LUST, LOVE AND BLOOD

ROOFTOP FIRE "You are the sexiest woman I have ever seen." Nathaniel’s voice was low, rough with something dark and unspoken. Before Scarlett could react, his hands were on her, strong, demanding as he pulled her into him. His lips crashed against hers, hot and unrelenting, swallowing the sharp breath she had barely managed to take. Scarlett barely had time to think. She didn’t want to think. She had spent the entire night trying to push down the anger curling in her chest, the exhaustion of a day that had drained her more than she could stand. But now...Now, there was this. Nathaniel’s hands roamed her body like a man starved, fingers digging into her waist, sliding up her thighs, gripping her like he never wanted to let go. Heat spread through her like wildfire, melting away the frustration, the weight of the life she had been trying so hard to escape. She wasn’t Helena Maxwell, the waitress people ignored nor was she Scarlett Andre, the assassin people feared. She was just a woman, burning in his arms. Nathaniel groaned against her lips as she pressed herself against him, threading her fingers through his dark hair, tugging just enough to make him gasp. He responded instantly, his grip tightening, his kiss deepening, his hunger matching her own. The rooftop was cold, the city stretching endlessly beneath them, but Scarlett barely noticed. All she felt was him. His body, solid beneath her hands. His breath, hot against her lips. Her back hit the cool metal railing, but she didn’t care. Nathaniel’s hands were on her hips, lifting her onto it as if she weighed nothing. For a second, she thought about how dangerously close she was to the edge.Then he kissed her again, and she stopped thinking altogether. Nathaniel’s hands trailed down her back, his fingers tracing the curve of her spine before slipping beneath her dress. Scarlett gasped, her head tilting back as his lips found her throat, dragging a slow, open-mouthed kiss down the column of her neck. God. She barely knew this man. She didn’t know what had driven him to this rooftop tonight, what demons he was trying to drown in her touch. But she knew desperation when she tasted it and she knew that, whatever this was, it wasn’t just a meaningless moment between strangers. It was need; raw, unapologetic and consuming. Nathaniel’s teeth grazed her collarbone, his breath warm against her skin. Scarlett dug her nails into his shoulders, her pulse hammering against her ribs. “Tell me to stop,” he murmured, his voice rough, strained. “If you want me to, tell me now.” Scarlett’s breath caught. She met his gaze, dark, unreadable, his pupils blown wide with desire. She could stop this. She should, but she didn’t want to. “Don’t stop,” she whispered. Nathaniel didn’t need to be told twice.Clothes disappeared between heated kisses and frantic hands, fabric pooling at their feet as the night air pressed cool against heated skin. Scarlett arched against him, gasping as he pushed her back against the railing, his body pressing her into the metal.His fingers trailed up her thigh, slow, teasing, sending shivers skittering down her spine. “Look at me,” he said, his voice like gravel. She did and then there was no more waiting, no hesitation, no second-guessing. Nathaniel lifted her, his grip bruising, his lips desperate as he claimed her, stole the air from her lungs, dragged her into something that felt dangerously close to madness. Scarlett clung to him as pleasure unraveled through her, her body tightening, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She barely noticed how precarious their position was and how a single wrong move could send them both tumbling over the edge. Maybe that was the point, maybe she wanted the danger because for the first time in a long time, Scarlett felt alive. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, tangled together, their bodies slick with sweat, their breaths mingling in the cool night air. For a moment, neither of them moved. Scarlett could still feel him inside her, his heartbeat pounding in sync with her own. Nathaniel exhaled against her neck, his grip on her hips loosening just slightly, as if he was afraid to let her go. She wasn’t used to this...this quiet after the storm. Most men collapsed, rolled over, disappeared into themselves the moment the heat faded. But Nathaniel wasn’t most men. He kept his hands on her, tracing slow, lazy circles against her skin, his lips pressing a lingering kiss to her shoulder. Scarlett lay still, her breathing shallow, her body still tangled with his. Nathaniel’s arm draped over her waist, his warmth bleeding into her skin, steady and grounding. His breath, slow and deep, told her he was asleep. Scarlett swallowed hard, ignoring the sharp twist in her chest. This wasn’t real and It couldn’t be real. She kept on telling herself but she had already let it go too far. She had let him in too much. Slowly, carefully, she pulled away, untangling herself from his arms. Nathaniel frowned in his sleep , his fingers tightening for just a second before he let her slip free. Scarlett bent down, grabbing her dress, her hands moving quickly as she pulled it over her head. Her fingers stilled on the hem of her dress. Stay. The word echoed in her head, foreign and dangerous and something she wanted more than she should, but she couldn’t. She believed strongly that love wasn't meant for her. She needed to leave. Nathaniel stirred slightly, his fingers twitching as if searching for her, but then he settled, lost in whatever dreams chased him. Scarlett exhaled, easing off the cold concrete and reaching for her scarf. The silk slid over her skin, a stark contrast to the rough way his hands had stripped it from her earlier. She glanced at him once, just once. In the dim rooftop light, he looked different. Not the man who had kissed her like he was drowning, not the man who had set her on fire with nothing but his touch. Asleep, he looked almost… peaceful. She shoved the thought aside. This wasn’t her life, this wasn’t her story.They had been two strangers who had found each other in the dark and that’s all they would ever be. .She had left everything behind, her past, her name, her very existence. The last thing she needed was to get caught up in something that could unravel her all over again. Steeling herself, she turned away. The rooftop was eerily quiet now, the echoes of their passion still clinging to the night air. She forced herself to move, her steps silent as she approached the rooftop door. But then she hesitated. Her fingers hovered over the door handle. Why did it feel so hard to walk away? It wasn’t like she hadn’t done this before. She had disappeared from lives before and vanished without a trace, left people wondering if she had ever truly existed. So why was it different now? She clenched her jaw and shoved the thought away. Without another look back, Scarlett slipped into the night, disappearing before the morning could expose her. And when Nathaniel Weston woke up the next morning, he was alone.