NOVEL NEXT Chapter 73: MADE WHOLE IN THE WRECKAGE
The moonlight painted pale silver streaks across the floor as Yomi stepped into Aeloria's chamber, the door closing with a soft click behind him. The air was heavy with sorrow and turbulent magic. Aeloria lay flat on her bed, her back turned to the door, shoulders trembling with silent sobs. Wisps of chaotic Ki bled from her body in erratic pulses, flickering like storm-tossed embers as they danced across the air, staining the shadows with ghostly fire. The raw sound of her muffled crying twisted in his chest.
Her eyes snapped to him. "Get out," she snapped, her voice trembling with fury and something far more fragile beneath.
Yomi didn't move. The shadows shifted behind him, stretching like silent witnesses as he took a step closer.
"I said get out!" Her voice cracked, laced with the sharp sting of heartbreak and rage.
Without another warning, she hurled her hand toward him, and a burst of reverse healing magic spiraled from her fingertips. It wasn't meant to be lethal, just enough to push him back, but Yomi's weakened state made him vulnerable. The blast struck his chest and sent him staggering into the doorframe, his breath leaving in a guttural grunt as blood painted the front of his tunic.
Aeloria froze.
She hadn't expected to draw blood.
She hadn't wanted to.
She rose in a flash and rushed to him, her hands half-lifting before stopping midair, trembling. "I didn't mean... Yomi, I…"
He looked up through pain-glazed eyes and, to her shock, pulled her into a firm embrace.
She squirmed against him, tears starting to spill. "Let go. Let me go! Stop pretending you care. Stop acting like I matter!"
Yomi's grip tightened, not painfully, but protectively. "Why would you assume I don't?"
Aeloria growled, unleashing another wave of chaotic magic. Sparks danced against his skin, slicing tiny nicks and burns into his flesh. But he held firm.
"You think I saved you out of obligation? No. It's because of who you are. Your love for magic. Your kindness, even when the world tried to kill it. That's what drew me to you in the first place. Even if you doubt everything else… I've always wanted you."
She sobbed, fists pounding weakly against his chest as her magic faltered. "I didn't want to fall for you! I didn't... I never wanted this. Lirien moved on. She found her way. And I'm still stuck in this nightmare, and it's your fault. I should hate you!"
He remained silent, offering no resistance as she stepped into him, pressing her hands flat against his chest. Her breath hitched, part sob, part rage, and then she shoved him back, her strength surprising, until his spine met the cold stone wall with a dull thud.
Then suddenly, without hesitation, her lips crashed into his.
It wasn't soft.It wasn't gentle.
Her mouth was hot and trembling, tasting of salt and sorrow, her kiss all desperation and fire. Teeth scraped. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his tunic like claws. It wasn't affection. Not at first. It was fury, raw and ragged, a whirlwind of everything she didn't know how to say.
She kissed him like she hated him. Like she needed him. Like she was breaking apart and he was the only anchor left in her world.
Her lips bruised against his, her tongue demanding entrance, claiming and reckless. And Yomi, caught off guard for only a breath, responded, not with restraint, but with the silent ache of a man who had been waiting for a moment neither of them could name.
He grabbed her by the waist, pulling her flush against him, grounding her spiraling Ki as it flared and danced like lightning beneath her skin.
She moaned into his mouth, part anguish, part surrender.
It wasn't love.Not yet.
It was punishment.
She was punishing herself , for wanting him, for needing him, for hating him for leaving her behind, and for craving the fire only he seemed to awaken in her blood.
And gods help her... she didn't want it to stop.
Yomi broke the kiss gently. "Your judgment's being clouded by my Ki. It's affecting your emotions. I didn't intend for it to...."
"Then why did you sleep with Lirien? Why heal her like that and leave me like this? Am I not useful enough?"
Yomi stared into her eyes. "Tools are meant to be used. But you... you are not a tool. Not to me. You are part of me. Something to protect, cherish... and yes, love, as an equal."
Aeloria stepped back, shaken. Her breathing hitched.
"Then prove it."
