RiverIt wasn’t over.Sage showed no mercy. He lifted himself off me and sat on the edge of the bed. Beside him, I panted heavily; this was, without question, the best sex I’d ever had.I felt drained. Completely wrecked. And oddly enough, refreshed even after just one round. That wasn’t like me.He tapped my arm lightly. “On your feet,” he ordered.I blinked at him, confused. The tone in his voice made it clear he wasn’t done with me, but I didn’t know what else I had to give. I felt like I had nothing left.His lips curled into a smirk as he watched me push myself up, my chest heaving, my cock limp. Wrecked didn’t even begin to cover it.Still, I stood in front of him, legs trembling as I struggled to find my footing. Sage spread his legs open. “You messed me up,” he said, voice low. “Lick me clean.”My mouth parted. I blinked fast. But I’d be an idiot to hesitate. I dropped to my knees, muscles weak. He didn’t wait—he grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged my face between his t
RiverI pulled away from the kiss a minute later, staring into his eyes, and I faintly recalled the look on his face when he said he couldn’t trust me anymore.The feelings I’d experienced then were indescribable. All I could feel now was this heavy pain pressing against my chest but it was getting better.“I thought you didn’t trust me anymore,” I said breathlessly.Sage didn’t give me the chance to whine or dwell in unnecessary drama.“Stop talking.” He grabbed my shirt and yanked me forward, his mouth crashing against mine in a bruising kiss.I responded instinctively, parting my lips and taking his tongue into my mouth.A sharp pressure on my lower lip made me groan. I pulled away, tasting the familiar tang of iron.He’d bitten me. Hard enough to draw blood.“Take off your clothes,” he ordered, his voice low and commanding.I blinked, a little shocked by the sudden shift in his tone. My lips curved in amusement, was he trying to be dominant?Oh my poor, sweet Sage.What I hadn’t e
RiverI wish I could say it was over after it but no.It was silent.I hated silence.The way it made my head itch and defenses rise to the point where I couldn’t control it.I knew there were things I wanted to say to him, to make him feel better but he would think I was just saying to distract him.He said he wasn’t sure of his choices, but I knew he was just waiting for assurance. I was standing beside the window, unable to sit by him and just hold my hands.Behind me, Sage sat on the edge of the couch, his hands restless, twisting the fabric of his sleeve like it might offer him an answer.He hadn’t looked at me since he told me he wasn’t sure about his choices.I ran a hand through my hair, “Sage… please.”He didn’t move.I stepped closer. “I’m not asking you to forget what’s happened. I know how much has gone wrong. I know how much of that leads back to me. But I need you to hear this.”Still, he said nothing. Just sat, head down, back tense.I knelt in front of him, gently reac
RiverI woke up in the middle of the night with Sage’s body curled beside mine, his breath soft, barely audible. He looked peaceful but there were too many questions left unanswered, too many shadows crawling at the edges of the silence between us.And one of them had finally spoken.“Do you love me?”His voice still echoed in my ears. I hadn’t lied. But I hadn’t given him what he needed either. Maybe because I was too much of a coward, or maybe because love, real, messy love was never something I learned to express with words. I’d always been a man of control, of precision. My affection lived in the things I did, the risks I took, the people I protected. Not the things I said.I sat up, running a hand through my hair, sweat cold against my back. Something about that question wouldn’t let me rest. Something about the way he asked it—like he knew more than he was telling me.I knew I distracted him with the sex but it still wasn’t enough to end this nagging feeling.On instinct, I reac
RiverI blinked.Not because I hadn’t thought about it. Not because it was unexpected. But because… he had no idea how loaded that question was.I have been so busy thinking of how to coordinate my house, and here he was throwing me off my guts.“Sage…” I began, stepping closer.He didn’t back away. He just sat there, waiting.“I…” I faltered, the words catching somewhere between my chest and my throat.This wasn’t just a question. It was a verdict. And whatever I said, however I said it would determine what he did next.“I’ve shown you I care,” I finally said, trying to tread carefully. “I’ve stayed. I’ve protected you. That has to mean something.”He tilted his head, skeptical. “That wasn’t an answer.”“I’m not someone who says things just to say them,” I told him. “I don’t use the word love lightly.”“Is it that hard to say it to me?” His voice cracked just enough to twist something sharp in my chest.I exhaled slowly. “I don’t want to say it because you want to hear it. I want you
