Rising from the Ashes The Heiress They Tried to Erase Novel

Chapter 1221 Chapter 1223: Then she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. The soft touch hit him like a wave, and everything he'd meant to say vanished in an instant. What had he been about to tell her? In that moment, Chris drew a complete blank. The world fell away until Maia was the only thing he could see. Maia didn't give him another second to speak. She pushed him back onto the mattress and swung one leg over him, straddling his waist. She kissed him with hungry urgency, unrestrained, as if something inside her had broken loose and she couldn't hold it back anymore.

Even when their teeth knocked now and then, their tongues still found each other, tangling again and again. This time, Maia set the pace-bold and relentless-stealing Chris's breath until he could barely keep up. Heat rushed through her, a feverish warmth spreading fast beneath her skin. She didn't need an explanation from him. He was her husband, and that was enough. The only man she trusted-someone she would place her life in without hesitation. To Maia, what they had had already grown far beyond the arranged marriage they'd started with. She wanted all of him. She wanted the whole future.

"Take a breath," Maia murmured, cradling the back of Chris's head in her palms. She studied his impossibly handsome face and hummed, satisfied. Their lips parted for only a heartbeat. Chris dragged in a deep breath, ready to speak, but Maia stole it again-her kiss more urgent, more demanding, cutting him off before he could form a single word. Chris gave in, kissing her back just as fiercely. Their breaths tangled, warm and uneven, and they held each other tightly. The days apart had turned every kiss into something ravenous, soaked in longing.

Right now, words would have been wasted between them. For the past several days, Maia had been consumed by surgical training, while Chris had been swallowed by his schemes. Now, everything they'd been holding back finally broke free. Vince-her former fiancé-had once left Maia's heart in tatters. It had been an innocent heart, overflowing with dreams of romance, until betrayal shattered it beyond repair.

galnovℯℓs․com keeps you updated During those four years behind bars, on the nights when even the stars refused to show themselves, Maia had repeated the same vow again and again: never to fall for a man's sweet talk, never to hand her heart to anyone so easily. Back then, love had been the last thing on her mind. But now, the man beneath her was gathering up the broken pieces one by one. Chris was putting her back together-quietly, patiently-returning to her the courage to love again. Maia had fallen for him, completely.

When they finally pulled apart to breathe, the light spilling through the window washed their faces in warm amber, turning everything soft and unreal. Chris tried again to speak, but Maia wouldn't let him. She lifted a finger and pressed it gently to his lips, her voice low and coaxing as she whispered, "Shh... Let's keep going." . . .