CHAPTER 5:THE MORNING AFTER
1531 Words
Amara stretched lazily beneath the covers, her eyes still closed as one hand reached toward the dresser beside her.
She was looking for her phone.
Her fingers searched the surface once.
Nothing.
She frowned and reached farther.
Still nothing.
Strange.
She was almost certain she'd left it there.
Then she noticed something else.
The mattress beneath her felt different.
Much bigger.
Much softer.
Amara's brows pulled together.
Since when was my bed this comfortable?
Her eyes snapped open.
She sat upright so quickly that the sheets slipped down her body.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
The unfamiliar ceiling.
The expensive curtains.
The enormous room.
The elegant furniture.
Then she looked down.
She was naked.
“Fuck.”
The word escaped in a startled whisper.
Her eyes darted around the room.
Her bag sat neatly on a table beside the bed. Her dress was crumpled nearby, and one of her shoes had somehow ended up beneath a chair.
She stared at it.
Then slowly, painfully, memories began returning.
The club.
Orion.
His hand around her waist.
The car.
Dinner.
His mansion.
His lips.
And then—
Amara closed her eyes.
“Oh, God.”
The memory became clearer.
---
The night before
The moment they had returned to the car after dinner, something between them had changed.
Neither of them spoke.
Orion looked at her.
She looked back.
There was no need for words.
His eyes dropped to her lips.
Amara noticed.
She didn't move.
He leaned toward her.
She met him halfway.
The kiss started softly, almost cautiously.
Then neither of them seemed interested in keeping it that way.
When they finally separated, Amara's breathing was unsteady.
Orion studied her face.
“You do that often?”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Do what?”
“Make men forget to think.”
A small smile appeared on her lips.
“Is it working?”
His gaze lingered on her.
“Unfortunately.”
She laughed.
“Then maybe you should stop looking at me.”
“I've tried.”
“And?”
“Didn't work.”
That made her laugh again.
The driver remained politely silent, pretending the back seat didn't exist.
When they arrived at the mansion, Orion offered her his hand.
Amara took it.
She told herself it was because she was slightly unsteady.
She knew better.
The moment they stepped inside, she looked around.
On seeing the place, she still couldn't get over it.
“You really live here?”
Orion looked amused.
“What did you expect?”
“A normal house.”she lied.
“This is normal.”
Amara stared at him.
“Your definition of normal needs medical attention.”
He laughed.
She hadn't expected that.
They walked farther inside.
Orion loosened his tie.
Amara watched.
Then quickly looked away.
Focus.
She was attracted to him, yes.
But attraction wasn't enough.
She needed to know what kind of man he was.
And so far, the answer was looking very expensive.
She glanced at the artwork.
The furniture.
The enormous staircase.
Then at him.
“You're very wealthy.”she blurted out.
This confirmed it she thought. she was drunk.
“That sounds like a statement.”
“It is.”
He smiled.
“And you're very curious.”
“I like knowing what I'm getting myself into.”
Something in his expression changed.
“Do you?”
Amara looked at him.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Orion stepped closer.
She could smell his cologne again.
His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.
Amara's breath caught.
“You've been studying me all night,” she murmured.
“I Have”
“And what have you learned?”
“That you might not be as innocent as your pretty face let's on.”
Her smile slowly returned.
“Maybe you're not as observant as you think.”
He leaned closer.
“Maybe.”
Their lips met again.
This time there was no hesitation.
Amara's hands found his shoulders while his settled around her waist.
She had gone into the evening knowing exactly what she wanted.
Money.
A connection.
A way into a world she had only ever watched from a distance.
But somewhere between one kiss and the next, Orion made it dangerously easy to forget she had a plan.
They moved through the mansion to Orions bedroom, still laughing quietly between kisses.
At one point, Amara pulled away.
“We should probably stop.”
Orion looked at her.
“Probably.”
Neither of them moved.
She smiled.
“You're not very good at following instructions.”
“Neither are you.”
