Gasp! What does he MEAN?! xoxo
MILES He kissed me again. I didn't even have to ask him. Dominic just put his lips against mine, putting out my fury with the tenderness of his kiss. He kissed me until I leaned into him and then abruptly pulled away, walking out of my room. I stood there shocked. What the hell had just happened? We were talking, and then fighting, and then ended it with kissing. 'No, Miles. You're wrong. You're everything.' What had he meant by that? Everything as a person? Everything to him? I was still standing there, frozen in the bathroom when he came back, and sat me back on the toilet to rebandage my back without saying another word. When he was done, he put my first aid kit up and left. My head started to hurt, so I went to lie down. I tried sleeping, but his words just kept echoing in my mind over and over again. I'd never been told that before. Not even by Kenzie, who tried every single day to remind me that I was loved. I didn't know what to do with it, or how to digest it. E
DOM It was too damn hot for this fucking suit. The tie was too tight, and the people were too many. Why they decided to do a luncheon instead of dinner was beyond me. The summer was still in full swing, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. “Need a drink?” Marcus held out a flute of champagne, and I gladly took it, needing something to take the edge off. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of betrayal at my father hosting the luncheon in my mother’s garden. It was her favorite part of the estate. I was happy for him, of course, but it still felt like a slap to the face. “Where’s baby sister at?” Marcus asked, scanning the crowd. I, in no way, acknowledged her as my sister but answered him anyway. “I have no idea. I haven’t seen her all day, actually.” I had meant to visit her and check on her back again, but I didn’t know how to face her after yesterday. I felt like shit at her twisted confession of thinking she was nothing. I couldn’t stand it. I acted before I thought and just...
DOM WARNING: LOTS OF F-BOMBS, A SHIT TON OF DESIRE, AND POOR IMPULSE CONTROL It was too fucking hot for this suit. Too fucking tight. Too fucking public. Too fucking her. The heat wasn’t just from the midday sun beating down on my black dress shirt. It wasn’t from the crowd buzzing with their fake smiles, their hollow laughs, their constant chatter. It wasn’t even from the champagne that Marcus handed me, which I downed in one go. It was her. It was that fucking dress. I knew I shouldn't have looked. I knew Marcus was about to hit me with some wise-ass warning, but I still let my eyes follow his line of sight. I still let my gaze land on her. And fuck me—I shouldn't have. I clenched my jaw so tight my teeth ached. That. Fucking. Dress. Who the fuck let her wear that? The square-cut neckline framed her perfect tits like a goddamn invitation. The lace sleeves hugged her delicate arms, crawling up her throat like some elegant fucking collar. But that skirt—the one that stoppe
DOM WARNING: EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT I was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked. I couldn't stop kissing her. Touching her. Smelling that fucking sweet honey scent. I'd eat her up. The alarms in the back of my mind were screaming, but they were fading, growing more and more distant. My sanity was losing against the heat of her skin. Had anyone seen me follow her? I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth, and she moaned. Didn’t know. Didn’t care. Were we hidden? My hand traveled up her thigh, feeling the delicious heat between her legs, and the shiver that ran through her shot straight to my cock. Couldn’t care less. I shouldn't have downed all that champagne. I was an idiot for thinking it would calm me down. All it did was weaken my damn resolve. And now here I was, my tongue three inches deep in Miles’s mouth, trying to memorize the taste of her before I lost every last shred of control. Before I had to hate her again, so I wouldn’t want her. Fuck. I couldn’t ha
*WARNING: ABUSE* MILES The luncheon had dissolved into a drunken mess, the rich and polished losing their composure under the afternoon sun. I had to get away. I had to get out of that maze. Out of that heat. Away from him. Dominic didn’t chase me. My heels clicked furiously against the marble floors of the estate as I slipped inside. I barely made it past the grand staircase before kicking them off, clutching them in my hands. My dress—this fucking dress—felt like a vice, suffocating me under layers of fabric and lace. I needed it off. I rounded the hall to my bedroom. But as I neared my door, a chill swept down my spine. The light was on. I hesitated, heart hammering against my ribs. Slowly, I eased the door open— Marcus. He was sprawled in my reading chair, lazily flipping through one of my books. My smuttiest book. "Marcus!" I whisper-shouted, shutting the door behind me and locking it. “What the fuck are you doing here? And—give me that!” I snatched the book from his h
DOM It was unsettling. Marcus and I had just made it to the manor after practice on Friday, dragging ourselves up the stairs to sit on our asses and relax in my room, when he continued to walk to Miles's door and rapped on it before peeking his head in. I went straight to my room, trying to ignore the fact that he comfortably let himself in her room. I didn't know when Marcus and Miles had gotten so close, but I didn't like it. She didn't go to classes this week at all, and my father had been disappointed she hadn't shown up for her morning bagels. I was disappointed. This was the second week she'd missed school, but the genius wasn't behing in any of her classes. I'd gone to them to get her work for her, only to be told that she had already gotten them and turned everything in. I wanted to know why she hadn't been coming to school, but she wouldn't answer my texts. I couldn't blame her. I had no idea what she was going through, and I felt like I made a complete ass of myself an
