MasukPrescott’s POV I stayed in the kitchen long after Aurora went back upstairs the night before, the taste of the unfinished conversation still sharp in my mouth. By morning, nothing between us had settled. If anything, the air in the house felt heavier.She came down dressed for work, quiet and carefully composed. We exchanged only the most necessary words before leaving for the office, the drive was silent, but it was the kind of silence that carried everything we weren’t saying. Every glance, every shift of her body in the passenger seat pulled at the same unresolved tension from the hallway and the late-night kitchen.I expected the day to continue in the same strained pattern.Then my phone rang.Dominic’s name flashed across the screen. I stepped into my office and answered.“Dad.”“Prescott.” His voice was brisk, already in business mode. “I need you to clear your schedule for the next three days
Aurora’s POVInside my room, I set my bag down and reached behind me to unzip the dress. The soft fabric slipped from my shoulders and pooled at my feet. For a second I stood there in the quiet, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My skin still felt too sensitive if I closed my eyes, I could still feel the pressure of Prescott’s hand at my waist, the deliberate way his thumb had brushed beneath my breast, the firm squeeze of his palm against my ass.Marcus’s kiss had been gentle.It had not erased any of it.I changed into a nightdress and sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, trying to slow my thoughts. The evening played back in fragments Prescott’s dark eyes in the hallway, the rough edge in his voice when he told me to go, Marcus smiling across the dinner table, the careful way he had kissed me goodnight. Two very different men. Two very different feelings. Only one of them had left my body r
Aurora’s POVMy hands were still unsteady as I stepped away from Prescott.The cream off-shoulder dress suddenly felt too thin against my skin. Every place he had touched me burned with lingering awareness the side of my face, the curve of my waist, the soft pressure of his hand beneath my breast, the firm grip on my ass. I could still feel the heat of his body so close to mine. I could still hear the rough edge in his voice when he told me to go on my date while thinking about how my body had answered him.I had stopped him.But my body hadn’t calmed down as quickly as my words.I picked up my bag with slightly trembling fingers and walked toward the front door without looking back. I didn’t trust myself to meet his eyes again. The air in the hallway still felt too charged, too heavy with everything we hadn’t done.When I opened the front door, the cool night air washed over my flushed skin.Marcu
Prescott’s POV I was in the living room when I heard her heels on the stairs.I looked up and forgot how to breathe for a second.Aurora was wearing a cream off-shoulder dress that sat low across the soft upper curve of her breasts, the fabric skimming her waist before falling over the full line of her hips and stopping mid-thigh. Her shoulders were bare her hair was loosely pinned, a few strands framing her face. She looked soft, elegant, and far too tempting for a man who was already losing the ability to stay away from her.She stopped at the bottom of the stairs when she saw me watching.“You’re dressed up,” I said.“I have a date.”The words landed with deliberate weight. She didn’t look away. She wanted me to hear it clearly.I set my glass down and stood. “With Marcus. Again.”“Yes.”I walked toward her slowly. She stayed where she was, though her fingers tightened slightly around the small bag in her hand.
Aurora’s POVI closed the door to Prescott’s office behind me and walked straight to my desk on unsteady legs.My hands were trembling slightly as I sat down. I hid them under the edge of the desk and forced myself to stare at the computer screen, but the words there meant nothing. All I could still feel was the weight of his gaze and the quiet certainty in his voice when he said I had felt it too.He was right.That was the worst part.I *had* felt it. In the kitchen last night, and again just now when he stood close enough that I could smell his cologne and see the restrained heat in his eyes. For a dangerous second I had thought he was going to kiss me, worst for a dangerous second I had wanted him to.I pressed my thighs together under the desk and immediately regretted it. The memory of how wet I had been the night before, of how I had touched myself thinking of him, rushed back with humili
Prescott’s POV I barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes I felt her again the soft heat of her body trapped between mine and the counter, the way her breath had hitched when she realized how hard I was, the brief second when she had swayed toward me instead of away. She had stopped the kiss, but her body had already answered the question her mouth refused to.*We can’t.*The words still echoed in my head, sharp and frustrating. I had respected the line she drew I had stepped back. But the restraint had cost me, by the time the first light filtered through the curtains, I was restless, hard, and in a foul mood.I showered in cold water, trying to easy my hardon dressed, and went downstairs earlier than usual. The kitchen was empty part of me was relieved, another part was disappointed.I made coffee and leaned against the counter, the exact same spot where I had pressed against her only hours earlier. The memory







