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Khaos’ mouth crashes onto mine as screams, cheers, and noise makers clash around us. Instantly, I melt into him, the feeling of his mouth on mine the only thing that’s right tonight. His tongue slides between my lips, greedily tasting my own, lapping up all the words I want to say to him right now.

Slowly, he pulls away, caressing my face.

“Happy New Year, Eris.” He smiles.

I almost want to laugh at the nickname remembering the first time he ever called me by it. How it dug deep under my skin because he used it as an insult.

Now, when he calls me by that name, I can’t help but think that he sees me as a Goddess, and it makes me feel powerful.

“Was I a good boy?” He asks, smirking.

I bite my lip to stifle a laugh, schooling my face before responding.

“Good enough.”

“Can we go now? I’m physically in pain every time I look at you, knowing I can’t throw you down on this floor right now and fuck you until you’re crying.”

“Yeah, we can go.” I breathe, nodding my head, wanting nothing more than for him to do just what he said.

His fingers crawl into my hair as his mouth finds mine once more.

My lip catches between his teeth, the pain a punishment from biting him earlier.

He doesn’t let go until I squeal and try to shove him away, but it just makes him push me further into the wall.

One of his hands releases the strands in my hair to slip into the slit of my dress, wasting no time, fingers pushing inside of me.

Throwing my head back, it slams into the wall as a moan bleeds from my lips.

“Fuck, you’re so wet.”

My fingers wrap around his wrist to fight him off me.

We can’t risk being seen in public like this, for more reasons than it just being illegal.

With fierce thrusts, he forces a delicious burn in my lower belly, his other hand wrapping around my mouth.

There, in the hotel hallway, minutes after midnight, Khaos steals an orgasm from me.

My legs shake when he removes his fingers, but he holds me up, supporting my weight.

“I don’t think I can wait.” He complains.

“Let’s get a room, then.” I pant, the idea of getting in a cab right now seems absurd.

“Fuck yes.” He plants one last kiss on my lips before pulling up his mask.

Threading my fingers through his, I follow him back down the hall and around the corner towards the front desk, stopping short.

“Can I help you?” He growls, annoyance clear in his voice.

I step out from behind him to see who he’s talking to, finding the last person I want to see.

“You missed midnight.” Justina pouts.

“What are you doing out here?” I ask, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Using the bathroom.” She gives me a face that says “duh.”

I look behind her and sure enough the bathrooms are right there. She could be telling the truth, but not a single ounce of me trusts her. A sinking feeling sneaks into my gut but doesn’t get to linger.

“We’re leaving.” Khaos yanks me along again, passing her.

“Happy New Year!” She calls after us.

Too busy imagining all the ways we’re about to use each other, we ignore her, practically running to get that room.

Today I wake with dread weighing me down as if my blood has thickened into mud. This is our last day together before we fly out to Boston to finish the final month of the tour.

I’ve grown used to waking up every day in my apartment with Khaos, crowded in my own bed that’s been capsized by the deity who’s larger than life.

The privacy here has been such a gift, the mere idea of having to control ourselves again seems painful.

Not that we did a great job at it before, but at least here, away from the group, I don’t have to be so embarrassed all the time.

I’m going to miss the way we do such mundane things together, like brush our teeth side by side or watch movies entwined on the couch.

The way he pulls me across his chest while we talk until the pink and orange hues of early morning bleed through the windows.

Most of all, I’ll miss having Khaos all to myself, not having to share him with his bandmates or fans .

I try not to think about it too hard as I pull a pink sweater over my head and trudge into the kitchen. Khaos leans against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, staring at the wall.

“Coffee?” I offer, breaking him from his trance.

“I could use a cup.”

When his gaze finally finds mine, I ask, “What’s up?”

There’s a solemn vibe surrounding him, infecting this morning with more of that dread I felt earlier.

“Post-Holiday Blues I guess.”

“Mmm,” I nod. “We’ve barely even made it past the holidays. It’s going to be quite a long winter for you, my friend.”

His grimace turns into a scowl, something resembling annoyance flashing across his golden eyes. I pretend I don’t notice, afraid that if I push, he’s just going to shut down. Instead, I grab a couple mugs from my cabinet, tucking a coffee pod into my Keurig.

“Friends? Is that what you call this?”

I mull the word around in my head while I watch the steady stream of coffee fill the first mug. The smell immediately waking me up.

Are we friends?

“I think so.” I shrug.

A curt laugh bellows out of him, closely resembling a scoff. My shoulders tense as warmth seeps into my back, his presence feeling suddenly dangerous.

“Friends don’t kiss, Ash.” His voice slithers into my ears like a venomous snake ready to bite.

His arm curls around me, inching lower, cupping the apex of my thighs.

“Friends don’t touch each other here.” His free hand slides up my chest to wrap around my neck, tilting my head back against his chest. Locked into him, he whispers, “They don’t fuck the way we do. So, tell me Ash, are we just friends?”

“No.” I swallow nervously .

With one swift movement, he spins me around, his fingers digging into my hips to lift me up onto the counter, tucking himself between my legs. He grabs onto a handful of hair, tugging back to tilt my face so I can look up into his.