Yomi understood. He slowly removed his torn shirt, revealing the lithe lines of his body, powerful, but not imposing. His eyes darkened to molten amber, pupils narrowing slightly. His canines extended just a touch, a primal gleam in his aura.
Aeloria watched, wide-eyed, her own Ki flickering out of sync. Her body tensed as Yomi stepped forward again, his presence wrapping around her like a heated current.
He cupped her face and whispered, "Let me help you."
The kiss that followed wasn't violent, it was reverent. Warm. She leaned into it without realizing. Her chaotic Ki surged again, lashing wildly until Yomi's hands found her waist, grounding her.
With every brush of his lips against her skin, every warm whisper against her throat, her Ki began to slow. Her back arched as Yomi's mouth traced her collarbone, his own energy entwining with hers, disciplining it gently.
When he lifted her gently and laid her onto the bed, his hands exploring the boundaries of her consent with slow precision, she trembled, not from fear, but from surrender.
Her Ki flared again as he pressed a palm over her navel, sending a pulse of warm, regulated energy through her core. The chaotic waves inside her began to ripple in time with his. He kissed her again, deeper this time, their lips clashing with the hunger they both refused to name until now.
"It's going to hurt a little," he murmured, brushing strands of hair from her flushed face. "But I'll be with you. I promise."
She nodded shakily, her breath uneven, eyes shimmering with a storm of fear and longing.
His thick cock pushed into her tight, wet pussy, her fluffy lips clamped on his raw dick, her insides twitching as if trying to suck him deeper. The initial stretch drew a sharp gasp from her lips, pain threading through her nerves like fire, but it bloomed into something deeper. A rush. A wave of heat that stole her breath and filled her with a pulsing ache she didn't want to end.
His Ki bled into her in rhythmic waves, syncing with the chaotic thrum in her chest. Each movement pressed deeper, reshaping the tension in her body into something molten. Her hands clawed at his back, nails digging into skin as she whimpered into his neck. Every thrust reshaped her pussy to his coack.
"You're doing so well," he breathed, voice thick with restraint. "Just let go… let me take you."
And she did.
Her Ki no longer thrashed, it danced, every time he rammed into her, her cave scraped along his length, milking his slick prick like it never wanted to let him go.
A slow, sensual spiral that bent to the rhythm of his hips. Every stroke coaxed a new sound from her throat, delicate sighs, broken moans, sharp cries that bounced off the chamber walls. His balls slapped against her ass with every deep thrust as her legs trembled, grounding her hips against his, desperate to feel more, to fall further.
Her pussy clenched around him, needy and slick.
"You're burning up inside," he growled, burying himself deeper. "It's like your body is pulling me in… greedy."
Her only answer was a strangled "Ahhn—" as her walls fluttered around him, tightening with need. Pleasure was no longer a wave. It was a flood.
Their bodies clashed with sweat-slicked heat, the sound of their union wet and rhythmic, raw and grounding. His hands worshiped every inch of her, palming her breasts, thumbing over hardened peaks, dragging down her waist as if committing her curves to memory. Her Ki flared every time he kissed her, every time he muttered broken praises against her skin.
When the final crescendo came, it was breathtaking.
She arched beneath him, fingers gripping his shoulders as the world fractured behind her eyes. Her cry was primal, her Ki exploding into a radiant bloom of light that danced around them before settling, peaceful. Tamed.
His cock twitching as it pumped thick spurts into her soaked core, warmth pulsing deep as their bodies finally collapsed against each other. Her pussy clamped down in spasms, milking him greedily, dick milk spilling deep as her lewd body convulsed around his cock.
Yomi cradled her trembling form, brushing sweat-damp hair from her temple as their hearts slowed in unison. She buried her face into his neck, her lips brushing his collarbone.
"You're still bleeding," she whispered.
He chuckled faintly, voice low and spent. "So are you."
A tired, teary smile curved her lips. "Don't leave me… like she did."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, fingers threading gently through her hair.
"Never," he said.
And in the silence that followed, only the sound of breathing remained, soft, steady, and whole.