Chapter 169: Beneath The Armor
[Music recommendation: Moayad Aljabal - Resilience]
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He felt his chest tighten at the sound of her silent sobs. A deep, dark rage simmered alongside his protectiveness because he absolutely hated this.
He hated how broken her voice had sounded when she asked him if reality was real. He hated the frightened look that had occupied her beautiful face, and the tears that had spilled from her eyes in terror and disbelief.
If there were any tears he ever found acceptable on her face, they were the ones born from the intense pleasure he would give her, never the broken, agonising ones he was currently listening to.
Unable to do anything else in the moment, he simply tightened his grip around her, holding her close as she cried her heart out.
He knew this woman was strong... one of the strongest individuals he had ever come across, and seeing her in this fractured state put him in a foul, murderous mood.
It was still dark outside. He had no idea what time it was... probably the early hours of the morning.
He had been fast asleep, holding her securely, when he had felt her stir.
Aliana had begun struggling in his embrace, her body twisting as though she were trying to escape something invisible. When a strangled scream tore from her throat, that was when Gavriel was fully awake.
He could only assume her terror was rooted in whatever had happened inside that container where she had been held captive, and his rage flared at the thought of what she must have endured there.
But right now, he knew he could not let his own emotions get the better of him.
He needed to lock his fury deep inside himself and deal with her trauma first, ensuring she felt safe rather than scaring her away with his dark energy.
He didn’t know how long he held her like that.
Time seemed to blur together as he listened to her quiet sobs, felt her warm breaths brush against his neck, and the dampness of her tears seep into his skin.
Each broken sound that left her lips felt like a knife dragging across his chest, and by the time he could no longer bear it, he finally pulled back just enough to cup her face between his hands.
The first thing he noticed was that she refused to look at him.
She had kept her head lowered, her gaze fixed somewhere below as though she were trying to hide every crack in her armour from him.
And he didn’t like that one bit, so he finally spoke, his voice low and commanding. "Look at me."
When another sob escaped her lips, she shook her head lightly in refusal.
He tightened his hold on her cheeks ever so slightly and leaned closer to whisper, "Look at me, Aliana."
She went still at his tone, but she still resisted meeting his gaze.
Gavriel knew she simply needed a little more push to break through her walls, so he whispered against her forehead, "It’s alright. You’re mine... you don’t have to hide anything from me."
As he coaxed her with a rare gentleness that belonged only to her, Aliana finally complied.
Slowly, she tilted her face upward and finally met his unwavering, icy blue eyes, feeling as though he were staring directly into the deepest depths of her soul.
She looked so shattered in that moment that the vulnerability in her eyes made him uncomfortable.
For the first time, it felt as though she had finally lowered the walls she kept so firmly around herself, revealing that beneath her hard exterior was a woman who felt pain just as deeply as anyone else.
His jaw clenched and all he wanted right now was to make her feel better.
So, without giving himself time to think, he simply leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss.
It was far softer and gentler than any he had ever given her before.
It was brief, but it worked a profound magic on Aliana.
As his lips moved tenderly against hers, the lingering horror of everything she had endured inside that suffocating container and the memory of Jacob touching her against her will began to melt away, dissolved completely by his touch.
Gavriel did not want to overwhelm her, so he pulled back only a few seconds later.
His thumb continued to gently caress her cheek as he noticed how quiet she had become.
Though tears still streaked her skin, she was no longer sobbing, nor was she struggling to hold back her cries. The slight movement of her throat told him she was still struggling with her emotions, but at least the storm inside her seemed to have eased.
Without another word, he pulled her back into his embrace, running his hand soothingly across her back until he felt her body slowly relax against his frame.
Neither of them spoke for a long time. They simply remained held together, feeling each other’s presence and reeling at the thought of how dire the consequences could have been had anything gone differently. They both knew they needed to talk, but that could wait for the time being.
As the silence stretched across the room, Aliana finally felt her frayed nerves calm down enough to notice the acute dryness in her throat.
Without pulling away from him, her muffled voice finally reached his ears. "Water."
Without needing to be told twice, Gavriel moved at once. Breaking away from their embrace, he switched on the bedside lamps, illuminating the dark room with a warm glow before walking over to the nearby table to pour her a glass.
Aliana blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, and that was when she finally realised this was not her room in the mansion.
It was a ridiculously massive bedroom styled in dark grey interiors. It was undeniably luxurious. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling, beneath it lay a huge king-sized bed, while a dark upholstered bench sat at its foot.
Beyond that was a spacious seating area centred around a classic fireplace that faced the bed.
To her right stood floor-to-ceiling black-panelled windows framed by heavy grey drapes and sheer white curtains. One of the windows opened onto a large balcony.
On the opposite side of the room, a dark bookshelf was built into the wall, where countless books were neatly arranged on the shelves. Beside it stood a heavy wooden door that she assumed led out of the room. Intricate wall panelling covered every surface, giving the room a dark yet distinctly old-world charm.
Near the bed, on the wall to her right, was another door that she guessed led either to a bathroom or a walk-in wardrobe.
The flooring consisted of a lighter-toned marble, perhaps a design attempt to brighten the room, but the vast space still felt more lonely and cold than anywhere she had ever seen. Her own room at the mansion felt like a bright, snowy wonderland in comparison to this dark fortress.
And for some reason, the thought of someone living here made her heart clench.
