(Noah's POV)I don’t remember walking out of that bathroom.I don’t remember how we left the party or what expressions were on people’s faces.All I know is Lucien had me in his arms. One under my knees, the other around my back. Holding me like I weighed nothing. Like I was nothing but something fragile. Breakable. His jaw was tight, his body rigid, and I could feel the heat radiating off him like fire trapped under marble skin. But the arms around me were careful. Deliberate. Possessive.I curled closer to his chest without thinking. Without shame.The cool night air brushed against my face, softening the tremble in my limbs. Lucien didn’t say a word. Just walked, calm and unbothered, until we reached the sleek black car waiting outside. The driver stood already at attention, opened the door without being told.Lucien didn’t let me go.Not even then.He slid into the backseat with me still held to his chest like some delicate heirloom. My fingers clutched his jacket. I don’t even re
(Noah's POV)The car ride was quiet.Not the awkward kind, not tense. Just…quiet. Like a still pond. Lucien sat beside me, a picture of cold perfection in his suit, one leg crossed, fingers tapping lightly against the leather armrest. There was a silver ring on his thumb I hadn’t noticed before.He didn’t say anything. Didn’t need to. He didn’t have to touch me either. Not physically.Because I could already feel him. That gaze. The weight of it.My body remembered it too well. The plug inside me was a constant reminder, sitting snug in my ass, unmoving for now, but heavy, pressing into me, like a little secret buzzing in the dark, waiting. Like Lucien was there even when he wasn’t.I shifted a little in my seat.Wrong move.Lucien’s eyes slid toward me. Slowly.I froze.He tilted his head slightly. One brow raised, not in question, but command. Stay still, it said. Behave.I did.The venue looked like something straight out of a billionaire’s fever dream.Gold lights. Smooth jazz ble
(Noah's POV)I stood there, blinking. Maybe too many times.Did he just say—?Lucien tilted his head slightly. “Strip, Noah.”My brain glitched.I didn’t move at first. I just stared at him, caught between confusion and alarm. That one word had yanked the ground from under me.Strip?He didn’t sound angry. Or eager. Just…expectant. Like it was the most normal request in the world. Like asking someone to hand over the salt.But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even swallow the lump in my throat. There was a pressure tightening around my chest like an invisible string being pulled."I…" My throat burned. “I’m not having sex with you right now. We—we agreed to take it slow. On my own terms.” The words came out flat and fast, and maybe a little shaky at the end. “If you wanted to… you could’ve, I don’t know, given me a heads-up or something so I could prepare—”“Sex?” Lucien cut in, one brow raised, a smirk ghosting over his mouth. “You have high expectations.”That made my brain short-circuit
(Noah’s POV)I don’t know what time I woke up. It was bright outside, but not too bright. The kind of light that slips through the window and gently licks your eyelids, not enough to burn, just enough to tug. The bed smelled like Lucien — leather and something darker underneath, like a storm caught inside silk. Okay, that doesn't make sense but it also doesn't make sense how my bed smelled like Lucien and we didn't spend the night together or something like that.I stretched. Groaned. Blinked at the ceiling.And smiled.That… wasn’t supposed to happen.I never smile in the morning. Especially not when my thighs are sore and my knees remember what floor tile feels like.But today, my body didn’t ache in the bad way. It felt warm. Settled. A little floaty, like I was still underwater. Still in that headspace from last night. Safe.I pulled the hoodie tighter around me and stepped out into the hall, unsure if I was even allowed to just wander.Lucien was already seated at the breakfast t
(POV: Third Person Limited (Noah)Lucien didn’t bring him back to the room immediately.That morning, Noah woke up to sunlight streaming across his sheets— the room had a window all along, Lucien didn't just grant it to Noah.There’s plate of toast left on his nightstand, still warm. No note. Just quiet footsteps outside his door, fading.It was the silence that made his chest ache more than anything.He wasn’t sure what they were anymore.He wasn’t even sure what he was anymore.A captive?A roommate?A… pet?His hand moved on its own, fingers brushing over the collarbone that almost held a real collar the night before.Noah didn’t understand what was happening between them — not really — but one thing he knew was this:Lucien didn’t show him that room to scare him.He showed it to prepare him.The invitation came with a knock.Lucien didn’t barge in. Didn’t issue an order.He knocked.And when Noah opened the door, hoodie sleeves swallowed around his hands, Lucien only said one thin
(POV: Third Person's Limited— Noah)“Go to your room, Noah.”Noah didn’t move.Lucien didn’t blink.The air between them was carved sharp—cold marble over raw nerves.Then, Lucien added—quiet, flat, dangerous:“Before I forget how much I enjoy watching you sleep.”Noah swallowed.But he didn’t back down.Not this time.His voice was hoarse, pulled straight from the pit in his chest. “No.”Lucien tilted his head, just slightly.“I’m not leaving until you tell me what the hell I’m doing here,” Noah said. “You kidnapped me, tore apart my life, and now you won’t even look at me unless it’s to remind me I’m replaceable?”Lucien’s eyes didn’t flicker. Not once.“And yet,” Noah continued, “you stopped Red from hitting me. You carried me out of the room. You brought me snacks. You—” he exhaled hard, heat prickling behind his eyes, “—you watched me jerk off and didn’t say shit. You just watched. So if I’m a prisoner, then act like it. Chain me up. Punish me. Be the monster I know you are. But