Elian’s pulse thrummed erratically against Lucien’s palm, a trapped bird fluttering against a cage. The scent of the Duke—sandalwood, rain, and something sharp like cold steel—clung to him, suffocating and intoxicating all at once.

​"W-what rules?" Elian forced himself to ask when all he wanted was to run out the door to escape the burning heat from Lucien’s skin.

​Lucien chuckled lowly, his fingers tightening just a tad on Elian’s skin. "You don’t get to question me, young Morel, did you forget?" he whispered dangerously.

​"I haven’t forgotten," Elian managed to choke out, his voice thin but defiant. "You’re the one who forgot. You left me in that room for a week like... like a piece of furniture you were tired of looking at. I just needed to know my purpose."

​Lucien’s grip didn’t tighten, but his thumb traced the line of Elian’s jaw, a terrifyingly slow movement that made Elian’s knees go weak. "Furniture doesn’t conspire with my cousin in the dirt of a stable, Elian."

​Elian’s heart stopped. He knew. Of course, he knew.

​"We weren’t conspiring," Elian hissed, trying to shove against Lucien’s chest, but the man was like a marble statue. "He was drunk. He was offering me a kindness you aren’t capable of."

​"Kindness?" Lucien’s laugh was a low, dark vibration that Elian felt in his own bones. He leaned even closer, his forehead resting against Elian’s. Their noses brushed, a staggering intimacy that felt like a threat. "Rowan offers you a ’new start’ because he wants to possess the rarity I found first. You think his village tavern is freedom? It’s just a smaller cage."

​"At least he doesn’t call me a monster," Elian whispered, his breath hitching as Lucien’s hand slid from his throat to cup the back of his neck, pulling him upward until Elian was forced to stand on his toes.

​"You called me a monster first, young Morel," Lucien murmured against his lips, the heat of his words searing. "And you were right. I am. So why did you come to my door tonight? Why aren’t you hiding under your covers, praying I never return?"

​"Because I need to know," Elian gasped, his hands instinctively clutching at Lucien’s unbuttoned shirt for balance. "The mission. The deal. I want to get it over with so I can be rid of you."

​Lucien’s eyes flashed with a predatory hunger, his gaze dropping to Elian’s trembling mouth.

​"Liars are punished in this house," Lucien said, his voice dropping an octave, thick with a tension that was rapidly turning from anger into something far more volatile. "You didn’t come here for the mission. You came because the silence was driving you mad. You came because you wanted to see if I was still yours to hate."

​"I don’t belong to you," Elian defied, though his body betrayed him, leaning into the Duke’s warmth.

​"Then prove it," Lucien challenged, his gaze burning. "Walk away. Go back to your room and lock the door. If you stay... if you demand the truth from a monster... you might not like the price I ask in return."

​Elian didn’t move. He couldn’t. The air between them was thick with seven days of unspoken frustration and a week of aching solitude. The anger was still there, but it was being drowned out by a desperate, lightning-strike of chemistry that neither of them could control.

​Lucien’s hand moved to Elian’s waist, dragging him flush against his body. "Still here, truth seeker?"

​"Get off me!" Elian pushed with all his strength, shaking visibly as he forced air into his hot lungs.

​He stared at his trembling hands and watched how fast his chest heaved.

​What were they doing?!

​"You’re truly a monster!" Elian snapped his head up, glaring at Lucien, who was now watching him with predatory darkness.

​"I hate you, I hate you so fucking much!" Elian pointed a shaky finger at Lucien, hot tears falling from his eyes.

​"You’re making me so crazy! You treat me so badly, yet you touch me like I mean something even when you plan to kill me in the end. I won’t let that happen; I won’t become your ultimate puppet!" Elian shouted, his voice cracking.

​Lucien’s control was fraying.

​He watched Elian’s shoulders shake, watched fat tears roll down those flushed cheeks as the younger man tried—and failed—to hold back broken sobs. The sight should have disgusted him. Instead, it ignited something feral in his chest.

​"Be quiet, Elian," Lucien warned, his voice low and strained.

​Elian’s head snapped up, eyes blazing through the tears. "No! I will not be quiet!" His voice cracked, raw and defiant. "I demand you let me go. Set me—ah!"

