LOGINJaxon: I didn't just lead her into the bedroom, I practically shoved her through the door, the wood slamming shut behind us with a crack that echoed the drumming of my heart. The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight filtering through the curtains, but I didn't need light. I had her scent, sweet, heady, and laced with a desperate hunger that mirrored my own. I pinned her against the wall, my mouth crashing onto hers. It wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a collision. I tasted salt and heat, our tongues warring for dominance, sucking and swirling in a frantic exchange of saliva. I tasted her lipstick. She tasted even more delicious than the lipstick. My hands ripped at her clothes, the fabric groaning under the strain of my grip. “I can't," she gasped, breaking away for a fraction of a second, her chest heaving. "I can't breathe, Jaxon." “Then don't breathe," I growled, my voice a low vibration in my chest. “Just feel this." Her breasts spilled out, nipples already hard and p
Jaxon: The aftermath of the gala should have felt like a victory. Instead, it felt hollow. I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office and stared out at the city below. Traffic moved through the streets in neat lines. People rushed to meetings. Businesses opened their doors. Life continued as normal but mine didn’t. A knock sounded against the door. “Come in.” Lewis stepped inside carrying a tablet and several folders. Unlike me, he looked energized. The gala had given us exactly what we’d spent two years trying to achieve. Access. The kind of access capable of destroying an empire. Lewis closed the door behind him. “You look terrible.”I didn’t turn around. “Good morning to you too.” “I’m serious.” “I slept.” “Barely.” That part was true. The night had been long. My thoughts had been longer. Lewis dropped into the chair across from my desk. “The operation worked.” I finally turned. His grin widened. “The operation worked.” I walked toward my desk and sa
Jaxon: The aftermath of the gala should have felt like a victory. Instead, it felt hollow. I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office and stared out at the city below. Traffic moved through the streets in neat lines. People rushed to meetings. Businesses opened their doors. Life continued as normal but mine didn’t. A knock sounded against the door. “Come in.” Lewis stepped inside carrying a tablet and several folders. Unlike me, he looked energized. The gala had given us exactly what we’d spent two years trying to achieve. Access. The kind of access capable of destroying an empire. Lewis closed the door behind him. “You look terrible.”I didn’t turn around. “Good morning to you too.” “I’m serious.” “I slept.” “Barely.” That part was true. The night had been long. My thoughts had been longer. Lewis dropped into the chair across from my desk. “The operation worked.” I finally turned. His grin widened. “The operation worked.” I walked toward my desk and sa
Emberlyn: The moment Elias wrapped his arms around me, I felt how tense he was. Not the polished, composed Elias everyone knew. Not the confident athlete who always seemed to know exactly what to say. This version felt different. His grip was tight, almost desperate. For a second, I simply stood there and let him hold me. Partly because I was exhausted and I knew he had genuinely been worried. But mostly because I was trying to understand why Jaxon's warning refused to leave my head. Elias isn't who you think he is. The words sat inside me like a splinter. I slowly pulled away first. The movement seemed to surprise him. For a moment his hands lingered on my shoulders before he let them fall. His eyes moved over my face. Checking me and making sure I was really standing in front of him. "Are you okay?" His voice sounded rough like he hadn't slept. I nodded. "I'm okay." Relief flashed across his face. The expression looked genuine which only made things more confusing. Behind us,
Emberlyn: Jessica’s father’s proposal sat on my desk like a loaded weapon. I still hadn’t answered. I hadn’t accepted nor declined. I’d simply let it sit there. Unfortunately, everyone seemed determined to force the issue, including Lewis. “From a strategic perspective, it’s worth considering.” I looked up from the file. Lewis sat across from me with entirely too much confidence for someone who wasn’t the one being offered up for marriage. “Strategic you say huh?” “Yes.” I leaned back and he continued. “A marriage alliance creates political cover.” I remained silent. “It strengthens connections.” I was still silent “It could make dismantling Edison considerably easier.” I closed the file. “Are you finished?” Lewis sighed. “No.” Of course he wasn’t. “Look, I’m not saying you should do it.” “Good.” “I’m saying you should consider it.” The distinction wasn’t nearly as meaningful as he thought. Marriage wasn’t a business arrangement to me anymore. Yea
Emberlyn: Jessica’s father’s proposal sat on my desk like a loaded weapon. I still hadn’t answered. I hadn’t accepted nor declined. I’d simply let it sit there. Unfortunately, everyone seemed determined to force the issue, including Lewis. “From a strategic perspective, it’s worth considering.” I looked up from the file. Lewis sat across from me with entirely too much confidence for someone who wasn’t the one being offered up for marriage. “Strategic you say huh?” “Yes.” I leaned back and he continued. “A marriage alliance creates political cover.” I remained silent. “It strengthens connections.” I was still silent “It could make dismantling Edison considerably easier.” I closed the file. “Are you finished?” Lewis sighed. “No.” Of course he wasn’t. “Look, I’m not saying you should do it.” “Good.” “I’m saying you should consider it.” The distinction wasn’t nearly as meaningful as he thought. Marriage wasn’t a business arrangement to me anymore. Year
Jaxon:She tasted exactly the way I remembered.I had told myself it didn't matter. That the distance of the past two weeks had been necessary and manageable and that I was in full control of every decision I made including the ones that involved Emberlyn Vale. I had believed that right up until th
Emberlyn:My mother left at noon.She had fussed over me for the better part of the morning, rearranging things that didn't need rearranging and checking on me every twenty minutes like she was afraid I would disappear if she stopped looking. She made me eat a full breakfast and then sat across fro
Jaxon:I had walked out of that meeting before Carver could say another word.He knew what REX was. He knew what I had built and what it stood for and if he thought for one second that I would let my company become a corridor for hard drugs he had fundamentally misunderstood who he was dealing with
Emberlyn:The other side of the bed was cold when I woke up.I reached over without thinking and felt the empty space beside me. He was gone. I already knew he would be. We both knew the rules of this thing, whatever it was, and one of the clearest ones was that nobody could find out. The longer he







