There was a formal after-party and then there was an after-party.

We arrived at one of Zurich's most exclusive bars and despite being closed off to the general public, it was filled to the rafters.

My primary concern was to get food because I was starving after sitting through a two-hour ceremony. Max ordered a few platters over at the VIP lounge he just sort of commandeered after we arrived.

All kinds of people drifted in and out and while I made polite conversations to most of them, I happily sat back and ate while Max chatted them up like an expert politician. My priorities were clear.

"Are you having fun?" he asked after there was a lull in guests coming over. He dragged me over on to his lap, his arms wrapping around my waist.

"My feet hurt but I'm full, a little tipsy and very horny for you so yes, I'm having a good time," I told him with a smile. "Do you think we can get out of here soon?"

"We can," he said, fumbling for his phone inside his tux jacket. "Let me call Matthwes so he can pick us up in ten minutes."

"Max Croft, man of the year!"

We both looked up at the loud, booming voice and found a man dressed in an all-white tux arriving at a door with a small entourage of people (mostly scantily-dressed women) behind him. He looked to be a few years older than Max and despite the impeccable cut and quality of his suit, there was something just a bit slimy about him.

"Yolan," Max calmly acknowledged, sliding me gently off his lap before rising and offering his hand to the man. "Good to see you. I was pretty sure I caught sight of you earlier but I didn't get a chance to say hi."

Yolan clamped Max's hand in a vigorous shake before doing one of those manly hugs with a back clap that often looked painful to me. "Not to worry. You and I don't usually run into each other until the real fun starts."

In less than thirty seconds, I formed the opinion that this Yolan guy was too much. Too wealthy, flamboyant and too cocky not to be a douche.

Yeah. My people-sizing skills don't spare much sometimes.

"Speaking of fun, who's the lovely lady you've been keeping hostage here, Croft?" the man asked, his eyes finally finding me in the dim lighting. His cheeks were flushed from too many drinks at this point but his gaze was laser-sharp. "Is this the one you mentioned in your speech earlier?"

I could see the most infinitesimal tension in Max's features but no one else was looking too closely to notice.

He reached out a hand to me and I took it, pulling myself up to my feet.

"Yolan, this is Aiko Bradley," he said. "Aiko, this is Yolan Bossard, one of Europe's top financiers."

"And an old friend of Max here. Whenever he's in town, we throw a party or crash whichever one has the best booze and boobs," Yolan said with a chuckle as he audaciously picked up my hand and planted a too-wet a kiss on the back of it. "Nice to meet you, Aiko."

"I'm equally as enchanted," I said dryly, pulling my hand away and trying not to wipe it on my beautiful dress. "I can't say I meet too many men like you on the daily."

His brows raised slightly, catching the barb and unfortunately, enjoying it. He grinned and glanced at Max in approval. "I like her. She's got spirit. They're always the livelier ones."

"Watch it, Yolan," Max said in a voice steely with warning. "Aiko and I were just leaving."

"Leaving?" the man repeated in dismay. "It's just ten past midnight! The party's not even properly warmed up."

"We had a long day so my apologies but maybe next year," Max said, sliding a possessive arm over my shoulder. "Let me get you and your friends a round of drinks before we go."

"No, no. Don't be silly!" Yolan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You guys can go but I expect to see you at my party tomorrow night. You never miss it, Max. And if it's to your lady's liking, she can come too."

The last statement was dripping with innuendo, punctuated by the salacious smile Yolan flashed us.

"We're a little busy, man," Max said. "Sorry but we'll pass."

That didn't deter Yolan. "Well, if you still want to have that chat about business, you know where to find me. All my time lately has been devoted to it."

Max didn't like that—I could tell by the how he stiffened beside me—but he just gave the man a slight nod. "We can always chat later on. Enjoy your evening, Yolan. See you around."

I waited until we were in the backseat of the car on our way back to the hotel before I started prodding.

"Is Yolan really your friend?"

Max scoffed. "Friend's a pretty loose term in these circles, Aiko. Yolan and I find each other useful, that's all."

"Why don't you want to go to his party when it's obvious you have in the past?" I asked.

Max looked up sharply. "Because Yolan's summer saturnalia is poshest private orgy in this side of the world and I don't really feel like participating in it."

I blinked.

And blinked.

"Oh. Wow." I struggled to line up my thoughts as they raced through my head. "When you say orgy, you mean, like... you know..."

