NINETY-NINE

NINETY-NINE
ISABEL’S POV

The first thing I felt when I opened my eyes was warmth. Not the harsh, suffocating heat of summer, but a delicious kind that lingered on my skin, deep in my bones, like the afterglow of a fire that had burned all night.

And in a way, it had.

My lips curled into an involuntary smile as the memories rushed back. Drake’s mouth on mine, his hands everywhere, the way he had taken me slow and reverent one moment, wild and hungry the next. We hadn’t just had sex. We had made love countlessly.  Fiercely. Relentlessly. Three times, until my body felt wrung out and sated, until we collapsed against each other, starved animals finally fed.

I pressed my face into the pillow, hiding the giddy grin I couldn’t stop. My skin still tingled from his touch, and for a moment, I let myself bask in it. No fear. No bitterness. Just the intoxicating memory of belonging, of being wanted.

But then, like a bucket of cold water, Aiden’s face flashed in my mind.

My smile faltered. My stomach twisted.

Aiden the man who had looked at me with nothing but kindness, who had taken punches and insults on my behalf, who had made me feel like I mattered when Drake made me feel worthless. How could I lie there, smiling like a lovestruck fool, after giving myself to his brother?

I felt really guilty, it was almost like I could see his eyes staring at me.

The guilt pressed in, heavy and suffocating.

I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling, torn between the lingering warmth of last night and the bitter ache of betrayal.

Beside me, Drake stirred.

I turned, nerves buzzing, half-expecting him to pull me close, to press one of those soft morning kisses against my neck like lovers did in stories. My heart thudded with a strange hope I hadn’t felt in years.

But the moment his eyes opened, all that hope shattered.

His gaze was cold. Detached. As though last night hadn’t happened. As though the tenderness, the heat, the way he had whispered my name into my skin it had all been a dream I made up in my desperate head.

‘You are awake,’ he said flatly, his voice clipped, like I was nothing more than a nuisance.

I blinked at him, stunned. Good morning Drake… I wasn’t expecting yesterday to…happ..’

‘What happened yesterday….,’ he cut in, his tone sharper, ‘was a mistake.’

The words hit me like a slap. My lips parted, but no sound came out.

He swung his legs off the bed and stood, grabbing his discarded shirt from the chair. His back muscles flexed as he tugged it on, and for a brief, aching moment, I struggled with the right words to use. He was a cold-hearted bastard. I don’t know why I was suddenly expecting him to change, or is he pretending?

‘A mistake?’ I repeated, my voice trembling.

He didn’t even look at me. ‘You seduced me, Isabel. Don’t play innocent. I let my guard down, and it won’t happen again.’

My chest constricted. My throat burned. Did he really believe that? Or was it easier for him to convince himself than to admit he wanted me?

‘You bastard,’ I whispered, tears stinging my eyes. ‘You are really going to stand there and act like I tricked you? Like I forced you? God you are so wicked.’

Finally, he turned. His face was a mask of indifference, but I saw the flicker of something in his eyes something that betrayed him. Guilt. Fear. Desire. He crushed it down before I could catch it again.

‘Oh for light’s sake what were you expecting from me? That I would hold you tight this morning and never let go, just because we fucked yesterday and slept till this morning?’ he said coldly. ‘Common don’t be fucking hilarious, we fucked okay? And we enjoyed it. Stop acting like a fucking kid. Nothing has changed between us, just stay out of my business. Don’t confuse lust with meaning. I don’t owe you more than that.’

The tears slipped free. I hated myself for crying in front of him. I hated him for making me feel like one of his sluts the disposable women he paraded through this room without shame. Yesterday, I had let him see me. All of me. I had given him something I swore I would never give another man after everything I went through.

And now, he was ripping it apart.

‘Unbelievable,’ I choked, my voice breaking. ‘You don’t even realize what you did yesterday, do you? You don’t even care!’

His jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

‘Fine,’ I spat, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. ‘Just ignore me and pretend yesterday didn’t happen. Pretend I’m just another body for you to use. But don’t you dare tell me I seduced you. You wanted me, Drake. You wanted me just as badly as I wanted you. But, it’s okay. I don’t blame you at all, I blame myself for letting you use me’

For the briefest second, his composure cracked. His nostrils flared, his eyes darkened with that same hunger I saw last night. But just as quickly, he turned away.

‘I have work to do,’ he muttered.

And with that, he left.

The door shut behind him with a finality that made my chest cave in.

I sat there on the bed, naked and trembling, staring at the empty space where he had lain. The scent of him still lingered on the sheets, mocking me.

I felt cheap. Used. Like a fool who had mistaken sex for something else.

Hot tears streamed down my face as the anger built, sharp and merciless. I wanted to scream. To break something. To march after him and demand he admit that he didn’t use me like one of his sluts. That for once, he hadn’t been the cold monster he pretended to be.

Instead, I curled into myself, clutching the sheets to my chest.

Because no matter how much I hated him in this moment, no matter how much I wished I could rip last night from my memory…

I couldn’t stop remembering.

The way his hands trembled when they touched me. The way he whispered my name like it mattered. The way he made me feel like I wasn’t broken, wasn’t worthless, wasn’t just some stand-in mate.

I had tasted a version of Drake no one else had seen. And now he was punishing me for it.

And the worst part was…

I still wanted him.