Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Elara’s POV

I caught his hand before he could pull it away.

His palm was warm against my cheek. Rough from years of gripping sword hilts and reins and the weight of an empire. I pressed into it. Held it there with both of mine.

"Don’t," I whispered. "Don’t pull back from me. Not now."

His dark gold eyes searched mine. Guarded. Vulnerable. A man who commanded armies and bent nations to his will, standing in the moonlight looking like he was terrified I might vanish.

"I’ve loved you since that night," I said again. Louder this time. Steadier. Because he needed to hear it without the tremor in my voice. Without any room for doubt. "Since the masquerade. Since before I knew your name or your face or anything about you except the way you held me like I mattered."

His jaw tightened. A muscle ticked beneath his ear.

"I hated you after," I continued. "For leaving. For disappearing. For making me feel something so enormous and then just—gone." My throat burned. "I hated you for years, Kaelen. And I loved you through every single one of them."

He made a sound. Low. Almost wounded. His thumb swept across my cheekbone, catching a tear I hadn’t felt fall.

"Ela." His voice was wrecked. Sandpaper and smoke. "I love you. I have always loved you."

The words broke something open inside my chest. Not broken like shattered glass. Broken like a dam giving way—everything I’d held back for years flooding through at once. Relief and grief and joy and hunger all tangled together until I couldn’t tell them apart.

I rose onto my toes and kissed him.

It started hesitant. Soft. Our lips barely brushing. A question asked and answered in the same breath.

Then his hand slid from my cheek to the back of my neck. His fingers threaded into my hair, fisted, and pulled me closer—and the hesitation evaporated like mist in sunlight.

I gasped against his mouth. He swallowed the sound. Deepened the kiss until my knees buckled and his arm clamped around my waist to keep me upright. His tongue swept against mine, hot and demanding, and every nerve in my body lit up like a struck match.

Years. Years of loneliness and longing and sleepless nights and aching emptiness, all of it compressing into this single, desperate point of contact.

I grabbed the front of his shirt. Pulled, loosening the fine fabric under my desperate grip.

He broke the kiss long enough to look at me. His pupils were blown wide. Almost black. The dark gold reduced to a thin, burning ring.

"Are you sure?" he rasped. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

I pulled his shirt open and pressed my palms flat against his chest. Warm skin. Hard muscle. The wild, hammering beat of his heart beneath my fingers.

"I’ve never been more sure of anything."

Something snapped behind his eyes.

He kissed me again—no hesitation this time, no gentleness. His mouth was hard and claiming. Possessive. His hands found the hem of my blouse and yanked it upward. I raised my arms and let him tear it off. It landed somewhere behind us.

Cool air hit my bare skin. Then his hands were there—calloused palms sliding up my ribs, thumbs tracing the curves beneath my breasts, and I arched into his touch with a whimper that would have embarrassed me if I’d had any capacity left for shame.

"Kaelen—"

"I know." He kissed my jaw. My throat. The hollow behind my ear. "I know."

His hands found the waist of my skirt. Shoved the fabric up around my hips in one rough motion. I heard something tear and didn’t care.

He spun me around.

My palms hit the bed. The mattress dipped under my weight. His chest pressed against my back—hot, solid, overwhelming—and his breath scorched against my ear.

"Tell me again," he said. Low. Ragged. His hips pressed forward and I felt exactly how much he wanted this. How long he’d been holding back.

"I love you." My voice broke on it. "I love you. I’ve loved you for years and I’m done pretending I don’t—"

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