The sunlight filtered weakly through the mist that had crept into the room overnight, entering through the wide-open window left bare of curtains. A chill hung in the air soft, gentle, almost intimate in the way it kissed the skin.Arnav shifted in bed, the silk sheet slipping from his waist as he adjusted his position, only to freeze the moment he realized he wasn’t alone. Lying beside him, nestled into the warmth of his body like she belonged there, was a woman. His wife. Her face was relaxed, lips slightly parted in a content slumber, and there was a serenity in her expression that unsettled him in ways he couldn't explain.What the hell was this feeling?He had slept with countless women. That wasn’t new. What was new, however, was waking up next to one. Spending the night. Not sneaking out at dawn or kicking them out before the sun dared to rise. Not even Clarissa, the woman who had once stolen his heart his ex-wife, his first and only true love had ever shared a full night with
Raellyn’s fingers curled timidly around the length of something that had stiffened beneath her touch. It was the first time in her entire life she had ever held something so hot, so alive like steel set aflame. Her breath hitched as Arnav clenched his jaw, a low groan escaping him when her fingers dared to move with the lightest pressure, tracing the unfamiliar heat with hesitant curiosity.“You like my touch, don’t you, sir?”“Raellyn.” Her name came out barely a whisper, a throaty plea that curled into the space between them like smoke. But the way he said it fragile, restrained, desperate felt like an urgent call for her to fill the aching void that lived somewhere deep inside him.“You want this?” she asked again, her voice a blend of innocence and provocation, while the man beneath her simply clenched his jaw tighter, suppressing another shuddering breath.A mischievous giggle slipped from her lips, satisfaction washing over her. If this was her chance to reclaim even a fragment
Raellyn was no longer herself.Every shred of control she thought she had was stripped away by a whirlwind of unfamiliar sensations, piling in faster than she could comprehend. Too many new sensations she couldn’t name, too many foreign sparks awakening across her skin in the span of a few stolen breaths. Her mind couldn’t keep up. Her body had long since betrayed her. Her breath caught as the sound of tearing fabric sliced through the room, and only then did she realize her thin nightdress had been ripped clean down the middle exposing her from neckline to stomach as though it were nothing more than silk paper.A scream ripped from her throat, but before she could register the sound, she was lifted weightless into the air. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist like she was meant to belong there, and in that moment, the heat in her body surged violently.Heat coiled deep inside her, tightening with every press of his body against hers. Her skin burned. Every brush of his han
Raellyn could hear the soft click of the door shutting behind her back, followed by the unmistakable sound of measured footsteps drawing nearer every passing second. She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Of course it was him. Who else would come into this room at this hour, in this silence? And yet, something within her rebelled against acknowledging his presence too soon. She stubbornly refused to turn around. She remained by the window, slightly ajar, staring into the dark of night illuminated only by the scattered glitter of stars and a pale, watching moon. Stars blinked like secrets too heavy to bear, and the moon hung like a watchful eye, half-hidden by drifting clouds.She wondered, briefly, if Arnav had expected to find her buried beneath the sheets, pretending to be sleep. It had crossed her mind not long ago. But instead of running, in the end, she chose to face her husband properly, setting aside the fear that had bloomed in her chest since her unsettling conver
He had just married a woman.A woman who claimed to be his brother’s lover or more harshly, Arsene’s mistress. Now, he was no longer that lonely, divorced man often gossiped about by idle tongues. At least, he no longer had to throw away money just to satiate his desires on nameless, faceless women whose existence ended the moment he zipped up his pants.Arnav stood tall before the wide, arched window of his study also functioning as his private library. Tonight, he left the window wide open, allowing the cold night breeze to slip in and cool the growing heat pounding against his temples. With a slow, deliberate motion, he reached into the pocket of his trousers, feeling for an object he hadn’t expected to ever hold again.A pendant.The same pendant Arsene had once given to Raellyn.A humorless smile tugged at the corner of Arnav’s lips. He lifted his glass, half in mockery, half in solemn tribute, as if toasting the ghost of his mother then downed the remaining whiskey in one gulp.
Raellyn instinctively turned around, startled, when the heavy wooden door creaked open and revealed the presence of a woman dressed in neat servant attire stepping into the room. There was something unsettling in the quiet grace with which she moved too calm, too precise. It amplified Raellyn’s anxiety rather than soothing it.“Madam Raellyn,” the woman spoke with a small, respectful bow. “My name is Rona. I have been assigned by Master Arnav to be your personal maid starting tonight.”“Hello, Rona,” Raellyn responded almost too quickly, her voice an octave higher than usual.It was as though a switch had flipped inside her.In an instant, she morphed into a role she had written a dozen times in her scripts the elegant wife of a powerful man, composed, commanding, untouchable. Her trembling heart was locked behind the façade of a woman who had it all under control. Even she was stunned by how swiftly she was able to shove away her inner turmoil. Was this power or was it fear, disguise