Lahat ng Kabanata ng Burning Embers: Scorching Tales of Desire : Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

The door shut hard behind them, a dull thud that made Caleb’s pulse spike. Brandon leaned back against the wood, chest rising and falling like he’d sprinted here, eyes fixed on Caleb like he’d been starving.Caleb swallowed, throat dry. “You sure you want this?”Brandon’s smirk was crooked, soft. “Been sure for a long time.”That was all it took. Caleb crossed the room and slammed their mouths together, teeth knocking, tongues colliding, a mess of heat and desperation. Brandon’s hands clawed at his shirt, dragging it up, and Caleb yanked it over his head with a growl.They stumbled toward the bed, clothes flying, bodies colliding. Brandon shoved him down first, crawling over him, lips pressing frantic kisses along his jaw. Caleb hissed, gripping his hair, pulling him back up into another kiss that was all teeth and breathless sound.“Jonas,” Caleb gasped against his mouth, not realizing until it slipped out.Brandon froze for hal

The crowd had finally thinned enough that Jonas noticed them. He smiled, warm, natural, as though nothing in the world had ever come between them. Caleb’s breath hitched beside Brandon, but as always, he said nothing.Jonas stepped forward. “Thanks for coming. Rafael really pulled this together, he’s insane with these things, right?”Caleb gave a faint nod, lips parting but no words forming. Brandon, steady as stone, filled the silence for him.“He is. You know Rafa, if it’s not over the top, it’s not him,” Brandon said, the edge of a chuckle softening the words. “Caleb wouldn’t miss it. He’s been looking forward to this.”Jonas’s eyes flicked to Caleb, who lowered his gaze. “Really?” he asked, gently.Caleb swallowed. Brandon stepped in again, tilting his head toward his brother. “Yeah. He doesn’t say much, but trust me, he’s always paying attention. You’d be surprised what he notices.”Jonas’s smile deepened. “That’s… good to h

The camera never left his neck.Brandon noticed first thing in the morning, Caleb sitting at the breakfast table with the strap digging into his collar, lens cap clicking between his restless fingers. He wore it in class, at meals, even when they were just lounging in their room. At first Brandon didn’t say a word. He knew better than to pry.But it was the absences that spoke loudest. Every break, Caleb vanished. Always alone. Always with the camera.Brandon found out where when he followed, just once. He saw Caleb in the library corner, crouched low, the shutter whispering. The lens was aimed at Jonas, fast asleep over a pile of books, cheek pressed against his folded arm.Click.Jonas’ mouth parted.Click.The sunlight caught in his hair.Click.Brandon’s chest tightened. He turned away before Caleb spotted him.After that, he stopped following. He didn’t need to. He already knew what the pi

The antiseptic tang of the hospital never faded. It clung to the walls, seeped into the air, and settled into Caleb’s throat like chalk. He lingered just beyond the glass panel of the recovery ward door, watching. Always watching.Inside, Brandon sat propped up against a nest of white pillows, his arm bandaged, his leg in a heavy cast suspended by a sling. The bruises on his face had already turned from purple to yellow, ugly and blooming, but he looked alive. Alive, and, Caleb’s stomach twisted, occupied.Rafael stood at his bedside, impossibly calm, one hand resting on Jonas’ shoulder as if grounding him. A bag of fruit sat on the rolling table, bright against the sterile white.“Thank you,” Rafael said, his voice steady as steel. He inclined his head, a gesture rare and deliberate. “For saving him.”Brandon gave a short nod. “Wasn’t much of a choice.”“It was everything,” Jonas murmured. He leaned closer, peeling an apple with the clum

Caleb didn’t think. He couldn’t, his hands were already in Brandon’s shirt, pulling, clawing, needing. His breath came in ragged gasps, not because of lust alone but because every second he wasn’t touching him felt like drowning.Brandon shoved him back against the door, the force rattling it in its frame. Their mouths crashed together, teeth scraping, tongues clashing, the kiss more brutal than tender. It wasn’t careful, it was years of unspoken want, of Caleb’s blindness, of Brandon’s patience turned into something molten.“Say it again,” Brandon growled into his mouth, fingers gripping his jaw hard enough to bruise. “Say you love me.”“I love you,” Caleb gasped, desperate, his voice breaking as Brandon’s hand slid down his chest, grabbing at his belt. “I fucking love you, Brandon. I was so...so stupid...”Brandon silenced him with another bruising kiss, undoing his belt with rough, impatient jerks. Caleb moaned into his mouth, grindin