"I'm sure the word orgy is somewhere in your expansive vocabulary, Aiko, so I won't explain further," Max said with a long sigh, sitting back and dragging a hand down his face. For the first time tonight, he looked weary.

"Are all guests expected to participate when they show up?" I asked, my imagination still too busy with possibilities.

"It's not exactly blood on paper but it's assumed you're coming to the event for the very thing it promises," Max replied. "The Saturnalia is very exclusive and only a small handful of people are invited every year. It's supposed to be a summer festival with plenty of music, food and drinks. But guests indulge in far more than those."

My fingers drummed on my thigh. "So you've participated in orgies before?"

Max glanced at me and extended a hand. "Can you just come over here so I can hold you?"

I shook my head. "I want to know. This kind of world has never been part of my reality before."

"And hell will freeze over before I let it be a part of it," Max snapped. "We're not going, Aiko, and that's not negotiable."

"I just want to know!" I protested. "I just want to understand why people follow their deepest, darkest desires down the road to possible perdition. I want to know what those deepest, darkest desires even are. I want to know how far power and money can let you take it. It's just the writer in me. I can't pass this up."

"I'm not going to corrupt you," he bit out.

"You're not corrupting me. You're educating me," I insisted. "I'm rational enough to know I don't need to engage in something I shouldn't just to fully understand the experience. But seeing other people in that experience—that's going to let what I learn feel more authentic."

Max looked at me for the longest second, his eyes unreadable.

I was seriously tempted to just forget about the whole thing and crawl over to his side and give him a hug. But I was haunted by the possibilities of what I could see and learn and create into my stories. No, I wasn't exactly going to write an orgy but sexual abandon could reveal so much about people. That was what I was after. Well, that and to satisfy my sometimes insane curiosity about things.

"We'll need masks. And some kind of costume," Max finally said. "There's usually a theme every year and people do dress up as part of the revelries. But not everyone puts on a mask. Only those who can't afford certain freedoms do."

"You mean people who are married or in a committed relationship?" I prodded, intrigued despite my immediate dismay at anything resembling infidelity.

"Some," Max said. "It could also be high-ranking politicians or celebrities. Or criminals. Yolan's guest list can be quite diverse."

"This is why we should go," I said, suddenly restless. "I promise, I'm not going to do more than just observe. We'll stay out of people's way."

"If only we can trust that people will stay out of ours," he muttered, sinking back into his seat. "You have to promise to stay with me at all times and avoid talking to anyone at length. There's very little that's not on the table in these parties, Aiko. I don't want to have to kill someone if I don't have to."

"Yeah, let's not start a body count," I said with a smile, utterly pleased with myself. "It's just all good fun, right?"

Yeah.

Turns out I was wrong.

Fun wouldn't exactly be the word I'd use to describe the Saturnalia.

Oh, sure, these people were probably having the time of their lives because there couldn't possibly a higher level of hedonistic pleasure than this but this wasn't fun.

"Don't make any eye contact," Max murmured to me as we strolled through a tree-lined path around the lush back gardens of Yolan Bossard's fortress the next evening.

Max had regretted indulging me the moment he said yes but I couldn't be talked out of it. I was too curious.

But the moment we entered through the chateau gates, I knew this was nothing I was prepared for.

The celebrations didn't start until very late in the evening, when the sun was done and the stars were out, cloaking the estate with an air of intrigue. Sultry music played faintly all throughout the grounds which were only lit with low-burning torches. The shadows heightened all the other senses and made the depravity that ensued even more alluring as the revellers—masked and unmasked—literally came out to play. It seemed like every nook and cranny was occupied, sexual decadence in full display to both moon and man.

Max kept us at the fringes, close enough to look but too far away to intrude or be invited.

Food and drinks were served but there was a hell lot more than that on the table.

Men and women found each other, men found other men and women found other women. There were no dictates or strictures. The only rule was to go after anything and everything one desired.

Sure, some sights were erotic.

People played for pleasure but it was easy to see that some played for power, whether it was over someone or over themselves.

After my experiences with Max, I could understand that.

I could admit that somewhere inside of me, I could want that.

But as the night deepened, the last of people's inhibitions left. Ironically, it was around the same time it was starting to dawn on me that there were just some things I had absolute no taste for.

Some pleasures could only be brought by pain, some dominant play bordered forced consent, some role-playing turned my stomach and some fetishes neared a dangerous degree.

