Mag-log inThe house was quiet when I went downstairs later that night. Selene and Marcus were long gone. The only light came from a single lamp in the living room, casting a warm, incomplete glow across the dark furniture and the wide windows that looked out into the black woods. The rest of the estate felt still. Darius was already there. He sat on the edge of the couch, shirtless, elbows resting loosely on his knees. The lamp light cut across the hard lines of his shoulders and chest, catching on the edges of the bandages that wrapped his left side. He looked up when I entered. His attention landed on me immediately — heavy, focused. I kept my expression as neutral as I could and set my bag down on the low table. “Evening,” I said. “Elena.” His voice was low, a little rough from the late hour. He watched me as I pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. The
The sound of Elena’s footsteps faded up the stairs. For a few seconds, no one spoke. Marcus leaned back in his chair. The easy grin he’d worn around Selene was gone. His expression shifted into something sharper, more focused — the look he wore when pack matters were on the table. “She’s gone,” he said. He glanced toward the stairs once, then back at me. “We need to talk.” I nodded once and eased myself back against the couch, careful of the pull in my ribs. Selene stayed where she was, arms crossed, watching both of us with that same assessing look she’d had since she was a teenager. Marcus rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. “Border’s been quiet for the most part, but the eastern ridge had movement two nights ago. Small group. Not ours. They didn’t cross, but they got close enough to leave a scent trail. I’ve got two teams rotating through there now, overlapping shifts so there’s no gap.” “An
I closed the bedroom door behind me harder than I meant to. The sharp click echoed in the quiet room. I stood frozen for a moment, one hand still on the doorknob, staring at the smooth wood. My pulse thudded in my throat. Downstairs, the low murmur of voices drifted up through the floorboards — his deep and controlled, hers lighter and familiar — and the image of her hand resting on his bare shoulder kept flashing behind my eyes. I was being ridiculous. I had been in this house for barely two days. I was here to clean his wounds, monitor his recovery, and collect a paycheck that would keep my brother in school. That was the entire arrangement. So why did the sight of another woman touching him make something tight and ugly twist low in my stomach? I pushed away from the door and sat down on the edge of the bed. The mattress dipped under my weight. I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes until soft sp
I stared at the door for another second before standing up.My palms were slightly damp. I wiped them on my pants, smoothed my hair once with both hands, and tried to settle the look on my face. The last thing I wanted was for him to open that door and see how unsettled I still felt.I opened it.Darius stood in the hallway, one shoulder resting lightly against the frame. He had put a shirt back on — black, sleeves rolled up to his forearms — but the edge of the fresh bandages still showed near his collar. His eyes moved over my face, slow and steady, like he was checking for something.“You haven’t eaten,” he said. It wasn’t a question.I shook my head a little. “I was about to. I just… needed a minute.”His gaze flicked past me into the room for a brief second, then came back to mine. “Come downstairs. There’s food. Marcus brought enough for everyone.”I hesitated, my hand still resting on the edge of the doo
I spent the next twenty minutes unpacking and trying to calm my nerves. The room was beautiful — soft lighting, clean sheets, a bathroom nicer than any I’d ever had — but I couldn’t fully relax. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Darius’s face, the way he’d looked at me like he was already deciding something. For the last two years I've been working as a nurse, I haven't seen any patient this hot, sometimes it felt as if good looking people never feel ill or didn't come to the hospital. When my boss first told me about this job I wanted to decline it, because being a live-in nurse for a stranger at an isolated town wasn't something I wanted for myself. Okay yes, I need the money but still that doesn't mean I should just jump on the opportunity of going to be a live-in nurse for a strange man. On my way here, I was thinking the person who was injured here was some old wrinkled man because normal humans
I found him in the living room the next morning, already waiting.He sat on the edge of the couch, elbows resting on his knees, back slightly rounded. The old bandages were still wrapped across his left shoulder and down the side of his ribs. When I walked in he looked up. His face was different from the day before—less shut down, more alert. His eyes followed me as I crossed the room and set my bag down by the armchair.“Good morning,” I said.He gave a short nod. The corner of his mouth moved just enough to count as a reply. “Morning.”I pulled a fresh pair of gloves from the box, snapped them on, and knelt in front of him. The floor was cool under my knees. I started with the shoulder bandage, peeling the tape back in short sections so it wouldn’t pull hard on the skin. His breathing stayed even. Every time my fingers brushed the edge of the wound or the bare skin next to it, I felt the contact more than I wanted to.“You slept ok
~~ Sophia's POV~~ My fingers were already slipping between my thighs before I even turned off the lights. I’m Sophia Vale, twenty-four years old, and right now I feel like a complete mess. Six months ago, my boyfriend of three years packed his bags and left me for someone he said was “less compl
The office had been torture all day. Elena had barely been able to focus on her work. Every time she crossed her legs, she felt the lingering ache from Damien’s fingers the night before. Every time she looked up, she remembered being bent over his desk, his deep voice in her ear calling her his goo
Elena’s knees sank into the thick carpet of Damien’s luxurious office, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She looked up at him, this man who had been the center of her forbidden fantasies for years. Her brother’s best friend. The one person she was never supposed to want. And
Elena Voss stood outside the towering Blackthorn Building, her heart hammering against her ribs. She knew she shouldn’t be here. Out of all the people who could help her family, she had chosen him — Damien Blackthorn, her older brother Ryan’s best friend since college. The man she had secretly lust







