Chapter 282 - 0282: I’ve Missed You, Princess

Chapter 282: Chapter 0282: I’ve Missed You, Princess

Elena’s Point Of View

The air in the room didn’t just feel heavy anymore; it felt like it had been replaced by pure, uncut electricity, crackling against my skin with every shallow breath. I stood there, trapped between the towering, damp heat of his body and the terrifying weight of his words.

I’d rather die than hurt you.

Was he serious? Was this some kind of twisted, dark romance fever dream? I searched his eyes for the punchline, for the smirk, for the "gotcha" that would make my world make sense again.

My pulse hammered in my throat, each beat a question I was too afraid to ask aloud. But it wasn’t there. His face was a mask of jagged, raw sincerity, the kind that strips away all pretense and leaves only truth. He looked like a man who had just handed me the keys to his kingdom and told me to burn it down if I felt like it.

The vulnerability in his expression scared the hell out of me. I’d seen Jaxx confident, commanding, even arrogant, but never this exposed, never this breakable. It made me want to run back to my house and hide in my boring, predictable life, where men didn’t say things like that, where emotions stayed safely locked away behind polite conversation and social niceties.

A life where I understood the rules, where I could keep my heart tucked somewhere safe and untouched.

And yet, I couldn’t move a single muscle. My feet had grown roots into the plush carpet. Some invisible force held me there, suspended between terror and something I couldn’t quite name, something that felt dangerously close to hope.

The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, until the only sound was the frantic thudding of my heart and the distant hum of the party we had abandoned. The bass line of some song I couldn’t name vibrated through the walls, a reminder that somewhere beyond this room, the world continued spinning normally.

People were laughing, dancing, drinking champagne without a care. Meanwhile, I stood here, watching my carefully constructed defenses crumble like sandcastles at high tide, each wave of his sincerity washing away another wall I’d spent years building.

Then, without a single coherent thought in my head, I broke. My hands, which had been trembling against my sides, reached up and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him down with a desperation I didn’t recognize in myself. This wasn’t me. I didn’t do impulsive. I didn’t throw caution to the wind. I planned things, weighed consequences, kept myself guarded.

But apparently, Jaxx had rewired something fundamental in my brain, had reached past every careful calculation I’d ever made and set it on fire.

I kissed him. I didn’t just kiss him; I crashed into him like he was the only solid thing in a world that had gone completely liquid, like he was the shore and I was drowning. Every fear, every doubt, every warning bell in my head dissolved the moment our lips met. Jaxx didn’t even hesitate.

He let out a sound, part groan, part growl, as his arms wrapped around me, his hands splaying across the small of my back and hauling me so close I could feel every ripple of his damp muscles through the silk of my dress.

The kiss started hungry and desperate, but it shifted almost instantly into something harsh, something hard and claiming. He devoured me, his tongue sweeping against mine with a possessive rhythm that made my toes curl against the plush rug. I felt myself melting into him, all the fear and confusion transforming into pure, molten need. This was madness. This was reckless. This was everything I’d sworn I wouldn’t do. And God help me, I wanted more.

I gasped into his mouth, the heat in my veins turning into a full-blown forest fire that consumed every rational thought. I drowned in the scent of him, salt and cedar and something uniquely Jaxx, in the feel of his wet skin, and in the sudden, overwhelming realization that twenty million dollars of diamonds didn’t matter if I couldn’t get closer to him. Nothing mattered except this moment, this man, this feeling.

My fingers tangled in his hair, still damp from the shower, and I pulled him impossibly closer, needing to erase every millimeter of space between us.

"Get it off," I muttered against his lips, my voice a wrecked, breathy mess I barely recognized.

When had I become this person? When had I started demanding things with such raw need?

Jaxx pulled back just a fraction, his eyes dark with a hunger that made my knees wobble. The intensity in his gaze could have melted steel. A small, knowing smile played at the corner of his mouth, transforming his features from vulnerable to predatory in a heartbeat.

"Get what off, Bambina?" His voice came out as rough velvet, deliberately teasing despite the way his chest heaved with each breath.

"This dress, you idiot!" I whined, my fingers tugging at his shoulders with increasing urgency. "Get it off. Now. But... be careful. Don’t you dare rip it, Jaxx. Lexi will have my head."

Even in the midst of this madness, some part of my brain remembered that this gown cost more than my annual earnings. The practical side of me refused to die completely, even when the rest of me was burning alive, some stubborn, sensible fragment of Elena still keeping score while everything else surrendered.

He let out a rough, low laugh that vibrated against my chest, the sound sending shivers down my spine. His fingers traced the line of my spine, finding the hidden zipper with practiced ease.

