MINE
1906 Words
AVA
Damian’s breath ghosts across my cheeks.
“Mr Hart …” My voice breaks around his name.
“You know what this is,” he whispers.
“I don’t,” I lie.
His eyes drop to my mouth. “Then why aren’t you leaving?”
“I should go,” I breathe.
“You won’t.”
The certainty in his voice hits me - low and deep.
“Ava.”
Just my name, on his lips, in that low, rough tone that slides right into the hollow beneath my ribs. It makes my knees unsteady. Makes my pulse jump. Makes the room tilt imperceptibly.
“Tell me to stop,” he says softly.
His thumb brushes the hair just beside my jaw, so close I lean into it without meaning to. And the moment my cheek shifts toward his hand.
“Ava…” His voice is a quiet ache. “Don’t do that unless you mean it.”
“I don’t…” My breath shudders. “I don’t know what I mean.”
“Yes,” he murmurs, “you do.”
My pulse stutters so violently I feel it everywhere—fingers, spine, throat. His thumb slides slowly to the corner of my mouth, barely a whisper of contact, but my entire body reacts .
My breath escapes on a shaky exhale.
“Damian…”
His forehead dips closer to mine, bridging the last inch of space between us without fully closing it. His breath mingles with mine—warm, soft, uneven.
“We shouldn’t,” I whisper.
“We shouldn’t,” he agrees.
But neither of us moves.
His hand slips behind my jaw, fingers threading into my hair, tilting my head just enough for his lips to hover a breath above mine.
“If you don’t want this,” he breathes, “you have to tell me now.”
I lift my chin—just slightly.
Damian inhales sharply, then his lips are on mine.
The kiss was hungry. Pent-up hunger . Pulled taut over months of restraint neither of us recognized until this moment. My hands reach for him before I can stop myself, fingers gripping the front of his shirt, pulling him closer with a desperation that shocks me.
He responds instantly, his body pressing into mine, caging me against the glass. Heat floods every inch of space between us. His kiss deepens, rougher now, his hand sliding into my hair, angling my mouth to his. My breath tangles with his as he moves closer.
I feel the moment he loses control—when his kiss turns sloppier and possessive.
He pulls back just enough to breathe against my lips, voice ragged.
“Say something,” he whispers.
“I can’t,” I breathe.
His forehead rests against mine, chest rising and falling, breath hot on my skin. “Then let me.”
He kisses me again—slower this time, deeper. My entire body lights up, nerves humming, knees weak. I curl one hand behind his neck, pulling him closer, and Damian groans softly against my mouth.
The sound makes my stomach twist, heat pooling low and deep.
He lifts me before I realize what he’s doing—hands sliding around my hips, raising me effortlessly, my back pressing firmer into the glass. The world tilts for a second as he holds me there, breath uneven, eyes darkening as he looks at me.
“Are you sure?” he asks, voice raw.
“Yes.”
The next moments blur—his mouth on mine, my fingers sliding into his hair, the heat of his body pressed against me.
He carries me away from the window, sets me on the desk with a rough exhale that sounds like he’s fighting himself and losing. I feel the tension rolling off him—the restraint, the desperation, the hunger threading through every breath.
“Tell me to slow down,” he murmurs against my throat.
“I don’t want you to.”
His mouth finds mine again, deeper, hotter, his hands framing my waist, pulling me into him like he can’t get close enough. I feel the moment everything dissolves—the hesitation, the walls, the careful distance we’ve kept for so long.
I feel the exact heartbeat where we cross the line completely.
The moment where the air turns molten and his hands slide down to grip my hips and my fingers dig into his shoulders and the world narrows to heat and breath.
He whispers my name against my skin, voice shaking.
I whisper his back. And the rest is breath and heat. I feel him collapse against me, forehead pressed to my shoulder, breath unsteady. My hands shake as they slide up his back.
Damian lifts his head slowly, eyes searching mine, still breathing hard.
“Ava…”
He brushes his thumb along my cheek, gentler than he’s been all night.
“This changes everything,” he whispers.
I feel him whisper as darkness surrounds me with the rhythmic sound of his heart beating steadily in my ears.
I woke to the sound of waves —the distant, rhythmic crash of the tide slamming against the rocks below the Hart estate. It took me a moment to realize the sound wasn’t coming from my dreams but from the real world , the one I had left behind hours ago when I stepped into Damian Hart’s office and let something irreversible happen.
My entire body felt strange— my skin no longer belonged solely to me.
I blinked at the room.