For some reason, the all-out display of passion was actually leaving me cold. And if my instincts were right, it was doing the same thing to Max.

If there was one clear thing I learned, it was that pleasures changed with perspective, evolving as the person possessing them did.

"Max Croft, is that you?"

We halted at the lilting female voice only made more charming by a slight accent.

Max slowly turned around and acknowledged a tall woman in a figure-hugging white dress made of a gauzy material that was literally see-through. I could see the dark dots of her nipples, the light patch of hair between her legs. Unlike us, she wore no mask and she was drop-dead gorgeous with her artfully curled blond hair and sharp cheekbones.

I didn't risk glancing up at Max in case he was enjoying this.

The woman gave me a perfunctory glance before turning up the wattage of her smile at Max as she came forward. "Now, come on, Max. There's no use in pretending. I'll know you anywhere. A woman doesn't forget a man like you. Nor does she forget a body like yours even if you cloak it in silly costumes."

She ignored his silence and playfully laid a hand on his chest. "I know this body very well. It's made for fucking all night long. The question is, why is it not being put to good use tonight?"

My hands clenched into fists.

"That's enough, Heidi," Max bit out, prying the woman's hand off his chest and dropping it unceremoniously. "I'm not here to play. I'm here to talk to your brother."

Heidi laughed. "Good luck with that because Yolan will never work when he can be fucking his eyes out. If you're here, you're playing."

"Don't try that again," I blurted out when Heidi reached for Max a second time. Her hand froze mid-air as she looked at me a little more closely this time.

"And why not?" she asked, her brows furrowing as she tried to figure out what I looked behind the black silk half-mask I had on.

"Because he's not yours to touch and because I'd really hate for you to lose your fingers," I said, forcing a bright smile. "They're useful things, you know? They make life a little more convenient. A roll in the sack with him won't be worth you losing them."

"Not worth it?" Max repeated in a low, amused voice to my ear and I just jabbed him on the side with an elbow.

"Who are you?" Heidi asked, frowning now. "Actually, don't answer that. I don't care. Max has women all the time and that makes no difference to me. If you play nice, you can join us."

"I can't join a party that's not happening so thanks but no thanks," I said, steering away Max by the arm. "Goodbye, Heidi."

"Well, that's a first," Max said.

"What? You walking away from an offer from Heidi?" I snapped, aware that I was wearing my irritation like a flashing neon sign.

"Well, that and someone telling Heidi she can't have what she wants," Max responded as he followed my suddenly brisker pace toward the house.

"Did you honestly think I was just going to let her have you?" I demanded. "Or that I was going to partake in your little reunion? If you think I'm that fucking charitable, you've lost your fucking mind."

I was really angry now so I stopped in my tracks in the unpopulated foot path, breathing deeply to calm myself.

"Hey, hey," Max said as he turned me around to face him. "Look at me."

I did and my heart stuttered.

He looked like a damned prince in a fancy royal blue cloak, his golden hair glinting in the firelight even as most of it was tied low by the nape of his neck, concealed by his high collar. The simple black half-mask he wore only served to accentuate the hard lines of his jaw and the pale golden hair that shadowed the edges of it.

I couldn't blame any man or woman who would be attracted to Max. It couldn't be helped. But I didn't have to be happy about it.

"I have no interest in what Heidi has to offer," he said.

"You sure about that?" I muttered. "Because I'm pretty sure everything is on the table with her. And if you're used to such a vast selection, you're probably getting bored with me."

"Rethink that statement and tell me straight to my face that you really believe that," Max said, scowling. "My entire world's revolved around you in the past several weeks and you think I'm bored with you."

I sighed, the fight seeping out of me. "I'm sorry. I'm starting to find that I'm not good with jealousy."

Max laughed. "I don't think anyone's good with jealousy."

"I kinda have to be if we're going to run into your ex-lovers at every turn," I said. "Again, statistics. The more women you've slept with in the past, the higher the chances we'd run into one of them at some point."

"So if we do, we do," he said, drawing me slightly closer to him. "As long as you know where I stand, I don't foresee a problem."

I smirked. "You say that because you know you're not going to run into too many of my own exes. You wouldn't have to constantly suffer a surge of violent instincts."

"You have violent instincts?" Max teased.

I raised a brow. "Want to see them in action?"

"No. The theory is good enough," Max said, laughing. He leaned down to kiss me softly on the neck. "What do you say we get out of here now? I'm assuming you had your fill of research material?"

