CHAPTER 17: THE HAND THAT CROSSES
When the two men decided to touch her at the same time, Evelyn understood her reason would be the first to lose.
Evelyn's body was still trembling from the aftershocks of Chapter 16, her skin damp with sweat, the light bruises on her waist and thighs still aching. No one in the room said another word.
Viktor's breath exhaled directly onto her lips, hot and urgent. The heat from Diego poured down her back like lava. Two hands one in front, one behind held her entire body between them, fingers still retaining the warmth from the caresses on the bed.
Evelyn didn't move.
Not because she was held. But because if she shifted slightly... everything would explode like an unextinguished fire from last time.
Diego broke the silence his voice hoarse as if just emerging from a dark dream: "Evelyn... you just trembled under my hand."
Viktor pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes intensely dark, beads of sweat on his skin:
"Are you trembling from a desire to continue or from fear?"
She panted, her chest heaving against him.
"You two... are cornering me."
"No." Diego whispered, his breath on her neck.
"You're standing here by yourself."
And his hand slid down her waist, so slowly that each centimeter felt like fire under her skin, his fingers pressing exactly into the bruise he left. When his hand touched her lower hip right where her body was most delicate Evelyn flinched slightly, her body remembering the feeling of being filled.
A very small reaction. But enough for Viktor to hear her breath catch.
He immediately looked down at her swollen lips:
"That's not fear."
She bit her lip. Second mistake in a few minutes.
Viktor placed his hand on her neck, his thumb very lightly stroking her jawline, pressing over the stillred bite mark:
"I already told you... the more you bite your lip, the more we lose control."
Diego moved closer, his body pressing against her back a strong, clear pressure, no longer subtle, his hardness behind rubbing through the fabric.
Both sources of heat hitting her at once made her thighs go soft for a beat, her knees trembling.
Diego noticed immediately: "You just dipped your knees."
"Because..." she tried to say.
"No," he cut her off.
"That's a reaction when desire is too strong."
Evelyn gripped Viktor's collar tightly, unconsciously using him as a support, her fingers trembling as they touched his skin.
He whispered close to her lips: "Holding onto me like that... do you think we can withdraw?"
Suddenly, a sharp static sound cut through the thick air Viktor's phone vibrated on the glass table a few meters away. He froze, his eyes darkening, but didn't let go of her.
Diego glanced over, his hand still on her waist, his voice growling: "Ignore it?"
Viktor shook his head lightly, his voice dangerously low:
"Not a regular number." He pulled one hand away, reaching for his phone without taking his eyes off Evelyn, his thumb still lightly stroking her neck. The screen lit up: "Carlos from NORTHERN BELT."
Diego scoffed from behind: "The Northern Belt again? Now?" The pressure of his hand tightened, as if asserting his authority. "The third party loves timing."
Viktor answered the call, his voice icy: "Speak."
Pause. His face darkened. "How many people? What weapons?"
Evelyn clearly felt the change Viktor's body tensed, his hardness below pressing harder against her belly instinctively. Diego leaned his head close to her ear, whispering:
"Hear that, muñeca? The world out there is still burning. But right now..." His hand slid deeper onto her thigh, "...we only care about the fire here."
Viktor hung up, throwing the phone onto the table with a resonant clatter.
"Four people missing. Weapons never seen before, no trace of ours."
His eyes locked onto Evelyn: "Perfect to destroy the peace just signed on you."
Diego let out a husky laugh: "Now they choose the worst time. Or... the perfect time?" He gently nudged his hip against her back, reminding her of his presence.
"Because if we leave now..."
"We're not leaving," Viktor cut in, his hand returning to her waist, pulling her closer. "They want to divide us? They will fail."
He leaned close to her lips:
"Because right now, our biggest enemy... is not each other."
Evelyn swallowed hard, caught between two forces who had just realized their common enemy outside but still chose her as the battlefield. The silence intensified, the drama from the Northern Belt only fueling the fire between the three of them more fiercely.
---
Diego lowered his hand, for the first time that night touching the inside of her thigh through her dress.
Not deep, not hard, just a gentle, gradual sensation.
But enough to make her body jolt as if an electric current ran through it, the afterglow from the bed still sensitive.
Evelyn gasped: "Diego!"
His voice whispered: "You almost fell... I was just holding you."
But his hand didn't leave.
Viktor slid his finger down her neck, to her collarbone, touched it then pressed gently a press just enough for her to tilt her head back right onto Diego's shoulder.
Her neck was exposed, her cervical bones bared. Her breath trembled slightly.
Viktor looked at the sight as if losing all restraint: "Evelyn... we're about to go too far."
She breathed heavily, eyes wide: "Then stop."
Diego bit lightly into the air close to her neck not touching her skin, but enough for her to let out a gasp: "If you tremble again... we won't stop."
Evelyn clutched Viktor's collar so tightly her knuckles were white.
She trembled.
A small, out-of-sync tremor in her thigh. Her body leaned towards Viktor while her back thigh rested against Diego.
Both men felt it.
Both tightened their grip on her.
Diego pulled her leg back a small step for balance, and his hand placed on her hip slid down to the exact spot that made her gasp: "Ah."
She immediately covered her mouth.
But Viktor had heard. He held her neck with his large hand, pulling her close: "Evelyn... what was that sound?"
She shook her head: "It wasn't."
"It was your sound," Viktor said hoarsely. "Your real sound."
---
Diego wrapped his arm around her waist, took her hand that was covering her mouth, and pulled it down: "Don't hide it."
She pushed her hands against Viktor's chest to maintain distance but he pulled her closer, his hot hardness below pressing hard against her belly, making her breath break.
"Viktor... I'm not."
"You are," he stated plainly.
Diego put his lips close to her ear: "Muñeca, you don't know how you sound... when you're caught between two bodies like this."
Evelyn closed her eyes for a second just one second but that was enough for Viktor to push his hand up her back, pulling her closer with greater force.
Her body pressed against him. Her hips touched his hardness. Her back against Diego's chest where he was equally hard.
She opened her eyes, slightly panicked: "You two."
Diego placed a finger on her lips, silencing her: "No. Now it's our turn to ask."
He leaned closer: "Evelyn... do you want to stop?"
She looked directly at Viktor. Then at Diego.
Her heart pounded as if wanting to escape her ribcage.
"I..." Her voice broke. "...don't know."
Viktor tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her against his lower body: "You don't know means you're staying."
Diego slid his hand further up her thigh just enough for her to let out a breath that was almost a moan.
She covered her mouth again.
Diego pulled her hand down again.
Viktor said softly, like a pronouncement: "Evelyn... you just let out your first moan."
And in the moment Evelyn made that sound, both powerful men knew the war between them had officially entered a new chapter.
No longer about territory.
No longer about agreement.
But about who touched her first.