She laughed softly.
And when he kissed her again, she didn't argue.
The rest of the night blurred into warmth, whispered words and a growing tension neither of them bothered to fight anymore.
And whatever careful boundaries they had started the evening with disappeared somewhere between the kisses and the darkness.
---
Amara opened her eyes.
She stared at the ceiling.
“Oh, my God.”
She buried her face in her hands.
She remembered enough.
More than enough.
And judging by the soreness in her muscles and the state of her dress, she didn't need the rest of her memory to fill in the blanks.
She looked toward the empty side of the bed.
Orion was gone.
Relief washed over her.
“Good.”
She immediately reached for her phone.
8:30 a.m.
Beneath the time were notifications from the previous night.
One was a money alert.
Her lips curved.
At least something good had happened before everything else became complicated.
Then she noticed the missed calls.
One.
Five.
Ten.
She kept scrolling.
Her eyebrows rose.
“Thirty-two?”
Every single one was from Greg.
She rolled her eyes.
“Obsessed.”
She tossed the phone onto the bed.
Thank God she'd put it on silent.
She quickly dressed, grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
She wasn't staying around waiting for Orion.
Whatever game this was, she knew better than to make herself too available.
When she stepped into the hallway, a maid approached her.
“Good morning, ma'am.”
“Good morning.”
“Mr. Blackwood left early for business.”
Amara's heart skipped for half a second.
The maid continued.
“He asked that you please wait for him. He said all your needs should be taken care of until he returns.”
Amara almost smiled.
He expected me to wait?
Interesting.
“I can't.”
The maid looked startled.
“Ma'am?”
“I have somewhere to be.”
“But Mr. Blackwood specifically asked—”
“I know.”
Amara adjusted her bag.
“But I need to leave.”
The maid looked increasingly nervous but eventually nodded and escorted her through the mansion.
Amara took the opportunity to observe everything again.
The enormous halls.
The polished marble.
The servants moving quietly through the house.
Several gave her small bows as she passed.
Apparently, being associated with Orion was enough to earn respect.
That thought pleased her more than she wanted to admit.
Outside, the maid approached a suited man.
“Edgar, please take Miss Amara home.”
Edgar immediately nodded.
“Of course.”
Amara got into the car.
As they pulled away, she watched the mansion disappear behind them.
She wasn't about to give a stranger her address.
If Orion wanted to find her again, he could put in the effort.
After several minutes, Edgar glanced at her through the mirror.
“Ma'am, where exactly should I take you?”
“Just stop around there.”
She pointed toward a busy shopping district.
Edgar looked confused.
“Your home is around here?”
“Yes.”
It wasn't.
But he didn't need to know that.
The car stopped.
“Thank you.”
Edgar nodded uncertainly.
“Are you sure you don't want me to take you farther?”
“I'm sure.”
She stepped out and waited until the car disappeared before hailing a taxi.
---
By the time Amara reached home, exhaustion had settled heavily over her.
She entered her room, dropped her bag and stared at herself in the mirror.
Her hair was a mess.
She looked tired.
But there was something else in her expression.
Satisfaction.
She had wanted to meet a wealthy man.
She hadn't expected to meet Orion Blackwood.
And she certainly hadn't expected to wake up in his mansion.
She looked down at the dress she'd worn the previous night.
For a moment, the memories returned again.
His voice.
His hands.
His eyes.
The way he'd looked at her.
Amara quickly shook her head.
“Enough.”
She grabbed clean clothes and headed for the bathroom.
After a long, hot shower, she changed into her nightwear and fell onto her bed.
Her phone buzzed.
Greg again.
She didn't even look.
Instead, her thoughts wandered back to Orion.
The mansion.
The servants.
The cars.
The effortless wealth.
Amara smiled into her pillow.
Maybe she'd stumbled onto something much bigger than she'd expected.
And perhaps...
Orion Blackwood was worth getting to know.
With that thought, her eyes slowly closed.
And she drifted off to sleep.
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