It had been two months since Nova signed the contract, and every day was a reminder of the risky line she had walked into by signing that contract with Dorian.
What started as a cold, calculated arrangement was growing increasingly
and dangerously warm.
The tension between her and Dorian wasn't just lingering in the background anymore,it was suffocating, wrapped around every interaction they had.
At night, Nova found herself once again lying in bedwide awake. The massive penthouse despite its luxury still felt stif and unwelcoming to her.
She tossed and turned, her body restless, her mind unable to shake the electric tension that had built between her and Dorian over the past weeks. It was getting harder to pretend she didn't feel it, harder to ignore the way her pulse quickened every time he so much as brushed past her.
Dorian had been acting distant, as he always did, but there were moment ,when his gaze would linger a little too long, when his hand would rest just a second too much on her lower back as they made their public appearances.
She had chalked it up to the facade they were putting on, but there was something more, something unspoken growing between them.
Unable to stand the silence of her thoughts, Nova slipped out of bed and went straight to the kitchen. She needed a distraction, something to pull her away from the thoughts that had been swirling in her head all night. Maybe a glass of wine would help clear her headshe thought, pouring the wine into a glass.
Just as she was sipping her wine, she heard a noise behind her, she turned to see Dorian standing in the doorway, his gaze dark and unreadable.
He was dressed in his usual attire;black trousers with a crisp white shirt and the top few buttons undone, revealing a hint of the strong chest beneath.
"You're up late," he said, his voice low, sending a shiver down her spine.
"So are you" she replied, trying to keep her voice steady. She continued to sip her wine , to ease the tension. The tension in the room was so thickening with each passing second that a knife could cut through it.
She could feel his eyes on her, watching her every move and it made her skin tingle with an awareness she hadn't expected.
Dorian stepped into the kitchen, his movements slow, deliberate. "I couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind." His eyes flicked to the glass of wine in her hand, then back to her. "What about you?"
Nova swallowed hard, knowing full well what was keeping her awake but refusing to admit it. "Same. Too much noise in my head, I guess."
Dorian moved closer, the air between them crackling with unspoken tension. "We've been busy lately," he said, his voice soft but edged with something darker. "All these events, all this pretending. It's... exhausting, isn't it?"
Nova nodded, taking a sip of her wine to steady her nerves. "Yes, it is." Her heart racing, and as her pulse quickening as he stopped just inches from her.
She could feel the heat radiating from his body, his presence overpowering.
His gaze locked onto hers, intense and unwavering. "But it's not just the pretending, is it?" His voice was barely above a whisper now, but the words hung heavy in the air.
Nova's breath caught in her throat. She felt exposed, vulnerable, as if he could see through the walls she'd built to keep her feelings in check. "What do you mean?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.
Dorian reached out, his fingers brushing lightly against her arm, sending a jolt of electricity through her body. The touch was gentle, almost casual, but it ignited something inside her. "This tension," he murmured, his voice low and rough. "It's not just because of the contract."
Nova's pulse hammered in her ears as his fingers lingered on her skin, his touch light but deliberate. Her mind screamed at her to step back, to maintain the boundaries they had set, but her body was betraying her. She wanted more and she needed more.
She opened her mouth to respond, but the words wouldn't come, Instead she just stood there frozen staring up at him.
The air between them was thick with desire, a desire she had been fighting for weeks but could no longer deny.
Dorian's hand slid down her arm, his touch feather-light yet burning with intensity. "Nova" he said, his voice a rough whisper "tell me to stop."
But she couldn't. She didn't want him to stop.
Without thinking, Nova closed the distance between them, her hand reaching out to rest against his chest. She felt his heartbeat, strong and steady beneath her fingers, and it matched the rhythm of her own racing pulse. His skin was warm under the thin fabric of his shirt, and the scent of his cologne subtle but intoxicating made her head spin.
"I don't want you to stop," she whispered, the words slipping out before she could even think.
The look in Dorian's eyes darkened, his restraint slipping. In one swift movement, he pulled her closer, his hand sliding around her waist as his lips hovered dangerously close to hers. "You sure about that?"
Nova 's breath hitched, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel the heat of his body, the tension between them threatening to snap.
For a moment, the world outside disappeared. There were no contracts, no expectations, no rules just the two of them, caught in the gravity of a pull neither could resist.
She tilted her chin up, her lips brushing his in the lightest of touches, but it was enough to send a shockwave through her entire body. Dorian groaned softly the sound vibrating between them, and before she could take another breath, his lips were on hers firm, demanding and filled with a hunger that had been building for far too long.
The kiss was explosive, all the weeks of restraint and tension erupting at once. Nova's fingers tangled in his shirt, pulling him closer as his hands gripped her waist, pressing her against him.
The world spun, and all she could feel was his warmth, his strength, his needs mirroring her own.
They broke apart, gasping for breath but the distance between them was only for a second. Dorian's hand slid up to cup her face, his thumb brushing her cheek as he leaned in again, his lips grazing the sensitive skin of her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
"This is dangerous," Dorian murmured against her skin, his voice thick with desire. "But I can't stop."
Nova's fingers tightened on his shirt pulling him even closer, her body responding to him with an urgency she hadn't anticipated. "Then don't," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Dorian groaned again and his lips found hers once more, the kiss became deeper andmore intense this time . Nova melted into him, the heat between them consuming her making her forget everything except the way he made her feel.
This wasn't just about the contract anymore, this was something real, something neither of them had prepared for.
As their bodies pressed together, the lines they had drawn between them blurred, leaving them both standing on the edge of something they could no longer deny.