“Go on then, master, I'm all yours to love and abuse tonight.” I don't know what came over me when I said it, but the darkness in Caspian's eyes made me wary. The words affected him in a way that was still foreign to me. Yet, I can see the hunger in his eyes, for me. He rubbed his fingers over the fabric of my lingerie, an impressed smile on his lips as he stared me up and down. He didn't say anything, just kept his gaze fixated on me and that made me shiver. I looked away, not being able to hold eye contact with him anymore. “Look back at me, Kat. I want to see your beautiful face,” he slurred before leaning for a peck on my cheeks and then my lips when I turned my face. “I want you to save tonight as a treasured memory for the future.” My cheeks turned red from embarrassment and my chest started to burn with want. I wanted his hand around me, his chest touching my breasts and his soft lips on mine, so I locked my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “Caspian, I am
The next morning dawned soft and quiet. The early light filtered through the blinds in my room, casting warm slats across the walls. For a moment, I stayed curled in bed, the silence almost comforting, but the lingering threads of the event from the night before tugged at me, pulling me back into the whirlwind of emotions still left. Caspian was tender when he slid inside me and started moving, softly with careful pushes. He talked to me till he climaxed, asking me about my feelings and what he was going to do next. It felt weird at first, but soon I understood he was being cautious to make sure our first time wasn't a painful memory. I reached my hand to where he slept and I could still smell him on that part of the bed. After dragging myself out of bed and throwing on a simple outfit, I made my way downstairs to grab a quick breakfast before heading to campus. The kitchen was quiet—only Dev sat at the table, flipping through a thick medical textbook, his face lit by a soft
Standing just outside the main building, I glanced at my phone, trying to book a cab for the ride home. The afternoon sun was fading, leaving a soft glow that made everything seem quieter than usual. After a few taps, though, my screen flashed the dreaded ‘No drivers available in the area. Please refresh’ text. I sighed, wondering if I’d be stuck waiting longer than I’d planned. I turned my internet and once again opened the app, hoping for another result. “Katherine?” I heard someone call my name from behind. I turned to see Diego approaching, his easy smile softening the usual spark in his eyes. “Everything alright?” he asked, looking from me to my phone with mild concern. “Oh, yeah,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant. “Just booking a cab to get home. It’s being a little stubborn.” He tilted his head, considering, before offering, “I could give you a ride if you’d like. My car’s just over in the lot.” His offer was generous, and I was grateful, but part of me hesitated. I
“Please, Kat, tell me if he likes guys.” “Why do you care?” I opened the main door and waited for him to come. “Aren't you with the golden boy of the town?” He stood in front of me instead of going inside. “No, Elias and me, we are more of friends. I like his company, and that guy was hot. I like hot guys.” “Wha... that's... I don't think you can say that.” I pushed him inside the house and walked behind him. “I can, it's not racist or anything,” he countered and I was at a loss of words. “I-I... you know what, forget it.” Leo laughed as we made our way through the entrance hall. The room was unexpectedly crowded—the whole family was gathered there rather than in the family room for the first time. Caspian and Dev were talking in low voices, their heads close together, clearly immersed in whatever Derek had recently told them about the upcoming party. “Welcome, you two; take a seat,” Dev said when his eyes landed on us. I nodded and went towards Neel who was l
I went to my room after that, not knowing how to feel about my mom coming back. It was such a relief to be with her family, still not be with her. I started to like the new living arrangement, but I knew after she's back it would start to go down. She had a tendency to control my life, to make me whatever version of her she had in her mind. I stopped questioning that a long time away and tried playing friendly whenever she visited me in Texas, which wasn't much, and I liked it that way. Grandma was an additional support to the whole thing, and she was always on my side, against Mom. She knew Mom, inside and out, and that was a huge plus point whenever there was an argument about me being moody or rebellious. Grandma would bring things from her past and that would shut her up. I missed her in moments like that. Stepping inside the room, I locked the door and pulled out the black pair of jeans I was wearing. They were too tight and made my thighs itch the whole day. I pulled a p
A flicker of vulnerability broke through Lucas's frustration and want, but soon they were replaced by something serious. I went forward and tried to grab his belt to unbuckle it and pull his pants down, but he grabbed my hand before I could do anything. His expression was different, and I should have stopped right there but I didn't. “Kat, please stop,” he said and there was a heaviness in his voice that went unnoticed to my ringing ears. I pushed forward and instead of his belt, I grabbed his zip and pulled them down, forcing my hand inside his pants, taking him by surprise. My finger brushed over his semi-erected dick and tugged behind his brief before Lucas threw my hand back and walked away. “WHAT THE FUCK!” he screamed at me, pulling his hair while he kept putting more and more distance between us. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, KAT?” ‘What is indeed wrong with me?’ I thought, still kneeling on the floor. My hand was still suspended in the air, fingers trembling as the weight of