​Lucien moved before he could think.

​In one brutal motion, he slammed Elian against the nearest wall, the impact knocking the breath from both of them. Elian’s back hit stone with a dull thud, his wrists pinned above his head by one of Lucien’s large hands.

​"Be quiet," Lucien hissed again, his forehead pressed against Elian’s, their breaths mingling hot and desperate.

​Elian whimpered, twisting uselessly in his grip. "You monster... you—"

​Lucien’s mouth crashed down on his.

​It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t a kiss—it was a claim. Hard, punishing, devouring. Elian gasped into it, the sound swallowed instantly as Lucien pressed closer, his body caging him completely against the cold wall. The taste of salt from Elian’s tears mixed with something sweeter, something that made Lucien’s blood roar.

​Elian struggled for half a second... then his lips parted on a broken moan.

​Lucien pulled back just enough to growl against his mouth, "I said be quiet."

​But Elian—trembling, furious, aching—only whispered back, his voice wrecked:

​"Make me."

​With a growl, Lucien slammed his lips back onto Elian’s. This time, he forced entrance with his tongue, groaning as he tasted the sweet and smooth crevice of Elian’s mouth. Tongues slid and rolled together, lips locking and sucking in a desperate hunger.

​Elian felt his world tilting fast, his head spinning so quickly he thought he’d fall. His lips were on fire, his knees were melting, and his heart was hammering rapidly.

​He knew he needed air, but he didn’t want to pull away from those delicious, hot, and wet lips on his. Instead, he latched harder, sucking Lucien’s bottom lip between his teeth, moaning as Lucien’s tongue swiped his upper lip.

​"Elian," Lucien pulled away, breathing hard and fast as he cupped Elian’s face, his dark green eyes roaming hungrily over his face.

​Elian swallowed, darting his tongue out to slowly lick his lips, and when he saw how closely Lucien’s eyes followed his tongue, a soft moan escaped his mouth.

​"Damn it..." Lucien muttered and suddenly stepped away from Elian like he’d been burned.

​Elian stood there, lips parted like a fish out of water as he stared at Lucien, who now had his back to him, his shoulders tensed.

​He was stunned for a second, the realization of what they’d just done sinking in hard. He was shaking like a leaf from fear and excitement, his eyes moistening as the sting of rejection pierced right through his heart.

​He took a step, eyes searching Lucien’s figure for any hint of invitation, but all he saw was cold, hardened resolve.

​"Lucien," Elian softly murmured, his voice trembling.

​Slowly, Lucien turned, his eyes back to their cold, icy look.

​"Don’t forget your place, young Morel," Lucien warned darkly, his eyes avoiding those blue, watery ones; he couldn’t look into them again... not after what he’d done.

​"Never call me by my name," he stated, walking past Elian to stand beside the door.

​"We just... you just k—"

​"Leave, Elian. Now." Lucien ordered indifferently.

​Elian swallowed quietly, sniffling as warm tears rolled down his cheeks.

​Of course, what was he thinking? This was nothing but a mistake, an abomination.

​He shouldn’t have let it get this far.

​With a curt nod, he dragged his heavy legs toward the door, his gaze cast down to hide his tears, but his quiet sobs still reached Lucien’s ears, twisting the knife of guilt right into his heart.

​Without sparing Lucien a glance, Elian pulled the door open and walked out of Lucien’s chamber.

​The door closed with a quiet thud, but to Lucien, it was louder than a bang.

​He stood for a long time, staring at the door and wondering what he’d just done.

​His fists balled beside him; an overwhelming feeling of emptiness invaded him, the opposite of what he felt when he had Elian pinned to the wall.

​Never in his existence had he felt so alive, so complete, and so... seen.

​It felt so right that it scared him because he knew everything that had just happened inside his chamber a few moments ago was wrong.

​It was a mistake, but heavens, he didn’t realize how much he’d missed Elian’s presence until he showed up at his door looking like a defiant sin and asking to be claimed.

​He couldn’t help it, not when Elian didn’t look at him like a duke, a noble, or a monster, but like a man.

​A man he dared to crave.