Chapter 66: The Cold that Burns
Nightfall. The body remembers what the mind fears.
They had made camp in the ruins of the mall's old bridal boutique.
Selene, always eerily comfortable in places haunted by forgotten beauty, had chosen it with a dry smirk. "No one's hiding among the lace," she'd said, brushing a shredded veil aside like it meant nothing. And she'd been right. The mannequins were decapitated. The tulle had gone yellow and brittle. But the fitting rooms still held some sacred quiet, like time had missed them.
Aria barely remembered collapsing onto the makeshift mattress Selene threw together from scavenged cushions and an old train of tulle. Her limbs were lead, but her blood wouldn't stop rushing. The adrenaline had faded, leaving behind a sharp ache that wasn't just exhaustion. It was need.
Her thighs pressed tight. Her shirt stuck to her back with sweat. Her fingers curled in the fabric beneath her, restless. The crowbar sat by her side, still within reach. But she didn't feel like a weapon anymore.
She felt undone.
Selene lay across the boutique on her folded coat, her stillness like ice across the room. A presence more than a person. Heavy. Quiet. Unavoidable. Aria hadn't looked at her since the words.
Because I want you desperate.
The memory pulsed in her gut. Between her legs. Her breath shivered at the thought. She turned her face away and shut her eyes, trying to will sleep to come.
But Selene was already there.
Closer.
Touching.
Claiming.
The dream wasn't subtle this time.
She was already beneath Selene — flat on her back, legs open, silk crushed under her hips. Her breathing was ragged. Selene's mouth was at her throat, hot and cold at once, nipping, teasing. Her hands roamed Aria's body like she owned it. Like she'd memorized every inch and still needed to rediscover it just to keep sane.
"You're mine like this," Selene whispered, tongue dragging along Aria's collarbone. "You come apart so sweetly."
Aria gasped, her fingers locking in Selene's hair, her hips grinding up desperately. "Please —" she begged, not even knowing what for.
Selene chuckled, wicked and low, before sliding her fingers between Aria's thighs. Not teasing. Not light. Deep. Possessive.
Aria cried out.
The dream burned. Her back arched, hips rocking into Selene's touch. She was wet, throbbing, full, and not enough — gods, not enough.
Selene whispered filth in her ear, fingers working in rhythm with her mouth trailing lower — lower — until her tongue replaced her hand.
Aria shattered.
She screamed, trembling, the climax tearing through her like lightning.
But it didn't end.
Selene flipped her, breath hot against her neck, hands gripping her hips.
"You want more?"
Aria moaned helplessly. "Yes. Yes, please —"
She was filled again — harder this time. Selene's body pressed tight behind her, every movement maddening. Their skin slid together, feverish. Intimate.
Aria begged, pleaded, cried Selene's name like prayer.
Selene answered her with breath and bite and endless, ruthless rhythm.
When Aria woke, she was already coming.
Her body convulsed. Her moan caught in her throat, strangled and sharp. Her shirt clung to her like a second skin, soaked. Her underwear was —
She gasped, sitting up in a jolt. Her thighs clenched, but the slick heat had already spread.
She was drenched.
She could still feel Selene inside her.
The pressure. The rhythm. The hunger.
"Oh, f — f•••," she choked, her voice breaking.
Every nerve was on fire.
She trembled, dazed and panting, her core still pulsing with aftershock. She could barely move. Her legs refused to work properly. Her arms braced her weight as she tried to slow her breathing, but her body was already curling again, instinctively grinding into the soaked sheets for friction.
"No no no," she whispered, shaking her head. "Stop it — stop —"
But her hips didn't stop.
And Selene — across the room — remained motionless.
Or pretending to be.
Aria couldn't bear it.
She stumbled up, dragging the veils aside and half - limping to the back, her soaked underwear squelching loudly with every step. Her thighs rubbed slick, her knees weak. The cold should have shocked her out of it.
But it didn't.
She pushed open the boutique's old employee washroom and turned on the tap with shaking hands. The pipes groaned. Water burst out, icy and uneven. She didn't hesitate.
She stripped fast — shirt, bra, underwear — and stepped under the punishing stream.
The cold slammed into her like a slap.
She didn't care.
Her body still burned.
She leaned forward, bracing against the tile, water pouring down her back, her hair, her breasts, her thighs.