Dark stone walls. Heavy curtains. A leather chair overturned. And then him himself. Standing near the window. Back to mine. Shirt unbuttoned. Hair slightly mussed.
My chest tightened.
Last night flashed in fragments—his breath against my throat, his hands gripping my waist, the way my disbelief collapsed under the weight of desire I didn’t even know I’d been carrying.
And his eyes - burning with unexplainable desire lacing each and every action he committed explicitly on me.
I silently slipped out of the blanket and reached for my dress on the floor. My movements felt embarrassingly loud, even though I was trying to be invisible.
His voice came low.
“You’re leaving without a word?”
I froze.
“I—” My voice came out thin. “I thought it would be better if I just… went back to the party.”
A corner of his jaw tightened, just barely.
“You think that’s better,” he said quietly. “Or safer?”
Safer.
Last night wasn’t safe. Nothing about him was safe. The way he looked at me. The way he touched me. The way he let go of that cold distance, just for a moment of forbidden passion and illicit desires.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I whispered.
“I didn’t ask you to say anything.”
I looked away first.
“I should go.”
I didn’t wait for him to answer. I picked up my shoes, slipped out the door, and walked barefoot down the hall, my heartbeat thundering so loudly I barely heard the music still lingering from the remains of the party downstairs.
The chaos had cooled—empty glasses forgotten on tables, confetti crushed into the carpet, a balloon drifting sadly near the ceiling.
I tried to blend into the leftovers of the party, smoothing my hair, adjusting my dress, forcing my legs to work even though they still felt unsteady.
As I stepped into the living room, I nearly collided with Ariana.
“Oh my God Ava!” She grabbed my arm, eyes widening dramatically. “Where the hell did you disappear to? I swear, I thought you’d been abducted by some tech bros from Stanford.”
I swallowed hard and forced a smile.
“I just… needed air.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Air? For three hours? Babe, you weren’t on the balcony. I checked. Twice.”
Three hours.
My stomach flipped.
I shrugged, trying to play it off. “I must have wandered. Lost track of time.”
“Wandered where?” she pushed, leaning in. “This house isn’t that big unless you somehow teleported to the wine cellar.”
I laughed, too quickly. “I don’t know. I was… in a quiet room. I think.”
I quickly grabbed a stray plate from the table. “Look, the place is a mess. Let me help you clean—”
“Nope.” She stepped in front of me, blocking my escape. “Uh-uh. You’re acting weird. Like, weirder than your usual ‘I hate being the center of attention’ weird.”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“You better be. Because after the night we had? You’re not allowed to die or do anything emotionally complicated.”
Emotionally complicated. If only she knew.
My pulse stuttered.
I didn’t need to look to know who it was. I felt him like a shadow brushing over my spine.
Ariana tugged me toward the kitchen. “Come on. We need coffee before we do anything else.”
DAMIAN
I stood at the kitchen entrance, coffee in hand, watching them move around the remnants of the party. Ariana was oblivious to the storm I’d just endured with Ava. And Ava was trying desperately not to be noticed.
I should have left her alone. I should have disappeared after the night we’d had. But I couldn’t let her slip back into that world of oblivion.
The slight flush in her cheeks. The rapid inhale when she thought no one was looking. The way her gaze flitted over the floor, the counter, anywhere but me.
“Dad—we’re heading back to the city,” Ariana chirped suddenly, and my gaze snapped to the sound of her voice.
She wanted to leave. She could leave the house, the room, the city and she would still carry last night with her. The memory of me.
Ariana gestured toward her. “Ava’s got work tomorrow anyway.”
Ava’s gaze flicked , and I let my eyes hold hers a moment longer than necessary.
I let the silence stretch, letting the weight of it press down, let her feel the unspoken gravity between us. Let her know she couldn’t walk away and erase it.
“Ava.”
Ariana’s voice broke through the tension. “Come on! I want to beat traffic!”
The door closed behind them. And still, I stood there. Watching the spot she’d been. Breathing in her absence.
I walked upstairs instead—slow, measured steps—until I reached the balcony that overlooked the long, curving driveway. Sunlight spilled across the white stone railings and the wild vines growing up the sides. From here, the view stretched across the estate, all the way to the tall iron gates.
Ariana’s car rolled down the drive, tires crunching softly over gravel. Even from up here, I saw the way she stared straight ahead, refusing to look back at the house.
She was trying to run.Trying to bury the night we’d carved into each other. But she didn’t understand it yet.
You don’t walk away from a fire and expect the flames to forget your name.
As the car disappeared in the trees.I knew our fates were about to be rewritten. Ava was about to become mine and last night had been the first sign.
- Writer
