The Devil's Son and His Fated Bride
Chapter 126: Full of longing...

Chapter 126: Full of longing...

After the funeral and incineration ceremony, Kai led Ren back to their chambers in silence. She tried to lighten his mood by sharing what she had uncovered in the tower, her voice gentle and sweet as always, a quiet effort to anchor him and ease his rigidness.

But Kai was unraveling, weighed down by the ghosts of the past and the uncertainty ahead. He was sick of the sorrow, of everything that hurt. All he wanted now was for them to stop surviving, and start living for each other, to embrace and kiss her for the rest of his life.

He raked a hand through his hair and bent forward, resting his forehead against her shoulder. His voice came out low and cracked. "Can we just stop it?"

Ren slipped her arms around him, holding him close. "Are you exhausted? Do you need something?"

He slowly pulled back, his gaze locking with hers. His eyes, dark and glassy, held a storm of unspoken words, a thousand things he couldn’t yet say, a thousand more he longed to do.

"Reneira."

Oh, good gods. The sound of her name on his lips made her heart tumble in her chest. Every time he said it like that, it left her breathless. She waited, barely breathing, for him to go on.

"I need you," he whispered. "I want to hear your heartbeat, feel your skin against mine. I don’t want anything else. I just want us... together." His eyes were full of need and lust, a buried hunger.

His breath grazed her jawline, voice trembling. "I’m sick of Lillieth and Nimoieth’s twisted nasty story. I hate that it haunts us. All I want is for you to know how deeply I love you. But I failed to protect you... and I can’t forgive myself for that. I hate what I let happen."

Ren flinched. Was that why he’d been pulling away?

"You didn’t fail," she murmured, stepping back just enough to cup his face in her palms. "You can’t carry the weight of the world alone."

Tears shimmered in her eyes, turning them into priceless gems.

"I love you, Kaisun." Her voice broke as she leaned in and kissed him, pouring every unspoken vow into the soft press of her lips.

He froze, stunned. It took him a heartbeat to register the words... and then everything inside him shifted.

For a monster like him, hearing those words should have meant nothing. He’d heard confessions before, empty, fleeting, meaningless. But from her... from Ren’s sweet, trembling lips, the words hit differently. They were soft, warm, and fragile, like the brush of a peony petal against bare skin.

Instead of kissing her back, he just stared, dumbstruck, frozen in place like a fool.

Ren pulled away slightly, concerned about his tightening features. She noticed his chest wasn’t rising.

"Husband, you’re not breathing!"

His voice came out in fragments. "What... did... you just say?"

"You are..."

"No. The one before that."

She smiled softly, tears clinging to her lashes. "I love you. I started loving you when we got married. The way you held me in your laps, treated me like I was fragile glass... the way you got jealous, the way you looked at me, how careful you were with my food. The way you kissed me like I was precious. No one ever cared what I wanted before. And then you came along, and even though you didn’t mean to love me... you did. You were already loving me without realizing it."

Kai didn’t let her finish. He’d heard enough, and his pounding heart couldn’t wait a second longer. Shadow howled inside him, wild and untamed, hungry with the lust that they had been poisoning to suppress until she would come to him with consent. And there was no cursed crest anymore. He was free to love her till eternity.

He slipped his arms around her waist, closing the maddening space between them, and crashed his lips onto hers, devouring her like a man hungered to demise.

Ren gasped as her back hit the soft, plush mattress. She wrapped her legs around his hips instinctively, and a low growl rumbled from his chest as he deepened the kiss, hungrily tracing the curve of her mouth with his lips, kissing her little sweet tongue.

When he finally pulled away, she was breathless, cheeks flushed, eyes dazed. Her beauty stunned him, making it nearly impossible to hold back. Every part of him screamed to tear through the layers between her clothes and claim her completely.

"What are you doing to me, Reneira?" he whispered, voice thick with longing.

His head dropped to the hollow of her neck, his hair brushing on her skin, tingling her and her fingers slipped into his hair, gentle and slow, calming the typhoon inside him. Her touch soothed him like nothing else ever had, and he sank into the moment with a trembling breath, another growl vibrating from deep within his throat.

"I’m so fucking in love with you, wife," he breathed, voice rough and trembling. "It’s killing me, knowing you’ll face Luther. I want to rip him apart with my bare hands. And if my father lies to me again and hurts you, I swear I’ll burn his throne to ash."

Ren gently cradled his head, her voice soft but firm. "Shhh... calm down."

He kissed her again, desperate to drown in her touch, but the moment shattered with a sharp knock at the door.

"Fuck," he muttered, pulling back, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. His jaw clenched. The meeting. His generals, Alphas, and the elders were waiting, ready to speak of war while his heart was still lying here in her arms.

"Come to my study when it ends, alright, love?" His tone was a low plea, reluctant to part.

She nodded, rising with him. As Ren adjusted his black attire, he watched her with smoldering eyes before grabbing her waist and kissing her again, hard and full of all the longing he couldn’t say aloud.

"Umm... you should go. Siamon is waiting," she murmured with a small smile, trying to ease the ache of goodbye.

Kai exhaled heavily. Leaving her now felt like a cruel punishment. He took her hand, raised it to his lips, and kissed her palm as if sealing a vow.

Then he turned and left.

Moments later, the only sound was his fading footsteps down the corridor.

A soft knock tapped against the door, and Ren permitted them to enter.

"Gloria. Arkilla." Her cheeks were still flushed, and the moment Arkilla saw it, a mischievous smirk curved her lips. She opened her mouth, clearly ready to tease, until Ren cut her off, raising a finger.

"Do not say a word!"

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