SageI stared at the message on my phone, my thumb hovering over the screen like it weighed a hundred pounds.“Tick tock. You have a few hours left.”A few hours left for what, exactly? To stay alive? To make a choice that would save Kaiden? Or to betray the only man who ever claimed to care about me?I didn’t know what to do. Should I tell the professor about it? Could I even trust him enough to confide in him now? I dropped the phone on the nightstand like it had burned me, leaned back into my, and tried to regulate my breathing. But it was impossible. I was jumpy, fidgeting, my fingers twitching, my knee bouncing. Every sound outside made my heart lurch. We had gone back to the professor’s place because he said he couldn’t bear to be apart from me when things weren’t normal.Of course, Amir was guarding the door while I stayed in. I was so jumpy and scared of being alone but I didn’t dare tell them that. I was determined to keep it to myself till I felt like I could trust them bu
SageI sat on the edge of the bed, my fingers trembling as I stared at the door he’d just walked out of. My body was sore, and my throat dry, but none of that compared to the war going on in my head.Desmond. That was his name. The man who took me. Who told me stories I didn’t want to believe but couldn’t ignore. He said he’d give me time to think. That was the worst part of it. He wasn’t threatening me, not directly. He was giving me a choice. A twisted, impossible one.I could exchange the professor for Kaiden.“Think about it,” Desmond had said, his voice low, persuasive. “All I want is what’s fair. What’s just. The professor made his choice years ago. Now it’s your turn. Choose who deserves to pay. Him or Kaiden.”And then, without a word more, he’d taken me home.The car ride had been quiet. Desmond didn’t say a word. I didn’t either. I kept waiting for the twist, for the trap to snap. But none came. Instead, they pulled up in front of my house and left me at the gate like some
SageThe first thing I noticed was the smell, like cheap perfume spilled over rot. It smelled really terrible, ugh! Then came the color. The room was pink. Not a soft, charming pink either, but loud, bubblegum pink, like someone had tried to make a brothel look like a dollhouse and failed spectacularly. I blinked against the cheap light fixture overhead, every flicker stabbing my skull.I was lying on a bed. My arms were heavy, my legs worse. My head… it wasn’t right. It felt like I’d been caught in a washing machine on spin cycle. My stomach twisted with every breath.“Ugh…” I groaned, raising a hand to my temple. I could barely sit up, and when I did, the whole room tilted like a carnival ride.My voice came out hoarse. “Where… the hell am I?”Footsteps. I hadn’t heard the door open, but I heard them now. Slow, deliberate steps on a hardwood floor. I looked up, blinking hard.A man stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the hall light. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His features were h
RiverI hadn’t slept.The sunrise poured through my office window like a mockery, soft golden light slipping across scattered papers and coffee-stained folders. I didn’t look at it. My eyes were fixed on my phone, the last message I sent to Sage still hanging there unanswered.The silence hadn’t broken.By seven a.m., I was on my feet and pacing. I had already been to Sage’s apartment. His bed was untouched. No signs of return. No notes. Nothing.I returned to school, so determined to find out who the student was.I headed straight to the records department.The admin looked up from her desk with mild disinterest. “Can I help you, Professor River?”“I need information on a student,” I said, already placing a printed photo on the counter. “Blond, tall, was wearing a black hoodie last night. Name unknown. He left a party with one of my student, Sage Fleming. I need to know if he’s enrolled here.”She blinked at me, clearly startled by my tone, then reached for the photo. “Do you have a