Selene had him by the wrist like a woman possessed, dragging his flailing body toward the dance floor. "Come on, birthday girl orders!" "I hate dancing!" Alex shouted over his shoulder, betrayed and defeated. "I have two feet and a lower back issue-" Selene snapped. "You have commitment issues," she snarled. "Now move."Hyunwoo snorted beside me, lifting his glass. "Man's getting publicly disciplined. "You're next!" Alex hollered, half spinning on the floor now. "Hyunwoo, Sylus, you're coming too!" "Hard pass," I muttered. Hyunwoo smirked. "I don't know. Could be fun watching you malfunction in public."I gave him a dry look. "I'll leak your middle school dance recital video if you take another step."Hyunwoo paused mid-sip, horror dawning. "You wouldn't. "Try me."
But before either of us could commit more war crimes, Alex reappeared panting, sweating, and grabbing us both by the shoulders. "Bro code says we suffer together. "I never signed that contract," I growled."Too bad," Alex said, dragging us toward the floor. "We dance. We vibe. Or we die trying. "I vote die," I said flatly, but it was no use. My boots were already stepping onto the pulsing lights.We reached the edge of the crowd bodies moving, lights flashing, music turning blood into rhythm.
I stood by the bar, half in the shadows, drink in hand, untouched. The neon lights flared over the crowd, pulsing in time with the bass. But all I saw was her.Ella. Spinning, glowing, lost in the music like she was burning something out of her soul.
Her wine-colored dress clung to every curve, dipping low on her back, swaying like sin itself. Her cheeks were flushed, lips parted, hair wild from dancing. She looked... untouchable.Like something the night created just to break men like me.
Selene had been with her just a moment ago, laughing, twirling but now she was wrapped around Alex, tangled in their own rhythm of love and heat. They disappeared into the crowd.
Ella paused. Looked around. And then she turned to step off the floor. That's when the DJ shifted the song. Selene's doing, no doubt—"Fetish."(bY Selena Gomez)A slower, deeper beat. It throbbed like a secret. A promise.
Ella hesitated at the edge of the floor.I moved. I don't even remember putting my glass down. One second she was walking away, and the next, my hand was around her wrist. She turned quickly, surprise flickering in her eyes, then something else. Heat. Annoyance. The alcohol painted her cheeks deeper, and her lips parted with a faint scowl.
"Where are you going?" I asked, voice low, fingers still around her wrist.
She blinked up at me, eyes a little hazy. "Who would I dance with?" she slurred, sarcasm laced in every word. "My imaginary, non-existing boyfriend?" I stepped closer. The space between us disappeared like it never existed. My voice dropped, rougher this time."No need for imagination. I'm right here."
She didn't argue, flushed cheek, dazed gaze. Didn't even blink. I tugged her forward, slowly guiding her back to the center of the floor. She didn't resist. Her fingers slid up the front of my shirt, catching my collar. My arm sanked around her waist her warmth radiating off , I could feel it damn...She pulled me down closer, until her breath touched my lips.Until nothing else in the world existed but her.
One hand on the small of her back, the other at her waist. She fit into me too easily. Like we were made to ruin each other. The beat rolled beneath our feet. We didn't dance.We moved. synced matching steps . Deliberate. Like the world had slowed just for us. She looked up through heavy lashes, eyes half-lidded, locked only on me.
Her hand rose to the side of my neck, soft, hesitant, and yet claiming. Her lips parted, her voice barely above the music.
"Your eyes..." she whispered, "they're like the sea at its deepest point. Where light doesn't reach. Where silence drowns everything. Where things disappear and never come back..."
The words hit deeper than I was ready for. She didn't even know me. And yet somehow... she saw right through me.
Darkness.Pressure.Things buried that should never surface again. Her hand curled around my nape tightly, and her forehead brushed mine. We were close enough to burn. I felt her breath. Felt the way her body molded into mine, how her hips shifted ever so slightly with each step.
