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Twenty- One

Author: Aya Starr
last update Last Updated: 2024-11-30 23:59:27
William's POV

I went straight to my room and tossed myself onto the bed, rubbing at my eyes.

I had no idea what was going on. There was so much I could not wrap my head around, with Tristan, with Caleb… I was completely lost, but for now, all I could do was sleep until much later in the day when I woke up, took a shower and decided to see Adrian.

But on second thought, I decided to call him instead. He answered on the second ring.

“William,” he said flatly causing a lump to form in my throat. I had not really thought about how I was going to broach this topic with him.

“Hey, Adrian,” I said. “How’s it going with you?”

“Could be better.”

“Right.”

“And work?”

There was silence on the other end, the duration of which I felt like stabbing myself several times in the head. How could I have forgotten that he was no longer working at the company? Tristan had fired him, after all. Because of me.

“Listen, Adrian, I’m sorry. I know I’ve apologized before about the entire thin
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Latest chapter

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Thirty-Five

    I stared at my father, shell-shocked.He was holding me close to his chest, but I felt more distant from him than ever before, the light receding from my eyes with every movement of his hand on my back, patting me.“It’s alright, William, he was saying, but it wasn’t alright at all, and I knew that it was not going to be alright for a very long time if I didn’t say something now. Something was terribly wrong.I pulled myself away from my father and cocked my head, trying to understand if I had heard him correctly.“Dad?” I asked, trepidation and a little confusion in my voice. “Pulling me out of Terra?” I laughed nervously. “What does that mean?”His eyes were pure and his gaze was straight as he looked into my eyes.“It means I’m taking you off the project with Terra Corporations. I had hoped back then that you would be able to handle the stress and deal with this entire thing for us at Bracknell Inc., but I see now that that was a mistake.”He had more lines on his face and even thr

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Thirty-Four

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  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Thirty-Three

    I explained everything to Ellie, starting with why she had been unable to reach me, up till the point where Tristan had left this morning and for a while, both her and her husband just stared, speechless.I took a drink of the tea that they had served me and moved back in the chair. I would be silent too if someone just unloaded everything that had happened so far onto me.It seemed like everything had happened all at once, had been fast-forwarded and then the hot looping mess had been poured into my lap. I brought the cup of tea to my lips again.“You mean to tell me…” Ellie started. She’d risen up from her chair and had started pacing round the room. “Let me get this straight. You and Tristan had sex.”“Yes.”“You and Tristan had actual sex.”I frowned at her. “Is there a point you’re trying to make, Ellie?”“What? No, I’m just…” she paced and spun. “And then he left you just like that? All alone in his house? That was kind of harsh.”I sighed. “Honestly, it’s what I would do too. I

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Thirty-Two

    “How do you keep getting my number, Caleb?” I shouted. “What is wrong with you?”To my surprise, Caleb’s voice was calm when he responded, “There’s nothing wrong with me, William, I’ve told you before. If there’s anything that’s the problem with me at all, it’s you, William. You’re refusing to hear me out. You’re refusing to see what’s in front of you. I love you, William. Why won’t you—”I ended the call and squeezed the phone in my hand. I unlocked it and went straight to number, blocking and then deleting it, but not before a text message from Caleb had come in:STOP FIGHTING THIS, WILLIAM. I’M STILL HERE FOR YOU. LET ME LOVE YOU. RETHINK OUR RELATIONSHIP.I deleted the text message and blocked the number.It occurred to me that every person that I probably knew was seeing this news, unless they were not online or like to keep abreast of current topics.My father had already called. Now I understood what he had meant when he said I had killed him. He had read the news already. He h

