Submitting to my Ex Uncle-Chapter 224

Music Recommendation: Saturn by Sleeping at Last.

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Elias sat there, unmoving. His forehead was pressed to hers. The air between them was thin and trembling. He didn’t speak. He couldn’t. There was nothing left to say that wouldn’t sound like an apology that came too late.

Amara’s lashes fluttered, her breath was warm against his mouth. His hand, still hovering near her face, trembled before he let it fall.

It fell lower, until his fingers found her jaw. His thumb drew a slow line along her chin, tracing her softly so he wouldn’t forget her.

Her heart stumbled.

Everywhere he touched burned quietly. He was tracing a goodbye and a promise in the same motion.

"Don’t look," he murmured, his voice raw. "Just feel."

Amara’s lips parted, but no sound came. She could feel the weight of everything unsaid pressing against her throat. Her body moved before her mind could reason and she leaned in until their breaths tangled again, shallow and aching.

Elias’s fingertip brushed the corner of her mouth, down the line of her neck, until it reached her shoulder. He traced her diligently, afraid to blink.

Her pulse betrayed her. It raced beneath his touch, betraying all the things she couldn’t say.

He stopped when his hand reached her heart. His palm rested there, over the rapid thud of it, and his eyes, those dark, tired eyes, lifted to hers.

"This," he whispered, "is the only truth we ever had."

Her eyes glistened. "And when it stops?"

His throat worked. "Then so do I."

Amara’s hand came up, hesitantly at first, until it found his cheek. Her thumb brushed away the faint smear of dried blood at his jawline. It felt too tender, too much like forgiveness.

She hated that she wanted to forgive him.

Elias leaned into her palm, and closed his eyes. For a moment, it looked as though he was breathing her in. Her presence was the only thing holding him together. The air was heavy with want and something dangerously close to peace.

Her hand slipped to his neck. His skin was warm beneath her fingers, his pulse was steady but desperate. She didn’t move it away when he turned his head, pressing a kiss into the center of her wrist. The contact was so soft it made her shiver.

Her breath caught. "Elias..."

He lifted his gaze again, and the look in his eyes undid her completely. There was no anger there anymore. There was no cruelty. Just longing. Tired, and endless longing.

He reached for her hand and placed it over his heart again. "You still make it beat," he said. "Even when I wish it wouldn’t."

Her lips parted, a quiet sound escaping her. He smiled. "Close your eyes," he whispered again.

Amara obeyed.

She felt Elias move behind her. Then, he slowly unzipped her dress. He bent his face forward, and dropped peppering kisses on her spine.

Amara swallowed.

Elias knelt behind her, his breath steady against the back of her neck. His hand hovered near her waist, a silent question lingering between them.

"Do you want this?" he asked, his voice low, almost reverent.

Amara drew in a long, trembling breath before nodding. "I do."

He didn’t move to take anything from her. Instead, he rose, pulling her back into his chest. "Then open your eyes," he whispered against her skin.

When she did, the world narrowed to his warmth, his scent, and the steady rhythm of his breath against her ear. She turned, their lips colliding in a kiss that was equal parts hunger and surrender.

Then, with a sudden shift, Elias pressed her back against the wall with urgency. The air between them burned. His eyes searched hers, full of the same disbelief that she saw in herself.

She had never thought she’d let anyone this close. He had never thought he’d find something worth gentleness again.

Elias knelt before her again.

She raised her feet, and let him take her pant off her completely. Elias stared up at her from under his eyes, and stared back at her underwear.

"Seriously?" He chuckled playfully. "A hello kitty pantie?"

Amara face burned. She didn’t realize that was what she wore until he mentioned it. "I...."

"Shuu," Elias hushed her, and stood up to her full level. "I love it. I don’t care what you wear." He smiled at her, and gave her cheek a gentle kiss.

When he first met her, he thought she was some badass queen because of how cold she was. He still couldn’t believe he was the one who took her virginity.

And now, she just gave him another reason to be extremely gentle with her. He once thought he could give up anyone just to hurt Dominic, until he met her.

He wrapped his hands around her waist, and stood straight. He pulled her into his arms, and stared straight into her eyes.

"Even now," he murmured, brushing her cheek with his thumb, "you still surprise me."

Her only answer was another kiss. Soft at first, then deepening, until words no longer mattered.

Their lips moved like they’d been waiting years to find their way back. Every breath between them was a confession, every touch an undoing. Elias cupped her face, his thumb still tracing the corner of her mouth as though memorizing the tremble there.

When he finally pulled back, it wasn’t because he wanted to. It was because he needed to breathe her name before he lost himself completely.

Except what came out wasn’t her name.

"Michelle," he whispered.

Amara blinked, dazed. "What?"

He swallowed, his breath ragged against her lips. "My real name," he said quietly. "Michelle. Elias was never mine to begin with."

Her eyes widened. For a moment, everything hung between them, suspended and fragile.

Then, before she could speak, he pressed his forehead to hers again, voice low and rough.

"I wanted you to know me before you forget me."

Amara’s breath shuddered. She didn’t know what hurt more. The confession, or the tenderness in the way he said it.

A single tear slipped down Amara’s cheek. She didn’t wipe it away. It trailed down, catching the corner of her mouth before falling soundlessly between them.

Elias reached up as if to touch her, but she shook her head faintly. Her lips trembled into a smile. Her smile was fragile, trembling, and breaking.

She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. The kiss was soft, deliberate, and final.

Then she placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back gently. She didn’t do that in anger. Rather, in mercy.

Elias didn’t resist. He only stood there, staring at her as if trying to memorize the shape of her retreat.

Amara reached down, slipped her panties back on, and straightened her dress. Her hands trembled, but she didn’t stop.

When she finally looked at him again, her eyes were already glistening with unshed tears. "Goodbye, Michelle," she whispered. "Goodbye, Elias."

He flinched. Then she turned and walked toward the door.

The last thing he heard was the soft click of it closing, and the sound of his own heart breaking in the silence she left behind.

His breath shattered.

Author note: Amara and Elias story line means so much to me because I lived it. Take the mafia addition away, I lived through it.