Bound by Deception

25.2 To Fall in Love

"I didn't peg you for a beggar," Sterling said with a grin. One look in his eyes and Aria knew he was drunk. "D'you think you can beg me again?"

"No. Let's go." She grabbed his collar and dragged him out of the small bar. "I called my family."

"And?"

"And we have some time. I want Madame to kill us quickly."

"She won't be so bad." Sterling stumbled onto the street. "What? Are you scared?"

"Of?"

"Madame. Are you scared that she's gonna chew you out because you killed Eddie without her approval?"

"Sterling, I've done many things without Madame's approval." Aria cocked her hip to the side. "I'm not scared of her. Edward was going to die soon anyway."

"Still. You know how antsy Madame's been lately." Sterling gestured discreetly to the small group of soldiers patrolling the street across from them. "Haven't you noticed? Tensions have risen? The attack at work proved that."

"Since when have you been the scaredy cat between the both of us?" Aria grinned. "Sterling, I hated this assignment. You're the seductive killer. I'm the mastermind, and next time, I'd like for our roles to remain the same. There's a reason I didn't go into acting."

"You should have." He begrudgingly accepted the pill that she passed him. "You would've been a damn good actress."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You tricked Edward just as much as you tricked me. There were times when I actually believed your act."

"Huh." Aria combed a hand through her wavy hair. "I felt constipated the whole time I was doing it."

"In the beginning, we all do." He took her hand and brushed his lips against her temple. "You had me wishing to be Edward in that closet. The way you fucking turned me on was unimaginable, my lady."

Aria's cheeks flamed, sinking down past her stomach and into her toes. "Yeah, sure." She tried to sound indifferent, but the slight tremor in her voice failed her. "D-Did you want me to stuff your face with a pillow too?"

"I'd rather you sit on my face naked."

"Sterling!" Aria yelped, slapping her hand over his mouth. She glared at him. "Are you crazy? Saying that stuff in public?"

"Those soldiers don't give a damn." He pried her hand off his face and smirked. "What? Don't tell me you got turned on."

"No. I got hot from embarrassment," she snapped. She grabbed his wrist. "Now, come on. We're going to work, getting beaten up, then going home. I need a shower and a nap."

"About that..." Sterling flexed the arm that she was holding and spun her toward him. His mouth crashed onto hers before she could speak and he pushed her back against the curb and continued moving back until they were behind the bar and hidden by a cluster of thick bushes.

"Sterling-!" Aria's eyebrows crossed and she gave him her sternest, mother-hen glare. "Stop fooling around! We have to-!"

"We have time. You said so yourself. Let me erase that bastard's scent from you, my lady." He inhaled her neck, breathing deeply and letting out a soft groan. "Fuck, Aria. You drive me crazy sometimes, you know that?"

"If that's what you're telling me, then I know now." Aria kept her voice level despite the throbbing going on in her lower regions. She wrapped her legs around Sterling's hips, grinding against his bulging erection. "Look, if you want to do this now, do it quickly."

"Ah, there's the demanding girl I like." He unbuttoned her blouse and kissed her chest, licking her skin and delving his lips down on her soft breast. "I don't want a submissive from you."

"Ha! As if I would ever submit to you!" Aria said between sloppy kisses. She pulled at the thick belt of his jeans and yanked his backpack straps.

"I know you wouldn't." He gently wrapped his lips around her nipple and sucked. She gasped, and he gave a throaty laugh. "Feels good, huh?"

"Yeah..." she closed her eyes, still fighting with his belt. "Oh, wait!" Her eyes snapped open and she grabbed the backpack. "We have to be careful with that."

"It'll be fine." Sterling lifted her up and pulled her pants and underwear to her knees. Seating her naked ass on his lap, he then stood to pull his own pants down. Without hesitating, he tenderly prodded her entrance, lapping the whimper she gave for his ego, and then eased into her, filling up her small space while closing his mouth over hers to embrace her ecstasy.

"Oh, damn," she groaned, rolling her hips against his. "Damn, Sterling...damn..." Her knees clicked relentlessly, a source of heat for her already flushed, ashamed cheeks, but Sterling paid no heed to the glaring fault in her legs.

"Ignore that," he growled in her ear. "Feel me. Look at me. Love me."

"I..." Aria hesitated. Pleasure soaked her to her core and she was drowning in rapture. Love...this is love. The love he gave her through his kisses, teasing jabs, and constant concern. The love he gave her when they finished, lying in a tangled mess on the ground; when he put her body atop his so she wouldn't get dirty and stroked her heaving belly as she caught her breath. Love was when he whispered calm words into her ear, allowing her to take her time to recover; when he assured her that Edward's death was justified; when he supported her through their missions.

"I love you," he whispered, burying his face in her matted hair, stroking her sides and her belly, wrapping her pubic hair around his finger, and prodding the digit around her slick entrance. "I love you, I love you, I love you, and I can nor will I ever stop saying that to you...unless you wish for me to do so."

"You...love me." She turned so she was laying on her belly, gazing at him with a starry-eyed stare. "Despite...everything?"

He smiled. "You're my strong, fierce assassin princess. Had I retained my title, I would have made you Duchess. You make me want to make this world a better place, Aria. Without you, I have no tether to this world. My parents are dead. Society hates me. I..." he closed his eyes, thinking, then kissed her, pouring every ounce of love into his kiss like it would be the last time she would ever feel his lips on hers again. "I'm not for you. I have no status. I have no dowry. I'm disgraced and we work together. And yet, I love you, most devotedly, that I cannot find myself to be in love with another woman unless she was you. But should...should you deny my feelings on account of your differing attraction...I shall never bring this up again." His eyes seemed downcast as he said this. "I will love you, that is not going to change. Perhaps...perhaps I will move on one day, but if you hold no romantic interest in me...I will value our friendship more than anything in this world."

"Sterling...I..." Words failed Aria, probably because her heart was stuck in her throat. She knew not what to say. She had never experienced a love confession before. How was she to respond? She certainly had feelings for him - the man who had stood by her through thick and thin. But, what would the world say? Her family? No doubt they'd already disown her for being an assassin, but to marry the disgraced Duke Drazek? If her aunt found out that they had even had sex twice before marriage, she'd definitely fall ill with a heart attack.

But Aria was terrible at lying to Sterling. He could see right through her like an x-ray. She loved him as well, most dearly, and she hated that she loved him, because in the world they lived in, her love for him wouldn't be able to surpass the society that was ripping itself apart. Aria never thought of herself as an emotional person, but at that moment, with Sterling's confession and her realization, she could do nothing but collapse into a wreck of tears, sobbing into his chest as he held her and consoled her. A vexatious voice in her mind hissed repetitively: You don't deserve this. You don't deserve him! You - a heartless murderer!

And even though Aria knew the voice was wrong; that she was righteously in love and that she had a right to happiness, she still let herself cry. After ten long years, the tears that spilled out were hot and burning on her skin like acid.

I'm in love with Sterling Drazek, my partner, and...and I can't, she thought, feeling utterly hopeless for the first time in a decade. I can't love him back. 

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So...another sex scene 😅why can't Aria love Sterling? What's she worried about? Has she been letting herself go? Or is she finally letting her walls down? 

VOTE/COMMENT/ENJOY :D