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The night was alive with music, the kind that thrummed beneath my skin and settled into my bones. I had always loved the carnival, but tonight, it felt different. More electric. The streets of Greece seemed to blur under the glow of lanterns as Nicolas and I danced through the crowd. His hands, rough but sure, never left mine, guiding me like the pulse of the music itself.

Laughter bubbled from my chest as he twirled me, our steps falling into rhythm with the revelers around us. The world felt endless, like time was suspended in this moment where nothing but joy, sweat, and the sound of the street musicians mattered. I caught a glimpse of his face in the warm glow of lights-his dark eyes soft, a rare vulnerability hidden beneath his usual sharpness.

His lips brushed my ear as he leaned in. "Tonight, it's just us," he whispered, his voice like the promise of something forbidden. I believed him. God, I believed him.

We slipped away from the throngs of people, into the winding alleyways that held the secrets of the night. I didn't care where he was leading me-his presence was enough. When we finally reached the stone building with its familiar door, I knew where we were. It was *our* place, the one we hadn't returned to in what felt like forever.

Once inside, the world outside disappeared. There was no carnival, no Greece-only the heat between us, the way his hands traced my skin, the way my name sounded when he breathed it out, like it was sacred. We fell into each other in a way we hadn't before, both of us clinging like we knew something was ending but neither willing to say it aloud.

But love-if you could call it that-was fleeting, as it always was with him. The night slipped away too quickly, and when the early light crept through the cracks in the window, something in my chest tightened.

I turned over in bed, my hand reaching out to touch the space beside me where he had been.

Empty.

The sheets were still warm, but the sinking feeling told me he wasn't just in the next room. Nicolas was gone. I sat up, wrapping the blanket around me, trying to shake the dread creeping up my spine. A part of me had known this was coming, hadn't it? This was who he was. I just never expected it to hurt this much.

I got dressed slowly, my mind racing, trying to convince myself that this was just another one of his games, that he'd appear again, smirking as though nothing had happened.

But when I opened the door, one of his guards was standing there, stoic and silent.

"No," I whispered. "Where is he?"

The guard didn't answer, only extended his arm toward the car parked in the alleyway. My heart shattered in that moment, the weight of reality finally crashing down on me. He was gone, like smoke through my fingers.

I had let myself believe that tonight meant more. I had let myself think, just for a moment, that Nicolas wanted more than just a stolen night. But he had left me with nothing-just the lingering scent of his cologne and the bittersweet taste of betrayal in my mouth.

Without a word, I followed the guard, every step pulling me further from the dream I had built.

As his lips painted the skin across my inner thighs, I felt the heat of my core building up. Just a little bit closer.
"Look at me, Soph," he commanded as I felt his breath above my core. As soon as my eyes met his, I felt the glide of his tongue across my folds to my clit. "Dios," I gasped, grabbing the sheets on either side of me. He stopped his movements, refusing to go any further as I had rolled my head back instead of keeping my eyes on him. As soon as I looked at him again, he continued his quest.