The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 179

Full Claim-1

After the full day spent together, they withdrew for a late afternoon tea and snacks.

Somewhere in the castle, a clock struck five pm. Or perhaps it was later than this. Iva had lost track of time entirely.

All she knew was Caleb’s eyes on her.

He had been watching her for minutes now. As she ate. As she drank. As she stared around and tried to process everything that had happened.

But the food was gone now. The tea was cold. And the silence between them had shifted into something else. Something charged.

Caleb rose from his chair.

He moved slowly, deliberately, like a predator who had already decided the hunt was over. He circled the table and stopped in front of her, looking down at where she sat.

“Stand up,” he said quietly.

It wasn’t a command. Not quite. It was an invitation. A question wrapped in certainty.

Iva stood.

Her legs felt unsteady beneath her, but not from exhaustion anymore. This was different. This was anticipation humming through her veins, pooling low in her belly, making her skin feel too tight.

Caleb didn’t touch her. Not yet.

He simply looked.

His

gaze traveled over her face first-her eyes, her lips, the curve of her jaw. Then lower. Over the column of her throat, where her pulse fluttered wildly. Over the swell of her breasts beneath the simple dress the staff had given her. Over her waist, her hips, her thighs.

By the time his eyes returned to hers, Iva was trembling.

“You’re shaking,” he observed.

“I know.”

“Are you cold?”

She shook her head.

“Then what?”

She swallowed hard. “You’re looking at me like…”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to devour me.”

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Full Claim

Caleb’s lips curved. Slow. Dangerous.

Because I do.”.

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He reached for her then. His hands found her waist, fingers splaying across her ribs, thumbs pressing into the soft flesh just below her breasts. He didn’t pull her closer. Didn’t push her away. He simply held her there, trapped in the heat of his gaze.

“I’ve been patient,” he murmured. “All through breakfast. All through tea. All through the hours you walked next to me, pretending you couldn’t feel me watching you.”

His thumbs traced circles on her sides, sending sparks across her skin.

“Do

you know what it does to me?” he asked. “Sitting across from you. Watching you eat. Watching you breathe. Knowing that you’re mine and I can’t touch you because you needed time?”

Iva’s breath caught. “Caleb-”

“You needed time.” His voice dropped lower. “I gave it to you. But the time is up now, little mate.”

He pulled her forward.

Her body collided with his-chest to chest, hip to hip, thigh to thigh. The heat of him seared through the thin fabric of her dress. She could feel everything. The hard planes of his muscles. The rapid thundering of his heart. The evidence of his desire pressing against her belly.

“I want to take you to bed,” he said, his lips brushing her ear. “I want to take off every piece of clothing you’re wearing. I want to learn every inch of your body like it’s the first time.”

His hands slid down her sides, gripping her hips.

“And I want to take my time doing it. But I need your answer for this to happen.”

Iva’s knees went weak, but she could not deny to herself how the entire day was bitter sweet… as his scent tortured her, while the desire kept on gathering in her lower abdomen, ready to explode,

“Yes,” she breathed.

Caleb didn’t wait.

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