Chapter 241: Interrupted
Rebecca’s POV
We had almost reached the staircase when my wet foot suddenly slipped against the polished marble floor.
"Ah!"
Everything happened too fast. One second, I was falling backward; the next, Kaden’s thick, bare arm shot around my waist and yanked me firmly against him.
My clothes dropped from my hands, landing in a heap on the floor.
For a few suffocating seconds, neither of us moved. My palms were pressed flat against his broad, bare chest, absorbing the searing heat of his damp skin and the rapid, heavy thudding of his heart beneath my fingers. His arm was locked tightly around my waist beneath the towel, holding me so close there wasn’t a breath of air left between us.
"Careful," Kaden murmured.
His voice sounded different now—lower, rougher, vibrating straight through his chest and into mine.
I slowly lifted my head. Big mistake.
His face was inches from mine. Those dark green eyes were staring straight into me, and suddenly I couldn’t remember how to breathe.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly.
I nodded. "Yes."
But I didn’t move, and neither did he. I knew I should have pulled back—simple as stepping backward—yet my feet felt rooted to the floor. My fingers remained spread across his chest, feeling the steady, heavy beat of his heart.
Kaden’s gaze dropped briefly to my hands on his skin before rising back to my face. "You’re freezing," he murmured softly.
Before I could answer, he loosened his hold on my waist and reached for the plush towel hanging around my shoulders, pulling it tighter around me.
"There."
His fingers brushed against the side of my neck as he adjusted the fabric, lingering to gently sweep a damp lock of hair away from my face. I shivered at the touch.
Kaden immediately frowned, his warm fingers lingering against my skin. "Still cold?"
"No." The answer slipped out before I could stop it.
His hand paused. Damn it. I swallowed hard. "I mean... a little."
His eyes narrowed as though he didn’t believe me. His knuckles grazed my cheek, sweeping another stray strand back.
Something inside me broke.
For one terrible second, I wasn’t Ruby. I wasn’t pretending to be Kane’s woman, and Kaden wasn’t the man who had forgotten me. He was simply Kaden—my second-chance mate, the father of the child growing inside me, and the man whose hands I remembered far too well.
My eyes dropped helplessly to his lips.
I shouldn’t have done that, because Kaden noticed instantly. His entire body stiffened, his pupils dilating as a dark, dangerous flare ignited deep within his eyes. But just as quickly, a shadow of fierce restraint swept across his features. To him, staring at his brother’s woman like this was crossing a line he had sworn to respect.
He took a rough step back, the sudden loss of his warmth hitting me like a physical blow. "I should let you go upstairs," he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
I stared at him, and something stupid, desperate, and reckless took over me. Before logic could stop it, my hand shot out and caught his thick wrist.
Kaden froze mid-step, looking down at my fingers wrapped around his arm in quiet shock.
Time stopped. Realization slammed into me, and I immediately released him, taking a panicked step backward. "Sorry," I whispered, bending down quickly to pick up my clothes off the floor to hide my burning face. "I... I don’t know why I did that."
"Neither do I."
Something in his voice made me straighten. He was staring at me again—not softly this time. His jaw was locked tight, his chest rising and falling in deep, heavy breaths.
"Ruby..." Kaden’s voice was warningly soft, but the tension radiating off him was unbearable as he closed the distance I had tried to create. "You need to stop looking at me like that."
I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Like what?"
He let out a harsh scoff, though there was zero humor in it. "You know exactly what I mean."
"I don’t."
"Yes, you do." He took another heavy step toward me, his voice dropping into a dangerous growl. "Like you want me to forget you’re my brother’s woman."
My heart stopped. The irony hit me like a slap to the face, sharper and more painful than any insult.
Forget. He had already forgotten. He had forgotten everything—that I had slept in his arms, that I had fought with him, that he was the father of the child inside me. Everything.
A sharp, unbearable sting burned behind my eyes. Before I could blink it away, heavy tears filled my eyes and spilled over my lashes, trailing down my flushed cheeks.
