Page 34 of Lord of the Dark

He didn’t answer. Instead, he dragged me closer, his body heavy and warm against mine. "No."

His breath feathered over my neck—slow, warm, far too intimate. And yet... being this close to him felt like the only place I wanted to be. My shoulders relaxed, my breathing syncing with his. Even my heart no longer fought him—it beat for him. This calm he radiated was an illusion. I knew it. And yet, I wished it were real. It was madness to feel safe with him. Madness... and yet so intoxicating that I could barely remember why I feared him at all.

"Stop thinking." His voice was low, a warm murmur against my ear, as if he could sense my mind still resisting. His fingers traced lazy circles over my waist, as if trying to soothe away every doubt.

Even as exhaustion weighed me down, even as the oxytocin flooding my veins lulled me into satisfaction, I was terrified of how lost I was in him. How my body craved him despite my mind’s protests. It was wrong. So wrong to feel safe in his devil’s embrace.

Almost as if he could hear my thoughts, his grip tightened, pulling me even closer.

"Goodnight, Fiona..." he murmured against my hair, his breathing slowing.

I knew I shouldn’t. Knew I couldn’t let myself sink into this feeling. But his warmth lulled me, his heartbeat steady under my cheek, my body too spent to resist.

So I did the one thing I shouldn’t have.

I let him hold me.

And fell asleep in his arms.

Eleven

Fiona Robertson

Ihad no idea what time it was when I woke. It took me a moment to orient myself before it dawned on me where I was—what had happened that night. The room was still pitch black, moonlight spilling through the tall windows into the bedroom.

A thousand bolts of lightning struck deep in my gut as Carter suddenly flashed through my mind. He had to be home by now, wondering where I was. Alessandro lay on his side, his back turned to me, shoulders relaxed, breath steady and even. In the dim light, his body looked almost peaceful—as if nothing could disturb his calm. And yet, it was this same body that had stripped me of control just hours before.

He lay sprawled on the carpet, the blanket loosely draped over his hips. Moonlight traced every line of his form—powerful, beautiful, dangerous. I felt my fingers twitch, the urge rising to touch him, to pull the blanket over his shoulders, to shield him from the cold. But I stayed where I was. He was still a threat, even now. As if the slightest contact would awaken something in him that was better left sleeping.

I had to get out of here. Fast. Before he opened his eyes. Before he made me feel, once again, like I no longer knew which side I was on.

Before I stayed—willingly.

I moved as slowly and quietly as possible, careful not to wake him. Raw panic seized me at the thought of Carter. And guilt—so massive, so suffocating, I feared it might choke me alive.

In the dark, I scrambled to gather my things—my dress, myshoes, my knife—all scattered as if the remnants of the night had been deliberately strewn across the room. A night that had shifted my life into an entirely new light.

I hurried down the hall, down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible while my heart pounded violently in my chest. The shock of what I’d done weighed on me like a boulder. My breath came ragged as I tried to smooth myself back into some semblance of order, as if a straightened zipper or smoothed fabric could undo what had happened.

Carter.

The name echoed relentlessly in my skull. I had betrayed him—and the image of his face, his smile, the trust in his eyes, burned into my thoughts like a brand.

The party had long since ended. When I finally slid into the car, the cool night air streaming through the half-open window, I closed my eyes for a moment and gripped the steering wheel hard. Alessandro—his closeness, what had happened between us, his unrestrained intensity, the way he looked at me—spun through my head in a chaotic whirl.

The night with him had unleashed something in me I’d never felt before—something dark, forbidden, searing itself into my mind. It wasn’t just desire, not just fleeting lust. It was obsession, raw and overwhelming, a dizzying rush of power, submission, and a hunger that promised everything and cost even more. Yet that same rush had crossed a line, and now, as I drove through the empty streets, the weight of my choice pressed down on me as if I’d lost something irreplaceable. Guilt burned like an open wound in my chest, tearing me apart from the inside. A gnawing ache that refused to let go, dragging me back to reality. I had cheated on Carter—Carter, who had given me his heart without conditions.

The city lights flashed past, their harsh reflections on the windows suddenly like silent accusers. Every traffic light, everystreet that brought me closer to our apartment tightened the suffocating dread spreading inside me. Why had I done it? Why had I let a single moment change everything?

When I finally reached our building and slid the key into the lock, my hand felt numb, as if my own body was trying to stop me.

I stepped inside quietly, creeping through the dark as if the sound of my footsteps alone would betray me. The silence pressed down, every breath too loud, too damning. I rushed to the bathroom, turned on the water, and stepped under the shower. The scalding spray hit me, running over my skin as if it could wash away everything I’d done tonight. As if it could scrub out the guilt, the betrayal that had seeped into my bones. My hands slid over my arms, my stomach, my neck—I could still feel him everywhere. His touch was an echo on my skin, indelible, as if he’d branded himself into me. I scrubbed at my shoulders, dragged my hands over my breasts, trying to erase the pressure of his fingers, but the harder I washed, the more certain I became—I would never be clean of him.

A tremor ran through me. My fingers dug into my skin as the water kept pouring down. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to steady my breathing, but my chest felt too tight. It wasn’t just what I’d done.

It was how much I’d wanted it.

A hot sting burned behind my eyes as I braced my hands against the shower wall, holding myself up for a moment. I had cheated on Carter. I had destroyed everything we’d built in a single moment of weakness. A choked gasp escaped me, my breathing turning uneven. I forced myself to reach for the soap again, to keep moving, to lose myself in motion as if it could save me. My body began to shake, a burning pressure building in my chest until the first tear spilled over—hot down my cheek, mixing with the water before vanishing silently down the drain.

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