Ciel's hands locked around my waist, pulling me against him until I could feel every hard line of his body. Heat rushed through me so fast my breath caught, but he didn't kiss me again—not right away. Instead, his lips drifted lower, brushing the curve of my jaw, then down the column of my throat.
I gasped, tilting my head back as his teeth grazed my skin, sharp enough to send a violent shiver down my spine.
"Ciel…" I whispered, but my plea dissolved when his mouth closed around my collarbone, sucking hard enough to bruise.
His hands slid upward, cupping my breasts through the thin fabric of my dress, and before I could beg, his mouth found one. He sucked and teased, his tongue flicking mercilessly over the peak until a broken moan tore from my throat. I arched into him, desperate for more, but he caught my wrists, pinning them above my head with one hand.
"Don't fight me," he murmured against my skin, voice low and dark.
I writhed helplessly as his mouth trailed lower—over the curve of my ribs, down the flat of my stomach—each kiss slower, crueler, until I could barely breathe. He pushed my dress down my arms, stripping it away, leaving me bare but for my underwear. His gaze burned into me, devouring, before he tugged the last barrier away and tossed it aside.
A whimper escaped me as his hand slid between my thighs. He stroked me with maddening laziness, circling but never giving me what I craved. My hips bucked helplessly, but his grip on my wrists held me down.
"Please," I gasped, shame heating my face as my body trembled uncontrollably beneath him.
He chuckled softly, cruelly, and slipped a finger inside me with deliberate slowness. My walls clenched around him instantly, but he didn't move. Instead, he replaced his hand with his mouth, hot and relentless, his tongue sliding against me until my cry broke into a sob.
Pinned, helpless, I could only thrash beneath him as he devoured me, every nerve burning, my body betraying me with desperate moans I couldn't hold back.
When I thought I couldn't take another second, he finally released my wrists. His mouth claimed mine again, fierce and consuming, and in one motion he lifted me, positioning me against him.
And then he thrust into me.
The burn was sharp, stretching, consuming—but instead of resisting, my body clung tighter, greedy for every merciless inch. "Ciel—" His name fell from my lips, raw, as my hips arched into him on instinct, betraying the pleas I had tried to hold back.
He started slow, cruel in his control, each deep thrust unraveling me further. My legs trembled around him, my voice breaking. "Please… stop… it's too much…" But even as I begged, my body moved with him, clinging, greedy, desperate for more.
"Don't stop," I gasped finally, my surrender torn from the same mouth that had tried to resist him.
He groaned, rough and unrelenting, and his rhythm deepened—harder, faster. Pleasure tore through me like fire, each movement dragging cries from my throat I couldn't contain. My body quaked beneath him, every nerve alive, until the first wave of release shattered me.
I screamed his name, shaking violently as pleasure ripped me apart. Still he didn't stop. He drove me harder, faster, merciless, forcing me higher, breaking me open again and again.
"I can't—I can't—" I sobbed, but the words were lies. My body clung to him, convulsing, greedy for every thrust, every cruel surge of pleasure. Another climax crashed over me, sharper, fiercer, leaving me gasping, clawing at his back, lost in the storm.
He groaned my name, voice frayed, his thrusts reckless now, desperate. I shattered again in his arms, sobbing his name, every nerve burning as wave after wave consumed me. His release followed, rough and unrestrained, and the sound of my name on his lips made me break all over again.
We collapsed together, tangled, sweat-slick, our breaths ragged and broken. He held me so tightly I could hardly breathe, his mouth at my ear, whispering hoarsely, "Mine… only mine, Serena."
And though every muscle in me was weak, trembling, spent, I knew the truth in that claim. I was his. Body, soul, and every broken breath between.
He gently pulled me into his arms and held me close. Tilting up my chin, he pressed a kiss to my forehead before whispering against my skin, "Good night, my love." His embrace tightened, my cheek pressed firmly against his chest. Slowly, beneath the cool night breeze, I drifted into sleep to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat—never imagining that by morning, that rhythm would be drowned out by screams.
"Ahhh—Your Majesty! Her Majesty!" A voice shrieked through the silence.
I stirred, groggy, sunlight spilling across the room. Blinking awake, I found the new handmaiden, Auriel, standing frozen at the burst-open door. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with horror.
"What's wrong?" Ciel's voice was sharp as he rose from the bed.
"Your Majesty…" Auriel's words shook. "The… prison room."
Ciel's silver eyes darkened instantly. "Is it about Lila?"
"Yes, but—"
"Enough," he cut her off, already grabbing his coat and pulling it over his shoulders. His jaw clenched, eyes burning with urgency.
I tried to rise, but he was at my side in an instant, pushing me gently back down. "Stay here, my love. It may be dangerous." He pressed a swift kiss to my forehead, then turned and strode out with Auriel trailing after him, leaving me breathless and confused, dread curling in my stomach.
Ciel's POV
I rushed down the hall, Auriel stumbling to keep pace beside me. My heart pounded against my ribs, dread coiling tighter with every step. Something was wrong. Something terrible.
I slammed the prison door open, the sound cracking through the silence like thunder.
The stench of iron hit me first—thick, suffocating. My gaze dropped to the floor, following the dark streaks that led deeper inside.
"No…" My voice broke, disbelief clawing up my throat. I moved forward, slow, unwilling. "No, no, no…"
And then I saw him.
Jason.
His body lay twisted, lifeless, pale as marble beneath the cold torchlight.
I froze at his feet, the world tilting around me, my chest hollowing into something sharp and merciless.
Jason was dead.