INICIAR SESIÓNGREGORThe sun slipped through the curtains. Bright as it was, intrusive. It painted fingers of gold across the duvet and directly onto Justina's face. She stirred, her brow furrowing, a small sound of protest escaping her lips. I moved without thinking, shifting onto my elbow to block the light with my shoulder. The room was quiet except for her breathing and the distant howl of wind that had faded to a whisper overnight. The storm had passed. Morning had arrived soft and golden, deceptive in its calm.I looked down at her. She was still flushed, her cheeks pink from sleep and from what we'd done the night before. Her hair spread across the pillow in a dark tangle, pins scattered on the nightstand where I'd tossed them. Sometimes after, she had put her bra back on, and one strap of it had now fallen off her shoulder. I reached out and traced the line of her jaw with my thumb, feeling the heat of her skin, the softness there. She didn't wake. Her lips parted slightly, and she made ano
CHARISSAI bound his wrists first, looping the silk tight enough to bite, securing them to the leg of a heavy oak dresser. Then I went for his ankles next, spreading him wide, leaving him open and vulnerable in ways he'd never allowed himself to be. He tested the restraints, pulling against them, and the silk held. A soft sound escaped him—not fear, but relief. As if he'd been waiting for someone to strip away his choices, to reduce him to sensation and obedience."Do you remember," I said, my voice dropping to a lower register, "the night you told me you wanted to see me break? You wanted to watch me shatter and then pick up the pieces?"He turned his head, cheek against the carpet, eyes dark. "Yes."I knelt beside him, close enough that he could feel my heat but not my touch. "You wanted to own me. To consume me. You said I was the most exquisite thing you'd ever seen, and you wanted to ruin me for anyone else.""That was just sex talk, Charissa. I would ne—""Quiet." I placed the f
CHARISSAI stared at the words until they blurred. A storm. Of course there was a storm. The universe was being dramatic, trying to match my internal weather with something external. I almost laughed, but my throat hurt too much.The door clicked open. A nurse entered, young, Greek, her hair pulled back so tight it lifted her eyebrows. She carried a clipboard and wore that particular expression of professional concern that made me want to scream."Miss Leva," she began, her accent thickening the consonants. "I am not sure if you know, but there has been a weather emergency. You need to be aware.""I saw the alert.""The hospital is securing windows. We may need to move patients to interior rooms if the storm worsens. I need you to understand the procedures.""I understand."She hesitated, looking at me, probably taking in the bruises on my face, the IV in my arm, the phone I’d thrown. "Are you alright? Do you need anything for pain?""I just need you to leave me alone."She blinked. "
CHARISSAMy mother’s perfume lingered in the room after she left. That sharp jasmine scent clung to the air, expensive and suffocating, like she’d sprayed it directly onto the walls just to remind me she’d been there. I lay still for a moment, counting the beeps of the heart monitor, letting the silence stretch until I was certain she wouldn’t come back. It might have been hours, but it was a habit I had grown into. Then I reached for my phone.The screen burned my eyes.I squinted against the brightness, fumbling with the settings until the glare softened to something manageable. My throat felt raw, scraped out from the tubes they’d shoved down me, but I ignored the pain. I needed to see what the world was saying about me now.I pulled up the video first. Mother had posted the one while I was pretending to sleep, that carefully staged shot of me looking unconscious, tubes in my arms, my mouth slightly open like a dead fish. She’d added a caption about her poor, troubled daughter and
JUSTINA"Tell me to stop," he said, his voice rough, almost angry. "Tell me to stop, and I will. But if you don't—" He looked up at me then, his eyes dark and wild and utterly focused. "If you don't, I'm going to fuck you until you forget your own name. Until you forget that boy’s name. Until the only thing you can remember is mine."Liam. He was still thinking about Liam, this possessive bastard. I should have been annoyed. I should have pushed him away for his arrogance. Instead, I felt a throb of heat between my legs so intense it made me dizzy.What about this made it hot?"Show me," I whispered, arching against him. "Make me forget."That was all the permission he needed.He stripped the dress off me in one swift movement, leaving me in nothing but my underwear—black lace, thankfully, not the practical cotton I usually wore, though I couldn't remember why I'd chosen it that morning. His gaze raked over me, hungry and unapologetic, taking in every inch of exposed skin with a rever
JUSTINA"He looks super happy in this one," I said, studying the photograph. "You too. I don't think I've ever seen you smile like that.""I was seventeen, and he'd just let me drive his old Aston Martin around the estate grounds. Badly, I should add. I put a dent in the fountain.""You didn't.""I did." Gregor's mouth curved, something soft and unguarded moving across his face, the same look caught in the photograph itself. "He never let me forget it.""What was he like? Actually like, not just the tabloid version.""Loud." He said it like the word still surprised him a little. "You wouldn't guess that, looking at how quiet this house is now, but he filled a room the second he walked into it. He'd sing in the shower, badly, at volumes that woke the whole house. He used to sneak me espresso when I was far too young for it because my mother had banned it, and then act shocked when I couldn't sleep.""Sounds like he was fun.""He was." Something flickered behind his eyes, there and gone







