Lahat ng Kabanata ng Craving Forbidden Pleasures : Kabanata 241 - Kabanata 250

The applause from my initiation still rang in my ears days later, phantom echoes I carried back into the noise of ordinary life. At work, my colleagues saw only distraction: a woman who lost her train of thought mid-sentence, who lingered too long staring out the window. They did not know that every flicker of memory—leather restraints, masked eyes, Corin’s voice claiming me—still pulsed in my veins like a second heartbeat.But the Echelon didn’t allow initiates to bask in triumph for long. The note came two nights later, slipped beneath my apartment door.What is broken can be remade. Come prepared.The words chilled me. I had thought I was already remade. What else did they demand?******'' 'The welts on my back faded into pale reminders over the next few days, but their echo lingered in my body like a secret chord. Each brush of clothing against my skin rekindled memory—not of pain, but of surrender, of the way Corin had broken me and pieced me together again with bare hands and w

The elders conferred. Time narrowed into seconds that stretched like rope. Finally, the lead elder spoke.“We will not exile,” the elder said. “But we will set terms.”Terms. The word was law. The Tribunal outlined conditions that felt like a marriage contract: transparency in special rituals, limits on public declarations, a tempered path to any public bond recognition, and service to the Order for a fixed span. Corin would remain my guide, but our claim had to be integrated—not burned into the Order’s history overnight.Corin stepped forward then, without mask, and addressed them in a voice that had been tempered by nights of teaching and the rawness of our private reclamations. “We accept terms,” he said. “But one: she remains at my side, not as property without voice, but as partner within this covenant. I will not allow exile on the grounds of love.” His tone was steel wrapped in silk.The Tribunal nodded, ink settling like judgment. The terms were harsh but survivable. The Order

Mara’s hand lingered on the doorknob, as if the thin barrier of wood still meant something now that he stood in her hallway. Her breath was shallow, lips parted, every nerve in her body screaming with awareness.She should slam the door. Lock it. Call the police.Instead, her knuckles whitened where she gripped the frame.“You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.He leaned against the doorway as if he belonged there, one arm braced above her head, his body so close she could feel the heat radiating off him. His presence swallowed the space, sharp with leather and something darker, primal.“And yet…” His gaze dragged over her body, slow and deliberate. “…you opened the door.”Her chest rose and fell, the satin of her slip clinging to her breasts. His eyes caught on the stiff peaks pressing against the thin fabric, and her stomach flipped with shame. She should cover herself. She should push him back.But her arms hung uselessly at her sides.“You’ve been watching me,” she said, forcing t

"Waited for what?" Mara repeated, when he remained silent, his eyes never leaving hers as though he saw and knew too much. Her breath hitched. Her heat thuded. . His lips curved into something fierce, something that made her stomach knot with heat. “To take what’s mine.”Her breath caught. What was his? The word exploded In her head. She wasn't his! She should have said no. She was going to say just that. She should have pushed him away. And was ready to do it. But when his hand slid up her thigh again, spreading her open, the word dissolved on her tongue.“Say it,” he demanded, his voice rough. “Say you want me inside you.”Her cheeks flamed, shame and desire warring inside her. She was not going to say it. But then his fingers teased her entrance again, and her hips bucked helplessly, her body betraying her.“Yes,” she gasped, the admission torn from her. “I—I want you.”The sound that rumbled from his chest was primal.In one swift motion, he lifted her, pinning her against the w

When Mara opened the door, she expected him to devour her like before. Instead, he didn’t move.He stood in the doorway, eyes burning, but his hands stayed at his sides. “I shouldn’t be here,” he rasped.Her breath hitched. “Then why are you?”His gaze flicked over her—bare legs, oversized shirt, no bra. His throat worked as if swallowing something heavy. “Because I can’t stay away.”Something inside her cracked. She expected the predator again, the growling, the rough hands. Instead, he looked… undone. Haunted. Like watching her wasn’t just obsession—it was survival.She stepped back, giving him space to enter. He did, slowly, his body taut like a predator restraining itself.For a long moment, they just stood there, the silence thick. Then, his voice, softer than she’d ever heard: “You don’t know what you do to me.”Mara’s chest ached. Against her will, she reached for him, brushing her fingers against his jaw. His skin was rough, his stubble scratching her palm. “Then show me,” she