A gentle knock at the door brought me back to the present.I was laying on my bed, thinking about calling Camilia, but couldn't bring myself to do it. The reason was the same once again, I didn't want to bother her with my problems. Besides, judging from her Instagram pictures, I knew she was visiting Miami with Phineas. “Kat?” Dev’s voice came softly through the door. “Dinner’s ready, we will be serving soon, so come downstairs.” He didn’t come inside and I was thankful for that. I wasn't feeling like talking about what had happened. It was one of those things I never wanted to think about ever in my life again. I wanted to forget, to remove the memory for good, but I knew it wouldn't go away easily. I called out a quiet, “Thank you,” and heard his footsteps fading down the hall.I got up slowly, feeling the weight of my conversation with Lucas still lingering like a fog. I went to the bathroom, splashing water on my face, letting the cool liquid soothe the leftover heat from my
The morning light stirred me awake, and I yawned, blinking at the warm haze filling my room. It was a Saturday, meaning no classes. Thus, I was planning to sleep till the afternoon, or at least stay in bed. But, that changed when I heard muffled sounds coming from below—voices, laughter, and some shuffling. I sat up, listened closely, and felt a slight tug of curiosity gnawing at the edges of my sleepy mind.After brushing my teeth and splashing some cold water on my face to wake up, I quietly made my way down the hallway, the gentle hum of conversation growing louder with each step. As I descended the staircase, I slowed, catching a glimpse of the scene unfolding in the entrance hall.There, sitting together on the long couch, were Derek and… my mother.I stopped short, taking in the sight of her. It felt like ages since I’d last seen her. She looked different, almost like a stranger wearing my mother’s face. She seemed… lighter somehow, more carefree. Her features were softened b
It had been more than a year since Caspian confessed his feelings to me, and life was finally finding a sense of normalcy. Derek was safe, though he remained permanently in hiding. The Salvatores had not only survived the disaster but had emerged stronger than before. The PR team had worked wonders in reshaping their image, and those who had attempted to bring them down for their own gain were now behind bars. The money laundering case was no longer casting shadows over their name, it was a thing of the past. The FBI cleared their name from any involvement in the money laundering—the world saw them as victims of their dad's actions. The business was doing good; Caspian joined the company, while on the other side, our relationship got pretty strong. We found a balance that allowed us to grow separately as well, because I moved into an apartment with my mom, helping her build a new life for herself. Meanwhile, Caspian remained at the mansion with his brothers. They asked me to stay,
I was always good at fixing things, maybe because I was broken from the inside and knew I couldn't be fixed. I became a lawyer to help my family, to help my brothers. I thought if I knew the ways of law and legal system, I could use it to my advantage, to protect them in any way needed. Yet, it had been more than a month and I was still fighting a battle with no end in sight. I gave up on too many things in my life, thinking I never deserved them. There was always a reason to hold myself back from being truly happy, about something or with someone. There were these little voices in my head that would make me question everything. For years, they had been silent, but ever since I learned the truth about Dad's involvement in the money laundering, they came back. ‘How could you let yourself be happy when your brothers are in trouble?’‘How could you be that selfish?’I couldn't rub my love for Kat on my brothers' faces, especially when most of them wanted her, too. It was not fair to
The sky was cloudless, the bright light of the moon covered the Salvatore property. We just had dinner, and it wasn't like the regular Salvatore family dinner. It hasn't been so ever since we returned to the mansion. Lucas was in Chicago, meeting with some of the investors whereas Caspian had himself locked in his room. Mom was back in Texas, and the twins went to their grandparents (mother's parents). We were all scattered, and the frustration over the situation was torturing us. The news about the Salvatores reached my dad in London and he had been calling and texting me constantly. He wanted me to leave them and come back to London. I almost laughed when he suggested that, but I controlled myself and told him that I would pay a visit soon.He wasn't satisfied with the answer, so I reminded him that I was an adult and he couldn't force me to leave. That shut him up for the moment, and I hung up the phone soon after. He had been texting me ever since, apologizing and asking me if
