Gated Heart

Chapter 31

Suddenly, Aren reached out and pulled Mia into his body. His lips landed on hers and passion burned in his chest as he kissed her.

When Mia felt his lips meet hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

She found herself backed against the wall with Aren's hands around her waist.

He pressed his lower body into hers, as he opened Mia's lips with his own.

Mia let out a small gasp when she felt his tongue in her mouth.

He put one hand on the side of her face to guide her. Although his kisses were soft and deep, the way he interlocked his lips with hers over and over again felt desperate, like waves rolling into each other on the ocean's surface.

Mia felt her breathing grow erratic.

Aren's heart was racing so fast that he could hear his own pulse pounding in his ears. He let the hand that was on the side of Mia's face slowly move down, his fingertips brushing her neck as they traveled down to her shoulder and arm.

His touch sent a shiver up Mia's spine and she opened her eyes. The sensation was enough to bring her back to her senses. Slowly, Mia forced her lips to break away from Aren's.

He paused. Aren's face was just inches from her. His expression was full of an urgent desire as his eyes searched her face, desperately trying to figure out why she had stopped.

Mia gazed longingly into his eyes as she attempted to remind herself that continuing would mean going a lot further than she had planned. She shook her head to clear her mind before letting her sight land back on Aren.

Aren was still hunched over Mia, his hands now flat against the wall on either side of her. Still panting heavily, he let his head drop down, his bangs hovered in front of Mia as he tried to slow his breathing down and gather himself again.

Mia cleared her throat to make sure her words wouldn't come out jittery.

"We... we should stop here." She breathed.

Aren looked back up again and met her eyes. He stared for a moment, unmoving. Finally, he took a deep breath and shut his eyes tightly as he let his hands fall away from the wall so that Mia was no longer trapped in front of him. He stood up straight and ran his hands through his hair, taking another deep breath.

Mia, too, tried to reorient herself.

Eventually, Aren looked back at her. "Sorry." He croaked.

Mia shook her head reassuringly. "No, don't be..." She said with a gentle smile.

Aren paused, his eyes still fixed on her. After a moment, he took a breath and stepped towards her. He pulled her into a hug.

She froze briefly out of surprise before hugging him back. She sighed and closed her eyes as she settled her head against his chest.

"Tired?" Aren whispered. He rested his chin on top of Mia's head.

"Mhm~" She replied, smiling into his shirt.

Aren chuckled. He then took a step back, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Mia, and fell backwards into the bed, pulling her down with him so that she was lying in his arms.

"Aren!" She gasped. She blushed and struggled to get out of his arms.

He didn't let go and kept her nestled against his chest without much effort. "Shhh," he whispered. "Sleep."

"Let go!" Mia whined unconvincingly. She struggled against him for another minute, trying pointlessly to wiggle out of his grip, before giving up. She sighed and let her body settle in defeat. She lay there for a moment, pouting. She then lifted her head to look at Aren's face.