And I... I was wrecked. Completely fucking undone.
Her nearness was a goddamn evil, pressing into every raw nerve I'd tried to bury. Her breath was warm against my jaw. Her hair danced around her shoulders like fire flares. Her fingers, those same hands that once bandaged my wounds, now clutched me like I was something she wanted to keep.
My mind spiraled.
"What would it feel like to finally touch her like I wanted to? To bury my fingers in that wild hair?To mark her neck with my mouth until she trembled? Would her lips taste like cherries... or wine?"
"I wanted to taste both. Slowly." I wanted to tear away every layer of that dress. And I wanted to do it with my mouth. And those eyes still on me like I was the only thing she could see they held nothing but trust. And maybe a little curiosity. The kind that gets you in trouble. The kind I never deserved, her head tipped slightly back. And then… she faltered.
Her grip loosened. Her knees bent just a little. And before I could speak, her body sagged into mine, her cheek pressing against my neck. "Ella-" I whispered, voice rough.
But she was gone. Passed out. Her breath fanned across my skin, soft and warm. Her hands had gone slack, her body fully resting against me, like she trusted me with the weight of it.
And I stood there. Holding her like she was something sacred. Something forbidden. My throat tightened. My hand slid up her back instinctively, steadying her. Fuck.She had no idea what she was doing to me. No idea how close I was to losing every ounce of control.
And yet, her body against mine, her scent wrapping around me like a veil, and her breath soft against my throat, I wasn't thinking about how sinful this was. I was thinking about how I never wanted it to stop. I lifted her into my arms. She was light, frail against me, like she was something the night itself whispered into existence. Her body folded easily into mine, her cheek brushing the line of my chest as I hooked one arm under her knees, the other around her shoulders. She didn't stir. Not even as I walked through the parted crowd, my jaw tight, mind burning. I'd texted my driver seconds before stepping out of the club.
The black Mercedes was already pulled up out front, engine humming, sleek and silent. The driver stepped out and opened the door, but I didn't look at him. My focus was only on her. I slid into the backseat with her still in my arms. As I settled into the leather seat, her body curled into me instinctively, arms clinging to my neck, like she knew exactly where she belonged even in sleep. Her face pressed into my chest, her hair brushing against my jaw, and her arms God, her arms were still looped around my neck. She wasn't letting go.
And I didn't want her to. I leaned back slowly, my head dropping against the seat, exhale, trembling from the weight of it all. My hand rested against the curve of her waist, the other… it found its way to her hair.
I couldn't help it. My fingers tangled there, gently brushing through the strands, slow and rhythmic. Like I was trying to memorize the way her softness felt under my skin.
And for a moment, I just… breathed her in.Vanilla.Roses. And that underlying sweetness of wine clinging to her skin. It wrapped around me like a noose I didn't want to untie.
My eyes closed.
Fucking hell. What was she doing to me?
Weeks ago, I didn't feel anything. Nothing touched me.I was a devil dressed in flesh, cold, heartless.A man who had made killing feel like second nature. And yet here I was, undone by the way her breath hitched in sleep. By the memory of her trembling fingers wiping blood from my temple.By her voice soft, worried, yet firm, telling me, "You're not a monster."As if she knew.
As if she saw me.
How? How did she see the parts of me I buried so deep no light could reach? I'd kept everyone out. My walls were steel. But her... she slipped through like a flame under a locked door. Her kindness shone in places I thought were long dead. And God, I hated how much I cravedit.
Not just her touch. Not just her mouth or her skin or the sounds she'd make if I finally let go.
I wanted all of her. Her light. Her fire. Her madness. Her mercy.
She was my undoing. And I wanted to be ruined by her hands. Her fearlessness pulled me in.Her warmth burned right through me. And this ache...this ache was worse than any wound I'd taken. Because it didn't bleed. It consumed me.
I looked down at her again. Her lips parted in sleep, skin glowing faintly from the streetlights outside. Purely magical.... Still curled against me. Still unaware that I was holding her like she was the only thing keeping me alive.
