Billionaire's match novel

---- Chapter 816 Khloe's voice grew colder, harder, each word edged with ice. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her eyes red and glimmering. Nick's gaze mirrored hers-equally bloodshot, equally intense. His brow furrowed as he took slow, deliberate steps toward her. The distance between them closed rapidly. Khloe instinctively wanted to look away, unsure how to face him, still raw from the whirlwind of emotions. In the next instant, Nick grabbed her wrist, yanking her forcefully toward him. His other arm wrapped tightly around her waist, trapping her completely in his embrace.

She struggled instinctively-but before she could push him away, his lips crashed onto hers. For a heartbeat, she froze. Then, instinctively, she slammed her fists against his chest. The harder she fought, the deeper he kissed her-fierce, relentless, as if madness had overtaken him. His tongue swept greedily and shamelessly over hers, tasting the coppery tang of blood from the cut inside his mouth. The metallic flavor made her flinch. And yet... despite the chaos, his presence grounded her. It ---- brought a strange, steadying calm. Tears fell again, Not hers alone, but mingled with his.

They dripped along her lips, mixing with the bitter-sweet coppery taste of blood. The room seemed to shrink around them, and everyone nearby, sensing the intimacy of the moment, wisely retreated. The kiss stretched on as if time itself had slowed-a century of longing, of lost moments regained, of pain and regret and yearning compressed into one breathless instant. He pressed against her lips with overwhelming force, his tongue invading hers again and again, matching the rhythm of her breath, as though he wanted to consume every inch of her.

Their bodies slid with the shifting moonlight, brushing against a comer, knocking over an old wooden chair with a creak. Khloe was pinned beneath him, yet at the last moment, Nick's body shuddered, collapsing to the floor with her in his arms-utterly spent. Her hair was tousled, lips streaked in the moonlight, achingly beautiful and raw. He reached out, brushing her mouth gently, taking in her face, her features, every detail of her body. After days of burning ---- longing, merely looking at her felt like a medicine for a long illness. He couldn't bear to look away. And she felt the same.

Her lips still carried the weight of anger and pride, her words had cursed him, vowed never to forgive-but in this moment, her heart softened beyond resistance. "Does it hurt?" Khloe's hand traced the small wound on his neck. It was barely a scratch, already beginning to scab, though the blood was still sticky. "No," he murmured, grasping her hand gently. "Are you doing this on purpose to tease me? You knew I'd come for you, and still you put on a show... why this?" Her voice was threaded with mock reproach, a flicker of anger tempered by relief.

Nick's mind was sharp; she knew she couldn't fool him. Yet she gambled on his care for her. Even without elaborate schemes, he would bite the bait. And he did. From the start, he had suspected Khloe was orchestrating it all. When Lucas informed him that Clarice had been taken by the ---- police, and someone near the Morrison villa had been deliberately drawing their pursuit, his suspicion solidified. If Clarice truly had captured Khloe, her people wouldn't be baiting them now. If she were also being manipulated, then the real architect... had to be Khloe herself.

Every subtle move, every carefully laid trace-it was all her design. And yet, seeing her here, alive, in his arms, all schemes forgotten, all he could feel was that deep, searing surge of relief and longing.