*WARNING SEXUAL CONTENT DOM "That's why I asked, isn't it?" "I told you she'd become my business, and so she has." Well, that was fucking vague. Knowing him, that could mean anything. "What kind of business is she to you?" I ground out, trying to keep my calm and not lose it on my best friend over a girl I couldn't have. Marcus looked in the direction of her room, his eyes glazed as he licked his lips. "Maybe we enjoy each other's company," he said, sliding his eyes back to me, holding the bottle out to me. I took it and took several gulps. What the hell was that look? So they were fucking. Was he better than me? Did she like him more? I could see a smile slowly forming on Marcus's face as if he could see every fucking question plastered on my forehead. I had to keep repeating to myself that I didn't have the right. I shouldn't make it my business, but damn it, I wanted to. I really, really wanted to. Fuck it. I turned and figured I'd go straight to the source. I heard him la
DOM I'd sadly figured out that I'd become lightweight. Waking up the next day with Marcus's arm flung over my chest, head in my armpit, and legs tangled with mine was painfully eye-opening. I'd come back from Miles's room smug, swigging more from the bottle and fingers smelling fresh of her cunt. But Marcus only looked me up and down with an eyebrow raised. "What happened to my book?" He asked, looking at his nails like he couldn't be bothered. They were NOT fucking. Obviously. So it was something else. Something I was still kept in the dark about. "I'll find out, you know," I mumbled, stumbling toward him to hand him the bottle. "You can't keep a secret from me for long. Also, fuck you." That made him smile like he wanted the challenge, but there was a hardness to his hazel eyes. A slight twitch in his brows. He wanted to tell me, and I had the feeling that it wasn't some small, petty little secret. Maybe it was something serious. Maybe it had to do with who was hurt
*WARNING! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED* *SUICIDE ATTEMPT/TALK OF SUICIDE* MILES "You should just fucking die already. No one wants you. Oh and, don't call him again." I didn’t even hang up. I just dropped the phone and took step after step forward. It landed with a soft thud behind me, but I didn’t turn back. Didn’t reach for it. It didn’t matter anymore. My body was still moving, still breathing, still aching. But my mind? That had already given up. I couldn't tell the difference between pain and nothingness anymore—maybe they were the same. Maybe I was just too tired to care. My foot dragged against the gravel on the road to the Cliffs. I was supposed to meet the guys at the party to watch the ocean storm and hit the highest cliffside. I was supposed to be having a good time and finally let myself...be. But of course, not if my mother had anything to do with it. Tanya's words hit home. "You should just fucking die already." The words coiled around my throat, venomous, unsha
*WARNING: SUICIDE ATTEMPT**READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED* DOM Something was wrong. I had been feeling it all night. The way my phone burned in my pocket. The way my gut twisted every time I checked my screen and saw nothing. No messages. No calls. No Miles. I had tried. Three times. Three fucking times, and she hadn’t answered. Marcus was already knee-deep in some girl’s attention, laughing, drinking, having a good time. But even he noticed. "Dude," he called over, watching me check my phone again. "She probably just fell asleep or some shit." I forced a half-smirk, pocketing my phone before I squeezed the back of my neck. "Yeah. Maybe." I didn’t believe it. Not even Marcus believed it because the bastard was dead wrong if he thought I hadn't caught him checking his phone as well. I knew Miles. She didn’t just disappear. Not like this. Not without a fucking reason. "Dom." The voice was too close, too familiar, and I already knew who it was before I turned. Tanya. Fucki
*WARNING VIOLENCE AND ABUSE * MILES My mother had been watching me all morning. Not in the usual way. Not with irritation. Not with thinly veiled disgust like she always did when I so much as existed in her space. No, this was different. She was calculating. I could feel it in the way she lingered in doorways, in the way her eyes flicked toward me at breakfast, in the way she adjusted her rings, twisting them around her fingers like she was thinking. Plotting. I had half a mind to ask her what the hell she was up to, but instead, I let her wait. Let her decide how she was going to approach me. And then when she finally did? I nearly laughed. "Miles, come with me." It was demand but it lacked her usual bite. Maverick had left early this morning on a business trip so it was a surprise she wanted to be near me at all. I arched a brow, barely glancing up from my book. "Excuse me?" She sighed as if I were the most difficult person in the world, then crossed her arms,
