Claimed By The Mafia Don (Ariella and Asher) novel Chapter 170

I chuckled, nervous. “You’re just making up words now.”

“No,” he said, a little more serious. “It’s real. You want to know what kind of crazy makes a man climb through a stranger’s bedroom window? It’s not just attraction. It’s knowing exactly what you want. And I want you.”

I swallowed hard. I could feel my thoughts racing, my body still, bracing itself for… I didn’t even know what. Maybe I was searching for a way to make the moment lighter. To play it off, call it the alcohol.

But he leaned in, closer, voice low. “It’s not the alcohol talking. I’d tell you this in the middle of the day. In front of anyone.”

Then his eyes dipped lower.

“And right now,” he whispered, “looking at you in that sexy dress… with those lips… I just need a taste.”

Before I could say a word, before I could even think, his lips were already on mine.

For a second, I froze, completely still, caught between panic and wonder. But then, something deeper, something I couldn’t ignore, uncoiled inside me.

And I kissed him back. Harder. Because I wanted to know what it felt like to be kissed by someone who saw me. Who wanted me. Someone who wasn’t a ghost from my past. Someone who wasn’t Asher.

This was about moving forward. This was about reclaiming myself. Taking back the pieces of me I had left in that old life, scattered like dust. Removing the chains of Asher from my life. Because that man he’d held me hostage for five years. Five years of haunting memories and half-healed wounds. But I was done.

It was enough. I wanted to let him go.

I didn’t want him to still have that power over me. I didn’t want his name to linger on my head on repeat. I wanted it over. I wanted it off. Like shedding an old skin.

So I kissed Alan with everything I had. I gave it everything. Every ounce of fire, every flicker of defiance, every drop of longing. I poured myself into the moment, hoping I could rewrite something deep inside.

But even as I kissed him harder, even as I leaned in and let him hold me, it wasn’t the same. It didn’t taste the same. It didn’t pull something primal from my chest. It didn’t awaken my body the way his did.

Asher.

His name was like a curse I couldn't shake. A shadow that moved when I moved. Because when Asher kissed me, everything in me unravelled My heart didn’t beat, it sprinted. My mind didn’t think, it surrendered. My body didn’t just respond, it felt... Everything. And with Alan... this kiss, this moment... it just wasn’t that.

It wasn’t bad. Not even close. It was sweet. Intentional. Kind. It was the kind of kiss that should have meant something. But it didn’t burn. It didn’t crash through me like a wave, leaving me breathless.

It didn’t ruin me like Asher always did.

As I pulled away and smiled at him, there was a certain look on Alan's face, a flicker of something I couldn’t name, something that made my chest tighten for just a second. And then, as if he realised I had seen it, he smiled too.

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