Ao3 Isolation Novels & Stories

I opened it with so much force that it swayed hard and banged into the wall. And here he was my mate on the bed with another woman, he stopped smooching his whore and turned to look at me in surprise. His expression was half satisfaction like knowing he was hurting me and half annoyance like why would I barge in on him but it was enough to embolden me to what I had to do. I took a deep breath but it was like inhaling daggers, I closed my eyes to steady my pounding heart and I opened my eyes and declared “ I, Isabella Cross, reject you, Alpha Arden Vinci as my mate. Let all bonds between us be broken, now and forever.”

He kept shaking his head while saying these. Aiko briefly forgot about her trauma. She rolled her eyes. “We’re not in a relationship. And you got the law twisted, it’s only illegal if we —“ Aiko pulled her hair down. “See? see? What if you get pregnant?” “Oh, now I’m pregnant. I haven’t even kissed a guy.” “You, teenagers.” “You’re also a teenager.” “I’ll tell your sister about this.” Aiko is getting irked so she said, “You’re on her blacklist.”

"No more shared meals. No more proximity. I am confining you to the lower cells. The bond is eroding my edge, making me soft, making me vulnerable. I need to break it, or it will break me." Lior stood, his movements fluid and predatory. "Isolating me will only accelerate the decay of your sanity, Aziel. You felt it during the ritual with the witches—the bond doesn't wither in the dark; it feeds on the distance. Why do you insist on fighting a force that is now as much a part of you as the marrow in your bones?"

It was the only scent in the world that didn't make his throat tighten or his skin flare with hives. He walked to the vanity where she had left a stray hair tie and a stack of discarded script pages. He picked up a page, his thumb brushing over the lines she had highlighted. She was out there, in the "poisonous" world, breathing unfiltered air and standing under harsh lights, while he was trapped in this beautiful, air-conditioned tomb. He sat on the edge of her bed, his head dropping into his hands. The isolation he had cultivated for thirty years—the isolation that had kept him alive—now felt like a slow-acting poison.

|| Isabella's POV || I was discharged from the hospital three days later and returned home to recuperate. The house felt different now. Larger. Emptier. Even with Sophie in my arms, even with Mrs. Rivera fussing over us both, I felt the weight of isolation pressing down on me. Since Aaron wouldn't agree to a divorce, I had to find another way. I couldn't stay trapped in this marriage forever. Couldn't raise my daughter in this cold, hostile environment where she'd be fought over like a prize, where her grandmother saw her as property and her father saw her as an obligation.

Or innocence. It was about signal strength inside a system. And hers was weakening. Not because of truth. But because of classification. Aurora looked down briefly. Processing. Not emotion. Impact. Then she spoke again. “This means I’m closer to being isolated,” she said. Elias didn’t deny it. “Yes.” A pause. “And that means I become easier to position,” she added. “Yes.” Silence. Not fear. Not panic. Recognition of trajectory. Aurora stood again.

He yelled, making the man distance the phone from his ear on the other end. “What do you mean?” “Quit it! You'd better bring Heidi out or this Young Master will make sure you eat cow dung for breakfast!” Zach hung up, pacing back and forth. From the couch, Isla said helplessly. “Mr. Olsen, what if Ms. Olsen hasn't left the bar yet? She might be downstairs to catch fun.” “Heidi is obsessed with isolation, there's no way she'll mingle with others.”

“I think it’s you who’s been disrespectful. You’ve been lying to everyone, pretending that Aurora means nothing to you. But you and I both know that’s a lie.” Zayn’s eyes flashed with anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed. “Get out.” “Oh, I know exactly what I’m talking about,” Isla shot back. She took a step closer to him, her voice rising with each word. “I saw you, Zayn. I saw you with Aurora. You two mated.” Zayn’s breath hitched for a moment, but he quickly masked it with a scoff. “So what if we did?” he said coldly. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

Wasn't going to use any of his considerable power to shield her from the public destruction. Because this was part of it. Part of the punishment. Part of the control. He wanted her to have nowhere else to go. Wanted her reputation destroyed. Wanted her so thoroughly trapped that he became her only option, her only shelter—even if that shelter was a cage. Aria walked back to the guest room. Lay down in the expensive sheets that felt like ice against her skin. And understood, finally, what he'd done. The thirty days of isolation had broken her mentally. The contract had trapped her legally. The sex had claimed her physically.

FORBIDDEN FLAMES 3 ARIA’S POV I can’t stay away. The next evening, after closing the café alone, I drive straight to Serena’s house. Marcus is away on a three-day buying trip for new coffee beans. Exactly the perfect timing. My body has been on fire all day, my pussy throbbing with every shift of my thighs, my nipples aching against my bra from the memory of Serena’s mouth and fingers in the gallery last night. She brought me to the edge so many times, made me squirt on her tongue, then came on my face like I was her personal toy. But she stopped short of full release for both of us, whispering, “We savor the sin.” I’ve been dripping wet ever since, desperate for more.