Fractures in the dark
1135 Words
Atlan’s hands were still shaking when he pulled into his driveway. The night air was thick and cold, brushing against his face like a punishment. He sat in the car for a moment, gripping the steering wheel as if his life depended on it, the scent of Lila’s perfume still clinging stubbornly to his shirt.
“God,” he muttered under his breath, shutting his eyes. “What the hell was that?”
He’d barely escaped that apartment without losing his mind. The image of her, half naked, flushed, whispering his name flashed behind his eyelids like a curse. He shuddered and pushed the car door open. The slam echoed through the quiet street as he headed for the house.
The moment he stepped in, he froze.
The lights were on.
He distinctly remembered turning them off before leaving.
Atlan’s breath caught in his throat as his eyes adjusted to the glow spilling through the living room. The clock ticked loudly in the silence. And then he saw him.
James Carter.
Sitting in the middle of the room like a king waiting for his subject. One leg crossed over the other, jacket draped over the armrest, a glass of whiskey in hand. His expression unreadable. His eyes, those same cold, storm-gray eyes fixed straight on him.
Atlan’s heart dropped into his stomach. “What the hell are you doing here?”
James didn’t answer right away. He took a slow sip, the faint clink of ice filling the silence. “You took your time,” he said finally, voice calm, too calm.
Atlan shut the door behind him, fighting the tremor in his hands. “Were you following me?”
A dry chuckle. “Following you?” James tilted his head, a dangerous smile curving his lips. “Don’t flatter yourself, Atlan. I just had a feeling I should stop by. And lucky me, I was right.”
Atlan stiffened. “You were watching us.”
James’s gaze darkened. “I was,” he said simply, setting the glass down on the table. “And what I saw… wasn’t something I expected.”
The air between them tightened like a wire.
Atlan forced a scoff. “You mean Lila hanging all over me? You could’ve stopped that at any time, but you didn’t. So why are you pretending to care now?”
James stood, slow and deliberate, every movement radiating control. “Care?” he echoed. “You think this is about care?”
Atlan stepped forward, his voice sharpening. “Then what the hell is it about, Mr Carter? You don’t even like her. You’ve made that clear more than once.”
James’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking. “That doesn’t give you the right to touch what’s mine.”
Atlan smiled tightly. “Yeah right”
“I gave you instruction to only keep her company during the diner and you did more than that. Mr Wolfe I'm sure you're not aware of the nature of I and Lila’s relationship. She's more of like a…”
“Possession?” Atlan’s voice cut like a knife. “She’s not an object, James. You don’t even look at her like she exists half the time!”
James took a step closer, and Atlan could feel the shift in the air, dark, electric, volatile.
“I saw the both of you tonight, the way she was all over you” James said quietly. Too quietly. “Fawning over my investment.”
“I didn’t touch her!” Atlan snapped. “It was a harmless date, alright? You think I wanted her climbing all over me like that? I was doing my best to get her home safe! You can believe whatever the hell you want, but don’t stand there and accuse me of something I didn’t do!”
James’s eyes burned. “Then why couldn’t you stop her?”
Atlan’s laugh was harsh. “Because unlike you, I don’t control people! I don’t make them afraid to breathe wrong in my presence!”
James’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “Watch your mouth.”
“Or what?” Atlan threw back, taking another step forward until they were chest to chest. “You’ll hit me? Go ahead, James, show me what the great Carter heir does when someone challenges him!”
The next moment, Atlan’s back hit the wall hard. The sound reverberated through the room. James’s hand closed around his throat, pinning him in place, the pressure just enough to steal his breath.
Atlan’s pulse thundered in his ears.
James’s face was inches from his, his breath warm, his eyes a storm of fury and something far more dangerous, confusion.
“Don’t test me,” James growled, his voice low and raw. “You don’t know what you’re playing with.”
Atlan’s lips curled into something between a grimace and a smile. “Then maybe you should tell me,” he rasped. “Because I think you’re the one who doesn’t know.”
Their eyes locked, and something shifted something neither of them could control. The anger in James’s gaze faltered for just a second, replaced by something deeper, heavier.
Dangerous, forbidden want.
James’s hand loosened on his throat, but he didn’t step back. He couldn’t.
Atlan’s breath came fast. The air between them felt alive, crackling with something that had no name. He could taste it, the whiskey on James’s breath, the faint scent of his cologne.
And then, before he could stop himself, Atlan moved.
He grabbed James by the collar and kissed him.
It wasn’t gentle. It was desperate, angry, like a fight neither wanted to end. James froze for a split second, just a split second before his restraint snapped.
He kissed him back.
Hard.
The wall thudded again as James pushed forward, his hands gripping Atlan’s shirt, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them. Atlan’s fingers tangled in James’s hair, and a low sound escaped one of them, he didn’t even know who.
It was wrong. It was madness. But it felt like oxygen after drowning.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, James pulled back.
Both of them stood there, breathing hard, eyes locked. The air pulsed between them. James’s lips were red, his pupils blown wide, but his face was unreadable.
Atlan’s voice was barely a whisper. “James…”
James stepped back, his expression hardening like steel. “This never happened.”
“Like hell it didn’t,” Atlan said hoarsely.
James turned away, his fists clenching at his sides. “Don’t follow me,” James said, his voice breaking slightly. He turned, grabbed his jacket, and walked out, the door slamming behind him with a final, echoing sound.
Atlan stood there, chest heaving, the taste of James still on his lips.
- Writer
