Chapter 464

Was Liam's passion truly governed by reason alone?

If primal instincts like desire were always ruled by logic, then perhaps love itself would lose its meaning. Evelyn rose slowly, wiping away her tears with trembling fingers. She resolved to make one final attempt. If this failed, she would release Liam completely - return peacefully to Solterra and immerse herself in scientific research. Her family's safety would be entrusted to the governments of Aldenria and Solterra.

As for herself... she never intended to come back.

Evelyn pulled the ribbon from her hair, letting the silken strands cascade over her bare shoulders. With deliberate movements, she began unfastening the buttons of her blouse, each undone clasp sending shivers down her spine.

Heat flooded her cheeks as each garment slipped away. Her pulse hammered wildly, breaths coming in shallow gasps. Liam's cruel words echoed in her mind: "You mean nothing to me. Strip naked and dance before me - I wouldn't even glance your way, let alone touch you."

This would be her ultimate test of his indifference.

Her fingertips brushed his stubbled jaw. Suddenly, iron fingers clamped around her wrist. Liam's eyes flew open, bloodshot and burning with barely restrained hunger.

The moment his gaze fell upon her naked form, his entire body tensed like a coiled spring. Despite his controlled exterior, desire raged within him like a tempest. When reason returned, he grabbed the nearest blanket to cover her, his voice rough with restraint.

"Cassandra, have you no shame left?"

"None whatsoever," she whispered, cheeks flaming. Summoning every ounce of courage, she wound her arms around his neck and crushed her lips to his. This time, Liam didn't resist - his body had betrayed him completely.

He surrendered to the kiss with devastating hunger.

When Evelyn pushed him backward, he fell without resistance. Liam's kisses grew feverish, his hands roaming possessively. Guiding his palm up her body, she felt the exact moment his control shattered.

Rational thought drowned beneath a tidal wave of need. Liam flipped her beneath him with a growl, his mouth claiming hers with bruising intensity before trailing fire down her throat and lower still... Clothes were discarded, years of pent-up desire unleashed at last.

Bitterness twisted in Liam's chest even as he lost himself in her. He resented how easily she'd undone him, knowing she would walk away just as effortlessly afterward. There would be no mercy shown tonight.

Though Evelyn had initiated their coupling, she soon found herself weeping, begging for respite. But Liam was beyond stopping now.

The night stretched endlessly.

For Evelyn, the first experience proved excruciating. Wave after wave of pain with no pleasure to temper it, repeated until dawn's first light.

Liam finally slept as morning painted the sky.

When consciousness returned near noon, it felt like emerging from an impossibly vivid dream - one whose memory would haunt him forever. But reality struck like a dagger to the heart when he opened his eyes to an empty bed.

His hand slid across cold sheets where Evelyn's warmth should have been. Gone. Just like ten years ago, separated by borders with no means of contact. Never to meet again.

A thousand needles seemed to pierce his chest, each breath agony. His lips twisted in a bitter smile even as tears escaped his closed eyelids.