Chapter 5 5.

She took a glass of wine from a tray, needing something to hold. Her skin prickled. Her chest rose and fell too fast.

"Hey..."

The voice stopped her heart.

She turned, slowly, eyes wide.

He was behind her. As always. Before she saw him. Before she found him.

His mask was the same, she, sleek, mysterious but she still doesn't know who he was.

"You were looking for me," he said softly.

She tried to play cool. "Maybe."

"You wore that perfume for me."

She swallowed.

He moved closer, hand on the small of her back. "I like that."

"You always find me first."

"Because I know how you move now."

"You're always watching."

He didn't deny it.

She tried to study him. His height. His build. The shape of his lips.

Tonight, she was going to unmask him. She didn't care what rule she broke.

"I have questions," she said.

"No questions, remember?"

"But I want to know who you are."

"I know," he said. "That's also part of it."

Before she could argue, his hand gently dragged her to a private corridor again. Same dim sconces. Same silence. Same invisible thread pulling her along.

He pushed open a door covered with curtains and it was a different room, this time.

It has a low, red light with a faint scent of perfume in the air. Chains hung artistically on the walls and it was not for decoration.

Nina's breath caught.

He pulled her in, locked the door.

Then, he turned to her, slowly. "You're shaking."

"I'm not scared."

"No. You're aching."

She didn't deny that.

He reached out, undid the top button of her coat. Then another. Slowly. Letting it fall from her shoulders.

She stood there, chest rising fast in the lace bodysuit, and he simply looked at her.

"I've been thinking about you...always" he said.

"Then show me."

His eyes flicked up to hers. "You sure you want that?"

She stepped closer, touching the edge of his mask. "I want all of it."

But just as her fingers reached to lift the edge, his hand caught hers.

Fast.

Firm.

Controlling.

"Not yet," he said. "You haven't earned it,try."

She moaned softly in frustration.

"You always stop me."

"And you always come back," he whispered.

Then he spun her gently toward the wall, pressing her hands flat against it. His voice brushed her ear.

"Do you still want me to show you?"

She nodded.

"Say it."

"I want you."

"No," he corrected softly. "Say, 'I want to surrender.'"

She hesitated, heart thudding. Then... "I want to surrender."

He breathed against her skin. "Good girl."

He didn't rush to fuck her.

He removed the bodysuit bit by bit, until it dropped to her ankles. She felt the cool air breeze on her bare back, then the fast beat of his chest behind her.

She moaned as his hand moved to her thighs, slow and steady, making her legs weak and shiver. He slid into her opening to feel her juice which he had a taste of afterwards. Every touch was earned. Every stroke dragged her deeper.

He turned her around suddenly as he lifted her onto a bench in the corner, spreading her legs without saying a word.

She gasped. His mouth, his hands...they devoured her without mercy, drawing out every sound she couldn't control. Warm sensations in her. Her body bucked on his grip, but he held her down as he commanded every tremble and gasp.

"You need to stop chasing answers," he growled. "And start obeying your need."

He grabbed her thighs and fucked her hard.

She gasped for air like never before.

"Who's your daddy?"

"Ah..." Nina whimpered almost feeling choked.

She came undone for him: raw, loud and aching and when she was breathless and trembled, a mess of nerves and heat, he leaned in close to her again.

"You'll keep looking for me," he said.

"Why?"

"Because only I know how to break you apart... and still hold you after."

Later, wrapped in silence, she dressed slowly, eyes still burning from the blindfold's memory.

He was already gone.

Like always.

The next day, Nina met up with Zee at their favorite rooftop cafe. The sky was gray, but her cheeks were pink with post-pleasure glow.

Zee raised an eyebrow. "Okay, spill."

"I can't," Nina said. "It's... complicated."

"Girl. You vanished right before my eyes. You don't text back. You show up glowing like you had sex on the moon and now it's complicated?"

Nina laughed weakly. "You're not wrong."

Zee leaned closer. "What's his name?"

"I don't know it. It's the same guy."

Zee blinked. "He still haven't told you his name?"

"Not yet, and he still doesn't want us to reveal our faces. I just wanna know him but he's distant from it. But the way he touches me is so different."

Zee raised a brow. "Sounds like a fantasy."

"It feels real."

"Are you safe?"

"I think so. I... want to go back."

Zee studied her. "Are you sure this guy is not messing with your head?"

"I don't care if he is," Nina whispered. "I just... I need to feel him again and again and again. I need him to touch me. It's like my skin misses him."

Zee blinked. "Damn."

That night, Nina couldn't sleep again.

Her fingers slid under the sheets, tracing over skin that still burned for him. But no matter what she did... nothing felt like him.

She whispered into the dark:

"Find me again."

Nina's life now revolves around masquerade parties all because of X and she loved every bit of it with more craving desire to have him touch her and caress her breast.

The party had ended hours ago, but Nina was still there, standing alone in one side of the mansion's hall with dim lights around it. Her heart was racing. Her hands trembled slightly as she rested on the wall. She hadn't come here to stay late, she actually came chasing a feeling. A touch. A presence.

She came for him.

And like always, he had found her first. Their eyes met across the dance floor, his mask sharp and smooth, his presence was noticed. He had whispered things in her ear, things that made her body ache with lots of memory. But something was off tonight.

He was distracted and for the first time, he let his guard down.

Nina followed him. Silently. Through the corridor, into one of the back rooms. Her heels barely clicked on the marble floor as she slowly went closer. She stopped just by the door, it was slightly ajar. Her breath caught as she peeked inside.

There he was.

Standing in front of a full-length mirror.

Removing his mask.

Slowly.

She felt her breath freeze in her throat as the mask fell away... revealing a face she knew.

Her knees nearly gave out.

Adrian.

Her ex's brother. The one who had barely spoken a word to her during the time she dated his sibling. The one with the quiet eyes and clenched jaw. The one she always thought watched her a little too long.

Adrian had always been a shadow in the background.

During the years Nina dated his brother, he was the type of man who barely spoke more than a passing "hello." No small talk. No smiles. No warmth. Just a nod, a glance, and then he would disappear into another room like she was invisible, like she didn't matter.

He never stayed.

Never asked questions.

He was always polite but distant, like she wasn't even there.

At family dinners, he would sit quietly and eat in silence. At birthdays or holidays, he offered only a handshake and nothing more. Not a single compliment. Not a curious glance. No signs of interest. Nothing about him ever hinted at the dark, dominant presence she'd come to know at those masked nights.

To Nina, Adrian was just "the brother."

Silent.

Mysterious.

Forgettable.