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Thirty-One

    Tristan’s chest rises and falls, a perfect sight in the slice of golden morning light that’s on his face. I could stay here forever, just watch his chest, tight and flat like the skin of drum as it rises and falls with his soft breaths…“You’re staring,” Tristan murmured, eyes still closed so that he looked like an angel in sleep.I sighed happily and allowed myself to sink lower.“Of course I’m staring.”“You should cut it out. It’s creepy.”“Maybe you should open your eyes and stare too.”Tristan makes a sound in his throat but turns in my direction and opens his eyes. There’s a little bit of gold dust on his face and when he opens his eyes, that perfect hazel colour that taints his pupil reflects back at me so that I gasp in breath.This man is fucking beautiful, and he knows it.“Well,” Tristan says. “I’m staring now.”I cocked an eyebrow and reached for his hand, guiding it down my chest. “Good, that’s one part down.”Tristan didn’t once leave my eyes as my hand guided his lower

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Thirty

    The words were like a trigger in my mind, tripping off every alarm that I might have prepared for.I found myself transfixed, tongue heavy and mind lulled into a state of submission and obedience. I fought to bring my head up from those murky waters.“Make me,” I said darkly.The door behind Tristan had closed and we were in his room now, enveloped in total silence.I could see the glitter on his face. I could see the perfection he had for cheekbones… could feel the heat that rolled off him in waves as he moved with animal grace.“I’m not going to ask you again, William,” he growled at me, the vibration shaking my core. My cock twitched, straining against the fabric of my clothes. I needed to maintain order… I needed to regain control, but the only thing I could think about was how hard and hot Tristan’s body had been when he’d pressed me against him.I could still taste him on my lips. I wanted to taste him again. I wanted to go to war with his tongue. I wanted to see what it would b

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Twenty-Nine

    Fire exploded across my lips and all I wanted to do was put it out. But it was such a sweet, delicious fire, and I didn’t want it to ever go out.His lips were just on mine. Tristan was still gauging my reaction, but I didn’t care. I was willing to abandon myself and everything that I had felt before, right up to that moment if it meant that I could luxuriate in this moment, stretch it out across infinity…But that would have been a dream. No sooner had I thought it did Tristan’s lips peel away from mine, and I was standing there, eyes closed, waiting… wishing that his lips would come back to mine.A cool wind passed by, reminding me of the absence of the heat of Tristan’s lips.I opened my eyes slowly. He was staring at me with all the grace of a predator.“You’re alive,” he said.I tried to speak but could not get any sound to come out. There was no breath in me… I felt like I was going to fall over the next second.I gulped guiltily and stared back at him.“You kissed me,” I accuse

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Twenty-Eight

    William's POV I stared wide until I was vcertain that my eyes were going to rupture. What the fuck was going on?I could not give myself an answer or a reason that would justify anything. I knew that Tristan was gay; I’d caught him and Adrian once having oral sex, in his office, and then he’d proposed love to me. I had not once seen with him any woman, so I was completely sure of his sexual orientation. And yet, seeing him now…I wanted to scream out my lungs and tell him to be careful. To send him back up the stairs so that no one would see him or how beautiful he looked.But Tristan was walking down the stairs with determined steps. Him, and the man beside him. His date for the evening.Uncontrollably, I began to shiver. My hand clenched into a fist around the stem of the glass that I held… I didn’t care about anything in that moment. I wasn’t seeing anyone—not Adrian who was just next to me, similarly locked in frozen spectacle—or anything right now.My gaze was entirely fixated o

  • His Sworn Enemy; His Deepest Desire    Twenty- seven

    William's POV“Caleb.” I repeated the words, because the first time, it had sounded like something that life could still be given to. This time, I squeezed the words out as if I could also wring the neck of the owner of that name.“How did the hell—?”“You keep pushing me away, William. I told you I love you. I’m going to keep on doing everything in my power to make this work. Won’t you give me another chan—”I cut the call and slammed on the steering so that the car honked.I groaned and held the wheel with both hands, eyes closed tightly. When was I going to wake up from this nightmare?I had blocked Caleb. I had blocked his number because that had been the last straw. I had long since unfollowed and then blocked him on all of my social media accounts, and even gotten him removed from my mailing list.And he’d gone right ahead to call me with a different line. Somehow, he seemed to have stocked himself up with a small arsenal of phones, mobile devices…My phone was ringing again. I

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