Chapter 18: After The Fire
POV: Elias Voss
Elias woke before the sun.
He always did.
Routine had been his religion long before ambition became his currency.
But this morning, the rhythm was off.
He wasn’t alone.
Warm skin brushed his side. A soft exhale, the faintest shift of breath against his shoulder. Noah slept curled half on his chest, lips slightly parted, one hand tucked between them like they’d always slept like this.
Elias stared at the ceiling.
He didn’t move.
He couldn’t.
\---
The air between them was quiet, but it wasn’t empty.
Last night hadn’t been a mistake.
It had been inevitable.
Every time he told himself to stop, to wait, to retreat — Noah pulled him back in without trying. Just by being there. Sharp tongue, softer eyes. Loyal. Infuriating. Honest in ways Elias hadn’t allowed himself to be in years.
And last night...
Elias could still feel the sound Noah made when he came apart in his arms. Could still taste the sweat on his skin, the tremble in his voice, the way he whispered I came here for you like it wasn’t a death sentence to Elias’s self-control.
He’d never had someone like that in his bed.
Someone who stayed.
\---
Noah shifted, burying his face in Elias’s chest.
He made a soft sound — not quite a sigh, not quite a word.
Elias stared at the crown of his head, at the mess of dark curls, and let his hand move slowly over Noah’s spine.
He didn’t mean to.
But once he touched him again, he didn’t stop.
His fingers traced a line down Noah’s back, slow and thoughtful, grounding himself in the realness of him. The heat. The fragility. The danger of softness.
What are you doing?
The thought struck like ice. He should’ve gotten up. Should’ve put on his armor, reassembled his walls. But something in him cracked every time Noah breathed against his skin.
So instead of running, Elias let himself stay.
Just for a minute.
\---
When Noah finally stirred, his voice was soft.
“I was afraid you’d be gone.”
Elias looked down at him. “I considered it.”
Noah didn’t flinch. “Why didn’t you?”
Elias hesitated.
Then answered with brutal honesty.
“Because you looked peaceful.”
Noah blinked up at him, sleepy but awake now. “You make it sound like I’m a landmine.”
“You are,” Elias said simply. “You make me feel things I’ve spent years unlearning.”
\---
Silence.
Noah sat up slowly, the sheet slipping down his chest. He didn’t seem embarrassed by his nakedness. He was past that. There was something quiet in his eyes — not fear, but clarity.
“I’m not trying to ruin you, Elias,” he said. “I’m just trying to be something you don’t have to push away.”
Elias sat up beside him, elbows on his knees, running a hand through his hair.
“I don’t know how to keep you,” he admitted. “I know how to want. I know how to take. But keeping someone... that’s a language I never learned.”
Noah smiled — not amused, but understanding.
“Then let me teach you.”
\---
The moment lingered like heat after lightning.
Then Noah stood, pulled on Elias’s discarded dress shirt, and padded barefoot to the kitchen like he belonged there. Like he wasn’t afraid of what had happened between them.
Elias watched him go.
And something inside him shifted.
\---
Fifteen minutes later, Elias joined him in the kitchen. Noah handed him coffee — no words, no expectation. Just warmth. Steady. Solid.
They sat in quiet companionship for a while, the skyline bleeding pale gold as the city began to wake.
It was unfamiliar.
Terrifying.
And maybe... exactly what Elias needed.
\---
But as the clock ticked forward and the day loomed, the inevitable walls crept back in.
The world would be watching soon. The company. The board. The vultures who already circled his every move.
And Noah — his assistant, his weakness — sat across from him, stirring sugar into his coffee like it was any other morning.
Elias broke the silence first.
“You understand this doesn’t get to be public.”
Noah didn’t look up. “I figured.”
“No hand-holding. No looks. No changes in how you
speak to me.”
“I can be professional,” Noah said. “Can you?”
Their eyes locked.
And this time, Elias smiled. Just a little.
“Try me.”