Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 229

229 Beside Him

Arya’s POVO

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Lev walked into the garden like he owned every inch of air in it.

Maybe that was dramatic, but that was how it felt. One second Diana was sitting across from me with that sharp, poisonous smile of hers, trying to remind me where the world thought I belonged. The next second he was there, and everything shifted. The space did not just change. It answered him.

He wore black. Of course he did. Black trousers. A fitted dark shirt with the sleeves

rolled just enough to show his forearms. No tie. No unnecessary formality. Just that clean, dangerous look that made him seem less like a polished Alpha and more like the

kind of man who could break a throat with one hand and then sit at a breakfast table

looking completely calm.

His eyes found mine first.

Not Diana’s.

Mine.

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And God, the way his face changed when he looked at me did something low and weak

to my insides.

It was not soft exactly. Lev was not soft in the ordinary way. But there was warmth

there. Possession too. A dark kind of satisfaction that made my pulse jump because I

knew what he was seeing. He was seeing the woman who had left his bed not too long

ago. The woman marked by him. The woman who still carried his scent and his touch all

over her skin.

Ria stretched inside me with absolute approval.

There he is.

I should have been embarrassed by how quickly my body reacted. I should have

straightened and acted normal and remembered Diana was still right there.

Instead I sat there and looked back at him, and something quiet passed between us.

His gaze dipped for the briefest second. My lips. My neck. Back to my eyes.

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<229 Beside Him

Then he came straight to me.

Diana shifted in her chair.

Good.

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Lev stopped beside me, one hand resting on the back of my chair. He looked down at me

for a second, and the corner of his mouth tilted in that small, dangerous way of his.

“Enjoying breakfast?” he asked.

His voice alone was enough to bring back entirely too much from last night.

I lifted my chin like I was not affected at all. “I was.”

“You were?” he repeated.

1 knew that tone.

He had noticed Diana.

Of course he had.

I glanced toward her and then back at him. “I had company.”

His eyes flicked to Diana at last, cool and unreadable, then back to me again like she

was barely worth the effort.

The pettiness in me liked that more than it should have.

Then, without warning or hesitation, he bent and kissed me.

Not on the forehead.

Not on the cheek.

On the lips.

Slow, Certain. Right there in the open garden, with Diana sitting two feet away and enough staff somewhere around the grounds to ensure that by noon half this estate

would know about it.

Heat shot through me so fast I forgot how to breathe for a second.

It was not a filthy kiss. Not the kind from the balcony last night. But it was intimate in a

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<229 Beside Him

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front of her and I wanted to be wicked right back. Maybe I was still drunk on the fact that for once in my life I did not feel hidden.

Either way, I lifted the apple slice slin

and said, “Do you want some?”

His gaze dropped to it, then to me.

There was a pause.

That little dangerous pause that always made me feel like we were standing too close

to something.

Then he leaned toward me and opened his mouth.

The shamelessness of it sent a hot shiver through me.

I brought the apple slice to his lips.

He bit into it slowly, eyes still on mine, and for one second I thought that was all he was

going to do.

Then his tongue brushed my fingertip.

Not by accident.

Not even slightly.

He licked the pad of my finger in one slow, deliberate stroke before drawing back with

the piece of apple between his teeth.

Shock shot through me so hard my whole body felt it.

My breath caught. My heart slammed once, hard enough to hurt.

That man.

That impossible, dark, provoking man.

He chewed like he had done nothing at all, but the look in his eyes gave him away

completely.

Beside us, Diana made a small sound of disgust.

I should not have been pleased.

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<229 Beside Him

I was.

Lev swallowed, then reached for his

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I withdrew my hand slowly, every nerve in it suddenly alive. My finger felt like it was still burning. I curled it into my palm, but that only made it worse because now I was too

aware of myself. Too aware of the heat between my thighs. Too aware of the fact that he

knew exactly what that tiny gesture had done to me.

His mouth moved just slightly, almost a smile.

Arrogant beast.

Diana pushed back her chair.

