Chapter 143\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAth, he whispered, my name falling from his lips like a secret meant only for my ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His fingers traced along my cheekbone with such tenderness that I couldn\u2019t help but release a soft, shaky breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The simple touch sent tiny sparks dancing across my skin and through my veins. I found myself holding my breath as his thumb moved to trace the\u00a0<\/p>\n
outline of my lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The gentle pressure of his touch made me take a sharp intake of air. There was something magical about the way Tristan\u2019s touch affected me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
God, it did things to me I couldn\u2019t explain. It lit a fire deep inside, warming every inch of my body until I burned with want and need. My mind went\u00a0<\/p>\n
blank, all rational thoughts slipping away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shamefully, I craved for his hands to wander lower, to the places where my body ached the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But just when I thought he might, when my pulse hammered in anticipation, he pulled back. His hands withdrew as his fingers raked through his dark hair in frustration, the gesture so violent that several strands fell across his forehead \u2013 his jaw clenched tight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes shot toward him immediately, confusion and disappointment warring in my chest. Was he really going to leave me like this? After igniting this\u00a0<\/p>\n
fire in me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wasn\u2019t it your cheeks he touched? And weren\u2019t you the one that insisted on seeing if he was serious? So why are you complaining when you made the decision that\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
making us both suffer?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claire\u2019s voice echoed in my mind, dripping with frustration that matched my own. But I was too overwhelmed by my own emotions to bother responding to her. She was right, of course I\u2019m the one holding whatever was to happen between the both of us. But that didn\u2019t make the ache in my chest any less\u00a0<\/p>\n
real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I think you should get some rest,\u201d Tristan said, his voice strained and rough around the edges. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long day and you need all the rest you can\u00a0<\/p>\n
get.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t need to get to bed, I need you. I wanted to say so badly but I said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just laid there on the bed, staring at him with a look and feelings I couldn\u2019t place. The distance between us felt vast and impossible to cross.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked as frustrated as I felt, but he stood frozen at the doorway as if approaching me would somehow break his resolve. There was something almost afraid in his posture, like he was scared of what might happen if he got too close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slowly, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Slowly, I pushed myself up, my muscles protesting from the tension. I stood, my legs a bit shaky, and started toward my room door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Where\u2026 are you going?\u201d he asked, and I noticed how he took an instinctive step backward, as if I might burn him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I wanted to follow you out so I could lock the door,\u201d I said quietly, uncertain, whether the longing I felt was written plainly across my face for him to\u00a0<\/p>\n
read.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His hands found their way back into his hair, messing with the already disheveled strands. \u201cI need you to know I\u2019m taking everything in me not to touch you, Ath. His confession made my breath catch in my throat, my heart hammering so hard I was sure he could hear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:20 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 143\u00a0<\/p>\n
The raw honesty in his voice sent shivers down my spine. There was something vulnerable and desperate in the way he spoke, as if the words were being torn from somewhere deep inside him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 143 Chapter 143\u00a0 \u201cAth, he whispered, my name falling from his lips […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}