WARNING: This story contains mature content intended for adult readers only. Discretion is advised.
SERAPHINA
"Lucian—oh."
His hand closed over my breast, sudden and solid, and a sound pulled itself from deep in my throat. I tried to push him away, to still his fingers, but each press of his palm only fed the heat that was spreading, slow as honey, through my skin.
"Your body knows what it wants," he said, his voice low enough to feel as much as hear. His fingers glided down my left thigh, light as water over stone.
My breath came heavy now, ragged at the edges. I meant to stop him. I meant to ask to see his eyes—though darkness was all I'd known since the accident stole my sight. This man, bound to me only by paper, was the one who'd taken me in.
I gasped as his hand moved higher, tracing the inside of my thigh until my bones felt loose with sensation I'd never imagined. I pressed my palm to my mouth to muffle the sounds building there—sharp, needy things I didn't recognize as my own.
Since losing my sight, my other senses had sharpened to a fine point. Sharp enough to lead us here, to this edge of something I couldn't name.
I heard his laugh—warm, rich, the kind that settled deep in my chest like sun on cold wood.
"Your eyes are gone, but every other part of you is burning alive," he said. I jolted as his fingers brushed my waist, lifting my shirt with careful ease.
"Lucian!" I tried to pull back, but my limbs were soft as moss.
The truth sat heavy in my ribs: I'd never seen his face. All I had of him was the timber of his voice, the weight of his touch—the only proof he was real, that he was here.
"Easy, Sera," he said, his breath warm against my neck as he leaned closer. "Isn't this what we're meant to do?"
I braced my hands on the bed beside me, fighting to keep my balance.
"We're not really married," I whispered. "It's just a contract. You don't want this—your grandmother made you agree. This is… payment. For saving her. For what happened to me—"
His lips cut off my words, brushing my jaw. Heat flooded me again, so fierce I almost forgot how to breathe.
"Papers don't make a marriage," he murmured against my ear, and shivers ran down my spine like rain on glass. "Contract or no, you're my wife."
He held my shoulders gently, then eased me back onto the mattress. I let him guide me—what choice did I have, when my body was already leaning into his hands?
I felt his weight press close, and my heart hammered against my ribs hard enough to hurt.
Lucian… what do you see when you look at me? What are you thinking?
"You're fragile," he said, breathing in the space just below my ear before kissing my neck, slow and deliberate. "My grandmother made sure the contract keeps you safe. So until your sight comes back—I'll be your eyes. Whether you think I want to or not, I'll care for you. I'll be the one who touches you—" He laughed softly, kissing my neck again, moving up to my jaw, then to my lips.
I clung to his biceps—firm, solid under my fingers—as his mouth claimed mine. Deep, hungry, like I was the air he'd been searching for. Without thinking, I kissed him back; if I didn't, I'd have drowned in the need that was rising up inside me.
When we pulled apart, I was gasping, my chest heaving with the force of it.
"And I'll be the one who gives you pleasure," he said, his voice rough now, thick with want.
My pulse raced at his words. His hands slid down my legs, then slowly peeled off my shorts and underwear. I bit my lip to hold back a cry—my skin felt like it was on fire, every nerve ending awake and reaching for him.
I want to see you. I want to know what your face looks like when you touch me.
When did you start being so gentle?
I covered my mouth as his hands parted my legs. I was open to him now, and I knew he could see how my body had awakened under his touch—no lie in skin, no lie in want.
"Oh—" I cried out as his finger slid through me, slow and sure.
"You're so wet for me," he said. And I knew I was done for.
No matter how hard I tried to deny what he did to me, my body never lied.
Everything shifted after that day. We grew closer, hotter, more tangled than I'd ever thought possible. Slowly, I learned to know him through touch alone. I found myself craving even the lightest brush of his fingers on my skin. And what I never saw coming was that I'd fallen in love with him.
But when did it all break? Was it because I knew so little of him—only his name, the fact that he was a billionaire, a businessman? Did I fail to ask about the life he'd lived before me?
I was shattered the day I overheard him talking. Words I'd never dreamed I'd hear.
Lucian planned to kill me the moment my sight returned.
The doctors said there was every chance I'd see again. That was why the contract was only temporary.
Lucian… who are you? You're not just a businessman, are you?
