Chapter 8 Power struggles

Chapter 7: Power Struggles

The air in the room still hummed with the residue of their almost-his scent on her skin, the press of his lips still echoing along her collarbone like ghosted fingerprints. Delilah sat alone now on the leather settee, the wine untouched in her glass, her spine taut and fingers pressed together in silent calculation.

She had pulled back. Not because she didn't want him-but because she wanted too much.

Sebastian had left without a word. No final glance. No attempt to claim what he so clearly desired. And that silence now wrapped around her tighter than his hands ever had.

The restraint had nearly broken her.

Her phone vibrated once on the coffee table. A single text.

Adrian: "Careful, little fox. Playing with fire makes you burn from the inside out."

Delilah's breath hitched.

He knew. Somehow, he always knew.

She stood, letting the silk robe fall slightly off her shoulder as she crossed the room. The city skyline blinked through the massive window, mocking her with its serenity. Inside, she was chaos incarnate.

Her reflection stared back at her in the glass-lips swollen, eyes hooded with something raw and primal. A woman unraveling.

Her fingers hovered over her phone, then typed.

Delilah: "I don't play. I control the game."

She hit send.

But even as she did, her heart skipped-not out of fear. Out of desire.

Sebastian was the hurricane, quiet and lethal.

Adrian was wildfire, unpredictable and consuming.

And she? She was caught in the center, pretending she wasn't burning alive.

---

Two days passed.

No word from either man.

She busied herself-photo shoots, interviews, the illusion of perfection on every magazine cover. But behind the painted smile, her pulse raced every time a black car slowed near her hotel. Every time a male voice whispered too close in her ear.

And when Sebastian finally showed up-unannounced, uninvited-she was already on the brink.

He didn't say a word as he stepped into the penthouse, all tailored steel and cool composure. She stood in her heels, chin tilted, heart punching against her ribs.

"You disappeared," she said, voice a blade wrapped in silk.

"You pulled away," he replied, closing the door behind him with a click that felt final.

Delilah crossed her arms, keeping her distance. "You didn't chase."

Sebastian moved toward her with slow precision. "I'm not in the business of chasing what I already own."

A jolt. Her body betrayed her-heat spiraling low in her belly, an ache she couldn't shake.

"I'm not something you can own, Sebastian."

"No?" He was close now, voice a murmur. "Then why do you tremble when I say your name?"

"I don't." But the tremor in her voice gave her away.

He lifted a hand, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "You do," he whispered. "You want this, Delilah. You want me."

She turned her head, breaking the contact. "I want control."

"You already have it," he murmured. "But I want the power to break it."

Those words... they hit her harder than his touch ever could.

Her breath caught as he leaned down, lips barely grazing the shell of her ear. "Let me show you what surrender really means."

But Delilah stepped back.

Not tonight. Not yet.

"Not until you earn it," she said.

Sebastian's smirk was both promise and threat. "Then I'll burn the world to do just that."

He left her trembling. Again.

---

Outside, lightning fractured the night sky. Rain began to fall, soft and relentless.

Delilah watched from the window, wrapping her arms around herself as thunder rolled in the distance. Behind her, the silence stretched.

But inside her... the war raged.

And in that stillness, her phone lit up again.

Adrian: "He'll ruin you, Red. Let me be the one who worships you instead."

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