Semua Bab Burning Embers: Scorching Tales of Desire : Bab 51 - Bab 60

The next day started with heavy air and barely restrained nerves. Paul didn’t sleep. Pete did, but only because Paul told him to, curled around him like armor, breathing hard like he was still inside that moment from the locker room. They didn’t speak about it. They never needed to. But today, everything felt… unsettled.Paul’s phone buzzed mid-morning. A number he recognized, one he didn’t care to save. Carlos.“Need to talk. Urgent. Bring your twin. Behind the back gym building. You’ll wanna hear this.”The vagueness alone would’ve warranted a block, but the fact that Carlos mentioned Pete made Paul’s jaw lock. Pete was still drying his hair after a shower, humming something stupid. Paul deleted the message and didn’t mention it.But by lunch, another one came.“Don’t make me say it out loud in the hallway, Paul. Back gym. 2PM.”This time, Paul didn’t delete it.When 2 PM came, Paul walked toward th

Carlos did what he said he would.The very next day, the whispers began.It started in the locker rooms, spilled down hallways, and wove itself into the murmurs exchanged between desks. Someone had heard it from someone who trusted someone who knew Carlos, and that someone said they'd heard something… unsettling in the back building showers.At first, it was all a suggestion. Too vague. Too scandalous.But then came the details. Too sharp to be dismissed. Two boys. A locker door. A moan. Names attached, so confidently spoken.Paul and Pete.The twins.It split the campus like a blade.Some didn’t believe it, but refused to. “They’re brothers,” a girl scoffed at lunch. “That’s disgusting. He’s just making it up.”But others… others had seen too much. The way they walked too close, how they never seemed to mind boundaries. One’s shirt on the other. Whispers between them lingered longer than normal. The wa

Victor sat slumped in his usual corner of the late-night train, tie loosened, collar damp with sweat, the sterile overhead lights making his pale reflection look even more ghost-like in the window. Just him.Another day buried in quarterly reports and passive-aggressive emails. Another evening walking home under flickering streetlights and the pitying stares of passing couples. The smell of takeout clung to his shirt.He tried. Once. Love. But life made no room for the kind of desire he harbored. Not in a world that still whispered behind closed doors and flinched at softness between men. So he kept it hidden. Locked it down under Excel sheets and productivity trackers.Work made it easier to forget.Except on weekends.Saturday, 10:38 p.m.Victor shut the door of his cramped apartment and flicked off the living room light. The room was cleaned, scented. A low jazz instrumental played from the corner speaker.H

The air inside the summoning chamber shimmered. Dawn had barely cracked the horizon, yet the spell circle underfoot pulsed with a glow as if the sun itself had descended. Silvery runes spiraled out across the polished marble floor, circling both Victor and the Duke, naked and standing within the central glyph. Zaphis stood just outside the ring, his robes lifted slightly as his hands moved with graceful, ancient precision.“Remember,” Zaphis said calmly, though his voice carried weight. “The bond must be sealed through pleasure. At climax, your spirits must align, or the magic will break and never take root again.”Victor’s mouth twitched. “You could’ve at least offered wine first.”Aaron didn’t smile, though something in his eyes flickered. “You asked for duty, Hero. This is the price. Shall I take it easy on you?”Victor glanced at the man, his Duke, standing proud, broad shoulders relaxed, but a storm restrained behind his pale eyes. That voice

Victor dismounted the wyvern, his boots landing hard against the stone courtyard. Blood clung to his armor, not his own. Another mission. Another victory. Another massacre. His fingers flexed around the hilt of his blade, still warm. The garrison guard bowed as he passed, but he ignored them, eyes already lifting toward the manor perched on the hill.Aaron’s home.Victor didn’t ask for a feast or applause. He just wanted to see him, Duke Aaron, his reason. His anchor.But the doors didn’t open for him. No one waited.Instead, from the shadows of the archway, he saw Aaron step out in his formal black cloak. And behind him… four knights followed.Victor froze.The laughter of one knight echoed faintly as the door shut behind them all.His hand clenched so tightly around his blade, the leather grip groaned. He forced his gaze away, retreating into the barracks without a word. Cold water. No food. He washed the blood off, th