로그인KIER'S POV:Derek shook his head. "You are ignoring the context. You are ignoring the probably affair he was having with rhe years of neglect that comes with the affair, the fact that she was probably terrified and alone when she made that decision.""Terrified?" Margaret laughed, a harsh sound that grated on my ears even though I agreed with her. "She was living in a penthouse in Manhattan. She had access to the best medical care in the world. She had a husband who, whatever his faults, was providing for her. She was not terrified. She did not want to be tied to him, so she got rid of the evidence."The anchor looked at the camera, her expression grave. "Strong words from our panel. We will continue to follow this story as it develops. Coming up next, should there be stricter laws around late term terminations? Our experts weigh in."The screen cut to commercial. I sat in the dark of my study, the glow of the television casting shadows across the walls, and I felt something I had not
KIER'S POV:So I leaked the story to the tabloids. And no, not through my own name, of course, I am not tjat mad. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, someone who owed me a favor and was happy to cash it in for the right price. The story went out on a Friday night, prime time for the news cycle, and by Saturday morning it was everywhere.I sat in my study with the television on and my laptop open and my phone buzzing with notifications from people who wanted to know if the story was true, if I was okay, if there was anything they could do to help. I did not answer any of them. I just watched and I listened.The news panel came on around midday. A woman with sharp cheekbones and too much lipstick was sitting behind a desk, flanked by three talking heads who looked like they had been pulled from central casting. I turned up the volume and leaned back in my chair."Welcome back," the anchor said, shaking her head slowly. "We are following the story that has everyone talking today. C
CELESTINE'S POV:We come back from our honeymoon to find that the world has not stopped spinning and Kier Thornwell has been busy.The flight from the Maldives is long and we spend most of it tangled together under a blanket, watching movies we do not really pay attention to and eating food and pretending that the bubble of our private island has not already started to feel like a dream. Lysander holds my hand and kisses my forehead and tells me that everything is going to be fine, that whatever is waiting for us at home we will face it together, that nothing can touch us as long as we have each other.I want to believe him. I do believe him, mostly. But there is a knot in my stomach that has been there since we landed in London, since I turned my phone back on and saw the notifications flooding in, since I realized that the story had broken while we were gone, while we were making love on the beach and watching the stars and pretending that the rest of the world did not exist.The ca
CELESTINE'S POV:The days blur together in the best possible way.We wake up with the sun and make love in the golden light that streams through the windows, slow and lazy and sweet. We eat breakfast on the porch, fresh fruit and pastries and coffee that Lysander makes while I sit in the hammock and watch the waves. We swim in the ocean, naked, because there is no one around to see us and because we can. We have sex in the water, which is harder than it looks and also very, very worth it.One afternoon, Lysander looks at me with those gray eyes and pulls a handful of silk scarves out of the bag he brought. I raise my eyebrows at him."Something you want to try?" I ask.He ties my wrists to the headboard, gently, carefully, and then he takes his time with me. He touches every inch of my body, kisses every inch of my body, whispers things in my ear that make me blush and moan and arch my back and beg him for more. He does not give me more. He makes me wait. He makes me ache. He makes me
CELESTINE'S POV:I do not hesitate. I do not overthink. I do not feel the old fear, the old grief, the old loss. I just look at him, at this man who has loved me for so long and so patiently, and I say,“Then put a baby in me,” I whisper, pulling him closer.He groans, pace quickening. His thumb works my clit as he drives into me harder, deeper. I come one final time, crying out as my walls clamp down around him. Lysander follows with a deep, broken moan, burying himself to the hilt and flooding me with hot, thick pulses of his release. He keeps thrusting slowly, pushing every drop deeper, like he’s sealing his claim.We collapse in a sweaty, tangled heap on the blanket, the first light of dawn painting the great hall. He stays buried inside me, softening slowly, his arms wrapped tight around my body as if he’ll never let go. He kisses my forehead, my tear-streaked cheeks, my swollen lips, murmuring soft, filthy, loving words against my skin. His hands stroke my hair, my back, every i
CELESTINE'S POV:I shatter hard, screaming his name as the orgasm rips through me. He doesn’t stop. He keeps licking and sucking, drawing out every pulse until I’m shaking and oversensitive, begging incoherently.Only then does he rise, his chin glistening with my arousal. His cock is rock-hard, thick and veined, the head flushed dark and already leaking. He strokes it slowly, eyes locked on my spread, dripping pussy like it’s his greatest prize.He flips me onto my hands and knees, yanks my hips back, and slams into me in one brutal thrust. I scream at the sudden stretch, the delicious burn of him filling me completely. He doesn’t give me time to breathe, he grips my hips hard enough to bruise and starts fucking me with deep, punishing strokes, his heavy balls slapping against my clit with every thrust.“Take this cock,” he snarls, one hand fisting my hair and pulling my head back. “This tight little cunt belongs to me now. Say it.”“It’s yours!” I sob, pushing back to meet every sav







