جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

LIZAEveryone thinks the beautiful ones have it easy. Like, that beauty is like armour or something. But it's not. Sometimes it's a target, a package and beautiful embroidery covering invisible scars while you wave through it all, smiling brazenly even while broken just to avoid anything tampering with the image of perfection the world has of you at all times.I discovered that at a young age.You walk down the corridor with hips that sashay too far, curves that refuse to fit neatly into polite bounds, and suddenly everyone has a name for you. Temptation. Distraction. Sin.I never asked for that. I just wanted to be invisible and map my world in silence.It failed.Not then. Today.And certainly not when Steel—Steel—looked at me like that.Like I was something more or less than the name they called me.As if I were a mermaid.When he saved me that day, I was already hanging by a thread. That prof… I'd always known he creeped me out the first day. The way his gaze lingered on me too lo

SINI tried to keep some distance between us, the rumours were flying around wildly and overwhelming, female teachers were telling not to ruin my great academic start up life, basically everyone warned me off him so I decided to give a little bit of space but his eyes lingered too long, his hand stayed too long on my back and I should’ve been scared of him. Everyone said he was dangerous. Tattoos. The leather jacket. The motorcycle that roared like thunder. The way he gave orders to the Vikings like he was their president but sitting with him on the admin steps as the sun set? I didn’t feel threatened. I felt safe and that scared me more than anything.“Angel Mark,” he’d said softly.Nobody had called me that in years. It used to sound like hope. Now it felt like he was digging up bones I buried.I told myself to get up, to walk away. But then he smiled at me. Not the cocky smirk everyone else knew him for. This was different. A little shy, a little careful. Like if he moved too fast

STEEL I held her face, struggling to look at her. "I need to hear you, Angel. You're certain? You want this?" She nodded, gasping for breath. "I want you." Shit. That really did it for me. I kissed her again, this time harder, tongue against hers as my hand moved down her side, slipping beneath the waistband of her jeans. She moaned into my mouth, her whole body tensing before relaxing against me. You're shaking, I whispered against her lips. Because of you, she breathed. My heart squeezed. "Good. I want you to be shaking for me." I unbuckled her jeans slowly, giving her the opportunity to stop me if she wanted. She didn't. She lifted her hips, and I pulled them off her legs. My breath caught when I revealed her in lace. "Jesus, Sin." My voice was raw, stunned. "You're gonna kill me.". She flushed, attempting to slip away, but I caught her wrists in a gentle hold. "No hiding. Not from me." Her lips parted as I kissed down her belly, then lower, placing my mouth a

KNOXThere are a lot of things I’ve seen in this life — broken bones, broken hearts, brothers laid six feet under, and enemies begging for mercy they didn’t deserve. But I’ve never seen Steel nervous. Not once.Until tonight.We stood shoulder to shoulder in the velvet-covered entrance hall, our suits tight around our broad shoulders, our tattoos hidden under cuffs and collars that didn't quite fit us. The overhead chandeliers were so clean they almost blinded me, the scent of money, power, and politics strong enough to choke a man.Steel pulled at his shirt cuffs, his jaw tightening enough that the scar that bisected his chin danced. He'd been quiet the whole damn ride over here, which wasn't like him. Normally, he'd crack some dry joke, fire up a cigarette, or rant about the suits he hated having to deal with. But tonight? Nothing. As though he sensed something was lurking on the horizon.We didn't come for drinks. Boyce Drips — the Prime Minister — was the reason we were at this ci

LIZAI stared at myself in the gilded mirror. My hands were shaking.Boyce was again on stage, standing straight like the puppet master he had always wanted to become, asking for money with cool sophistication. I could hear him through the marble walls, smooth, honeyed, honeyed voice."we feel that with your assistance, we can strengthen the pillars of economic stability for the generations ahead."I needed a break from the circus so I moved away, excusing myself from the table, I slipped out, ignoring Jaden's questioning glance and Jasson's scowl. They hated Boyce—outrageously, unapologetically—but they respected my choice. That was the unspoken understanding.I went into the ladies' room. It was lavish—ornate chandeliers above and lavender-scented towels below—but no amount of luxury could calm the storm raging inside me.I did not expect the door to open behind me so quickly.I did not expect him.Steel.He shut the door behind him and locked it. Click."What are you doing?" I hiss