’d said, but before he could press further, I continued.
"She’s brilliant, powerful, and she genuinely cares about justice for people who the system has wronged. Everything I am now, everything I’ve become, it’s because she was determined not to turn her back against me when the world did."
"We all did that for you, Charis," he said quietly.
"Yes, you did, Kael, and I won’t take that away from you, but Isolde has been the mother I’ve never had. I have parents, but nine out of ten times, I always feel like I was adopted. My father doesn’t care so much about me, nor does my mom. But Isolde in these three months have made up for all the love I missed out on as a child."
He nodded slowly, though I could tell he wasn’t entirely satisfied with my explanation.
"Your father is suing her," he said abruptly. "Claiming she kidnapped you, that your adoption was coerced."
I wasn’t surprised he knew about the legal proceedings; he was part of the student leadership. "The first appearance is tomorrow, but I don’t need to be there. Isolde will handle it."
"You’re not worried about the outcome?"
"Should I be?" I studied his face, noting the tension around his eyes. "Kael, what aren’t you telling me?"
Instead of answering, he rose from where he’d been sitting on my bed and came over to me, where I was on the bed. When he reached me, he placed his hands on the headboard, trapping me in place.
"You’re my weakness, Charis Greye," he said softly, his fingers coming up to brush wisps of hair away from my face. The touch was tender, reverent, and at odds with the intensity burning in his dark eyes. "I will do anything for you."
"I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself in the process," I said quietly. "Don’t make promises won’t fulfill."
"You don’t know me, Charis," he smiled then leaned forward and placed a tiny kiss on my forehead.
Before I could respond, before I could even process what he’d just said, he was gone. He just turned and left the room, leaving me staring after him in confusion. The ghost of his touch lingered on my skin, and his words echoed in my mind long after I heard the bedroom door close.
You’re my weakness. What did that mean? And why had he looked so tormented when he said it?
I spent most of the night lying awake, turning the conversation over in my mind, trying to decipher the meaning behind his cryptic words.
***
The next morning, I was roused by my grumbling stomach and the most incredible aroma drifting under my bedroom door.
It was a sweet and savoury scent mingling together: cinnamon, vanilla, something that might have been bacon, and the rich smell of fresh coffee.
I padded out of my room in my night gown and found the scent was coming from our kitchen.
Kael and Rhett were setting up the coffee table with mismatched plates while Kael was in the kitchen cooking.