"I wouldn’t dream of it, princess. It fits you perfectly, though I’ll admit I’m incredibly jealous," he murmured, his lips brushing against my ear in a way that made me shudder. "The damn thing has been hugging those curves all day while I had to watch from across the room, imagining this exact moment. Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep my hands to myself?"

I rolled my eyes, a tiny, hysterical smirk playing on my lips despite the way my body vibrated with anticipation. My heart felt like it might burst through my ribcage.

"Are you getting it off, or am I going to have to find a pair of scissors?" The threat came out breathier than I’d intended, undermining my attempt at impatience.

Jaxx’s smirk turned wicked. He didn’t answer with words; instead, he surged forward and kissed me again, hard enough to make my head swim. His hands roamed across my body in a slow, torturous search for the zipper. When he finally found it, he moved with a precision that was almost terrifying. I felt the cool air hit my skin as the silk parted, the weight of the gown suddenly pooling around my ankles.

I stepped out of the shimmering dark cloud, standing there in nothing but my heels and a pair of tiny lace panties. The confidence I’d felt moments ago vanished. Exposed and vulnerable, I felt incredibly visible under his heavy, dark gaze.

My hands came up instinctively to cover my breasts, my shoulders hunching inward as if I could make myself smaller, as if I could fold myself away from the weight of his attention.

"No," Jaxx said, his voice dropping into that low, commanding register that always made my stomach flip. He reached out and gently took my wrists, pulling them away from my body with surprising tenderness. "Put ’em down, princess. I’m admiring the view, and I don’t like my view being blocked."

A hot, stinging blush crept up my cheeks, staining my neck and chest. Part of me wanted to hide, to retreat into myself, but the way he looked at me, like I was a masterpiece he’d been waiting his whole life to see, made me stay still. His eyes held something more than desire; there was reverence there, almost worship, something that made the blush deepen rather than fade.

"Damn," he whispered, his eyes dragging slowly from my face down to my toes and back up again, taking in every inch. "You’re so gorgeous it actually hurts to look at you."

He extended one hand, his voice softening. "Come over here, baby."

I walked to him, the click of my heels on the hardwood floor the only sound in the room. Each step felt like crossing an ocean, like my entire life had narrowed down to this single path between where I stood and where he waited. He didn’t wait for me to reach him; he reached out and hauled me into his arms, his lips immediately finding the sensitive skin of my neck.

He didn’t just kiss me; he bit, nibbled, and sucked, marking me as his in a way that made my moans come out sharp and high. The possessiveness of it should have frightened me, but instead it made me feel claimed, wanted in a way I’d never experienced before, as though every mark he left behind was proof that this moment was real and not some fragile dream I’d wake from.

"Jaxx... please..." I breathed, my fingers digging into his damp hair, pulling him closer even as the sensations threatened to overwhelm me.

His hands came down on my ass, his fingers kneading the soft flesh with a possessive strength that made my breath hitch. The touch was firm, almost rough, but somehow still reverent. Then, before I could process the shift, his hands moved to my thighs and he pulled me up.

My legs instinctively wrapped around his torso, my heels digging into his back to keep my balance. I felt small in his arms, protected and desired all at once, cradled by someone who could have crushed me and chose instead to hold me like something precious.

The position was electric. I could feel his hard, pulsing heat right against my core through the thin lace, the friction sending a wave of pure white light through my mind. The barrier between us felt impossibly thin and unbearably thick at the same time. I moaned at the contact, my head falling back as I clung to him, my fingers leaving crescent marks on his shoulders.

"Jaxx..." His name came out as a plea, a prayer, a promise all at once.

He buried his face in the crook of my neck, his breath hot and ragged against my skin. The sound of his breathing, harsh and uneven, told me he was just as affected as I was, that whatever madness had taken hold of me had claimed him too.

He shifted his hips, grinding against me in a way that told me exactly how much control he was currently losing. The careful restraint he’d shown earlier crumbled, and I could feel the raw need beneath it, something fierce and barely leashed.

"I know, baby... I know what you need," he rumbled, his voice sounding like it came from the depths of his chest, rough with barely contained desire.

He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye, his thumb tracing the swollen line of my lower lip with unexpected gentleness. The contrast between his tender touch and the hunger in his eyes made my heart race even faster, that strange, dizzying combination of fire and softness that seemed to define everything about him.

"I’ve missed you, princess," he whispered, his eyes searching mine with that terrifying, beautiful intensity that always made me feel like he could see straight through to my soul. There was vulnerability in his expression now, a crack in his usual confidence that made him seem more human, more real, more mine somehow. "I’ve missed you so much. Every day without you felt like losing a piece of myself."