“Jesus, Kyle—don’t,” I start, but he’s already reaching out, fingertips brushing my wrist.
“Hey,” he says softly, trying for lightness. “It’s okay. I’m not judging. Adrenaline, right?” He chuckles, a sound that’s supposed to ease the tension. It doesn’t. “We’ve all had nights we couldn’t turn it off.”
He moves closer and the small bathroom shrinks around us. His voice dips lower. “You could’ve just asked, you know.”
My chest tightens. “Kyle?—”
He doesn’t wait. He just cups my jaw gently, thumb tracing the edge of my lip. His eyes search mine for permission, for something. I don’t give it. I don’t stop him either. When he leans in, his mouth warm and tentative, I freeze.
God, I should stop this. I can’t be hurting him like this.
My cock presses against his, warm and inviting.
I kiss him back.
It starts soft. He tastes like mint gum and the cheap hotel coffee he always drinks before bed. His hands are careful, considerate. My pulse stays erratic, but for all the wrong reasons.
Then he deepens the kiss, pulling me closer, his hand sliding to the back of my neck. His touch is solid and familiar, but all I can think of is howwrongit feels—how light compared to the searing weight of Magnus’s hands earlier.
I should be here. I should want this.
Instead, my brain betrays me again. I see blue eyes, not brown. I hear that low voice, teasing, cruel, whispering my name like it belongs to him.
The thought is poison. It floods every nerve. I kiss Kyle harder, desperate, trying to erase it. Trying to feel something else. He responds instantly, surprised by the heat, pulling me flush against him. He rubs the bulge in my pants, pulling a groan from me.
Magnus would tell me how well I was doing. Stop.
Kyle picks me up, puts me on the counter so he can stand between my legs, and kisses my jaw with featherlight kisses.
Magnus would bite me until his mark was branded on my skin.
Kyle rubs me through my pants, his large hands feeling surprisingly good. I press my face into his neck as he whispers in my ear. “Don’t stress. I know you don’t want to sleep together yet. I’m just helping you out.”
Magnus would have fucked me with no hesitation. He would use me until he was satisfied. He’d make sure I was drenched in my tears and his come. He would tear me in half and put me back together so he could break me again. And he would tell me I’m pretty all the while.
I come hard in my pants, pressing my face into Magnus’s shoulder. “Fuck.”
Wait, Kyle. I’m with Kyle.
Shit, I’m chasing a ghost.
Kyle’s breath hitches.
He groans, smiling against my mouth, “You were pent up, huh?”
I force a weak laugh, breathing heavily. “Yes. Guess I… needed it.”
“Then maybe we should do it again,” he says against my neck, his hands dragging up my thighs.
I shake my head, halfheartedly. “Not tonight. We’ve got an early morning, but soon.”
He smirks. “Whatever you say, Ice Prince.”
My nickname sounds wrong in his voice.
Kyle kisses my mouth before slipping out of the bathroom, leaving me alone with the hum of the light and the pounding in my chest.
I stare at myself in the mirror again. My lips are red, my hair mussed. I look like a liar. Like someone caught between two storms.
