SWNOVELXO Chapter 527: Your slap was more satisfying.
Arwen's gaze once again turned serious. She had her question, and she wanted him to answer it. So, when she asked him, she didn't offer him an option to refuse.
She demanded him —one in return for one.
Aiden stared at her before nodding. "And what am I supposed to do in my turn?" he asked, his finger drawing slow curves and circles on her waist —gentle and smooth.
It wasn't distracting, it made her ease up more in his embrace.
"You are supposed to do the same," she said, adding, "Answer my question."
Saying that, she moved, trying to get off him.
However, just as she did, his arms tightened around him, not allowing her to move.
She looked at him, pressing her lips in a thin line. "We can't talk like this, Aiden," she said. Even though his gentle touches weren't distracting enough, it still lulled her into a comfort that made it hard for her to have a serious talk with him.
"We can," he said smoothly.
Arwen's brows furrowed, and she shook her head at him before trying to pry away from his embrace.
But his arms still remained firm around her. When she was about to retort, he strongly urged.
"Stay!"
"It's uncomfortable." She tried to reason think it would make him understand it. However, instead of letting her slip away, he made her move along with him in a posture that couldn't be any more comfortable.
She was still in his arms, but now they were comfortably lying on the couch, with her chin on his chest … and his head, resting on the arm of the couch in a way that they were looking at each other.
"Still uncomfortable?" he asked, and Arwen no longer had any reasons. She just reached and placed a cushion behind his head to make it better.
"Fine," she said, relenting to his stubbornness. "Let's stay like this. But you have to answer me."
He nodded, asking her to go ahead.
She studied him for a moment before shooting her question. "Why was Ryan here?"
This was Winslow Global, his company —not some restaurant where they met in coincidence.
If Ryan came here, it means it wasn't a coincidence but a plan that came up together.
If not, he would have been sent off from the lobby itself.
He would be sitting in Aiden's office.
And since he allowed him in this personal space, she wanted to know the reason.
"His secretary called yesterday, asking for an appointment," Aiden said, honestly.
"An appointment?" she echoed as if looking for any extra detail that he missed intentionally. But when she found no hint in his gaze, she asked, "And you agreed?"
He shrugged casually. "I found no reason not to."
"But there was also no reason to say a yes, though."
Ryan's presence had irked her more than anything. She couldn't tell how she felt when she saw him there with his hands on Aiden.
She knew it was the time —she entered just the moment he must have grabbed onto him. And if she had been even a second later, Aiden might have even retaliated back … but still it made her fume the worst.
Aiden slowly reached to tug back the strand of her hair behind her ears before reaching to caress her jawline with the back of his fingers.
"He reached me right after we appeared at the party. He deserved to see me to clarify his misconceptions. So, I offered him the grace."
He had wanted to see Ryan face to face to know what a long run enmity was going to look like.
Because he had every intention to make sure the Fosters suffer as much as Ryan had made Arwen suffer over the years.
Aiden was not the kind one —he was calculative. And he believed in returning the favors a hundred-fold.
"But he had his hands on you. What would have happened if I had appeared any later? What if he had hurt you?"
"You find me so weak to think that I would have gotten hurt?" Aiden asked, arching his brows.
Arwen frowned. That was not what she meant. Although she had never seen him practicing any defence skills, she did not doubt his physical strength. She knew he knew how to fight.
However, she was still protective of him.
Even seeing a small scratch on him would have pained her.
"No, I don't," she responded. "But what if —"
"If you had come even a second later, his arms might have been broken for life." He answered her what if, cutting her smoothly. "No doctor would have been able to fix it."
She paused at his words, her brows furrowing in some deep thought.
When Aiden caught her frowning, he held her chin and tugged her forward, sharply.
Arwen almost winced. She blinked at him, only to find his gaze narrowed at her.
"You are feeling bad for him?"
No, she wasn't.
But …
"What if I am feeling bad?" she asked in a tone of challenge.
His fingers tightened on her chin, making her scrunch her brows.
"Then he might have to suffer worse than what I have kept for him in my plans."
Arwen didn't take him seriously. She chuckled, thinking he was simply jealous.
"Then I guess you would have to make him suffer the worst, for I am feeling bad," she paused, looking in his eyes seriously.
Aiden's expression darkened, but just as it would have become worse, she ran the back of her finger over his nose, teasing him.
"I am feeling bad because I didn't come a second later." She chuckled softly. "He deserved a broken arm for daring to lay his hand on you. A simple slap doesn't feel enough."
He moved his hand and caressed her hair. "It's okay. For me, your slap was more satisfying. I loved it."
"You did?"
He hummed and nodded. "Watching your wife ready to blaze the world for you is something every husband would love. I am no different."
Arwen paused at his words as a soft blush crept to her cheeks. Reaching forward, she cupped his cheek. "I would have set the world ablaze if something had happened to you."
The moment paused for seconds … and it was only when a knock at the door came, they were snapped out of it.
Arwen sat up just when Emyr pushed the door and stepped in.
"Sir, you have a call," he informed.
"Who is it?" Aiden asked with a frown between his brows.
Emyr hesitated, his gaze darting to look at Arwen.
Aiden saw it, and his frown only deepened. With an irritated tone, he repeated, "I asked who is it?"
"Ms. Martin, sir."