"I have," I said, closing my eyes briefly and enjoying the warm press of his lips on my skin. "But I thought you needed to talk to Yolan. You've both been hinting at it since yesterday."

I felt Max stiffen just slightly even though he didn't lift his head. "It's not important."

It may not be apocalyptic in nature but it was important enough.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Very sure," Max said, finally lifting his head. "Come on. Let's go."

Once back inside the grand old house, I told Max I needed to use the bathroom. I navigated one of the narrow hallways until I found it.

I rarely wore my contacts and wearing them for a couple of nights straight had been drying out my eyes. I was just slightly readjusting them in the mirror when the door behind me swung open slowly.

I blinked and pulled back, whipping around to find Yolan standing there in an almost courtly attire, his eyes a bit bloodshot and his smile sneering.

"I see you deigned to come to my party," he said, eyeing me up and down. I had a light black cloak on over my lacy black dress that was admittedly a bit suggestive.

"You're not his usual but I can see some charms that Max might enjoy on you," he said as he stepped closer.

I backed up a step. "Yes, charms that Max exclusively enjoys so I'd turn around and go if I were you."

"Ha! Is that supposed to threaten me?" Yolan asked as he continued to come closer. "Max and I have enjoyed many of the same women before. Just like we enjoy the same sports. Same challenges. Same interests, really, even though he always seems to think he's better than me. He's not."

"I daresay he is," I muttered even as my heart started to pound because I just couldn't stomach Yolan's arrogance.

"And because you're such an unusual choice for him, I became intrigued," he said, his hand moving to the front of his crotch where a noticeable bulge was starting to appear. I wanted to throw up.

"Is it because of your childish figure?" he asked, his hand now starting to paw aggressively at his erection. "Or maybe your Asian look? Is that his thing now?"

"You're starting to sound like a pedophile and a racist at the same time," I hissed out. "And that's probably still not you at your worst."

He just chuckled and all of a sudden, he reached into his pants and took himself out, his hand stroking up and down in a frantic rhythm.

I moved my eyes away in disgust even as I planned out my escape. I had zero interest in being Yolan's jack-off inspiration.

"Come and touch me," he said, his one hand extending in my direction. I swerved away and swiped the small metal box that contained the tissue off the counter.

Before I could think better of it, I hurled the item right at his groin where he was most vulnerable.

He cried out in pain, stumbling to his knees, and I bolted past him and out the door.

My lungs were on fire as I traced my way back to the empty foyer where Max had been waiting. He was on a call but he lowered his cellphone when he saw me running toward him.

He caught me against his chest, his arms locking around my shaking frame. "Honey, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," I said. "I just need to get out of here. Now."

"Aiko, what—"

We both stopped and looked up when a bitter muttering floated down the hallway, followed by a limping Yolan who was still clutching his groin which was at least now fully covered again.

"You, bitch!" he yelled, pointing a shaky finger at me, his face ruddy red. "You'll pay for that."

"Max, it's okay—" I attempted weakly when Max gently set me aside, his muscles suddenly thrumming with violence.

"You fucking dared to touch her!" he shouted just before he drove a fist straight against Yolan's nose, crushing it in one blow. The older man screamed in pain, holding a hand to his bloody nose before charging for Max. In a flurry of flying fists and swift kicks, the two men tore at each other on the floor, oblivious to my yells as I tried to get them to stop.

I've seen Max in a handful of bar fights before but I've never seen him like this, with an absolute deadly grace as he skillfully broke Yolan into a sobbing heap on the floor. His massive build had always made fighting him challenging enough for most men but that was almost negligible in the face of this new calculated brutality. This wasn't him just throwing punches. This was him in expert combat mode.

"Max, that's enough!" I said, pleading when a few men started to arrive, trying to pull Max off a nearly unconscious Yolan. He literally threw off every man who tried to touch him, breaking a few bones along the way.

"Max, please!"

He looked up and through the messy strands of hair that had fallen across his face, I caught his grim gaze. His eyes were as cold and gray as concrete, all the blue gone. They were unmoved, lifeless.

No one else attempted to touch him as he slowly rose, even the guards who were busy pushing at each other to try to go for him.

He finally stood in front of me, his breathing so completely even it was unnatural, his form perfectly still.

All I could do was take both his bruised, swollen hands and draw them to my chest.

One of Yolan's men started yelling at Max in what sounded like French. Max turned to look at him and coldly replied in the same language.

