Her grip on his hair tightened at those words while he expectantly gazed at her seeking permission. The quickening of frantic heartbeats and flushing of her cheeks told him that she was nervous and excited at the same time.

"Can I?" Xiran softly asked, sliding up his hands jailing her face so she would not escape his desire-filled stare. He towered over her like a hulking beast.

"Yes," she meekly answered. Her cheeks crimsoning in the process, Aselia had no clue what to expect but deep down she wanted him to touch her, to own her, every part of her.

Xiran’s eyes widened and his smile deepened, he didn’t expect her to agree for she had always been shy and running away from his touches. He didn’t know how much she had longed for those caresses in the excruciatingly painful year they had spent apart.

"It will bring you immense pleasure since it’s your first time. I will be very gentle. It is your first time?" His last sentence was more of a question and it appalled her. She extracted her hands from his hair.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" her eyes narrowed down and her lips downturned in a scowl.

"Umm, no I mean.... You know.... Since we were not..." Xiran was lost for words and the look she was giving him revealed that she was pissed at the unnecessary question he threw at her. The fact that she had stopped touching him was a big indication that he had offended her.

"You mean if I and Jaguar were intimate or not since you saw us together? The answer is no, he only kissed me once and I felt repelled by it, thanks to the bond, my body rejects anyone’s affections. And after what you did, I wish I had let him touch me," she callously added, her frown deepening, remembering how he left her, refusing to even grant her a farewell kiss.

"You realise I would have killed him, if you had," An inexplicable amount of intense relief washed over him but his words had Aselia stiffen under him.

"So let me get this straight, you would have killed an innocent man because he sought intimacy with me after you took my memories and abandoned me. And I know you already beat him up and erased his memories so he would forget I existed." Aselia was perturbed. She had enough blood on her hands, she didn’t want to have someone innocent added to that list and knowing Xiran she was certain he would kill for her. He had already done that by killing his brother who dared touch her.

"Yes, that’s exactly what I would have done and would do again. You have any clue how I restrained myself when he snatched you from my hands at the ball?" and his words confirmed her fears.

"Do you hear yourself, Xiran? You are lucky that I love you or the shit you try to pull because of your obsession, has me screaming at times," she shook her head at him, sadness descending in her mesmerising eyes and it disturbed him.

"The rationality gets thrown out a window when it comes down to you Leia. I am sorry but I will never be fair or rational in my love for you so forgive me for loving you so possessively. Because I won’t ever stop. The truth is I can’t even if I try."

"Then why didn’t you kiss me before erasing my memories? Where did all your love evaporate to at that time?" Her question staked his heart as he was reminded of those torturous moments yet again. His facial features were seared with pain and it hurt her to see him like this.

"If I had done that I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did. It took everything in me to not kiss you because that’s something I can never deny you. I did shower you in kisses when you fell unconscious and held you close. I apologise again for hurting you," the emotional storm in his eyes erased any resentment that lingered in Aselia’s heart and she knew she couldn’t remain angry at him anymore.

"I forgive you because I am in love with this crazy old man, who would have thought," Aselia tried to lighten up the mood, knowing both of them would get hurt if they kept trudging down this perilous path. She wanted to close down this Chapter of their lives and take the next step.

"Thank you," he added with gratitude, kissing the tip of her nose.

"But for real, you need to stop beating people up or taking their memories because of me," she slightly reprimanded him.

"I will try Leia. I know it bothers you when I hurt people because of you but I can’t help myself at times," his shimmering grey orbs revealed his truth to her and she knew he was lost when it came down to her.

Aselia pressed her hand at his heaving chest.

"Just remember, I am yours and no one can take me away from you now. Let this feeling settle in, let yourself accept this fact. Let that fear go. He is gone from our lives but he is still controlling us, Xiran. We have to come out of those dark shadows he has cast upon us. Because I am fucking tired and all I want is to be with you now."

"I know my love and I will be more considerate of your feelings from now onwards," he professed, and Aselia couldn’t help but beam at how genuine he sounded at that moment.

"Yes, we need to make this work. No more hiding. I want to experience everything that has been denied to me. Without a mask on my face, a bandana on my head, or a serum in my system. I only need air in my hair and you by my side," that serene smile Aselia had always loved, radiated on his face and his eyes crinkled at the sides making him look extremely cute. And he hadn’t been this content in a long long time.

"I will fulfil every desire you hold in that beautiful heart of yours. You just have to utter the words, Leia and I will grant it and I promise I won’t suffocate you in the name of overprotection. You are free now and you will always be."

His hands lovingly stroked her luscious hair as his head dipped and he poured all of his affection into the kiss he placed on her forehead. Brimming her heart with satisfaction and love, only he could provide.

Aselia wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him close so his hardened chest squished her soft one and immense pleasure washed over her as his hardness brushed over her wet core. Her whole body shuddered at the feelings he invoked in her and he knew for his lips curved up in a victorious grin as he provocatively teased her:

"You are already dripping Leia and I haven’t even touched you," turning her face into a bloomed red rose.