Chapter 162: The One-Time Thing

For a long, breathless moment, the question just hung there between them.

"Did you not enjoy what we did last night? Did you not like it?"

Sophia stared at him, blinking as though he had just started speaking a different language. The words seemed to echo through her mind, bouncing around before her brain could even decide how to process them. Did she not enjoy it? What kind of question was that?

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Instead, she found herself staring at Orion like he had grown another head or perhaps two. Maybe he was taking the place of the Trihydra with its multiple heads because she could not comprehend what was going through his head.

He stood there, bare-chested now, muscles rippling subtly with each slow, controlled breath he took. Those tribal tattoos that she had traced with her fingers looked like they were calling to her once more. But his expression was unreadable.

That made it worse somehow. He wasn’t teasing, wasn’t smirking; he genuinely looked... uncertain. Maybe even a little nervous.

That realization startled her more than the question itself.

He, the Alpha of Nightshade Pack, the same man who could silence a room with just his gaze was actually worried about her answer.

She blinked again, trying to make sense of it. Where on earth did he even get that from?

Finally, she managed to croak, "Wait...what?"

Orion didn’t answer. His jaw was set tight, his gaze steady but a little guarded. The silence stretched between them again, thick enough to choke on. Sophia’s brows furrowed in disbelief.

"Where did you even get that idea from?" she demanded, exasperation creeping into her tone. "What exactly made you think I didn’t enjoy it or even like it?"

He just shrugged one shoulder, deliberately casual, his expression giving nothing away. That little gesture made her want to throw something at him. The fact that he could look so unbothered when she was practically combusting from embarrassment was infuriating.

"Don’t you shrug at me," she snapped, pointing at him. "You asked a question, so answer it. Where did you get that ridiculous idea?"

Orion tilted his head slightly, lips twitching like he was holding back a smile. "You’ve been avoiding me all morning," he said simply. "You wouldn’t look at me. You run away at any chance you get, so...I don’t know, I’m just making certain that it’s not because of what happened."

Sophia gawked at him, stunned at how easily he’d read her. "That doesn’t mean...i mean yeah I ran because of what happened but that doesn’t..." she began, then stopped herself, her cheeks flushing so hard she felt the heat rise to her ears. "That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it."

Orion’s brow arched slightly, curiosity flickering across his face. "Oh?" he murmured. His voice dropped lower, the quiet rumble of it sliding right through her.

Sophia hesitated for a heartbeat, trying to gather her words, and then gave up pretending.

"I enjoyed it, Orion. And I liked what we did...a lot." She told him.

The air between them shifted instantly. Orion froze, his eyes narrowing slightly as if he wasn’t sure he heard her right.

Sophia’s face was burning, but the words were out now and she wasn’t about to take them back. "I enjoyed it," she repeated, firmer this time. "Every bit of it. I..." She exhaled sharply, her courage wobbling but not breaking. "I never thought it would be like that, especially since it was my first time."

Orion blinked, completely caught off guard. He hadn’t expected that confession hadn’t even imagined it, honestly. His mouth parted slightly as though he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Sophia’s fingers twisted together as she spoke again, words tumbling in a rush, faster and faster now that she’d started. "I mean, I’ve read about it before. You know, in books...novels..." her voice faltered when she saw the look of faint amusement flicker in his eyes, "...and none of them ever came close to... to what I felt with you last night. It was... different. Better. Way better."

Her voice softened on the last words, as if the memory itself was too intimate to be voiced fully.

Orion’s throat worked, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Her honesty was disarming in the purest way simple, guileless, and so unguarded that it hit him somewhere deep in the chest.

Then she added, almost as an afterthought, "Even if it was just a one-time thing." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Orion’s mind stuttered to a halt. What the hell? He asked himself.

Sophia, not noticing the sudden shift, kept talking. "I mean, of course it was. It’s not like there’s anything between us or anything to come out of it. I get that it was just one of those moments..."

"Hold on," Orion interrupted, his brows knitting. "Who told you that?"

Sophia blinked, thrown by the sharpness in his voice. "Told me what?"

"That it was a one-time thing." His tone was quiet but firm, carrying a weight that made her heart skip.

She frowned, confused. "No one told me that," she said, shaking her head. "I just know. You’re the Alpha, Orion. You could have anyone you want. You don’t owe me explanations or..." she faltered, looking away, "...or any kind of attachment."

He didn’t say anything, just watched her in silence as she spoke, every word of hers sinking deeper into him.

"And it’s not like there’s anything between us," she went on, her voice a mix of flustered and resigned now, her eyes darting everywhere except his. "You were probably just being...we were just being consumed by lust and we needed to cool it off and so we..."

She didn’t get to finish.

Orion moved, closing the little distance between them. His hand came up, fingers curling lightly under her chin as he tilted her face up. Before she could even think to step back, his mouth was on hers.

The kiss wasn’t soft it wasn’t tentative either. It was steady, deliberate, and every bit as consuming as the one from the night before. For a heartbeat, Sophia was frozen, her brain short-circuiting under the rush of sensation.

Then instinct took over.

Her hands gripped his arms as she kissed him back, responding to him like her body had been waiting for the command. The air around them thickened, her pulse tripping wildly against her ribs. It was the same maddening pull, that same dizzying heat that had consumed her throughout, and it hit her with just as much force now.

When Orion finally drew back, they were both breathing hard.

Sophia’s lips tingled, her eyes dazed as she stared up at him. "What..." she started breathlessly, "what was that for?"

Orion’s hand lingered on her cheek, his thumb brushing lightly across her skin. His eyes, though dark and intense, held something softer beneath the surface something that made her chest tighten.

"That," he said quietly, "was for you to stop jumping to conclusions."

Her brows furrowed, confusion flickering through her dazed expression.

He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low murmur that sent shivers running down her spine. "And to get those stupid thoughts out of your head before I do it for you."

Sophia blinked rapidly, trying to process what he’d just said, but then he added flatly, "You sound dumb saying those things."

Her jaw dropped. "I...excuse me?"

He smiled faintly, just enough to make her glare deepen. "You heard me."

Sophia drew in a sharp breath, indignant. "You can’t just kiss me and then call me dumb, Orion."

"I didn’t call you dumb," he corrected, utterly unfazed. "I said you sound dumb. There’s a difference. But let’s be truthful here, you call me dumb all the time."

"I told you yesterday that it was debatable." She told him.

Orion’s expression softened a little. "Sophia," he said gently, and his tone was steady and serious this time. "There was no way what happened between us was ever going to be a one-time thing."

She swallowed as she watched him.

He took a step closer, his gaze locked on hers. "Even if last night hadn’t happened the way it did, even if there hadn’t been a mark, " he paused, catching himself but pushing through, "it still wouldn’t have been just once. I’m not built for that. Not with you."

Sophia stared at him, utterly bewildered now. "Wait, wait, wait," she said quickly, lifting her hands as if to stop the conversation from spinning further out of control. "What are you talking about? What mark?"