AzEye – Chapter 3: Flames Beneath the Silk
The palace was silent now. Outside, the scent of ash from the ruined estate still lingered in the air. But inside the royal bedchamber, the only fire burning was the one between them.
Ray stood barefoot by the open window, his wedding robe slipping down one shoulder. The moonlight painted his pale skin in silver, his red eyes glowing like hidden embers. Every inch of him screamed temptation, but behind his soft gaze hid a storm.
Kai sat on the edge of the bed, shirt undone, exposing the sculpted lines of his chest. His eyes—black and red, swirling with something new—were locked on Ray like a predator unsure whether to kill or claim.
"You're not who you petend to be," Kai said softly, voice like ice melting into heat.
Ray walked toward him slowly, letting the silk robe fall to the floor. He knelt between Kai's legs, looking up with innocent eyes that betrayed nothing.
"I'm exactly who you married," he whispered. "I'm yours now."
Kai didn't respond with words. He leaned forward, grabbing Ray by the waist and pulling him onto his lap. Their bodies touched—heat against cold, memory against forgetting.
Their lips met—slow at first, testing. But when Kai deepened the kiss, something inside him cracked. Flashes of childhood laughter, red ribbons, a soft voice calling his name—
"Kai, don't forget me..."
He broke the kiss, breathing hard. "Who are you?"
Ray cupped his cheek gently. "Someone you once loved. Someone you'll never escape again."
Kai froze. But his hands didn't let go. His breath hitched as Ray traced his fingers along the edge of his jaw, down his neck, to the scar just below his collarbone.
"You feel it too," Ray murmured. "Don't you?"
For a heartbeat, Kai's cold exterior shattered. He surged forward, lips crashing into Ray's with raw hunger. This time, there was no hesitation—just want. Craving. A fire neither of them could smother.
Ray gasped as Kai pushed him down onto the silk-covered bed, pinning his wrists above his head. The look in Kai's eyes had shifted—still cold, but now with something unhinged.
"Even if I don't remember you," he growled, "my body does."
Ray smiled, breathless. "Then ruin me, Kai. Like you once promised."
And in that moment, nothing else existed. Not the lies. Not the blood. Only the heat between them—two souls, broken and bound, reunited in fire.