The wrong bed

Damien Kael walked into his bedroom, his shoulders was heavy with the weight of the day. He was ready to strip away the noise, the stress, and the endless calls from his empire. But the moment he stepped into the room, he stopped dead in the doorway.

Naked.

Ariana Stark lay across his bed like she had been poured there on purpose. The only thing covering her was the light blanket he had tossed there that morning, and even that had slid down low on her hips. One long leg stretched bare against his dark gray sheets, pale skin glowing under the soft light.

Her red hair spilled over his pillows, bright as blood against the silver fabric.

Damien’s jaw tightened.

“Get off my bed,” he said in a calm voice.

Ariana didn’t move. Instead, she stretched, slow and bold, the blanket falling even lower. Her chest rose as she breathed in, bare and careless, and her mouth curved in that sly smile she always used when she was daring him.

“Nice welcome, Damien,” she purred.

He shut the door behind him. The soft click filled the silence.

“You know the rule.”

Her eyes lifted toward him. Lazy, amused, testing. “I’m not just anyone. And that blanket is yours, so technically I’m covered.”

“You’re pushing it.” His tone cut like steel.

“I’ve been pushing it for years.” She sat up now, letting the blanket fall to her lap. Her skin glowed, every inch of her bare and tempting. “Besides, I missed you.”

“You could’ve said that with your clothes on.”

“But that’s not what you respond to.” Her voice softened. “I’m tired of being on your sofas, Damien. I’m not one of your faceless women.”

He stood still, his expression unreadable.

She wasn’t wrong.

Ariana Stark was different.

She had been there long before his empire had grown into power. Before the women, before the cold silence, before control became his obsession. She had stood beside him through the storm. And sometimes, when the dark inside him grew too strong, she was the only one he let near.

But still… his bed was forbidden.

It always had been.

And yet he didn’t throw her out.

Ariana slid onto her knees. The blanket slipped away completely, and now she was fully bare before him. Her chin lifted, not begging but demanding.

“Do you even remember the last time you let yourself feel something?” she asked. “Because I’m right here. And I’m done waiting for your permission.”

His breath left slow through his nose, eyes dark with warning. “This won’t end well.”

“Then don’t end it.” She crawled to the edge of the bed, her voice dropping into a whisper that pulled at him. “Just take me until I can’t breathe.”

He should have turned away. He should have walked out. He should have told her again that his bed was not about sex. It was about control. It was about boundaries.

But the truth?

His control had been slipping ever since Elara vale walked into his mansion.

The girl with quiet eyes and soft curves she didn’t even know she had. The girl who filled his kitchen with the smell of real food, who spoke with a voice that calmed the storm inside him, who walked through his house without knowing he was watching her every step.

He thought of her now — probably asleep in her small room, resting in pure innocence. And yet here he was, standing over Ariana Stark, naked and waiting, the one woman he should have banned long ago.

His oldest vice.

And without another word, Damien stepped forward, grabbed Ariana by the waist, and forced her down flat against the mattress.

She gasped as his weight pressed her into the bed.

His mouth crashed against her neck, not gentle, not careful, but hungry and rough. Her fingers tore at his shirt, pulling buttons loose, baring his chest as he forced himself between her thighs.

“You think you know me?” he growled against her skin.

“I do,” she breathed. “I’ve always known you.”

“Then shut up and take it.”

His lips crushed hers, biting down hard. Her moan filled the room, loud and deep.

there was nothing but feelings.

~~~

For the next hour, the bedroom turned into a storm. Damien didn’t pause. He didn’t soften. He moved like a man who wanted to erase, who wanted to burn something out of himself. His hand caught her throat, his voice hot in her ear, her legs tangled tight around him.

Every touch was punishment. Every thrust was a reminder that she had broken a rule she could never take back.

And Ariana loved it. She gave him every part of herself, rising to meet his storm, feeding off his fire.

Time blurred into heat, and the walls seemed to hold their moans, heavy and raw.

When it was over, silence returned into the room.

Ariana lay sprawled across his bed, breath uneven, skin glowing with sweat and marks. Her hair clung to her temples, and her lips curved in the faintest smile.

Damien stood at the edge of the bed, half-dressed again, pulling distance between them as fast as he could.

She watched him with soft eyes. “I thought you’d stay.”

He didn’t answer.

“You let me in,” she said quietly. “Into this bed. You’ve never done that.”

His jaw tightened, but his eyes stayed on the floor.

“Don’t mistake the moment for meaning,” he said at last.

Her heart flinched, but she masked it with a crooked smile. “I’ll pretend that didn’t sound like regret.”

He turned without looking back and left the room.

Out in the hall, Damien leaned against the wall, chest steady but his heart was racing. His fists pressed against the wood, and he forced a deep breath.

He had used Ariana to forget. To drive out the thought that had been clawing at him every night.

But it hadn’t worked.

Because even when Ariana’s body writhed under him, even when her cries filled his ears, all he could see was Elara. The maid with the sweet hands and innocent voice. The girl who looked at him with eyes that didn’t yet know how dangerous he was.

He cursed under his breath.

Then he pushed off the wall and headed down the hall, not toward his office, not toward the bar, but toward the one place he swore he wouldn’t go.

Elara’s room.

He told himself it was to monitor. To make sure Elara was asleep, safe in her small room.

But the truth was simpler.

He just wanted to see her.

One more time.