LOGINARIA’S POVThings have been going surprisingly well lately, except for one very frustrating problem: I'VE BEEN RIDICULOUSLY AROUSED ALMOST ALL THE TIME, and Noah refuses to do anything about it.He hasn’t properly touched me in four days. He still does just not in the way I desperately need. He still pulls me close, wraps his arms around me when sleeping, presses kisses to my temple or the back of my neck, but he treats me like fragile glass. Carefully. Protectively. As if one wrong move might break me.This morning, I was in the kitchen preparing food to bring to Jeremiah. He loves my simple homemade chicken noodle soup and soft mashed sweet potatoes, gentle on his stomach with everything he’s going through right now. I reached up for the seasoning on the top shelf, stretching on my toes wondering how Mira has always managed to, when a warm presence appeared behind me. Noah’s hard chest pressed against my back, his breath hot on my neck.“What do you need, princess?” he whispered
JAMIE’S POVI adjust my cufflinks as we sit in the private hospital suite, the kind of room only serious money can secure—plush leather seating, fresh flowers on every surface, and a view of the city skyline that screams ‘we can afford the best care’.Fred looks frailer than the last visit, hooked up to monitors for his hypertension and the heart issues the doctors say need careful management. At fifty-something, it’s the kind of condition that keeps a man in and out of places like this without killing him outright.“How are you feeling today, sir?” I ask, keeping my tone respectful.Fred offers a weak smile. “Better. The new meds are helping.”Carolina who crosses her legs and had been giving me some stink eye, finally say. “Jamie, have you given any thought to why you and Lora haven’t done a single podcast episode in four months? We opened those doors for you.”I clench my jaw. “I’ve been busy with the tech expansion—”“So busy you can’t prioritize my daughter?” she cuts in sharply
ARIA’S POVThe insistent ring of my phone pulls me from sleep. I blink against the soft morning light filtering through the curtains, stretch my arms above my head, and realize I actually slept deeply despite everything that happened last night. My body feels strangely rested, though my mind is still tangled in memories I’d rather forget.I grab the phone and smile when I see Daisy’s name. “Hey, you.”“Wassup, girl!” Daisy’s voice bursts through, loud and full of energy. “I saw your fine ass in the papers this morning on Social Pulse. Damn, Aria. You looked smoking hot in that dress. Isn’t that the one I ordered from you last season but in a different color? You better send mine.”I laugh softly, sitting up against the pillows. “Good morning to you too. And yes, it is. I’m glad you like it.”“How did your night go?” she asks, her tone turning wicked. “Because I know Noah didn’t suffer himself by only having one taste. Scratch that, multiple tastes. With those long legs, that perk
LORA'S POVBut as months passed, seeing how desperately he still tried to shield her, how much he genuinely cared for her even while I held him captive, hunger took root in my chest. I wanted her completely erased from the equation. My mother used to say to me. “If you want something you have to fight to get it. Do whatever it takes. Just find the right price. Just like how I did your father.”So to have Jamie, I found his price.Just like how my mother did my father. Jamie’s father was a pathetic gambling addict who had dragged their family name through the dirt, leaving them scraping for scraps at the bottom of the social ladder. And Jamie was starving for prestige, wanting to take his family back to how it was before. I teased him with it like teasing a hungry dog with a piece of bone. I offered him a meeting with my uncle, a connection that could rebuild his entire family reputation overnight.He resisted a few times, trying to play the man of honor, but his appetite was too
LORA’S POV“What do you mean he cancelled the contract?” My phone nearly slips from my sweaty grip as I pace my dressing room. “What the fuck happened, John?”John’s heavy sigh fills the line. “I should be asking you that, Lora. I handed you the private meeting on a silver platter. You were supposed to seal it. Now his team says the role is off the table. They’ve already cast someone else.”“That’s bullshit,” I snap, my knuckles whitening around the phone. “When I left his hotel that night, he promised it was mine. Call them again. Fix this. There must be a mix-up.”“Lora.” John’s voice turns somber, almost pitying. “His secretary was very clear. They don’t want any controversy attached to the production. Rumors are spreading online, about you stealing someone’s man. They won’t risk a ‘black stain’ on a project this big.”His words land like a slap. I sink onto the vanity stool, staring at my reflection.Perfect makeup. Flawless hair. Yet everything is cracking.This is all that b
NOAH’S POV I close the bedroom door softly behind me, leaving Aria curled up against the pillows. She’s stable now, her voice steady as she talks to her son on the phone. Her soft, melodic laugh hits me like a punch to the gut. That gentle tone, the warmth in it… it’s meant for someone else. Even if it’s her own child, the irrational spike of jealousy burns in my chest. Mine. The word thunders relentlessly in my head. I want that softness directed at me. Only me. No one else should get that side of her. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. Not when I was so close to finally claiming every inch of her. I drag a hand roughly through my hair, my body still painfully wound up. My cock throbs insistently against my sweatpants, refusing to calm. My cock hasn’t gone down. How the fuck could it when she is lying in my bed, wrapped in my sheets, her sweet, feminine scent mixed with lingering arousal still clinging to my skin? The kisses we shared earlier, every heated s
SIX YEARS AGO FLASH BACK Aria hated this place but she had come anyway. For Jamie. The pulsing bass, the thick smell of alcohol and sweat, the way some men stared like she was something to devour. Jamie had been distant for days now. His modeling gigs kept pulling him away, and she hadn’t s
His eyes roam down my body, dark and hungry. “Do you? Why should I let you go though?” I didn't respond just meeting his gaze. “Fine. But you owe me. Something important. No backing out or pretending like you don't remember this time.” Memories of broken promises from college came through my m
ARIA'S POV MATURE CONTENT AHEAD My eyes flutter open, everything is hazy. Then I feel warm lips press firmly against mine. Noah's. His gaze locks onto me, dark and intense, like a predator who’s finally cornered its prey making me shudder involuntarily. I should push him away. Instea
ARIA'S POV I’m in the bedroom, zipping up the last bag of essentials Remy will need for his upcoming hospital stay.From a distance, I hear Remy’s sweet voice.“...Mamie, I also had ice cweam yesterday.”He toddles into view, holding his tablet with both hands, the screen looking far too large for