“Good girl.” He praises. “Now say what I know you want to.”

My brows cave together, confused. “And what’s that?”

“Those three little words you’ve been holding back.”

Air catches inside my throat, afraid he means what I think he means, but there’s no way. If I assume wrong, then I’m leaving myself in a vulnerable position, helpless really and Ashton Crawford is not helpless.

I shake my head, “I don’t know-”

“I know when you’re lying, Ash. The words are on the tip of your tongue, they have been for a while now. I can taste them every time I kiss you.” He smirks.

The hold on my hair loosens as his eyes frantically search mine for the answer he’s looking for. I know it lies there in plain sight for him to see, but my mind doesn’t want to let my heart give in.

“What are you going to do with it if I give it to you?”

“Give me what?”

“My love.”

Khaos thinks on it a moment before answering, “I’ll give you mine.”

His confession is like a lasso trapping my heart, tearing it out of my chest with just one rapid yank. I don’t even have the chance to save it before it’s his.

“Okay.” I hear myself whisper.

"Okay?”

A small smile plays on his lips, victory falling right into his lap. I’ve won many battles between us, but Khaos is going to win this war .

Knowing that, I nod in defeat, “I think I love you.”

“That’s too many words, I just want three.” He murmurs.

“I. Think. I.”

He smiles against my lips, his teeth grazing my bottom, “I love you.”

And then, just like that, my heart lays in his hands, but in return he’s given me his.

The words sound foreign to my ears, but somehow, I understand them.

In this moment, I feel the most naked I have ever felt in front of him despite nearly every inch of skin being covered in clothes.

Khaos has a way of forcing me to strip out of this shell I’ve built around myself, around the organ that keeps me alive, and though it kills my pride to admit it, I’ve never been so eager to concede.

Of their own accord, our mouths are diving for each other’s with a hunger meant for starving animals.

The aggression in which he devours my lips is so violent it hurts, but I relish the sting when his teeth scrape into my flesh.

The skin on my hips burn with his touch as he drags me to the edge of the counter, his pelvis grinding against my center.

My legs wrap around his waist, caging him to me.

“Stay with me after the tour.” His words feel like a demand as they float from his mouth in a breath between voracious kisses.

“Where?”

His hands grab onto the hem of my sweater, yanking it up over my head. “We can find our own place.”

As his fingers frantically rip at the button on my jeans, metal scraping at the lock in the door steals our attention. My eyes widen in shock when Sam barrels through with Hypnos right behind her.

“Sam?” I look at her confused.

She groans, “We eat there! ”

Quickly, I’m jumping off the counter and pulling my shirt on.

“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“I was going to ask you the same question.” She snaps her eyes over to Khaos.

“Why? What’s going on?” I join her in the living room.

Hypnos stays standing awkwardly in the entryway, just staring at him with the same confusion I have.

“What?” Khaos clips at him.

His mouth pops open, but closes, his words trapped. He shakes his head, dragging his palm down the center of his face.

“Sam?” I urge.

“You don’t know?” She asks, but it comes out as more of a statement as she takes inventory of my face.

“Know what?”

There’s an uncomfortable silence that slowly makes my intestines twist into painful knots. Sweat starts to bead at my hairline, the anticipation of doom causing my stomach to roil.

Sam’s gaze flicks behind me to Khaos, who’s leaning against the wall in the hallway, keeping his distance.

I want to scream at my friend to just spit it out already, that suspension is meant for thriller movies and not my freaking life, but before I can utter a word out of my mouth, she’s reaching into her pocket for her phone with a hesitant look.

She opens it, her eyes locked on the screen in front of her. With trembling hands, she passes it over to me.

“You need to read this.” She mumbles with tension.

I take her phone, finding an ABC News article already pulled up.

Missing Boy Found

ABC News

January 3, 202 4

On August 15, 2013, a little over ten years ago, Oliver Matthews of Barrington Heights, Illinois went missing after hanging out in the local forest preserve, last to be seen by his best friend, Ashton Crawford.

The search parties went on for over a week, but the boy was undiscovered, and pronounced dead two years later.

“What is this?” I gasp, looking up at my friend.

“Ash?” Khaos’ concern sounds distant to my ears as blood rushes to my head, making me dizzy.

“That friend I mentioned, the one that went missing? He’s been found.” I tell him, my palms sweating.

“Keep reading, Ash.” Sam tells me softly.

Matthews has recently been spotted at an event held by Musical Genius, LLC in which he attended as the lead singer, Khaos from the band Night’s Deadly Deeds. He was captured leaving the event with none other than Ashton Crawford, his former best friend and current partner.

The photo below was taken by Justina Sampson, journalist with Musical Genius, LLC in an attempt to uncover the singer’s true identity.

Now the question is, did the two conspire together? The police have been notified and are on the move to complete a full investigation.

More to come.

“What the fuck?” I spin, my eyes landing directly on Khaos.

He meets my stare, searching for my reaction.

“Oliver?” The name tumbles from my mouth in a question that’s begging to be denied.