Until You Say Stop

bed is too perfect, untouched except for the faint crease where you turned restlessly through the night. You f

the nightstand. Still unsigned o

ishing. You stare at the fogged mirror afterward, expecting to see s

as here, no dress code outlined for this part.

ch into long corridors. Walls whisper wealth in the quiet language of oil paintings and collector's fr

hair so angular and modern it should be unco

ading t

l p

en doe

ate in th

look up. "S

N

f his mouth

shed stone. The air between you shifts

after the sketc

e replies, flipping the

y. From him. From that gallery of obsession. From the

here alone," y

u entered that room, you don't come out

your arm

up. Those eyes.

still de

s and a charcoal sweater, sleeves rolled to the elbow. His forearms are danger

ks pas

fo

nt to. Because he

ou haven't been here before. The air sme

ens a

overed, some exposed. An easel waits at th

nside, dra

" he

king it in. "I didn

ever a

rcoal smudges trail from one edge. There's somethin

ep tow

with a single

eze. Lo

e did that first day in his

ready to see

hen you see something in his eye

t," he adds.

ntually, you'll stay. Eventually, you'

the canvas, throat

enough to feel. "Now," he mu

brushes your bottom lip, slow

kiss you. Doesn't touch you again.

int and cruel

he

ves you

ull of things he

follow him

vases and unfinished thoughts, and you try to breathe through the shar

he means

uch it. But you look. Long enough to feel its gravity pull at your curiosity.

itch. You for

ntu

the windows spill golden morning across Persian rugs. You don't know where Adrian went

k you once owned. Dog-eare

mber telling h

nd read i

asses. The

him. That he can command a room without entering it. That his silence means so

return to your room, a b

n

cou

de:

. A backless cut. And folded beneath it, a pair of heels

'clock. West wi

et the invitation down. You don't

don't know what y

time. Not for h

you tell you

ine his hands might fit. When you slip into the dress, it hugs your curves lik

e dining room, he

at black shirt again-no tie, first

s when y

trail dow

ys no

silenc

stretch of table.

rs the

slow. "You'r

eyebrow. "To

icipate

. It's rich. Dar

act too long. You catch yourself watching his hands. The way he cuts his food. T

hen-d

it lazily. "Do you know what

link.

rd, voice velv

pens the

reath

dips to y

you know-this is sti

't eat

ant to be savored slowly like everything else Adrian touches.

pens th

of man who doesn't rush dessert when he knows he can keep it indefinitely. The candlelight licks the

ure what you're h

g his fingers against the wine glass

hesi

a thousan

them goo

ggling," you say quietly. "

ns back in his ch

"About how far I could go be

lly smiles there-but with the sharp gleam in his eyes

ely begun,"

of si

efore you feel him at your back. He doesn't touch you. Just stands behin

e dress," he

d

hy

you tol

g ans

sting your temple, not touching-neve

thing," he whispers. "Because when you loo

wallo

To the chair. He turns it gently, sw

en he

ai

time since

der-it's possession d

The dress has slid up your thi

sn't n

shaking,

u

oo

ide of your thigh. Just once. Ligh

sugge

yet. Just waiting. Knowing that one day you'd be here. In this house. Wearing what I p

the edge

. Looks down at you like you're

to you, Selena," he says softly

eliev

you

u want to kn

teps

to b

ightens. "Ju

nswer. Doesn

lea

you are the one

thless with nothing but the moonlight and th

beg me

nd that terrifies you almos

o large without his presence but

of the wine

he he did

discarded on the floor like a

eam of

again only this ti

ur voice doesn't

ed against the sheets legs twiste

can still hear his

's a package wai

k

oots

pre

brushes charcoal even the kind of expens

a

r hands

t to see you nex

ow what he m

rt of

e room and stare at the blank page like it's ano

ches on with

hour you f

tterns of

d of your o

ou choose witho

d two pages with cha

hem has

r has

ow what the

you blush whe

h

wallows the last li

com crack

e

om

pulse

ugh the house down a corr

into a room that smells o

st

at th

ad

rched low

hing beneath hi

t look up

hen h

ity resets its

ow you someth

sta

o the f

something

xpect it to

ind

dden

lt of

single ha

p insid

e covered wi

y

e way you

y he s

er

o

e

si

f them

e c

lmost

u

sn't e

you and waits for y

," he says finally "So I

rt "What's t

ans c

is

on of you

and wonder if it's tr

xisted until now-kneeling in shadows lips part

le ting

thm of hands that neve

know the

is a secret

hstroke feels

ing me," you whisp

s don't

even had

rn to

ow

id of what it me

e you permiss

es-just

N

didn'

heart

hould

n a

through t

om and everything it's s

u don'

ca

the last easel in the corne

s hesitate

atch

ull i

nvas i

ple

ouc

l

you more than

is one?

toward

liberate lik

t behind your

y one I want

lance

s at t

ow when yo

nd what he means b

gs against a ribcage

e vault with

ven though he neve

n bed and stare at t

the fi

at Adrian Cavalli i

what he's a