Jaw Dropper

Lilian's POV

Kaiden stood there with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

I swallowed hard when I looked at him. He looked.... gorgeous.

That was the word. I swallowed again when I noticed his abs. How broad his shoulders and his chest were.

How his body looked with the water dripping from it.


Kaiden stood in the doorway, his figure backlit by the small light that filtered into his room.


The mere sight of him made my breath catch in my throat. My eyes traveled pretty much all over his body, I was just so unable to look away.


He was gorgeous, I got to give him that.

That was simply the word. Every inch of him was proof of his strength and masculinity.


I could see that the water from his recent shower still clung to his skin, glistening in the soft light and I wished that I was that water that rolled freely down his body and oh, down to his happy trail.



It did so much to highlight the defined lines of his abs, the broad expanse of his shoulders, and the properly and well chiseled perfection of his chest.



I watched the droplets as they traveled down his muscled torso, disappearing into the towel.

I could feel my cheeks heating, the room was suddenly getting hotter and my neck was beginning to itch from the heat, but I simply couldn't stop staring.


I swallowed long and hard, I could feel a strange mix of awe and desire as it coursed through my body.


His presence filled the entire room, it was so damned commanding and intimidating, but yet, I could see that there was something vulnerable in the way he stood there, exposed and yet not.


My eyes traveled up to his face, my eyes met the sharpness of his jawline, the piercing blue of his eyes. He looked...was that? Was that a scowl?.... Kaiden looked irritated.



Suddenly I felt self-conscious and I cleared my throat.


"I, uh, brought your dinner," I managed to say to him, my voice was barely steady and I doubted if my stance was steady as well.


Kaiden's eyes narrowed slightly at me, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of something else—surprise, maybe. Or was it humor? I watched as his eyes traveled to the tray that was on the table.


"Why?" he asked in a tone that came off as gruff. "That isn't your job.


The maids could have done it." He opined and I bit my lip. He was right.


"I just... I was worried," I confessed not wanting to hide it anymore. My voice softened as I spoke. "I wanted to see if you were okay."I said to him.


He let out a sharp exhale and looked away. I could see his jaw tightening.


The air between us felt so charged, it was so damned heavy with so many unspoken words.


He seemed to wrestle with himself before he finally spoke.


"I'm fine," he said in a curt voice. "You should leave." He said suddenly.


The coldness in his voice stung like hell, but I tried to hide my disappointment.


"Kaiden," I started, hoping to bridge the distance between us, “if you need to speak to someone, you can talk me. I'm your mate—" I told him.


"Leave, Lilian," he interrupted, his tone brokering no argument of any sort.

His eyes met mine, and they seemed hard and unreadable. "I don't need your concern." He told me in a firm tone.


The finality in his words was like a slap to my face, and I felt a heavy hit of hurt as it lay heavy on my chest.


There was just so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to ask him, so much I wanted to tell him, to assure him, but the closed-off look on his face told me he wasn't ready for that.


And frankly, I didn't think he would be ready for it anytime soon.


I knew he despised my opinion and he hated to see me around him. I just.... I just thought that I would be able to talk to him at least that night.


But he didn't seem to want to be bothered with speaking with me. So I swallowed back the lump in my throat, and nodded my head as I tried to keep and maintain my composure.


"Okay," I whispered and took an instinctive step back. "I'll leave." I said finally.


I turned on my heels and walked away and out of his room, as I walked away, I could still feel his gaze on my back.


After I had exited his chambers and the door closed softly behind me, I felt a deep ache right in the middle of my chest.


The silence of the hallway only amplified the emptiness that I felt inside me.


I wanted so badly to understand him, to be close to him, but it seemed like every attempt was met with a wall.


It seemed like everything I did only did more to irritate him.


As I walked away from the room, I regretfully played back the scene in my mind.

The sight of him, the sight of that gorgeous, Greek god like body of his and those killer abs along with those jawlines that were chiseled too perfect to be human, even the tension in his voice and the brief moment where I thought I saw something soften in his eyes.....

Holy crap!

It all just left me with a mix of emotions, too many to keep up. Desire, confusion, frustration, something that resembled pity and....have I mentioned desire?


But beneath it all, there was still some sort of persistent hope that remained.


Despite his cold demeanor and his attitude towards me, I still believed that there was more to Kaiden than he let on.


There had to be. I just needed to find a way to reach him, to get to him, the real him, to be able to watch him freely let me in, to break through the barriers he had built around himself.

For now, though, I had to respect his boundaries, even if it hurts.