Caught Between Fire and Chains

Chapter Five: Caught Between Fire and Chains

RAVEN’S POV

I wake to the scent of her still lingering on my sheets.

Sera.

A name that now tastes like sin and satisfaction.

The space beside me is empty, but the ghost of her warmth remains. I smirk, stretching lazily against the silk sheets, my body still thrumming from last night. The way she unraveled in my hands, the way she begged without words—God, it was intoxicating.

But predictably, she ran.

I sit up, grabbing my phone from the bedside table, already knowing she’ll be spiraling. A woman like Sera—someone so caged in her own misery—was bound to wake up drowning in guilt.

I type out a message, smirking as I hit send.

"You can pretend all you want, but your body doesn’t lie."

She’ll read it. She’ll hate herself for wanting more.

And then, eventually—she’ll come back.

Because women like her always do.

I rise from the bed, stretching, my body still buzzing from the thrill of breaking her. And I will break her again.

---

ETHAN’S POV

Something is off.

I don’t miss much—not in business, and certainly not in my marriage. And right now, my wife is acting like a fucking ghost of herself.

Sera barely said two words on the way home. She didn’t make eye contact. She didn’t even flinch when I grazed my hand over her knee in the car, a touch that, no matter how dead our marriage had become, should have still gotten some reaction out of her.

She’s hiding something.

And I have a sickening feeling I won’t like what I find.

I watch her now from across the room as she stands in front of our dresser mirror, her fingers ghosting over her neck. There’s something in her eyes—something raw and unguarded. Shame? Longing?

I set my drink down with a sharp clink against the marble countertop. “Where were you last night?”

She flinches, her reflection locking eyes with mine in the mirror. “I told you. Out with Olivia.”

Lies.

I step closer, watching the way she stiffens. My gaze sweeps over her, noting the way her dress from yesterday is wrinkled, hastily thrown on.

She didn't change before coming home.

"You expect me to believe you spent the entire night with Olivia and didn’t even bother to come home to your own husband?" My voice is calm, but I see the way she swallows hard.

“I didn’t think you’d care.”

I almost laugh at that. “You don’t get to play the neglected wife, Sera.”

Because that’s what she’s doing, right? Trying to justify whatever the fuck she’s done by pretending I pushed her to it?

I reach for my drink again, swirling the amber liquid. “You know, if you wanted to get back at me for Celeste, you should’ve been more careful about covering your tracks.”

Her whole body goes rigid. Bingo.

I smirk, taking a slow sip of my drink.

“You reek of guilt, Sera.”

She doesn’t answer.

But she doesn’t deny it either.

---

SERA’S POV

I can't breathe.

Ethan's words slam into me, and for a moment, I feel like my entire body is wrapped in chains, pulling me down, suffocating me in my own shame.

He knows.

He suspects something.

I force my hands to remain still, even as my body betrays me with subtle tremors. I keep my face blank, refusing to meet his gaze.

"You're being paranoid." My voice is steady, but it feels like a lie in itself.

Ethan chuckles darkly, swirling his drink again. "Am I?"

Yes. No. I don't know.

I turn back toward the mirror, my eyes catching the faint, barely-there bruise on my collarbone. Raven's lips. Raven’s teeth.

I press my fingers against it, my skin igniting from the ghost of her touch.

A rush of memories floods through me—her body against mine, the way she made me forget everything, even my own name. My stomach clenches with something twisted and dangerous. I hate myself for it.

I hate myself for wanting more.

Then, my phone buzzes.

I stiffen immediately, every nerve in my body screaming. I don’t have to check to know who it is.

I force myself to casually walk over to the bed, picking it up like it’s nothing. Like it’s just Olivia or a work email. But as soon as I see the message, my blood turns to fire.

"You can pretend all you want, but your body doesn’t lie."

I squeeze my eyes shut.

Raven.

What is she doing to me?

I feel Ethan’s presence behind me, and I shove the phone into my pocket, my pulse hammering. I need to get out of here.

I turn on my heel, grabbing my bag. "I have a meeting," I mutter, already moving toward the door.

Ethan doesn’t stop me. He just watches.

Like a predator waiting to strike.

And somehow, that terrifies me more than if he had.