Kaden’s harsh expression dissolved instantly. Misunderstanding my tears once again, a look of profound guilt and concern softened his features.
"Ruby?" he breathed softly, stepping close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his chest. His large, warm hand came up, his thumb gently cupping my cheek to wipe away a stray tear. "Hey... why are you crying?"
"I don’t know," I whispered—and it was probably the most truthful thing I had said to him since he lost his memories.
I closed my eyes. Don’t do this, Rebecca. Don’t lean into him. Don’t forget everything he did to you simply because he’s being gentle now.
But my body betrayed me, and I leaned slightly into his palm. Kaden sucked in a sharp breath.
When my eyes opened, the raw look on his face made my stomach twist.
"Ruby..." he whispered.
I should have turned and walked away. Instead, the fragile question slipped from my lips, loaded with days of unspoken pain. "What if things were different?"
His hand went completely still against my cheek. For several seconds, the air around us turned thick and heavy.
"Don’t ask me that," he said, his voice dropping into a dark rumble.
"Why?"
He looked away briefly, as if he needed to escape my gaze, before looking back with something raw burning in his dark eyes. "Because you won’t like my answer."
My pulse jumped. "What would your answer be?"
"Ruby—"
"If Kane wasn’t your brother..." I whispered, hardly recognizing my own voice. "If I wasn’t carrying his child... if everything were different... would you still want me?"
"Enough," his voice came out rough, but he wasn’t moving away, and neither was I.
Slowly, agonizingly, Kaden stepped forward. His hand slid from my cheek to the back of my neck, and he leaned down until his forehead was almost touching mine. The sharp, addictive scent of mint and rain surrounded me completely.
"Yes," he growled.
One word. That was all it took for my heart to nearly burst.
His eyes dropped to my lips; mine dropped to his. The space between us disappeared little by little until I could feel his warm breath fanning across my mouth. He was going to kiss me... and Goddess help me, I wanted him to. My eyes slowly fluttered shut.
"Rebecca?"
Stephine’s sharp voice echoed down from the top of the grand staircase.
My eyes flew open, and Kaden jerked backward instantly. I spun around so quickly the towel nearly slipped from my shoulders.
Stephine stood at the top of the landing, rubbing sleep from her eyes and staring down at us with wide, horrified eyes. Kaden instinctively stepped in front of me, putting his broad frame between me and the stairs as I stumbled back against the wall, breathless and flushed.
For one horrible second, nobody spoke.
Then Stephine seemed to register what she had just blurted out. "Re—" She coughed loudly, her face turning bright red. "Ruby! I meant Ruby! I... I heard footsteps down here. I didn’t mean to interrupt."
"It’s fine," Kaden cleared his throat, his deep voice miraculously steady despite the thick tension still vibrating in the air. He didn’t look back at me, though the tight, rigid set of his bare shoulders gave him away. "We were just finishing up. Take her upstairs. She’s cold."
"Right. Yes, Alpha," Stephine stammered, hurrying down the steps to grab my arm.
I quickly picked up my tracksuit and let Stephine guide me up the stairs. But as I reached the middle landing, my fingers tightened around the railing, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking back down.
Kaden was still standing at the foot of the staircase, wet, half-dressed, and staring up at me with dark eyes burning through the shadows.
"Ruby," he called out softly.
My chest tightened. "Goodnight, Alpha Kaden."
He held my gaze for one long, unreadable second. "Goodnight."
I turned and followed Stephine down the upstairs corridor. The moment we were safely inside my room with the door shut, Stephine spun around and grabbed my arm.
"What in the Goddess’s name was that?!" she hissed under her breath.
"Not so loud," I pleaded, pressing my hands over my burning face.
"Rebecca, you two were about to kiss! In the middle of the hallway!"
"I know!" I choked out, sinking against the door. "I know, Stephine!"
And that was the terrifying problem. Because when Kaden had leaned down toward me... I hadn’t wanted him to stop.