The Ultimatum
709 Words
The city lights spilled across Elias’s penthouse windows, glittering like broken glass against the dark. Avery stood with her arms wrapped around herself, staring at the skyline but not seeing it. All she could see was Clara’s sly smile, the threat hanging in her voice.
Every second that passed felt like the walls closing in.
Behind her, Elias poured a drink, ice clinking against crystal. He moved with that same maddening calm, as if her world wasn’t about to implode.
“You’re too quiet,” he said finally, settling into the armchair across from her. His sharp eyes pinned her in place. “Say what’s running through your head before it eats you alive.”
She turned to face him, her chest tight. “If Clara tells—if my dad finds out—”
Elias cut her off with a lazy shrug. “Then he finds out.”
Avery’s stomach dropped. “You can’t be serious.”
He leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees, his voice low but steady. “I’ve never been more serious. If this comes out, I’m not hiding. I won’t pretend it isn’t real. I won’t deny you, Avery.”
The air seemed to vanish from the room.
“You’d let them know?” Her voice cracked. “You’d let my father—everyone—know what we’ve been doing?”
His smirk was gone. His face was stone. “I’d tell them you’re mine. That you’ve always been mine.”
Terror and desire warred inside her, hot and suffocating. She wrapped her arms tighter, as if that could hold her together. “Do you even understand what that would do to me? To us? It would ruin everything.”
“It would ruin their illusion,” Elias corrected. “Not us. We’ve already shattered every line they tried to draw.”
Her pulse pounded in her ears. “You make it sound so simple—”
“Because it is.” He stood suddenly, crossing the room in two strides. His hands gripped her face, tilting it up until she had no choice but to meet his burning gaze. “I’m done pretending this is something to be ashamed of. I’m done sneaking like we’re thieves in our own home. If the truth comes out, so be it. I’ll brand it into their skulls if I have to.”
Her breath trembled. Fear licked at her, sharp and cold. But beneath it, deeper, hotter, was something she hated herself for: excitement.
The idea of Elias standing there, owning her, claiming her before the world—it terrified her. But it also made her thighs press together, heat flooding her core.
“Elias…” she whispered, her voice weak. “You’d destroy everything for this?”
“For you.” His lips brushed hers, his voice raw. “I’d destroy everything for you.”
Her knees nearly buckled. He kissed her hard, devouring her doubt, stealing her breath until she couldn’t think. His hands slid down her body, gripping her hips, dragging her against the hard line of him.
A whimper broke from her throat as his mouth trailed down her jaw, to her neck, biting hard enough to leave proof. “Let them see,” he growled against her skin. “Let them all f*****g see.”
Her nails dug into his shoulders, torn between pulling him closer and pushing him away. “You’re insane,” she gasped.
His laugh was low, dangerous. “I’ve been insane since the night you walked into that house. Since the first time you looked at me like you hated me when all I wanted was to ruin you.”
She shivered, every word sinking into her like poison and honey.
“You think I can go back now?” he asked, his voice breaking into a hoarse whisper. “You think I’ll ever let you go? No, Avery. If this secret explodes, we don’t run—we burn.”
Her chest heaved, her body trembling against his. The terror still clung to her, but so did the dark, thrilling truth: he meant it. He’d rather scorch the earth than ever deny what they had.
And God help her… a part of her wanted that too.
- Writer
