Rehab for SuperVillains (18+)-Chapter 283: shadow box

The shadow box was flawless, seamless, no cracks for light or prying eyes.

Kael’s breath caught as the silence fell heavy, his vision blinded, the sudden containment making the air feel denser, charged with anticipation.

His heart raced, pounding in his ears like a drum.

The shadows moved around the inside edges—snaking slowly like they were watching him, tendrils brushing the air with a whisper.

"Wh-What is this?" Kael asked, pressing his hand to the black wall.

Solid.

Unyielding, cool to the touch but pulsing faintly with her power.

Lital stepped close again, watching his reaction with interest, her black eyes gleaming in the dim, self-contained light her shadows allowed.

"What?" she said, her voice low, teasing, a hint of challenge in it.

"Scared of me now?"

Her shadows curled along his limbs like silk restraints—binding gently but firmly, not hurting, just holding him in place with a possessive tenderness.

She smiled, that sultry curve returning.

Then pressed against him again, her arm snaking around his waist, pulling him impossibly closer.

Her lips hovered a breath away, warm and inviting.

"You should be."

And she closed the distance once more—her mouth finding his with renewed depth, darker now in the privacy of her creation, as if she’d been waiting a lifetime to come home to this moment, to claim what was hers without reservation.

She kissed him—and it drained him.

Kael’s thoughts scrambled as her mouth moved over his with a passive-aggressive dominance that left no room for doubt.

It lasted much longer than he expected, her lips capturing his in a rhythm that was both insistent and unyielding, her breath mingling with his in hot, uneven bursts.

He tried to pull away, gasping into her lips, the need for air burning in his lungs, but she only followed, pressing harder, deeper, her tongue tracing the seam of his mouth before slipping in to explore with a teasing flick that sent jolts through him.

He made a sound, a low grunt of resistance, muffled against her, his body tensing instinctively.

His hands came up to push her away, palms flat against her waist at first, then sliding uselessly over the curve of her hips, up to her shoulders, fingers grazing the smooth skin there before trailing to her jaw in a desperate attempt to create space.

Nothing worked. She didn’t budge, her body like an immovable force, solid and warm, pinning him without effort.

Like trying to shove a mountain.

His breath caught—again, ragged and shallow.

He couldn’t breathe properly, couldn’t see through the haze clouding his mind.

The darkness had thickened inside the box, opaque and blinding, swallowing every sliver of light until it was just them in a void of sensation.

He couldn’t see her anymore.

But he could feel her—everywhere.

Her weight pressing him back against the shadow wall, firm and unapologetic.

Her lips, still moving with purpose, softening for a split second to nip at his lower lip before claiming him again, the taste of her lingering like salt and sweetness mixed.

Her breath on his cheek, warm and steady, contrasting the cool tendrils of shadow that brushed his skin.

Her hands teasing his jaw with light fingertips, then sliding to his nape, fingers threading through his hair to tilt his head just so, before grazing his ears in a way that made his pulse stutter.

And worst of all—the smile.

He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it against his mouth, the subtle curve of her lips as they pressed to his, a playful edge to the dominance that made his stomach twist.

Kael gritted his teeth, the frustration building. Enough.

He summoned it—his one fallback.

His only constant.

Empathetic Resonance.

Power flared through his arms into his palms, a warm pulse of emotional energy surging forward.

If he could just—connect, feel her intent, push back with a wave of calm or resistance.

Anything to regain control.

But the second it flared—

Snap.

Something grabbed him—shadow tendrils? Limbs? He couldn’t tell.

They pulled his wrists back, locking them behind him like restraints, firm but not painful, holding him open and exposed.

Kael’s heart spiked, adrenaline flooding his veins.

He couldn’t move.

He couldn’t see.

And yet her lips never left his, the kiss unbroken, her body shifting seamlessly to accommodate the change without missing a beat.

That smile deepened against his mouth, a silent vibration of amusement, like she was saying ’nice try’ without words.

Of someone who knew exactly what they were doing, reveling in the control. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

A cold sweat trickled down Kael’s temple, his skin prickling with a mix of fear and something hotter, more confusing.

What have I done?

He thought he could help her.

Tila.

That he could guide her like he always did, piece by piece, through the shadows of her past.

But this?

This wasn’t Tila.

Not anymore.

Everything about her screamed danger—her touch gave him goosebumps now, a shiver racing down his spine as her fingers trailed lower, brushing his collarbone in a sensual glide that contrasted the restraint.

And he had unleashed her, unlocked the fragments and watched them merge into this overwhelming whole.

Outside sounds vanished.

No Liss calling out.

No world beyond the box.

Just breathing—hers steady, his ragged. Kissing—endless, consuming.

Heat building between them like a fire stoked too high.

Kael stumbled back, finally losing his footing as the wall disappeared and his legs buckled under the intensity—and landed on something.

Soft.

Yielding.

He gasped, the sound swallowed by her mouth under a second.

It wasn’t the ground.

Was it... a bed?

Formed from her shadows, cushioned and solid, materializing beneath him like an extension of her will.

He couldn’t see.

Couldn’t think clearly.

But he knew—Lital was on top of him now, her body settling heavy against his, straddling him with effortless grace, her mouth never once lifting, the kiss evolving into something more playful at the edges, her teeth grazing his lip in a gentle bite before soothing it with a slower, sensual sweep of her tongue.

She was everywhere.

Devouring him with lips that teased and demanded, claiming every inch of space between them, wrapping around him like shadow and silk, her hands roaming freely now—down his chest, along his sides, pinning him with just enough pressure to remind him who was in charge.

And Kael—Kael was drowning, lost in the sensation, his resistance fading into reluctant surrender as the kiss pulled him under.

This is bad. Really bad.

I am fucked.