Aurora leaned against the marble counter, wine glass in hand, the city lights behind her like a million burning eyes. Her silk robe clung to her curves like temptation itself
"You're quiet tonight," she said, not even glancing at Elara, who stood near the door like a ghost that didn't belong.
Elara swallowed hard. Her cheap hoodie was still damp from the rain, her backpack slumped on the floor. "You called me," she said, eyes flicking nervously toward the older woman. "You said you needed me."
"I never said what I needed you for," Aurora replied, finally looking over her shoulder. Her smirk was slow and venomous. "But you came anyway. Obedient little thing."
Elara's cheeks flushed. "I thought it was about the job offer."
"Maybe it was," Aurora sipped her wine. "Or maybe I just wanted to see how desperate you really are."
Elara clenched her fists. "I'm not desperate."
"Oh, darling…" Aurora turned fully to face her, her voice lowering like a spell. "You are drowning in desperation. I can see it in your eyes. That hunger to escape your miserable little life. That ache to feel wanted. It's adorable."
Elara took a step back. "You don't know me."
Aurora laughed — low and cruel. "I know enough. You're a virgin, aren't you?"
Elara froze.
Aurora tilted her head, her tone suddenly softer, more intimate. "No one's touched you. No one's claimed you. You walk around pretending to be invisible, but your body? It screams to be noticed."
"Stop," Elara said, her voice shaking. "This is—"
"—Inappropriate?" Aurora closed the distance between them in two steps. "Sweetheart, nothing I do is appropriate. But that's why you keep coming back, isn't it?"
Elara backed into the wall, heart pounding. Aurora's perfume — expensive, heady, warm — clouded her senses.
"I could ruin you," Aurora whispered, her lips brushing Elara's ear. "And you'd still beg me for more."
Elara's breath caught in her throat. She hated her. She hated the way Aurora made her feel—like her body didn't belong to her anymore. Like her heart was a match and Aurora was the flame.
"I should go," she whispered.
"But you won't." Aurora's hand trailed along her arm, lingering at her wrist, then slipping under her sleeve. "You want to be wanted. Even if it hurts."
There was a silence. Heavy. Tense. Too intimate.
Then Elara did the one thing she never thought she'd do.
She whispered, "Then do it. Ruin me."
Aurora smiled — not with joy, but with victory. "Good girl."
She leaned in, lips brushing just a breath away from Elara's, but didn't kiss her. She pulled back, leaving Elara shaking and humiliated by her own need.
"That's all for tonight," Aurora said, stepping back, cool as ever. "Go home."
Elara blinked. "What?"
"You offered yourself too easily. I don't like things that don't resist me."
"I'm not a game."
Aurora's eyes glittered. "Then don't act like a pawn."
Elara turned and stormed out, humiliated. But her heart? Her heart was already chained to the devil in silk.