Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Kael swallowed hard as the clothing was pushed aside, leaving him seated there in nothing but his boxers.

His heartbeat drummed in his ears.

The man stepped closer.

A moment later Kael felt the weight of someone settling lightly onto his lap.

A lap dance.

The music from the club outside pulsed faintly through the walls as the man moved slowly against him.

Kael’s breath caught.

Warm breath brushed against his ear. Then his hand slid up Kael’s shoulders again, fingertips brushing lightly against his neck.

Kael’s body reacted before his mind could catch up.

He didn’t understand it.

Didn’t understand why every nerve in his body seemed to spark under those touches.

The stranger leaned closer, murmuring soft words Kael barely registered.

Kael’s hands gripped the arms of the chair.

This was a man and yet his body refused to reject the contact. Instead, a strange heat spread through him.

The dance continued for several minutes, the stranger’s movements slow and deliberate, his voice occasionally drifting into Kael’s ear like smoke.

Then suddenly… he stopped.

The weight lifted from Kael’s lap.

Silence returned to the room.

Kael frowned slightly. Instinctively his hand moved toward the blindfold. But before he could remove it.. another hand caught his wrist.

Kael froze.

This touch was different.

Larger.

Rougher.

The stranger from before had been light, playful.

This grip carried something else entirely.

The new hand slowly released his wrist, only to slide up his arm instead.

Kael felt the difference immediately.

The fingers were calloused. Firm. They moved with deliberate confidence, tracing along his shoulder before slipping into his hair.

A quiet sound escaped Kael before he could stop it.

His breathing grew uneven.

Whoever this was… the presence alone felt overwhelming.

The hand in his hair tightened slightly, tilting his head back.

Kael’s lips parted as a low sound slipped from his throat, half confusion, half surrender to the strange sensations racing through him.

His mind struggled to keep up. Everything felt too intense. Too unfamiliar.

The blindfold shifted slightly when the hand tugged gently at his hair.

A thin line of light slipped through the fabric.

Kael blinked.

His vision blurred for a moment as his eyes adjusted. Then he saw the figure standing in front of him.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Dark hair.

For a second his brain refused to process it. 

Then recognition hit him like lightning.

His breath stopped. “…No…”

The word barely left his lips. Standing in front of him was Adrian. Not smiling. Not laughing.

His usual lazy amusement was gone. Instead his eyes burned with something sharp and dangerous.

Adrian’s hand remained tangled in Kael’s hair as he stared down at him.

For a long moment neither of them spoke.

Kael’s chest rose and fell rapidly. “How…” he whispered hoarsely.

The blindfold slipped further down, exposing more of his shocked expression.

Adrian’s gaze darkened as he took in the sight of Kael. Slowly, his lips curved. But the smile carried no warmth. “You’d rather come here than deal with me?”

Kael couldn’t answer.

Adrian leaned closer. “So desperate to prove something tonight?” he continued softly.

His grip in Kael’s hair tightened.

Kael’s heart pounded violently in his chest. The room suddenly felt much smaller.

Adrian’s looked deep into his eyes.

Kael had no idea what was about to happen next. His blood ran cold. Of all the people in the world who could have walked into that room… it had to be Adrian.

Panic surged through him.

If Adrian told anyone about this, the humiliation would be unbearable.

Kael jerked slightly in the chair, his voice rough. “Don’t…”

But Adrian was now smiling. Not the lazy careless smile he wore at parties. This one was darker.

“Well, well,” He murmured.

Kael’s stomach twisted. “Adrian…” he began, the warning barely leaving his lips.

Adrian leaned closer, his voice dropping into something dangerously soft. “So you’d let a man touch you?”

His fingers tightened briefly in Kael’s hair.

Kael opened his mouth to argue. But the words never came. Because Adrian suddenly closed the distance between them.

His lips crashed Kael’s. For a second Kael’s mind went completely blank.

Shock exploded through him.

Adrian was kissing him.

Before Kael could even process it, instinct kicked in. He shoved Adrian back roughly, the chair scraping against the floor.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Kael snapped, breath uneven.

But Adrian didn’t look offended. If anything, his eyes had grown darker. Hungrier.

“Teaching you a lesson,” he replied calmly then he stepped forward again.

This time Kael didn’t react fast enough. Adrian grabbed his collar and pulled him into another kiss.

It wasn’t gentle.

Kael struggled at first. But something in him betrayed his resistance. His fingers curled into Adrian’s shirt as the kiss deepened, messy and heated and completely out of control.

Their breaths tangled together.

Kael felt dizzy.

The alcohol and pill in his system blurred his thoughts until nothing made sense anymore except the heat spreading through his chest.

When Adrian finally pulled back, both of them were breathing heavily.

Kael stared at him, stunned.

Adrian’s expression had changed again. The amusement was gone. Desire flickered openly in his eyes.

Kael blinked, trying to focus.

The room felt like it was spinning.  Maybe the alcohol and pill was messing with his head. Because there was no way Adrian was looking at him like that.

Right?

Before Kael could think further, Adrian reached for something on the nearby table.

A length of silk...

“What are you…”