Chapter 283. Her... Wanting To Be Called Lia Wade Is Surprising (It Caught Off My Guard)
The air in the room seemed to vanish, replaced by a feverish heat. Every sound—the rustle of fabric, the wet sound of their breathing, the soft creak of the mattress—became amplified, charged with an intensity that threatened to shatter them both.
William could feel her pulse racing against his palms, her body trembling with the effort of maintaining her boldness while her instincts screamed for surrender.
The atmosphere in the room had shifted from charged to volatile. The last shred of Lia’s aristocratic restraint wasn’t just fraying; it was incinerating.
Seeing the effect she was having on him, seeing the way his pupils had blown wide until his eyes were almost entirely black, gave her a rush of intoxicating power she had never experienced.
She leaned in closer, her lips brushing against the shell of his ear. Her breath was hot, damp, and uneven, sending waves of electricity cascading down William’s spine.
"Instructor Wade..." she whispered, her voice a velvet purr that carried a dangerous edge of seduction. "There is no one watching."
"No rules to uphold tonight."
"So please..." She nipped lightly at his earlobe before continuing, "There is no need to hold back on your desires."
"Today... give me all of your love... all of it."
That was the breaking point.
Something inside William snapped the disciplined soldier, the responsible mentor, and the cautious instructor all burned away in a single heartbeat, leaving only the raw, primal need of a man who had been starved for this exact moment.
A low, guttural growl erupted from his throat, a sound that was more animal than human.
Without warning, he surged forward, his arms wrapping around her waist with crushing force. Lia let out a surprised
"Ah!~" as he swept her backward onto the mattress.
The bed creaked ominously under their combined weight as he pinned her beneath him, his body a heavy, warm blanket of muscle that seemed to claim every inch of her space.
The kiss that followed wasn’t a request; it was an invasion. It was desperate, messy, and hungry. Their tongues tangled with a ferocity that made Lia’s head spin, her mouth opening wide to welcome him.
Her hands flew to his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him closer as if she could somehow merge their bodies through sheer force of will.
"Mmmph ahhh!~" Lia’s moan was muffled against his lips, a sound of pure, unadulterated surrender.
William’s left arm slid beneath the hem of her shirt, his warm palm finding the sensitive skin of her stomach.
The contact made her arch upward involuntarily. His fingers began to roam, tracing the delicate curve of her ribs before settling on the soft swell of her belly, rubbing in slow, possessive circles.
The friction of his rough palm against her silken skin created a sensory overload that made Lia’s toes curl against the sheets.
"Lia..." William groaned against her mouth, his voice unrecognizable deep, gravelly, and laced with hunger. "You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to ruin you like this."
"Then ruin me, Instructor," she gasped out between kisses, her voice breaking as she pulled him down harder. "Please... I don’t want to be a lady tonight."
"I just want to be yours."
The room became a symphony of escalating sounds: the wet, rhythmic sounds of their kissing, the frantic rustle of fabric as hands wandered desperately seeking skin, and the increasingly loud, unrestrained vocalizations from Lia.
Every time his hand moved higher, every time his hips ground against hers, she let out a new sound—a sharp intake of breath, a whimper, or a high-pitched moan that echoed off the walls.
"Nnngh... ah! William ahhh!~" The use of his name without his title was a surrender in itself.
Her legs wrapped around his waist instinctively, pulling him deeper into the cradle of her thighs, seeking to close every microscopic gap between them.
The heat between them was stifling now, the air thick with the scent of arousal and the intoxicating musk of their shared desperation.
William could feel her heart hammering against his chest like a trapped bird, and her body was slick with a fine sheen of sweat that made every touch slide and glide with maddening ease. The instructor was gone; there was only the man and the woman who was determined to claim every part of him.
The heat between them was becoming unbearable, a physical weight that pressed them deeper into the mattress. William’s breathing was ragged, each exhale hot against Lia’s flushed skin.
His left hand continued its slow, possessive exploration of her stomach, but his right hand began to wander upward, driven by an instinct he could no longer suppress.
His palm slid upward past her ribs, feeling the rapid flutter of her breathing beneath his touch, until he finally reached the soft, full swell of her breasts.
Even through the thin fabric of her bra, the sheer volume of her was overwhelming. He cupped one mound, his fingers splaying across the lace, feeling the way her nipple peaked hard against the material in response to his touch.
"Ahhh... mmmh~" Lia let out a long, shuddering moan, her back arching off the bed as she pressed herself harder into his palm.
The sensation of his large, warm hand claiming her breasts made her vision swim with pleasure.
But even as her body surrendered, her mind, that sharp, aristocratic mind, clung to one last piece of intimacy. She pulled back just enough to meet his gaze, her eyes dark with emotion and something dangerously close to desperation.
"Instructor Wade..." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly, not from fear, but from a need for something more profound. "You haven’t called me by my full name today... not properly."
A small, challenging smile played on her lips despite her arousal. "Are you still feeling the limits between us?"
"Are you still holding back because of what I am?"
William paused, his hand still cupping her breast, feeling the frantic rhythm of her heartbeat beneath his palm.
He looked at her, really looked at her, seeing past the noblewoman, past the student, past the Valestria lineage that had always stood between them like an invisible wall.
"It’s not that, Lia," he rasped, his voice thick with emotion. "It’s not about limits."
"The timing... it just wasn’t right before."
"Because of your family, because of your position, because of... you know how complicated everything is." He gestured vaguely to the world outside this room, the world that demanded she be perfect, untouchable, and distant.
Lia reached up, her fingers tracing the stubble along his jawline. "I don’t want that world tonight, William."
"I don’t want to be Lia Valestria... Not here and not with you." Her eyes searched his, burning with a fierce intensity. "I want to be yours."
"I want to be called Lia Wade."
The words hung in the air between them, more intimate than any touch, more scandalous than any physical act. To claim her name as his was to claim her soul, to erase the boundaries that the world had spent years building around her.
William felt a lump form in his throat. The raw vulnerability in her request shattered whatever remained of his restraint.
He didn’t answer with words at first; instead, he pulled her closer, burying his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in her intoxicating scent. He began to nuzzle her, his lips pressing tenderly against her cheek, then her temple, and then the sensitive skin below her ear.
"Lia Wade," he murmured against her skin, the words vibrating through her entire body. "Lia Wade."
He said it again, softer this time, like a prayer. "Lia Wade... my Lia."
Each time he spoke her new name, he punctuated it with a kiss, soft, lingering presses against her cheekbone, her jaw, and her temple.
The tenderness of the gesture contrasted sharply with the hunger still burning in his eyes. It was a claiming, a sanctification of the bond they were forging in the darkness of the guest room.
"Nnngh... yes... ahh~" Lia whimpered, her eyes fluttering closed as she melted into his embrace.
The sound of her name on his lips was more arousing than any touch, a verbal seal on the promise she had just made. She felt seen, not as a noblewoman, but as a woman loved.
"Say it again... please..."
"Lia Wade," he whispered against her lips, his breath mingling with hers as he prepared to claim her in every way possible.