Then he gently put an arm around me, leading me out the door, leaving behind a bloodied man on the floor and a stupefied audience.

Nothing was said as we got into our waiting car.

This version of Max was nothing like I've ever seen before and while I wasn't afraid of him, I didn't know how to reach him. So I said nothing as we made our way back to the hotel, keeping my eyes out on the road and away from his stone cold profile.

"Did he..." he finally spoke up, his voice cracking slightly.

I glanced at him and saw that while his profile remained stoic, his eyes had a glint to them.

"He started masturbating in front of me," I said. "Before he could do anything else, I hit him with a metal tissue box right in the balls."

The relief was hard to miss on Max's face as his eyes briefly closed. He ran a hand down his face and rubbed his jaw as if it helped shake him out of this strange state.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," he said. "I should've known it wasn't safe. I should've known that Yolan can be—"

"Yolan's unhinged but that's his problem, not yours," I said. "And you barely left me alone tonight, Max. You protected me as much as you could. I'm just now sorry that I forced us to go."

Max didn't answer right away. He stared at his right hand as he flexed it in and out of a fist, the bruises and nicks on it clearly visible even in the poor lighting of the car.

"I wanted to kill him," he said. "And I could have. And I wouldn't have regretted it."

"No, Max," I said, leaning over to hug his arm. "You stopped. He's not worth it. I'm pretty sure I already damaged him for life."

That didn't cheer him up.

"No one hurts you, Aiko," he said quietly. "No one."

There was nothing I could say at the moment. I just continued to hold him. Somehow, it felt like Max was having trouble returning to his old self. That he was having trouble even just remembering it.

And that made me wonder at exactly the kind of man Maximilian Croft was.

I knew of his reputation—his devilish stunts and shameless womanizing. But what I'd never realized about him before was that he could be truly dangerous. He displayed it tonight. Not dangerous to me but he could be a real threat to anyone he considered an enemy.

And just how many enemies does Maximilian Croft have? And how many different lives does he live?

"Having known you in the last several weeks, it's hard to imagine that you're part of that world despite your reputation," I said.

"The orgies or the fighting?" he asked.

"Both," I said. "That's just not the Max I now know."

Max's swollen hand drifted over mine, clasping it tightly despite the pain it might be causing him. "It's not. That Max is a very different man from the one who's right here with you."

He was back.

And he was still mine.

I leaned up to kiss him softly on the lips. It wasn't meant to comfort him because I didn't think he needed to be but in some way, I wanted to tell him that it was alright. That we were alright despite everything that happened tonight.

When we got back to the hotel, I tended to Max's hand, putting it in a bowl of ice for a few minutes to help keep the swelling down. It must've been painful but he made no sound as he sat there and endured it.

Twenty minutes later, he took a quick shower and then I patched up his cuts with the first-aid kit Matthews had brought in. The man at first thought he was doing the patching up but I reassured him that I could manage it and that he should get some sleep.

"I need to take this," Max finally said after his phone started ringing for the third time. "It's my lawyers."

"Is it about tonight?" I asked.

Max just nodded and stood up to go into another room. He didn't close the door but I left anyway, slipping out to the balcony. The air had a slight chill to it but feeling the breeze against my face was therapeutic so I stood there for god knows how long, contemplating the complicated man I was with.

"You should get some sleep," Max said.

I glanced over my shoulder and found him standing by the doorway, still in his robe. I couldn't see his face in the shadows. "Are you joining me?"

"I'm too strung up to sleep right now," he said. "But I'll stay with you."

I walked over to him, leaning my cheek lightly against his chest. "Then I'm not sleeping either."

"Babe, please," he said, his hand moving up to cup the back of my head. "I know you're tired and probably still shaken from tonight's events. I'll feel better knowing you're recuperating."

"We'll recuperate together," I insisted, pulling away to smile up at him. "In fact, I have an idea..."

I slowly descended to the plush carpet on my knees.

Max sucked in a harsh breath when my hands went up to part his robe.

He stayed my hands with his own bruised ones. "Aiko, this is not why I took you to the Saturnalia tonight. You don't need to do this or—"

"The only thing this has to do with what we've seen tonight is the realization that I want none of those shallow pleasures. Not with you," I said, lifting my eyes to look at him directly. "And I think you feel the same way, Max."

He groaned, his hands falling away in surrender.

My hands found him only seconds before my mouth did.

Max hissed out a breath, his head falling back and his fingers tangling into my hair.