The Salvatore mansion didn't feel like home anymore. As I walked through the mansion once again, I felt the same way I did the first time—cold and out of place. The strange environment loomed around me, and with each step I took inside, I sensed a profound emptiness, the lingering ghosts of everything that had happened. Perhaps we changed while we were in the safe house, or maybe it was the mansion that had endured too much destruction in a very short period of time. The mansion was still recovering from the nightmares, and the gloom was maybe its way of narrating the pain. Not long ago secrets had been unraveled, trusts were shattered between the family members, and blood was spilled in the very entrance hall I was standing inside. In just a month, it was just a house again—not a home like it used to be. The brothers felt the changes, too; it was apparent on their faces. They could hear the silence everywhere inside the house, and the winds of winter that seemed to fill every c
Caspian barely slept in a week and it was showing. None of us really got any sleep, but it was a little different with Caspian. The lack of sleep wasn't the only reason for the permanent exhaustion in his eyes like us, it was the weight of everything he was letting press down on him—crushing him, consuming his thoughts. It had been a whole week since the news about Derek's involvement in the money laundering was aired all across the country. Everything had only gotten worse after that. The Salvatore name was plastered across every news outlet—big or small. Everyone had their own take on the case, be it the editors of the Washington Post or The New York Times, anchors from CNN or Fox News, and even the social media influencers who were reporting the controversy in the hope of getting views and likes.In no time it became one of the biggest scandals in recent times. And Caspian being the oldest, took it all upon himself. Although we knew it was the politicians and businessmen whose
The main purpose of us getting a safe house was to be safe, but the FBI made it feel anything but safe for us. The air inside the house felt suffocating to me, thick with an unspoken fear that we all felt, but none of us dared to voice. In the last three days, the FBI has visited us five times. The first day they took statements from us and collected evidence—the standard protocol—nothing more than that. We thought it was all, but Caspian warned us that it was just the beginning, and just like he said, they came back once again. This time they took our individual statements and cross-examined us. Since we were already prepared with our answers, nothing felt out of the ordinary. However, I noticed the way some of the officers were looking at us. They knew we were hiding something, but they had no proof. Caspian made sure that everything in the house was how it was supposed to be after Derek left. It was their sixth visit that day. The FBI agents sat across from us in the living ro
They weren’t kissing, but they were about to, I was sure of that. Matthew called just a few seconds ago, to update on the situation. It wasn't looking good for us and we needed to plan our next move. I went into the room Dev was staying to call them both so that we could discuss the problem and try to come up with a solution together. However, I didn't expect to catch them just as they were about to kiss. I saw the way Dev hesitated and pulled away from Kat when I pushed the door open, the way Kat looked utterly lost as if she didn’t know how to process what had just happened between them. I was heartbroken by that but hid my feelings because it wasn't the right time to have that conversation. Instead, I focused on my brother and noticed the slight flush on his face. His fingers were twitching at his sides like he was debating whether to reach for her again or not. And Kat… she was frozen. It looked like she hadn’t yet decided if what happened was a mistake or not.And for a secon
Kat was never mine to fall for, to hold, to kiss, or to even dream about. She was in love with Caspian even if she didn't realize it herself, or was too afraid to accept the truth. Everyone in the house knew it, and I tried to convince myself the same thing a thousand times, that she wasn’t mine to love, that she had never been mine. The moments that we shared together were the prize for the good deeds I'd done in my life. There couldn't be any other reason for someone as beautiful as her to be interested in someone like me. Someone who is predictable, obsessed with things that don't matter, and lacks any social skills. I had nothing to offer her and I knew I was just another fool caught in her gravity, nothing more. It wasn't her fault or mine, it's just the universe forcing the likes of me to orbit around her. Each one of us was attracted by her warmth and kindness at first but couldn't break free after because leaving her meant spending eons in darkness. In her heart, there ha
Silence filled the room as Lucas finally exhaled and nodded in agreement with Caspian. “I don’t like this plan,” he admitted truthfully, rubbing his temples. I knew it was a hard decision for him because he did blame Derek for the things that were happening to the family. And neither of us could disagree with him. We knew he was right, but the actual issue was Derek's safety. “But… I don’t want Dad in prison with Alaric either. You are right, Alaric would make friends inside if he didn't already have one.”“Not just Alaric, the politicians and businessmen whose names are on the list would also try to have Dad killed,” Harry added, scratching his head. “You know the legal system of our country, one can pay to get anything done. We have to find a solution for them too.”“True, they are going to be troublesome in the future,” Neel agreed with Harry, bringing another pressing matter in front of our eyes. They made many new enemies in order to get rid of Alaric from their lives. “We have