Chapter 365: The Hidden Widow (3) The Unleashed Desires
She exhaled slowly, her eyes softening as she looked at him. "Just... don’t make things harder than they already are."
And suddenly, it happened.
She jumped.
Before Lyan could react, before his mind had a chance to catch up with what was happening, Clarisse closed the distance between them and kissed him. It was a quick, impulsive movement, one that seemed to surprise even her as much as it did him. Her lips pressed against his, soft and warm, but there was a tension beneath the kiss—a raw mixture of confusion, anger, and something else neither of them could name.
Lyan’s eyes widened in shock, his body stiffening at the unexpected contact. He hadn’t seen this coming, not at all. For a moment, the world seemed to stand still, his mind going blank as her lips lingered against his. Time slowed, the sounds of the inn fading into the background as he tried to make sense of what was happening.
But just as quickly as it had begun, it ended.
Clarisse pulled back abruptly, her eyes wide with shock, her cheeks flushed. She stared at him, her lips parted as if she couldn’t quite believe what she’d just done. The air between them felt charged, electric, and neither of them moved for what felt like an eternity.
"I... I’m sorry," she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as if she could take the kiss back somehow. Her breathing was shallow, her heart racing in her chest. She hadn’t planned this. She hadn’t meant for it to happen. But something inside her had snapped, something she couldn’t explain.
Lyan remained frozen for a moment, his eyes still locked on hers, his mind reeling. His lips tingled where hers had touched them, the sensation lingering longer than it should have. He didn’t know what to say, how to react. He’d been kissed before—plenty of times, in fact—but this felt different. This wasn’t one of his Valkyries teasing him, or some flirtation between him and one of the women in his life. This was something else. This was Clarisse, a widow who had every reason to hate him, and yet, she had kissed him.