4.

Her voice came freely now, broken sounds, soft cries. He rocked into her with a steady rhythm, each thrust hitting deep, controlled, perfect. The column vibrated slightly with the force. Her breasts bounced softly with each motion, and the wet sound of their bodies filled the room.

Then he changed positions again, swiftly, without breaking their connection.

He pulled out, turned her around, and lifted her.

Her legs wrapped around his waist as she put her arms around his neck. He walked them back toward the chaise without removing his stare from hers, his breath hot and heavy on her cheek.

He knelt on the cushion and let her fall back, her hair falling over the edge as her body curved. He put back his cock inside her, this time face-to-face.

Nina cried out.

His thrusts deepened. She scratched at his back, her nails digging into his muscles, in dire need to hold on.

But he didn’t let her control the pace.

He pinned her wrists above her head with one hand, while the other grabbed the back of her thigh, putting her leg up to make a perfect angle.

Her moans grew louder as she bit her lip. Her mask tilted from the motion, half-off now, but she didn’t care.

“Say it,” he growled, close to her mouth.

“Y-Yes…”

“Say you’re mine right now.”

“I’m yours,” she cried out. “God, I’m yours!”

That broke her.

Her climax hit without warning, no mercy. Her entire body shook under him, cries echoing through the room as he held her down, still fucking her hard and drawing out every last shake.

He followed moments later, groaning low into her neck as his body strained and spilled into her mouth while she knelt before him. She sucks them off his cock while grabbing his ass and X whimpered slowly while pulling her hair. Hot. Final. Intimate.

Then silence again.

Their chests rose and fell in sync as they breathed heavily. Slowly, he let free her hair, putting her mask back into place.

Nina looked up at him, shocked.

He looked down at her, still masked, but his voice was soft now. “You felt that?”

She nodded her head as she has lost her voice already.

He leaned into her and kissed her again, slowly.

“You were made for this.”

It had been four days.

Four days since Nina left the masquerade party with shaky legs, a pounding heart, and a fulfilled hunger inside her she couldn't put out.

She couldn't stop thinking about him...about X.

The way he touched her, held her and made her feel like her hunger can always be satisfied whenever he whispered into her ear. That blindfolded night still played in her mind and the thoughts of it make her to want him more.

She touched the silk mask that was still lying on her table, she was moved to put it back on her face, just to feel him again.

In every breath, she was reminded of him. Every move on her skin made her shiver, wishing it was him that touched her skin. Her fingers weren’t enough. Nothing was.

She was craving.

And she didn’t even know his real name.

The next invitation came through Zee though cryptic, just like the first. A folded card with no sender, just a time, date, and the word:

"Return."

Nina dressed in black again. Simpler this time. No lace, no frills. Just a dress that hugged her skin and heels that clicked across marble like a warning.

Zee was waiting outside Nina’s building when she stepped out.

"You’re doing this again?" Zee said, arms folded.

"I have to."

"You don’t even know his name, Nina."

Nina turned as her jaw closed tightly. "I don’t care,Zee because it’s not about his name."

"Then what is it about?" Zee asked, softening.

Nina opened her mouth to day something but nothing came out. How could she explain it to her? How could she describe that aching need crawling under her skin? That hopelessness to be touched the same way again. The way he looked at her like she was his.

"He knows how to touch me," Nina said amidst whisper.

Zee stared. "So what, now you’re his… plaything?"

Nina smiled faintly. "I don’t think I mind. I just need to find him...again."

This time, the party was in an old theater, transformed into something between a dream and a ritual. Candles lined the aisles. Music echoed from the high walls. Guests moved like ghosts.

Nina wore her mask and stepped inside.

Her eyes searched the crowd.

He was already there.

Standing beneath the balcony, dressed in all black, his mask the same sleek shape. How did he always find her first? Or… had he never left?

He approached with that same quiet authority, the same heat radiating off him.

“You came back,” he said, low and deep.

“You knew I would.”

He didn’t smile. Just reached for her wrist and pulled her with him, no hesitation.

Nina didn’t resist.

They moved through a velvet-curtained hallway again, this one not wide and it was darker. Her heart beat louder with every step that she made.

Inside the private room, he didn’t waste time, he pinned her gently on the wall, one hand flat on her chest to keep her there.

"You’ve been thinking about me," he said.

Her breath hitched. “Constantly.”

"I can feel it," he whispered. “Your body’s trembling.”

He kissed her neck, then pulled her hands above her head, pressing his thigh between hers.

“You ache for control,” he murmured, “but you love giving it up even more.”

She whimpered.

His fingers ran down her side, slow and purposeful. He didn’t rush. He knew exactly what she needed, not just pleasure, but to be seen. To be taken. Fully.

"Unmask," she whispered suddenly.

He paused.

"What?"

"I want to see your face, let me," she said.

He leaned in closer, breath hot on her ear.

“No.”

She reached for his mask anyway as her hands trembled with anticipation but he grabbed her wrists, turned her around, and pinned her to the wall from behind.

“No questions,” he growled. “You knew the rules.”

She panted, frustrated and aroused all at once. “I want to know who you are.”

He leaned down, his mouth brushing the lobe of her ear. “You already do. I’m the only man your body remembers.”

Then he kissed her again. Harder, deeper, one hand gripping her thigh, pulling her back against him.

She saw him three more times.

Each time, he found her first. Each time, she left trembling.

Each time, she tried to unmask him.

And each time, he stopped her.

He had her on her knees once, blindfolded and breathless. Then another time bent over a velvet ottoman, his voice in her ear, hands on her skin, guiding her, breaking her and building her at the same time.

She never said "red."

Never once.

He read her body like a language only he spoke.

And yet…

She couldn’t sleep without thinking about him. Couldn’t work. Couldn’t concentrate. She sat with Zee days later, stirring coffee she wasn’t drinking.

Zee frowned. “You’re addicted to him.”

“I think I am.”

“Do you even know what he does when you’re not together?”

“No. I just know what he does when we are.”

Zee leaned in. “You’re falling, Nina. Fast. You should be careful.”

“I don’t care,” Nina whispered. “I want to fall.”

Days passed, but her body still remembered.

The way his fingers traced her skin like poetry. The feel of silk on her wrists. The sound of his voice whispering rules into her ear like secrets she was dying to keep.

Nina couldn’t sleep without dreaming of him...X.

And every time she closed her eyes, she saw him. The mask. The hands. The control.

She was hooked.

Worse. She was obsessed.

She checked her phone for another invitation that never came. Scanned social media for whispers of “The House of Velvet” but of course, nothing was posted publicly. These events didn’t live online. They lived in candlelight, shadows, and sealed whispers.

So when Zee finally messaged her again, just two words: “Tonight. Again.” Nina’s heart nearly burst.

She barely made it through the day. She skipped lunch. She sat through her last client meeting with trembling hands, pretending to care about floor plans when all she could think about was X’s voice saying: “You’ll crave this.”

And damn it, he was right.

That night, she dressed more boldly. A black lace bodysuit beneath a floor-length coat, her heels higher, her eyes darker. The same mask as last time. Her hands shook while applying perfume. She wanted him to find her.

But more than that… she wanted to find him.

The ballroom was dim and familiar but every time she walked in, it felt like she stepped into another world. The music beat was low and seductive as strangers moved past her, masked and murmuring.

She scanned the room. Eyes darting.

"Where are you, X?"