"You have no idea what you've done to me," I whispered, voice restrained, self-control. that's when my notification caught my attention.
Hyunwoo: where are you @sylus?? 👀
Sylus: left the party with ella
Alex: …you what!?
Sylus: ......
Hyunwoo: damn bro I get it you're hungry but you didn't have to devour her.
Sylus: it's not like that she passed out. i'm taking her home.
Alex: mmm I don't thinkkk sooo...~
Hyunwoo: Use protection, and I mean emotional protection, those high-built walls you pretend don't exist? Yeah...she's chipping at them like a pro sculptor.
Sylus: Fucking sarcastic~
Alex: @Hyunwoo I saw him dancing with her !!!!! fuck! The tension.
Sylus: Fuck off...I am done with you both.
Hyunwoo: Too late, you ain't got a choice~
Alex: our cold-blooded king's got a crushhhh~
I muted the Group chat, those 2 are Idiots...I shook my head, my gaze lingering on her. She was a goddess.... I can't help but remember those moments and nights. The way her breath hitched, the way I wanna ruin her in every single way.... fuckkk she was making me mad. Madness....I can't help but crave off....
Soon car came to a halt as I picked her up, she folded gently into my arms, soft, unaware. Her fingers twitched slightly against my chest, curling closer in sleep, as if even in unconsciousness, she trusted me. Or maybe the universe was just cruel enough to let me believe that.
I carried her bridal style, my grip steady despite the storm surging inside me. I didn't take her to the mansion. She wasn't ready to walk through those corridors soaked in blood, violence, and buried screams.Truth? I wasn't ready either. I took her to the penthouse.Where silence stayed. Where chaos didn't echo. Where I could pretend for a moment that I wasn't a man unraveling from the inside out. The elevator ride was torture. Her body was warm against mine, her breath a slow rhythm against my collarbone. I held her tighter. Not too much. Just enough to feel. Just enough to break.
I opened the door with one hand. The hallway swallowed us in hush. I shut the door behind me softly, like the sound would wake my demons if it dared echo too loudly. Everything inside was untouched, quiet. My wine bottle still sat half-drunk on the table, like a ghost of the man I was a few days ago.
I walked into the bedroom. Darkness clung to the corners, but a golden hue from the low bedside light cast a soft glow. This was my abyss. And now… she was in it. I laid her down onto the bed with careful hands. Her hair spilled like ink across the sheets, her lips parted in sleep, the crimson dress slipping slightly up her thigh as she shifted. I swallowed hard.
A tug. Her arms, still around my neck, pulled me forward, barely conscious, entirely lethal.
She wanted me close. Or maybe her body did. But I… I needed it. The tension sliced through me. My restraint frayed with every heartbeat. I hovered over her, our mouths inches apart, and then fuck it I gave in.
I buried my face in the crook of her neck. Her scent engulfed me. Roses and vanilla. The exact memory of that night, the night everything shifted, the night she found me bleeding and broken, and still knelt beside me like I was worthsaving.
My lips brushed against her skin. I didn't kiss her. I shouldn't. But the way her warmth soaked into me… it was a sin. A salvation. A ruin I didn't know I was chasing.
My body ached with need, every nerve lit, every cell screaming for her. I clenched my jaw, trying to breathe, trying not to fall apart in her sleep. I pulled back. Slowly.
Messy hair clung to my forehead. My shirt hung off one shoulder, forgotten. I sat at the edge of the bed, heart pounding like war drums in my chest. I buried my face in my hands, knuckles white, breath shaking.
Fuck. She was wrecking me. I looked at her again, and it was unbearable.
"She looked like a goddess draped in blood-red silk. Pale skin like moonlight carved into flesh. Lips parted, lashes dark against her cheeks. A vision. A curse. A prayer. She was a divine creature I would kneel before and offer rituals to. The kind of woman myth warned about. She was the serenity in my destruction. My salvation. My sin."