LOGINBRIELLE'S POVI found Desmond in the living room, controller in hand. He was in the middle of a game,completely engrossed. But I didn't mind interrupting."Hey," I said softly, settling onto his lap."I'm bored."He rolled his eyes, but the corner of his mouth tilted into a smirk."So you want me to entertainyou?"I wrapped my arms around his neck, smiling innocently."Mhm. Cuddle me.”Desmond's resistance melted away the moment I wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt hisbreath hitch, his hands tightening on the controller for just a second before he set it aside."You're distracting me," he murmured.I smirked, shifting in his lap so I could reach every inch of him."That was the point.”I ran myhands under his shirt, tracing the muscles of his stomach. His breath hitched at the touch...thecontroller forgotten as he pulled me closer."You're a damn tease," he murmured, his lips f
Brielle’s povMorning light spilled across the room, soft and golden. Mirren was still asleep beside me, onearm flung across her face, hair everywhere. I smiled to myself. Having someone who knew youinside out, who you could laugh with about anything, was a blessing I didn’t take for granted.We’d been through a lot together, and somehow, she always made the quiet moments feelnormal again.I slipped out of bed and padded toward the kitchen. Soon the smell of frying eggs and butteredtoast filled the air. Mirren eventually stumbled in, yawning.“Morning, chef,” she said, snagging a piece of toast.“You’re feeding me again? You’ll spoil me.”“Someone’s got to,” I said with a small smile.place.”“Besides, there’s not much else to do in thisShe rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter.he’ll let us breathe.”“Maybe when Desmond finally gets back,As if summoned, the front door opened.
Brielle's PovThree days.It sounded longer when I said it out loud....three whole days of being barricaded in a house thatwasn’t really mine, eating whatever someone thoughtful (and infuriating) had left in labeledTupperware and obeying a note that read like a prison rule: Do not leave. Do not open the doorfor anyone. Desmond had made it sound like protection; it felt like exile. He had also kidnappedMirren and dropped her in the guest room unconscious.Mirren had made it her mission to be dramatic about the whole thing. She’d taken over theguest room like a hurricane pillows flung everywhere, a cooler of questionable beverages,bandages on that arm that she kept checking like it might walk away. Every hour or so she’d popinto my room with some ridiculous face mask or a new conspiracy theory about who couldpossibly have it in for us, and for all her noise, she’d been steady. Annoying, loud, exhausting.The first twenty-four hou
Desmond POVDavid and I slid into a downtown hotel under the pretense of being two burned-outbusinessmen. The room smelled faintly of lemon cleaner and old money; the blinds cut theworld into patient, ordered lines. I dropped my duffel on the sofa and let the silence settlearound us for a beat, long enough for the adrenaline to leak out and for the consequences tosink in.David made a show of unpacking nothing but a razor and a toothbrush.loosen up, mate. Stop measuring danger in calories burned.”“You should really“Shut up,” I said, untying the laces on the boot I’d been wearing since midnight. My fingersmoved on autopilot...cleaning, checking, It was ritual, like prayer. It kept the ghosts fromstepping too close.The TV in the corner murmured some meaningless channel. The hotel clerk had given us acoupon for breakfast like we were still the sort who ate croissants and read newspapers. I couldhave laughed a
Brielle’s povThe aftershocks still trembled through me, my body limp and sated in a way I’d never felt before.The sheets were damp beneath me, my thighs sticky...God, he’d ruined me without even takingoff his clothes.I should’ve cleaned up. But all I could do was press my thighs together, savoring the ache, theway my pulse still throbbed between my legs as I imagined Desmond’s voice...rough andcommanding...telling me exactly how he’d ruin me next time.A lazy smile curled my lips as I drifted off, my last thought a hazy, dangerous promise:"I’m not done with you yet."I padded through the quiet house, still humming with the afterglow of last night, my bare feetcool against the hardwood. The kitchen was empty. The living room...silent.Then I saw a single note on the counter, weighed down by his car keys.My stomach dropped before I even read it."Brielle...House is on lockdown. Don’t leave. Don’t open the door for
BRIELLE'S POVI stared at the ceiling, frustration and need coiled tight in my stomach. Sleep was out of reach.My body was on fire, and he wouldn't get out of my head.With a frustrated huff, I sat up. There was only one way to let off some steam. Reaching underthe bed, I pulled out my secret weapon, a small, purple vibrator.It hummed to life in my palm, sending shivers through me. I'd never used it thinking aboutanyone before, but tonight...I settled back against the pillows, closing my eyes. Desmond's face materialized in mymind...his dark eyes, those tense muscles, the way he'd looked at me like he was hungry...I took a shuddering breath, letting my hand glide along my body. It was all too easy to imagine itwas him, his fingers tracing my skin, his voice in my ear…"Brielle."I nearly jumped at the sound of my name, but the voice was only in my head...his low rasp in myear, his hands on my skin. I bit my lip to sti