So on the very day my vision cleared—blurry at first, then sharp—I ran. I hid from him, terrified he'd keep his word. I left without knowing I carried his child inside me—the result of every night we'd spent tangled together, bodies and hearts bare.
I ran away with his heir. I tried to forget him, and it wasn't hard—not when I'd never seen his face. I only knew his scent, his voice, the way he touched me.
But why?
Why is there a man here now—who smells like him, sounds like him, touches me the same way?
A man with no memory of who he was.
LUCIAN
"Fuck me! How long has it been? Shit, I'd forgotten how this place smells!"
We all flinched as Kidd, one of my oldest friends—yelled loud enough to turn heads. We'd barely stepped off the jet, and he was already drawing stares.
Kieran smacked him upside the head. "Chill out! You're yelling like a madman," he snapped, and we all huffed out a laugh.
"Someone's in a mood," Kidd shot back. "Go find a woman and work that out! Dammit."
"Believe me, I will," Kieran fired back. "Better than you—you let that blonde in Moscow slip away without even a kiss. Useless."
Kidd's jaw tightened. "Coward? I'm not the one who still defends our old man!"
That pushed Kieran over the edge. "Bullshit—he's our father!"
They were still going at it as we reached the terminal. No one would guess they were brothers, but they fought like this over everything.
"You okay?"
I glanced at Ace, my right-hand man, walking beside me.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I said, moving through the crowd without really seeing it.
He chuckled. "Right… why wouldn't you be?"
How long since I left this country? How long since I lost her?
I remember her clearly—her scent like jasmine and rain, the way her voice softened when she spoke, the sound of her laugh. It all feels like yesterday.
Why did you run the second you could see me, Sera? Was I not enough?
I laughed bitterly, my mind drifting until I bumped into something small and solid.
"Ouch!" A tiny voice squeaked.
I snapped to attention and looked down. A little boy—maybe four, dressed in a fluffy bear costume and was on the ground, struggling to push himself up. His eyes were glossy with tears.
"You okay, kiddo?" I knelt to help him, lifting him into my arms with one hand.
He just nodded, his voice trembling. "Mama and Leo… gone."
Shit. He was alone.
"Hey!" Kidd waved a giant chocolate lollipop overhead, with Kieran scowling beside him. "Holy fuck! Since when did you become a kidnapper?!"
Kieran smacked him again. "Idiot—keep your voice down!"
Ace shook his head at the pair before walking over. "So? Whose kid is this?"
"No idea—we collided. Looks like he's lost." The boy suddenly wrapped his arms around my neck, his small hands warm on my skin.
Sweet kid…
We were about to head inside when another boy came running toward us, shouting.
"Bad man! Give me Rio back!"
Ace and I exchanged looks.
"Leo!" The boy in my arms called out.
"Your brother?" I asked. He nodded.
Twins. And they spoke English, impressive for their age.
"Rio! Wahh!" The second boy hit my arm lightly as he reached us. Ace lifted him up; he was a mirror image of the first.
"Where the hell are their parents?" Kieran muttered.
"Let's take them to—"
"Leo! Rio!"
We all turned at the sound of the voice. A woman was running toward us, panic etched into every line of her face. The boys lit up and yelled "Mom!"
My body went still. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, as I stared at her.
"Sera." I whispered her name, and it felt like coming home.
"Oh my God! Rio! Leo!" She reached us, tears streaming down her cheeks as she took the boy from me. "Thank you—thank you so much for looking after them."
Boys? She has children?
"Hehe! Mom, they're nice!" The boy in my arms said, and our eyes met.
I'd know her anywhere. Every curve of her face, the way her voice cracked when she was upset—everything about her was exactly as I remembered.
"Thank you again," she said, pressing her face to the boy's hair. "I just stepped away for a minute to use the restroom, and they were gone—I've been looking everywhere."
But I couldn't hear her. All I could see was her—my Sera, standing right in front of me.
She didn't recognize me, of course. She'd been blind back then. She'd never seen my face.
I stood frozen as she turned and walked away with the boys, her hand holding tight to each of theirs.
"L! What the fuck? You're staring into space."
I shook my head, not answering. Then I started walking, a smirk pulling at my lips.
Finally. Fate brought us back together.
No matter what life she has now. No matter who she says fathered those boys. No matter why she left me four years ago.
I'll win her back. She won't get away this time.
Because she's mine.
Contracted or not—you're my wife, Sera.