DOM I wasn’t getting enough of her. That was the problem. Miles had been right there—in the house, in the hallways, at the dinner table—but it wasn’t enough. Not anymore. She had been keeping her distance, not too much, not enough to be obvious, but just enough to make me ache. To make me want more. And I couldn’t have more. Not like I wanted. Not with my father watching. Maverick had been more observant lately. Not just with me, but with everyone. I noticed it at dinner. The way his eyes tracked conversations, the way his fork hovered mid-air as he listened. The way he watched Miles. She had been more talkative. Not forced, not in the way that would make anyone suspicious, but in a way that felt natural. Like she had finally settled into her place at this table. And my father? He had noticed. Not in a bad way. If anything, he seemed pleased. It made sense—he liked her, actually liked her. She was sharp. Smart. She could hold a conversation and keep up with him, somethin
MILESThe venue was grand.Too grand.Every inch of it reeked of wealth—chandeliers dripping in crystal, tables lined in pristine white linen, golden accents catching the light at just the right angles to remind everyone just how much money had been poured into this production.And that’s exactly what it was. A production. A show for the people. For Maverick Black. For the perfect Valentine-Black union.I was supposed to be impressed. Supposed to stand in awe of the splendor.But I couldn’t bring myself to care.Because the real performance was happening off-stage between me and her.Candice was watching me. Not with open suspicion, but with patience. Like she was waiting to see what I would do next. I knew she had noticed. Knew she felt the shift.She just wasn’t sure why it had happened.Not yet.She waited until we were alone.The moment the men were out of earshot, pulled away by the wedding coordinator, Candice’s heels clicked sharply against the marble as she stepped closer."Do
DOM Something happened. I could feel it in the tension hanging over the house. In the way the air thickened, pressing against my chest, settling in the spaces between conversations. More than anything, I could tell by the way Miles had changed. It wasn’t anything obvious. Nothing dramatic. She didn’t act different, didn’t suddenly move or speak in ways that set off alarms. No. It was in the way she walked. The quiet certainty in her movements. The way she carried herself with purpose, like someone who had made a decision and planned to see it through. And her eyes? Her misty gray eyes weren’t empty. Weren’t hollow or afraid. They were on fire. It took everything in me to be good for the rest of the week. No searing looks across the dinner table. No careful touches in the hallway. No stolen kisses in the library. Not even when she sent me those filthy fucking texts late at night, taunting me, reminding me that she was still there even if she was keeping her distance. I
MILESI was drowning.Thick black ink filled my lungs, coiling around my ribs, pressing down, down, down until I was weightless. Trapped.It seeped into my pores, into my bones, slithering through my bloodstream like it had been there all along—just waiting for the moment to consume me.Pain I had never known choked me, and I could grasp at nothing. See nothing.I was nothing.But I didn’t want that.I wanted freedom.I wanted control.I wanted a life.Then, amid my fading, a voice whispered through, muffled by the darkness.My eyes searched frantically, clinging to the hope that there was a way out."Please!" I begged. Screamed. But my throat was full of ink. "Help me!"My arms flailed aimlessly, desperate for something to hold on to—an anchor, a lifeline, anything—"I can pull you out."My eyes flew open.I gasped, body jerking upright, my lungs starved for air.My hand slammed against my chest, trembling, nails digging into my skin like I needed proof that I was here—that I was rea
DOM I was ruined. I could still feel her on my skin. Could still taste her on my tongue. Could still hear the fucking moan she let out when she— Fuck. I pressed my forehead against the cold wood of my bedroom door, my breath uneven, my body aching. Every inhale felt too shallow, every exhale ragged, like my lungs had forgotten how to function. My body was still burning, my head still spinning, and my cock still aching—even after she had just wrecked me. I shuddered. My fingers curled into fists against the doorframe, nails biting into my palms. A sharp sting. A distraction. But it did nothing to stop the way my body still throbbed from the memory of her. She had devoured me. She had owned me. And the worst part? She had left me like this. Not just because of what she did. Not just because she had dropped to her knees, taken me into her mouth, and consumed me like I was her fucking last meal. No. What ruined me was what came after. The way she touched herse
MILES He was exactly where I wanted him. On his back, chest rising and falling in sharp, ragged breaths. His hands clenched into the on the hardwood floors, every muscle wound tight like he was barely holding himself together. Like he was afraid if he moved, if he breathed wrong, I’d disappear. But I wasn’t going anywhere. I smirked as I crawled up his body, dragging my nails lightly over his abs, feeling them twitch beneath my touch. He was waiting—watching me through heavy-lidded eyes that flickered between hunger and something deeper. Something that looked a lot like surrender. I leaned down, my breath ghosting over his lips. “How do you like it?” I murmured. Dominic sucked in a sharp breath, his fingers twitching like he wanted to reach for me. Like he thought I was giving in. He had no fucking clue. I pressed a slow, lingering kiss to his jaw, feeling his pulse hammer beneath my lips. Then I slid lower, lower, my hands trailing down his ribs, his stomach, his h