Chapter 69: What She Saw When No One Spoke II
Selene's POV
Selene had always understood silence. She knew how to live in it, breathe through it. She could break a man's resolve with nothing but stillness and a glance. But this — this quiet that settled between her and Aria — was something entirely different.
It wasn't hesitation.
It was saturation.
Aria wasn't trembling on the edge of discovery anymore. She was steeped in it. Her lips were still kissed - swollen, her legs pressed tightly together more out of reflex than modesty. The green silk dress had long since been claimed — wrinkled in places Selene's hands had wandered too many times to count.
They had already crossed the line hours ago — no, days ago. Again and again, like it was a ritual. Like Selene was a habit Aria couldn't quit. And if Aria's flushed skin or bitten lips said anything, it was that Selene had been… indulgent.
Maybe too indulgent.
Selene lounged on a dusty loveseat with the sort of laziness only she could make feel calculated. Her coat had slipped off one shoulder, collarbone bared, the hem of her shirt undone from where Aria had tugged earlier — just because she could.
Aria sat nearby, chin in hand, the book on her lap long forgotten. She looked dazed. Not from confusion. From satisfaction.
Still, Selene could feel the tension building again — not urgent, but inevitable.
Not need.
Craving.
She smirked. It had taken time, but Aria no longer flinched from what she was. No longer mistook hunger for guilt. She was full, yes — but not immune. That was the thing about her bloodline. A succubus didn't starve when loved well.
She bloomed.
"Don't think I haven't noticed," Selene murmured lazily, voice like chilled honey. "You've been squirming for the last ten minutes."
Aria didn't look up. "I'm not."
"You are. Just like earlier. Against the vanity." Selene stretched, deliberately letting her shirt ride higher. "You nearly knocked the mirror over."
Aria flushed deeper — but not bashfully. "That was your fault."
"I never said it wasn't."
Selene rose, slow and unapologetic, crossing the floor like she owned the room — and Aria with it. Her boots clicked once, twice, before she dropped to a crouch in front of the girl and plucked the book from her lap without asking.
"What were you even pretending to read?" she murmured.
"Something about ghosts."
Selene arched a brow. "Planning to summon one?"
Aria smirked, lips twitching. "Only the icy ones."
"Oh?" Selene leaned forward, hands braced on either side of Aria's thighs. "I thought you preferred demons."
"I'm allowed to like both."
Selene's breath was cool against her knee. "Greedy thing."
Aria shivered, but it wasn't nerves. It was memory. Muscle memory. Her body remembered every time Selene had whispered like that — just before slipping under silk, under skin, under sanity.
Selene glanced up through her lashes. "You know you're not starving, don't you?"
"Do I look like I'm starving?" Aria deadpanned. "You've been handsy since brunch."
Selene chuckled, low and unrepentant. "Brunch is hardly a limit."
"Neither was the wall. Or the fitting room. Or that stairwell —"
"Oh, now you remember the stairwell."
Aria let out a soft huff that wasn't quite a laugh. "You left marks."
Selene's mouth curled. "That was the idea."
She ran one gloved fingertip along the side of Aria's thigh. Not needy. Just claiming. Possessive in the most luxurious way.
"You've been very… accommodating," Selene drawled.
Aria arched a brow. "I was pinned."
"And you liked it."
Aria's smirk betrayed her. "Didn't say I didn't."
Selene's voice dipped to something colder, more sinful. "You're awfully talkative for someone who still has my fingerprints on her hips."
Aria's breath hitched, but her eyes sparkled with challenge. "That's not how fingerprints work."
"No?" Selene brushed her lips just beneath Aria's jaw, then whispered, "You want a refresher?"
Aria melted — visibly, gloriously — but didn't yield. "I'm still full."
"Mm." Selene tilted her head, as if considering. "Not from lack of trying."
"You've been insatiable."
"You're very touchable."
Aria gave her a pointed look. "That's not an excuse."
Selene grinned. "I'm making it one."
She reached behind Aria without warning and plucked the blanket she'd been sitting on, tugging her just slightly forward, forcing Aria's legs apart. Not enough to be indecent. Just enough to remind them both what this was.
Aria let her.
She was indulging Selene, not resisting her. There was no shock. No gasp. Just that exhale — a little hiss of expectation.
Selene leaned closer. "You still want more?"
Aria's answer was slow. Measured. But wicked.
"I want you to want more."
Selene stilled, the words sinking in like ice into velvet.
"Clever girl."
Aria tilted her head. "You say that like it's new."
"No," Selene admitted, tracing lazy circles against Aria's inner thigh. "But you're becoming dangerous."
"I'm not the one who pinned someone in public."
Selene's eyes sparkled. "You moaned in public."
"You bit me."
"You begged for it."
"I was full and you knew it."
Selene kissed her then. Not out of hunger. Out of possession. A brush of lips that said mine, and a sigh that answered, yours.
When they parted, Aria looked drunk on her.
Selene cupped her jaw gently. "You know what the worst part is?"
Aria blinked, dazed. "There's a worst part?"
"You're still so responsive," Selene purred. "Even when you're full."
Aria rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like a buffet."
Selene grinned, sharp and beautiful. "You're the whole menu."
Aria laughed then — truly laughed — and Selene felt it like a punch to the ribs. Because no matter how many times she touched her, tasted her, undressed her with hand or gaze or ice - tinged breath… nothing undid her more than that sound.
"I should hate how good you are at this," Aria whispered.
"You don't."
"No," she admitted. "I just hate how easily I let you."
Selene leaned in again, their noses brushing. "You don't let me, Aria. You invite me."
Aria's flush deepened, but this time, she didn't deny it.
Selene grazed her mouth against Aria's ear, soft as snowfall. "And I'm not done touching you."
"You're never done."
"Correct."
Aria's fingers tangled in the edge of Selene's shirt, tugging gently. "So stop pretending this is anything but foreplay."
Selene stood slowly, brushing the dust from her knees. "You're the one who said you were full."
"Not immune," Aria countered, already rising to follow.
Selene glanced back, grinning like a storm. "Then I suggest you pace yourself, sweetheart."
Aria smirked. "Or you could finally admit you like when I take control."
Selene's eyes gleamed with challenge. "Try me."
And as Aria stepped forward — head high, lips parted, pulse steady — Selene realized something dangerous.
The girl wasn't just blooming.
She was becoming hers.
And Selene? She was more than ready to be claimed in return.