Chapter 2 THE HONEYMOON VOID

The warm tropical breeze carried the scent of hibiscus and salted waves, but none of it stirred Sheila's senses. She lay back on the king-sized hotel bed in her silk robe, legs parted slightly, hoping to feel something, anything besides the hollow ache that had settled in her chest.

Bruno's heavy snores filled the air, his body turned away from her after another passionless round that ended too soon and satisfied too little.

This was supposed to be paradise. Their honeymoon in the Maldives, a reward for marrying the man her family approved of, a man with money, influence, and ambition. But no amount of luxury could fill the void between her legs, or her heart.

She had thought she could make it work. That maybe, in time, she'd learn to love Bruno the way she once loved Brian. But no matter how much she smiled during the wedding photos or how many Instagram perfect beach shots she posted, nothing could erase the memory of Brian's touch.

His rough hands. The way his lips devoured her. The way her body hunger and thirst for him.

She rolled over, her fingers running down her bare stomach. Her mind betrayed her, painting vivid pictures of the past. Brian's hands spreading her thighs, his tongue flicking in ways Bruno had never mastered. Her breath caught as she imagined his deep voice whispering in her ear.

"You like it when I do this, baby?"

She moaned, softly, quietly, pressing her palm between her legs. Bruno stirred slightly in his sleep, but didn't wake. He never noticed when she needed more. He never saw how her smile faded when he turned away.

She bit her lip and slipped her fingers inside her robe. Her skin tingled as her mind drifted completely-no longer in the honeymoon suite, but back in Brian's tiny apartment, where they once made love on threadbare sheets, sweaty and breathless, with nothing but passion between them.

And then... the guilt struck.

She sat up quickly, heart racing. What was she doing?

This was wrong. She was a wife now. The dutiful, beautiful, social butterfly of a rising businessman in Texas.

But when she glanced at Bruno's sleeping pattern, snoring lightly with his mouth open, all she felt was suffocation.

She stood and stepped out onto the balcony, her silk robe fluttering around her thighs. The moon glittering off the water like diamonds mocking her.

She picked up her phone and hesitated. Her fingers hovered over Brian's name as her thumb trembled.

One message. That's all it would take.

> Sheila: "Why did we ever end things? I miss you... I can't stop thinking about you."

Three dots appeared almost immediately. He was awake.

> Brian: "Because you chose money over love. And because I couldn't give you what Bruno could."

She stared at the message, throat tightening. But then another one popped up.

> Brian: "But I still dream about you. About your moans. The way you clawed at my back. The way you came undone for me."

She gasped, her thighs clenching.

> Brian: "Tell me to stop, and I will. But if you don't..."

She didn't tell him to stop.

Instead, she took a photo just a peek of her lace panties under the robe, her fingers teasing the edge and hit send.

> Brian: "Fuck, Sheila... you're still mine. You know that, right?"

Her response was simple.

> Sheila: "Come get what's yours. When we're back."

As she turned to go back inside, her heart was racing, not from guilt, but from anticipation. Her honeymoon was a void.

But Brian? He was her forbidden fire, and soon, she'd burn in it again.