The legs scraped the stone sharply enough to cut through the quiet of the garden.

“This is disgusting,” she snapped.

Lev did not even look at her right away.

He sipped his tea first.

Calmly.

That made it so much worse.

When he finally turned his head, his face had gone still.

Not blank.

Still.

That controlled kind of stillness that always felt more dangerous than shouting.

Diana looked between us and then fixed on him fully, outrage taking over whatever

instinct for caution she should have had.

“You don’t understand how important your status is,” she said. “Fooling around with a

discarded mate of another Alpha is beneath you.”

Discarded.

The word struck, but not the way she wanted.

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<229 Beside Him

It did not break me.

It reminded me.

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Of what they had called me without saying it. Of what they had treated me like. Of the thing James had let me become in everyone’s eyes while he told himself it was temporary and necessary and not really betrayal if he regretted it quietly enough.

Discarded.

No.

That was what they had tried to do.

It was not what I was.

I said nothing because I did not need to.

Lev had gone very quiet beside me.

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229 Beside Him

Arya’s POVO

# Get 28 >

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Lev walked into the garden like he owned every inch of air in it.

Maybe that was dramatic, but that was how it felt. One second Diana was sitting across from me with that sharp, poisonous smile of hers, trying to remind me where the world thought I belonged. The next second he was there, and everything shifted. The space did not just change. It answered him.

He wore black. Of course he did. Black trousers. A fitted dark shirt with the sleeves

rolled just enough to show his forearms. No tie. No unnecessary formality. Just that clean, dangerous look that made him seem less like a polished Alpha and more like the

kind of man who could break a throat with one hand and then sit at a breakfast table

looking completely calm.

His eyes found mine first.

Not Diana’s.

Mine.

Chapter Unlocked, Enjoy Reading!

And God, the way his face changed when he looked at me did something low and weak

to my insides.

It was not soft exactly. Lev was not soft in the ordinary way. But there was warmth

there. Possession too. A dark kind of satisfaction that made my pulse jump because I

knew what he was seeing. He was seeing the woman who had left his bed not too long

ago. The woman marked by him. The woman who still carried his scent and his touch all

over her skin.

Ria stretched inside me with absolute approval.

There he is.

I should have been embarrassed by how quickly my body reacted. I should have

straightened and acted normal and remembered Diana was still right there.

Instead I sat there and looked back at him, and something quiet passed between us.

His gaze dipped for the briefest second. My lips. My neck. Back to my eyes.

11:47

47.51%

<229 Beside Him

Then he came straight to me.

Diana shifted in her chair.

Good.

Get 28 >

= Menu

Lev stopped beside me, one hand resting on the back of my chair. He looked down at me

for a second, and the corner of his mouth tilted in that small, dangerous way of his.

“Enjoying breakfast?” he asked.

His voice alone was enough to bring back entirely too much from last night.

I lifted my chin like I was not affected at all. “I was.”

“You were?” he repeated.

1 knew that tone.

He had noticed Diana.

Of course he had.

I glanced toward her and then back at him. “I had company.”

His eyes flicked to Diana at last, cool and unreadable, then back to me again like she

was barely worth the effort.

The pettiness in me liked that more than it should have.

Then, without warning or hesitation, he bent and kissed me.

Not on the forehead.

Not on the cheek.

On the lips.

Slow, Certain. Right there in the open garden, with Diana sitting two feet away and enough staff somewhere around the grounds to ensure that by noon half this estate

would know about it.

Heat shot through me so fast I forgot how to breathe for a second.

It was not a filthy kiss. Not the kind from the balcony last night. But it was intimate in a

11:48

47.38%

<229 Beside Him

* Get 28 >

Menu

front of her and I wanted to be wicked right back. Maybe I was still drunk on the fact that for once in my life I did not feel hidden.

Either way, I lifted the apple slice slin

and said, “Do you want some?”

His gaze dropped to it, then to me.

There was a pause.

That little dangerous pause that always made me feel like we were standing too close

to something.