Page 11 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

Jay blinked, dazed and covered in jizz. “Wait—what? You can’t just—”

“I can’t stay. Your parents are coming upstairs.” Rain said, panic sharpening his voice “And the authorities won’t be far behind. I love you; I’m not leaving for any except that I don’t want to get caught and put you and your family in danger.”

“You… love me?” Jay echoed, stunned. Latching onto the stumbled words, unable to fully comprehend the situation but caught off guard, nonetheless.

Rain stopped breathing.

Did he just–

Damn it Rain, five minutes and handy and you’re professing your love. Dickhead.

He forced a crooked smirk, trying to cover the slip. “Clean up before your mother sees my mess.” He couldn’t help but pause and admire the white load trickling down Jay’s stomach.

Jay stared at him, adorably flushed and breathless, lips parted in confusion and lingering desire.

Rain quickly grabbed Jay’s discarded shirt and wiped away the evidence of their encounter. With no more time to spare he pressed a quick kiss to his forehead and slipped out the window in one fluid motion. Mere seconds before the bedroom door swung open.

Outside the air was charged; Carminia shifted restlessly, the tension rising across the city like static before a storm. Chaos swirled through the streets; the kingdom was on high alert. Rain felt it immediately, a prickle along his skin, a warning in the air. He didn’t have long.

He steeled himself, knowing escape would be a challenge. The exits would be watched. The authorities would be closing in. Every second counted.

With urgency tightening his chest, he scanned the rooftops for any possible route to freedom, determined to slip through the tightening net before it closed around him, carrying with him something far more dangerous than fear.

Hope.

Chapter 4

Rain slipped through the city undetected, moving like a shadow across the rooftops. But the moment he reached the border; the world shifted beneath him. Armed forces had barricaded the streets below—rows upon rows of Red soldiers flooding the district, their numbers swelling with every passing second. Within minutes, he was surrounded.

The rooftop beneath him offered no escape, nothing but the thin mercy of nightfall to keep him hidden. He counted–

Eight hundred soldiers.

Eight hundred hearts pounding.

Eight hundred guns ready to fire.

And Rain—alone, exposed, trapped above them with no clear path back to Blue territory.

Of all the places for his control to slip, it had to be here. In the Red Kingdom. In a gated community reserved for the city council’s elite. The worst possible place for anything to go wrong.

He cursed under his breath, dread coiling tight in his stomach.

Below him, the soldiers moved with a terrifying unity. Every soldier was on high alert, fully aware of who they were hunting. Their fear was a living thing growing at a suffocating speed. Rain felt it rising toward him in waves, prickling against his skin. They knew what he was capable of. They knew what could happen if he lost control.

And that knowledge made them dangerous.

Adrenaline and testosterone still surged through Rain’s system, remnants of earlier intimacy leaving him raw, unsteady, and painfully vulnerable. His body felt volatile, his emotions too close to the surface. The energy inside him churned like a storm, threatening to break free.

He swallowed hard, nausea twisting in his gut.

Not now.

Not here.

Not like this.

Self-recrimination clawed at him. How could he have let this happen? How could he have been so careless? But he forced the thoughts away—self-hatred would only make things worse.