The morning after her secret meeting with Clara, Selena sat at the kitchen counter with a steaming cup of tea, staring into it as though the leaves might spell out answers.
Her phone buzzed beside her. She flinched, heart leaping, but it was only Nolan.
Nolan: Miss me yet?
Nolan: Be dressed. I'm taking you somewhere tonight.
She bit her lip, torn between guilt and relief. He was trying. He was always trying. But the envelope in her purse burned like a hidden flame, threatening to expose everything.
---
That evening, Nolan picked her up in his sleek black car, looking devastating in a dark button-up with the top few buttons undone. Selena's breath caught as he leaned across to kiss her, the scent of cedar and smoke filling her senses.
"You look stunning," he murmured, his eyes devouring her in the little black dress she'd chosen.
The words should have steadied her, but they twisted instead, tangled with Clara's warnings.
He drove them to a rooftop restaurant bathed in golden light, the city sprawled endlessly below. Selena couldn't help but be swept up in the magic—the candles, the soft music, the way Nolan never looked at anyone else but her.
Halfway through dinner, though, she noticed it: the brief vibration of his phone on the table. Nolan's gaze flicked to the screen, then away too quickly. He turned the phone face down.
Selena's chest tightened.
He noticed. "Don't," he said softly, as though reading her mind.
"Don't what?" she asked, her fork pausing mid-air.
"Don't doubt me every time the world intrudes. Tonight, it's just us."
His hand covered hers, warm and steady. For a moment, she let herself drown in his touch.
But later, after the wine, after the laughter, after the sweet kiss on the rooftop under a wash of stars, the guilt surged again.
Because she hadn't told him about Clara.
---
Back at his apartment, passion took over. Nolan pressed her against the wall the second the door clicked shut, his mouth claiming hers with raw hunger.
Selena gasped, clutching at his shirt as his hands explored her body like a map he'd never grow tired of charting.
"Nolan—" she whispered between kisses, but the words dissolved as his lips found the hollow of her throat.
"I can't get enough of you," he growled, lifting her effortlessly into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, their mouths fusing again, her heart hammering with desire and dread.
He carried her to the bed, laying her down as though she were priceless glass. Clothes scattered. Skin burned. Every thrust, every groan, every gasp blurred the edges of her guilt.
But when the storm of release passed, when she lay trembling against his chest, the envelope returned to her mind like a phantom.
She needed to tell him. She had to.
"Nolan…" Her voice was small.
"Hmm?" he murmured, half-asleep already, his fingers tracing lazy circles on her back.
"I… I met Clara."
The silence was instant, suffocating. Nolan's hand stilled, his entire body going rigid beneath her.
Selena's throat tightened. "She came to me. She showed me pictures. She said—"
"You what?" His voice was low, deadly calm.
Selena pushed herself up, clutching the sheet around her. "I didn't plan it! She messaged me. I thought… I thought I needed to hear her out."
Nolan sat up, eyes blazing. "So instead of coming to me, you went straight to her? You believed her over me?"
Tears stung Selena's eyes. "I didn't say I believed her, but she showed me things, Nolan. Things you never told me."
His jaw clenched. "Because they didn't matter."
"They mattered to me!" she cried, her voice breaking. "Don't you understand? Every secret you keep feeds the doubt she planted. I'm drowning in it, Nolan."
For a long moment, he just stared at her, his chest rising and falling like a caged animal. Then he cursed under his breath, raking a hand through his hair.
"I should've known Clara wouldn't stop," he muttered, more to himself than her. "But you—" His gaze snapped back to her, sharp with pain. "You should've trusted me."
Selena's tears spilled freely now. "And what about you? You ask for trust, but you give me half-truths and silence in return."
The air between them crackled, thick with anger, fear, and something darker—something that still pulled them together even as it threatened to rip them apart.
And then, without warning, Nolan grabbed her, crushing his mouth to hers in a kiss that was both furious and desperate.
Selena gasped, but her body betrayed her, responding instantly. The kiss turned brutal, their hands clawing, their bodies colliding like storm waves.
"Nolan—" she moaned as he pressed her down into the sheets, his touch bruising, possessive.
"You're mine," he growled, each thrust punctuating the claim. "Not hers. Not anyone's. Mine."
Her nails raked down his back, her sobs swallowed by his mouth as passion overtook the pain. Their bodies clashed in a frenzy of need, the lines between love and war blurring until release tore through them both.
When it was over, they lay tangled in silence, sweat-soaked and trembling.
Selena's tears hadn't stopped. Nolan's arms tightened around her anyway, his lips brushing her hair.
"Clara won't win," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "Not this time. Not with you."
But Selena couldn't shake the hollow echo of Clara's voice in her mind.
He'll break you, just like he broke me.
🔥 This chapter exploded into confrontation. Selena finally admitted she met Clara, and Nolan's fury collided with his desperation for her. The result? Passion as both punishment and proof of possession.
NisotWrites
Nolan won't let Clara's interference slide. But Selena's trust is shaken—and Clara still has more secrets to reveal.