I was untutored but it didn't matter, intoxicated as I was in the power I had over Max as he pleaded and moaned while my mouth and tongue pleasured him with passionate intent.

His fingers were tight around my hair, his hips flexing forward as he struggled to be gentle in feeding me his cock. But I didn't care.

I tried to take it all because this here was a man who had enthralled the world for years—a man who could make and break deals in the global economy as well as society, charm any woman into a spiral of highs and lows, and punish a man with cold efficiency and minimal effort.

And that man was the same man who uttered my name like it was salvation, who held me every night in his arms like I was the first good dream he had in years, and who adored me and my mind when he wasn't worshipping my body.

This was Max and he was mine.

Just as I was his.

"Come here, love," he finally rasped, pulling me to my feet and leading me to the oversized chaise. He lowered himself over me, taking my mouth roughly while his hands roamed downwards to cup my breasts, his fingers plucking at the hard tips.

"I'm not going to last long," he said, shifting his head down to suck my nipple into his mouth, his hand dipping down between my legs. I was hot and slick with wanting and Max groaned low in his chest. "Aiko... please..."

"Now, Max," I murmured, running a soothing hand through his hair. "Come inside me."

He lifted his head, his brows knitting together as if in pain. "I want to. I want to so badly."

Despite the sexual haze clouding my brain, the meaning of his words registered and suddenly our two different ideas were one and the same.

We were both safe—our test results came in over two weeks ago. And frankly, there had been no one else.

And we both seemed to realize that tonight.

Whether there will ever be someone else in the future was the only thing we haven't figured out yet.

"Let's do this, Max," I said, reaching out to touch his cheek. "I want to do this."

Max's eyes briefly fluttered close almost as if he was savoring my permission. "I've never done this. I've never wanted to until now."

I wrapped my legs around his hips and urged him down, my eyes snapping shut at the heat of his skin when the tip of him pushed bare against my entrance.

"Aiko... God, yes." There was a sheen of sweat on Max's forehead as he slowly filled me, the corded muscles on his shoulders and chest bunching up as he fought himself against simply ripping through the rare, exquisite experience of being completely connected to another human being.

I raised my head to press a kiss on his chin, smiling at the sight of this beautiful, wonderful man giving himself over to me completely.

"This is incredible," I whispered when he was finally fully sheathed inside me.

"You're incredible and I'm the lucky one," Max said, opening his eyes to give me a tender smile before he started moving.

And man, did he ever move.

Fully uninhibited now, Max took me hard and fast and I met him thrust for thrust, lost in this wild, reckless heat that consumed us both.

I catapulted over the stars first with Max following me on a hoarse cry seconds after, his body shaking through his release deep inside of me.

Something changed between us tonight and we both knew it.

Despite having no black and white label for it, we saw things more clearly, felt things more deeply.

It was frightening and liberating at the same time.

"You're right, you know?" I said many minutes later after Max and I caught our breaths.

"Right about what?"

"The Max who's here with me right now is a very different man," I said with a soft smile.

Max tightened his arms around me. "You make him different."

And that was probably true.

And now in doing so, I might have made Max the kind of man I never thought he could be.

The kind of man I can fall in love with.

***

So, what do you guys think?

I think it was good to see Aiko make some not very wise calls in this chapter. She always seems the more logical, sensible one but as an artist at heart, she can be very passionate and reckless too. Taking the leap with Max in the first place was proof of it. Here, she realized she was way in over her head but Max didn't abandon her to it. Nor did she also judge him for who he was before even though she might not be happy at the reminder of it.

Hope you enjoyed!

Don't forget to vote and comment!

XOXO,

Ninya

P.S. It's probably only appropriate that I use one of the soundtracks for Fifty Shades Darker in this chapter. 

♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: Not Afraid Anymore by Halsey ♪♪♪

I am not afraid anymore
Standing in the eye of the storm
Ready to face this, dying to taste this, sick sweet warmth
I am not afraid anymore
I want what you got in store
I'm ready to feed now, get in your seat now

And touch me like you never
And push me like you never
And touch me like you never
'Cause I am not afraid, I am not afraid anymore
No no no

No no no
No no no
No no no
No no no

I am not ashamed anymore
I want something so impure
You better impress now, watching my dress now fall to the floor
Crawling underneath my skin, sweet talk with a hint of sin
Begging you to take me
Devil underneath your grin, sweet thing, but she play to win, heaven gonna hate me