SERAI held his hand gently as we walked to my room. Beck’s hand was warm, even though the morning outside was still cold. We didn’t talk on the way there. Maybe because we both knew that words couldn’t fix anything.When we arrived, I guided him to the bathroom. I grabbed a clean towel, a toothbrush, a hoodie, and a pair of loose pants. I placed everything neatly on the edge of the sink, then stood by the door for a moment.“Take a shower first,” I said. “I’ll take care of your hand later.”While he was in there, I sat at the edge of the bed and opened the first-aid kit. I arranged the antiseptic, sterile gauze, and bandage on a tray; but my mind was far away.Beck told me he loved me. God. I didn’t know how to respond to a love like that. Because caring for Beck meant I didn’t want to hurt him. And when he stopped me from answering, it was because he chose to delay the pain, just to hold me a little longer.I care about him, truly. But … love? I’m not even sure when was the last t
BECKDamon didn’t come home last night. By two in the morning, there was still no trace of his shoes in the hallway, no familiar sound of his door being slammed carelessly, no cheap tobacco smell from his leather jacket.And I knew why. Because I saw him last night.Damon pulled Sera into the corner of a dark hallway, a spot everyone ignored because the jazz music was playing and everyone was busy raising their glasses for Ace. But I always knew where Sera’s eyes went that night, even when she pretended she didn’t.I was standing there, in the shadow of the chandelier, holding a glass of something non-alcoholic. My eyes just happened to sweep in their direction.There was an intensity there. Words I couldn’t hear clearly but could feel. And then, a kiss that was rough and desperate, like a man who knows he’s losing the only good thing in his life and is too much of a coward to let go peacefully.What drove me half-mad was the fact that Sera didn’t push him away immediately.For a sec
SERAHis hand was still pinning both of my wrists above my head. Just one hand was enough to keep me in place. My body lifted slightly toward him with every movement he made, and all I could do was look at his face. God, that face. So close, yet still far. So beautiful, and yet untouchable.“Ace—” My voice cracked.He turned slightly, his lips brushing the edge of my cheek. “Yes, sweetheart?”I squirmed just a little, trying to free one hand because I just … I really needed to— “Let me touch you.” I closed my eyes, feeling the slow, deep movements of his body inside mine. He filled me completely, achingly. “Please, I need to.”His breath grazed the side of my neck, hot and steady, so different from my own, which was ragged and uneven. “Tell me why,” he murmured lowly.A helpless sigh left me. My body tensed beneath him, full and aching for more and he knew it. I looked up at him, silently begging. My fingers curled, aching to reach, to feel the skin that had always seemed too perfect
SERAThe hallway in that old house was silent, only the ticking of a clock echoed with Ace’s footsteps. And somehow, it felt sacred. Like we were walking through history, rewriting something that had already been written.I leaned against his chest, still naked. He didn’t put his jacket on me after all. And I knew, behind those security cameras, someone—anyone—might be watching. But strangely, I wasn’t scared or ashamed.I felt seen. And I wanted to be seen as his.A door opened then closed behind us. The scent of old wood and cleaning solution lingered in the air, softly mixed with the warmth of his skin.He laid me down on the bed and crouched to take off my shoes. His smile was impossibly gentle—almost not his own—when he looked at me and unhooked the chain from my thigh. “You good?”I nodded, even though my chest was starting to tremble again.He kissed my thigh softly before standing up. His shirt came undone slowly, one button at a time. He wasn’t moving like someone in a hurry t
ACE“This is how you should be remembered,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to her right knee. “Not as an heiress or a symbol, but as a woman who chose to submit only to the man who earned it.”My fingers brushed the chain on her thigh. I twisted the A pendant slightly, then gave it a tug, just enough to make it sting.She exhaled, shaky.“Do you know what this chain means, Sera?” I asked calmly.Her eyes met mine, pupils blown wide. “Yours.”I nodded, rising slowly but still leaning in close. “Exactly. But not just your body.” My fingers traced her waist, then her stomach, finally reaching the sharp line of her jaw. “Your mind, too. Your choices. When you stood beside me at that gala wearing this, you were already mine.”She swallowed, but didn’t look away.I kissed her chin. Then her neck. Then lower, down to her collarbone.And when my lips touched her nipple and she tensed under me, I laughed quietly. “Too sensitive tonight,” I murmured, then licked her again, slower. My hand anchore
ACEThe camera flashes were still going off in the distance. Applause, clinking glasses, fake smiles. But Sera and I walked out of that ballroom like we were stealing ourselves away from the world.She walked beside me in that red dress. A red that wasn’t just a color, but a surrender in fabric form.The family car that brought us was still parked where it should be, with Turner standing by the rear door. I barely glanced in that direction before turning right.My car was waiting in a more discreet spot. A black coupe, sleek and polished like a shard of obsidian under the garden lights.The key in my pocket gave a signal. The lights blinked calmly, soundless.Sera didn’t say anything when I opened the door for her. She just looked at me for a second and got in.I slipped into the driver’s seat. Low classical music drifted from the speakers. The engine purred to life, pulling us out of the lot and into the cold, open night.We didn’t talk. My one hand on the wheel, the other resting on