Librairie
Rechercher
Accueil / MM Romance / SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION / CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: AFTERMATH AND EMOTIONAL CONFLICT

Share

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: AFTERMATH AND EMOTIONAL CONFLICT

Auteur: Herladymj
last update Date de publication: 2026-04-29 00:24:36

Damian POV

The weather was cold and the morning came too fast.

I wake up on my thin mattress with the grey light filtering through the cracked windows. For a moment, I did not remember where I was. The soft velvet walls of the club still linger in my memory, the warmth of a stranger's skin still phantom against my own.

Then reality returns.The wind blows and smells of dust and sweat. I heard the sounds of other men already training.

I lie still and stare at the wooden ceiling.

The encounter fr
Continuez à lire ce livre gratuitement
Scanner le code pour télécharger l'application
Previous Chapter Next Chapter
Chapitre verrouillé

Latest chapter

  • SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION   CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: MARK OPENS THE DOOR

    Damian POVThree days pass after the older man in the suit leaves his envelope with Mark. Three days training of running, and sparring with the blind man in the underground space. My body has healed from the fight with Vinnie's men. My hand is still bandaged, but the cuts are closing, and the bruises on my ribs have faded. The following morning, Mark finds me after my run."Get cleaned up," he says. "We are going into the city."I do not ask where. I have learned not to ask. I simply go to my room, change into the cleanest clothes I own, and meet him at the car.The drive is different this time. Mark does not take the back roads or the alleys. He drives directly into the heart of the city, past buildings I have only seen from a distance. offices, banks, and hotels with doormen in uniform."This is not the part of the city I expected," I say."The underground is not just alleys and abandoned buildings." Mark keeps his eyes on the road. "Money moves through fancy offices too. Sometimes

  • SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION   CHAPTER TWENTY: ESTABLISHING PRESENCE

    Damian POVThe news travels faster than I expect.By the time I wake up the next morning, the men in the building already know about the fight. I see it in the way they look at me, it was different from before. Not the cautious fear from after I fought Kael. They see me now, not as Mark's project. But someone dangerous.Ren is the first to speak to me. He walks closer to me as I walk toward the forest for my morning run."I heard you took on three men by yourself," he says."Word travels fast.""Word travels at the speed of pain in this world." He glances at my bandaged hand. "You are hurt.""I will heal."Ren nods, something like respect in his quick eyes. "The men you fought. They were not ordinary street thugs. They worked for someone with connections.""I know.""Jerald Vortigan does not forget people who cross him."I stop walking and turn to face Ren. "You know him?""Everyone knows him, and everyone knows who matters." Ren's voice drops lower. "He runs half the underground in t

  • SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION   CHAPTER NINETEEN: FIRST REAL STREET TEST

    Damian POVThree days have passed after my fight with Kael. Three days of training, of running, of sparring with the blind man in the underground space. My body has become something new, and different. The bruises heal faster now. The cuts close quicker. My hands no longer shake when I hold them out.On the fourth day, Mark comes to find me after the morning run."We are going for a drive," he says.He didn't explain or say the destination. Just the keys in his hand and the look in his eyes that tells me this is not a social call.I follow him to the car and climb into the passenger seat. He drives through the forest, onto the main roads, then deeper into the city than we have gone before. The buildings here are older, more worn. The people on the streets move with a different kind of energy, faster, sharper, and more aware.Mark parks the car in an alley and turns off the engine."There is a man," he says. "He operates out of a building three blocks from here. He sells things he shou

  • SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION   CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: RETURN TO TRAINING WITH NEW EDGE

    Damian POVThe next morning, I wake up before Mark's boot finds my ribs.I was standing as he come in through the door, my mattress was pushed aside, and my body was ready. The light went through the cracked windows and caught the surprise on his face before he hid it."You are up," he says."I am done sleeping in."He studies me for a long moment, his eyes moving across my face, my stance, the set of my shoulders. Whatever he sees makes him nod slowly."Good. Then let us work."The morning run is different today. I do not trudge through the forest with heavy legs and a heavier heart. I run like I am chasing something. The path blurs beneath my feet as the trees rush past on either side. My breath comes hard and fast, but my legs do not slow.When I reach the large rock, I do not turn back immediately. I stand there for a moment, my chest heaving, my hands on my knees. Then I punch the rock.The pain explodes through my knuckles, sharp and immediate. My skin splits as blood drips onto

  • SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION   CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: AFTERMATH AND EMOTIONAL CONFLICT

    Damian POVThe weather was cold and the morning came too fast. I wake up on my thin mattress with the grey light filtering through the cracked windows. For a moment, I did not remember where I was. The soft velvet walls of the club still linger in my memory, the warmth of a stranger's skin still phantom against my own.Then reality returns.The wind blows and smells of dust and sweat. I heard the sounds of other men already training.I lie still and stare at the wooden ceiling.The encounter from last night plays through my mind in fragments. The stranger's face, kind and patient. His hands, warm and soft touch. The way he kissed me, slow and deliberate, nothing like the desperate hunger I remember from Caleb.Caleb.His name surfaces unbidden, and I expect the usual wave of rage and pain. But it did not come. Instead, I feel something stranger closer to confusion.I think about the way Caleb used to touch me. The way he used his body as a weapon, every caress calculated to keep me co

  • SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION   CHAPTER SIXTEEN: INTRODUCTION TO DESIRE

    Damian POVThat same night after my session with the blind man, Mark comes to find me in the small room where I sleep."Get cleaned up," he says. "We are going out."I look at him from the thin mattress, confused. For weeks, my world has been this building, the forest, the underground space. The idea of leaving feels strange."Where?""Somewhere you need to see." He tosses a bundle of clothes onto the floor. Clean clothes, better than the torn shirt and worn trousers I have been wearing. "You have five minutes."I change quickly and follow him outside. A car waits in the darkness. Mark gets behind the wheel, and I sit in the passenger seat. We drive through the forest, then onto roads I do not recognize, then into parts of the city I have never seen.The streets here are different from the ones near our building. Narrower, darker, lit by coloured lights that spill from doorways and windows. Music drifts from open doors, different songs blending together into a chaotic symphony. People

Plus de chapitres

Vous vous intéresseriez aussi à

Découvrez et lisez de bons romans gratuitement
Accédez gratuitement à un grand nombre de bons romans sur GoodNovel. Téléchargez les livres que vous aimez et lisez où et quand vous voulez.
Lisez des livres gratuitement sur l'APP
Scanner le code pour lire sur l'application
DMCA.com Protection Status