Keys That Shouldn’t Fit
1104 Words
By the time Siena made it back to the apartment, her cheeks were flushed from the cold and her thoughts were a storm she couldn’t quiet. She had walked for what felt like hours, her boots scuffing pavement, trying to outrun the shadow of a memory she still couldn’t name.
But it was there. In her chest. In the tightness behind her ribs. Something was waking up inside her and it wasn’t gentle.
She reached the apartment door and blinked.
It was slightly ajar.
A chill snaked down her spine. She never left it open.
Cautiously, she stepped inside. The lights were on.
And Jace was back.
He was in the kitchen this time, helping himself to a glass of orange juice like he hadn’t just disappeared with that lingering look at her necklace.
“You have to stop breaking into my home,” she said quietly, shutting the door behind her.
He turned, casually leaning against the counter. “I knocked. No one answered. Thought I’d wait inside.”
Siena raised an eyebrow. “You have a talent for rationalizing trespassing.”
Jace only smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I wanted to make sure you got back okay.”
She dropped her bag and leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “Why?”
“Because something’s not right.” He stared at her for a beat too long. “That necklace… it doesn’t just look expensive. It looks ancient.”
Her hand instinctively went to the pendant hanging against her chest.
“Don’t start again,” she said, softer this time. “It’s just a necklace. I’ve had it forever.”
“Where did you get it?”
“I don’t know.”
That silenced him for a moment. His eyes moved to her face, searching. “You really don’t remember anything, do you?”
Before she could answer, the door unlocked again.
Aiden.
He stepped in with a bag of takeout, his hoodie damp with mist. His smile faltered the moment he saw Jace. “Back again?”
“Just leaving,” Jace said quickly. Too quickly. He grabbed his jacket from the armrest, tossed Siena a glance that hovered between worry and something heavier, and moved toward the door. “Enjoy your dinner.”
Aiden watched him go. “He’s like a stray cat. You feed him once, and now he thinks he lives here.”
Siena laughed quietly, but her stomach was still twisted. “He was just checking in.”
“Yeah. I check in too except I don’t let myself in uninvited.”
He walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Just tired.”
He kissed the side of her head, then pulled away to unpack the food. “I got your favorite.”
“You spoil me.”
“I have to. You’re high maintenance.”
“Rude.”
He chuckled and brought the bag to the coffee table. But then, his eyes returned to her, softer this time. “Seriously though. Are you okay?”
She hesitated, then nodded again. “Yeah. I just… I think Jace is right about one thing. Something’s off.”
He didn’t press. Just opened his arms. “Come here.”
She moved into them, resting her cheek against his chest. His heart beat strong and steady under her ear. For a moment, she let herself breathe in that warmth, that safety.
And then his hands slid lower, under her shirt, fingers teasing along her spine.
“I’ve been thinking about you all damn day,” he whispered, his voice rough with want.
She looked up at him, lips parted.
And in the next second, he was kissing her. Not gently. Not tentatively.
This was hunger deep and old and familiar.
She kissed him back, letting her body take over what her mind was still unraveling.
Aiden scooped her up effortlessly, walking them to the bedroom while she clung to his neck, lips never breaking from his.
Clothes fell like confessions, one after another, until there was nothing left but skin and breath and heat.
He laid her down like something precious. Not fragile but sacred.
“I love the way you look at me,” she whispered as he hovered over her.
“You have no idea what you do to me,” he whispered back.
His mouth found her collarbone, tracing the path down to her breasts. She arched into him, gasping as he sucked gently, hands pressing into her hips like he couldn’t bear to let go.
Her fingers tangled in his hair as he moved lower, kissing her stomach, down, down—
Then his tongue found her, and she cried out, her thighs trembling against his shoulders.
He took his time. Worshipped her with every stroke, every moan he drew from her like music. When she finally pulled him back up, eyes glazed and desperate, he smiled at her with such raw desire it almost made her sob.
“You sure?” he asked, voice hoarse.
“God, yes.”
He entered her slowly, like he needed to feel every inch. They moved in sync, a rhythm built on shared breath, skin sliding against skin, gasps swallowed by kisses.
She clung to him like he was the only thing keeping her grounded. And maybe he was.
Because in that moment, with him buried deep inside her, everything else faded the pendant, the memory gaps, the way Jace looked at her like she was a puzzle with a missing piece.
Here, now this was real.
He moaned her name as they both came undone, her back arching off the bed, his hands gripping her tight.
Afterward, their bodies tangled beneath the sheets, Aiden brushed damp strands from her forehead.
“You feel like home,” he murmured.
Siena rested her hand on his chest, her fingers brushing the rise and fall of his breath.
But even in his arms, the ache returned.
Not physical.
Deeper.
She stared at the ceiling.
“I think I need to find out who I was… before all of this.”
Aiden nodded slowly. “Then we’ll find out. Together.”
She wanted to believe him.
But as she drifted into sleep, her fingers curled around the cold edge of the pendant.
And in the dark, something stirred again.
Not in her dreams.
In her memory.
Just a flash.
Gunshots.
A scream.
A silver crest broken in half.
She woke with a start, gasping.
The past wasn’t sleeping.
It was watching. Waiting.
And it had just started to whisper her name.
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