<h4>Chapter 272: I Have No Power</h4>


    "Trap myself? You think I am trapping myself?" Morvakar asked.


    "Well, yes... you were exiled from Blood City, yes, but you chose to stay away from people," Thessa said calmly, her eyes not leaving his. "You could have moved to another city, immersed yourself in life, in the pulse of civilization, in the energy of humanity—and yet you chose to shackle yourself in a rundown castle. And now, your banishment is lifted, and you still choose to be alone." Morvakar’s chest tightened. He hadn’t realized how much of his solitude was voluntary, how much it was a cage he had built himself, to protect himself from ever feeling vulnerable again.


    "I am choosing to leave because I have nothing else to offer," he said. "I have no power, no status, no reason to stay. I’m... depleted. What good am I to anyone now?" He cast his gaze downward, ashamed that he was admitting such weakness, even to her.


    "No one is asking anything of you anymore. You returned with your head held high. You’ve already done more than anyone could ask. You can do anything, Morvakar. Open a bakery. Start a library. Even a brothel, if that suits you." Sheughed lightly. "You choose loneliness."


    Morvakar blinked at her, taken aback by the audacity of her words, by their truth, by the warmth she carried even when calling him out. He opened his mouth, intending a sharp retort, but instead only a bitter half-smile emerged. "You think you are so smart." There was augh in his voice. He wanted to deny her, to retreat into the shadows of his own fortress, but the pull she had on him was undeniable.


    "Actually, I am a little bit pissed. I got all dressed up for nothing," Thessa huffed, gesturing down her body. Her curls had been pinned back with silver clips, her lips painted a shade that made Morvakar want to taste it off her. The annoyance in her voice carried no real malice.


    Morvakar’s eyes couldn’t resist trailing over her, his gaze lingering on the curve of her hips and the way the neckline dipped just enough to stir heat in his chest. His throat went dry. "I can stay for a cup of coffee," he offered.


    Thessa arched a brow, arms crossing under her breasts in a gesture that only tortured him further. "A cup of coffee?" she repeated, her smirk yful. "You cancel a date, ruin my good mood, and think caffeine will make it better? You sorcerers are ridiculous." Still, she stepped aside and held the door open. "Fine. Come in. Sit. Brood. Do whatever it is you do best."


    "I’ll bring you coffee," Thessa said, turning toward the kitchen. Her hips swayed as she walked away, and Morvakar’s willpower snapped. He reached out and caught her arm, pulling her gently but firmly back toward him.


    "You really do look gorgeous," he murmured.


    "Is that why we’re not going on the date, then? Because I look too gorgeous?"


    Morvakar opened his mouth to argue, but she pressed a finger to his lips and hushed him with a look that was both knowing and exasperated. "Don’t say it’s because you’re not staying," she whispered.


    His chest rose and fell, a battle raging inside him. He wanted to retreat, to push her away for her own good. "I wasn’t going to say that," he confessed. "I was going to say that you scare me."


    Her lips parted slightly, surprise flickering across her face, but before she could answer, he let the rest of it spill out. "I’m afraid of you," he said, then captured her mouth in a slow, consuming kiss. "I’m afraid you’ll be my weakness," he breathed against her mouth.


    Thessa’s hands slid up his chest. Her body pressed into his. "Or," she said, kissing him again with a teasing boldness that stole his breath, "I could be your strength."


    His hand slid around her waist, pulling her closer until there was no space left between them, his fingers resting at the small of her back.


    Morvakar kissed her again, slower, deeper.


    She clung to him with a quiet ferocity, nails grazing the fabric at his shoulders as if she feared he might vanish into mist if she loosened her grip. Morvakar was the kind of man who carried storms in his silence—she knew he could easily change his mind, talk himself back into solitude and regret, leaving her standing alone in her small living room with nothing but aching anticipation. No, she wasn’t going to give him the chance. If he wouldn’t lead, then she would. Her hands, bold and trembling at once, slid to his chest where she began undoing his shirt buttons one by one. Each metallic click sounded louder than thunder in the intimate quiet. She wondered if he realised where she was steering this, if his brilliant, brooding mind would argue against what his body already craved.


    By the time thest button fell loose, she wasted no time. She parted the fabric, pushing it off his shoulders and down his arms until it dangled forgotten. Her palms skimmed over the hard nes of his chest, warm and firm beneath her fingers. He was lean, carved by a lifetime of magic, exile, and endurance. Her lips curved into a hum of satisfaction against his mouth, tasting his uncertainty there, breathing her determination into it. He wasn’t a sorcerer in that moment, he was a man, and right now, he was hers.


    Morvakar had kissed her thinking it would be brief, controlled—a simple taste to quiet the restless fire she sparked in him. But the moment her fingers worked down his shirt, he knew control was gone. He should have been noble, should have pulled away, left her with dignity and a half-truth about why he couldn’t stay. That was how a gentleman behaved, and in his heart, he had always been one. But his brain wasn’t cooperating. It was drunk on the press of her lips. He moved without thought, pressing her back until they found the nearest wall. His palms smoothed down the fabric of her dress, the hem climbing under his coaxing fingers. He traced her thigh—her skin soft as silk.


    Thessa caught his wrist before he lingered too long in hesitation. She wasn’t here to be worshipped; she was alive and hungry for him. She guided his hand between her thighs with unflinching certainty, exactly where she needed him. Her eyes met his—wicked, daring, andced with need. He parted her underwear to the side, his breath hitching as his fingers found her heat, slick and ready. He dragged his touch along her parted opening, making her squirm against the wall.


    "Gods," he rasped, his forehead pressed against hers. "Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?"


    "Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing, Morvakar. I’m giving you every reason not to run."


    And when his fingers finally moved against her in slow, sinfully teasing strokes, she melted into him, determined to prove she could be both his undoing and his salvation.


    Morvakar dipped his head to her bare shoulder, his lips brushing the curve before heat overtook him. His kiss was hungry, damp with need and a touch of desperation. He breathed her in. The faint taste of her skin, sent a shudder through him. He wondered if he had crossed some irreversible line, but Thessa’s gasp told him she wanted this just as much, if not more. He thought himself the predator.


    He pulled his hand from between her thighs reluctantly, slick with her arousal, and fumbled with the buckle of his pants. His movements were hurried, almost graceless. Thessa didn’t waste a beat; she kicked her underwear down, letting them fall in a careless puddle on the floor. She was all instinct, no shame. His trousers slid low on his hips.


    With a low growl, he gripped her waist and lifted her. Thessa gasped, but her legs locked around him. Her back pressed against the wall, her dress bunched high around her hips. She felt the solid strength of his arms holding her. And then—without hesitation, without another chance to second-guess—he entered her. The joining was sharp, almost shocking, as if every nerve in their bodies had been waiting for this collision. She arched against him, her hands clutching his shoulders.


    Her gaze didn’t waver. She held his eyes as he thrust into her, the force of it making her gasp, her nails biting into his skin. It was defiance, a im, an unspoken vow that she would not let him bury himself in solitude. He moved inside her with a rhythm that shook both of them, each stroke hitting deep, as if trying to erase years of restraint in a single night.


    Thessa bit down on her lip, trying to contain the cries bubbling up in her throat. The ecstasy pooled low in her belly, spreading in molten waves. She wanted to scream, tough, to curse him for making her feel so alive. Morvakar’s mouth found hers again, his kiss shing with the steady, punishing rhythm of his hips. His kiss was messy, a man drowning who refused toe up for air.


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