Page 51

You had me in your control before I knew. It took me so long to realize. How unsatisfying it must have been for you. Sorry I’m so fucking stubborn.

My breathing deepens, chest expanding as the heat and pressure begin to build. Knowing you’re here—watching—feeling—pushes something darker to the surface. The need for possession.

You are the only thing I want consuming my mind.

My grip tightens and I move faster and harder. My head falls back against the tile as the water runs over my face, into my mouth. I welcome the suffocation. The loss of oxygen sharpening every sensation. The steam thickens around me, but it isn’t enough.

I want to feel it consume me, suffocate me. I step out of the direct stream, my back slamming against the cold tile. The temperature shock tears a sharp inhale from my lungs.

I feel you touch me, rough and certain. Heat moves up my thighs like a living thing. My stomach flexes as my muscles tense violently in response, my hips jerking forward instinctively.

Yes.

Take it. Take all of it. Take my anger, my helplessness. My weakness.

Burn it out of me until there is nothing left.

My hand falters as your presence replaces it entirely. Friction—perfect and unrelenting. My teeth grit, a low, broken sound forcing its way out of my throat.

“Fuck—”

My head drops forward as I see it. Faint and barely there. That iridescent shimmer against my skin. My proof of you.

My control shatters instantly and my hand slams against the tile beside me, searching for anything solid, anything real, as my body betrays me completely. My breathing turns into ragged, shallow gasps that echo through the small room. I’m losing it and I don’t care.

My hips thrust upward helplessly into the sensation, chasing it, desperately needing more.

Needing you. I watch as your energy spreads over me—moving upward onto my chest and shoulders. I feel a sharp sting drag down my chest and over my abdomen. My orgasm hits hard, tearing through me, forcing a broken gasp from my lungs as my entire body locks.

I look down but see no evidence of a scratch despite the sweet pain lingering.

For a moment, I can’t breathe or think, I can only exist, I only feel you. Only you.

My knees finally give out and I slide down the tile, sitting there beneath the steam, my chest heaving as I try to focus my vision. Trying to see you. Trying to prove you’re still here with me.

The light catches just right across the glass, and for a second… there. That perfect shimmer. The kind that makes my breath hitch because it feels intentional. Like you.

I lean into the feeling before I can stop myself. Your warmth brushes over my skin—subtle, familiar—then begins to fade.

No. Not yet.

Right as it disappears, I feel it: a pressure, soft and gentle on my mouth. My stomach drops so hard it feels like I stepped off something high. I move into it instinctively, chasing it and pressing forward as if I can anchor you in place. As if I can meet your lips with mine and force you to stay.

I close my eyes because I want it to be real. I need it to be real. I swear I feel you. Your warmth. Your softness. I open my eyes, expecting to see something, anything. A distortion, a shadow, a flicker in the air.

But… there’s nothing. Just the light in the room. And me. Sitting naked in my shower.

I huff, standing, wrapping the towel over me, and exit the bathroom. I don’t make it two steps before I’m interrupted by Jack. “Just the man I was looking for,” he says with a chipper attitude.

“What?” I ask shortly.

“I wanted to show you something.” He walks toward his room and I follow.

The room is dark as usual, and his screens are lit up in the corner, riddled with code and maps, the smell of amber and musk from his cologne subtle in the air.

“I take it you were able to decode the location that Ben sent us?”

“Yep! Sorry it took me a few days, this backup computer isn’t as good as my old one.” He relaxes in his seat.