"I can't take this," she whispered.
But even as her skin turned numb, her nipples stayed tight. Her belly still clenched.
She wasn't escaping this.
She turned off the water and stood there, dripping, trembling, her body humming with hunger. Then slowly, methodically, she dried herself with a threadbare towel, pulled on one of the last clean shirts from her pack, and padded barefoot back into the boutique.
And stopped.
Selene had shifted.
Not much.
But enough.
Her coat was loose around her hips. Her shirt had ridden up to reveal her pale stomach. One leg bent, the other stretched long. Her head turned just enough to let the moonlight kiss the edge of her jaw.
Aria's mouth went dry.
She stared.
Then looked away quickly and sat — not beside her, but close enough to feel the weight of her.
She tried to curl in on herself again.
But something had changed.
The ache wasn't just hidden now.
It wanted.
No — she wanted.
Her thighs pressed together, but it only made her shudder. Her body was alive. Raw. Needy. Her breath hitched.
And Selene…
Selene was watching her.
Not obviously. But unmistakably.
Aria felt the heat of her gaze across the space between them.
Slow. Measured. Unblinking.
A blush bloomed across Aria's chest. Her fingers gripped her knees.
"Are you going to just lay there and pretend you didn't hear me fall apart?" she asked, voice rough.
Selene's mouth curled slowly into a smile. "You were very loud," she murmured.
Aria turned to her sharply. "I — I didn't mean to be."
Selene hummed, eyes half - lidded. "Didn't say I minded."
Aria's stomach flipped. Her thighs clenched again. "I had a dream."
"I know."
Aria swallowed hard. "You — You were inside me."
Selene raised an eyebrow. "That so?"
"You… you took me. Owned me." Her voice trembled, but she didn't look away. "And I… liked it."
Selene's smile sharpened. "You came, didn't you?"
Aria flushed violently. Her legs shifted. "Twice."
Selene propped herself on one elbow, lazy and predatory. "You could've just come to me."
"I'm here now."
Selene tilted her head. "And?"
Aria crawled forward on her hands and knees, heart pounding. Her thighs were slick again. Her breath trembled.
"I want you," she whispered. "I want it real this time. Not a dream. I want you to touch me. I want to feel it."
Selene didn't move.
Aria climbed over her, straddling her thighs, her shirt riding high. She leaned in, palms pressed to Selene's chest.
"Please," she begged.
Selene's hand slid slowly up her thigh. "Desperate, aren't we?"
"You made me this way."
Selene's other hand cupped her cheek, tilting her face close. "You're soaked through again."
Aria whimpered. "I can't help it. I need —"
"Say it."
Aria's lips trembled. "I need you to f — f••• me."
Selene growled — low and pleased — and was just about to flip her when Aria shifted, one hand slipping behind her and flicking a familiar shimmer into existence.
With a soft pulse of violet light, her pocket dimension opened — barely the size of a fist — and she pulled something small and crinkly from the void.
She dropped it between them with a soft click against Selene's chest.
Selene blinked.
Then looked down.
A finger cot.
She stared at it, then slowly arched a brow.
"Did you seriously summon that during our kiss?"
Aria flushed but didn't flinch. "I planned ahead."
Selene picked it up between two fingers, twirling it slowly. Her grin stretched wide. "You stashed a finger cot in your pocket dimension just in case you got aroused enough to beg?"
"I wasn't sure when I'd need it," Aria whispered, voice breaking into a smile. "I hoped."
Selene laughed — low, wicked, utterly delighted. "Gods, you're adorable. And filthy."
She leaned in close, lips grazing Aria's ear. "You brought this just for me?"
Aria nodded, breath catching. "Yes."
Selene's teeth scraped lightly down her neck. "Then I'd be rude not to use it."
And then she kissed her — fierce, claiming — while sliding the cot on with slow, exaggerated care.
Aria moaned into her mouth.
Selene flipped them effortlessly, pinning Aria beneath her. "Good girl."
Her mouth crashed down again, hands already moving lower.
Selene's fingers slid through the slick heat like they belonged there.
Aria arched. "Gods — yes —"
Selene chuckled against her throat. "You're lucky I'm in a generous mood.
And then she stopped teasing.
She took.
Aria's scream echoed against the boutique walls, breathless and relieved.
The cold never stood a chance.