The dawn remained distant, cloaked in shadows, as if the world itself conspired to keep their secret hidden.
Victoria stood motionless, her skin still tingling from the lingering touch of Alexander's hands, her mind a turbulent storm of emotions-desire, guilt, fear, and exhilaration.
She tried to piece together what had happened, but every thought twisted into a more intoxicating memory of his breath, his touch, his relentless claim. Her reflection in the ornate mirror seemed unfamiliar-eyes wide, lips swollen, and cheeks flushed with shame and hunger.
Alexander's presence loomed behind her, silent but commanding, his gaze unreadable as he watched her unravel. He never needed to say a word; his dominance was spoken through the way he observed, how he allowed her to drown in the knowledge that she belonged to him now.
"You thought you could resist me," he said, his voice a velvet-edged whisper, "but desire has no conscience, Victoria. It only demands."
She turned slowly, her eyes locking with his-defiant yet vulnerable.
"I don't know who I am anymore," she confessed, her voice breaking like fragile glass.
He stepped closer, his shadow engulfing hers, his fingers brushing a stray strand of hair from her face.
"You're exactly who you were meant to be," he murmured, "someone who craves more than society allows... more than your own mind admits."
Her breath hitched, the weight of truth settling deep in her chest.
Her hand trembled as it reached for him, not out of need alone, but out of a growing compulsion-an unshakable certainty that he held the key to a darkness she could no longer deny.
But just as her fingers grazed his, a faint noise echoed from the grand hallway-soft, hesitant... human.
Both froze.
Victoria's heart lurched. Fear prickled beneath the skin.
Had someone seen them? Was the fragile illusion of secrecy about to shatter?
Alexander's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening.
"We are no longer bound by rules, but shadows do not forgive... nor forget."
A silent promise.
The tension between them now pulsed like a living thing, their fates entwined, their desires irrevocably chained.
Victoria understood that every step forward only deepened her descent-and there was no turning back.
She dared to whisper:
"Then let the chains tighten."
In the eerie silence that followed, Victoria's heart hammered so loudly in her chest that it drowned out the faint creaks of the old mansion.
A shadow passed in the hallway, casting a fleeting silhouette against the half-open door. It was fleeting, but she had seen it. Someone had been there. Someone who could expose their secret.
The door began to creak open wider.