Chapter 15 – Chains of Possession
The ride back to the mansion was thick with silence.
Not the comfortable kind, nor even the empty kind.
It was silence sharpened into knives, filling every breath with tension.
Ethan sat pressed against the car door, his wrist still caught in Adrian's iron grip. The city lights flashed across Adrian's face, illuminating his clenched jaw and eyes that smoldered with a darkness Ethan had never seen before.
He wanted to speak—anything, even a plea—but the words died in his throat.
When the car stopped, Adrian didn't wait for the driver. He yanked the door open and all but dragged Ethan out, up the marble steps of the mansion, and into the dimly lit foyer.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind them with a finality that made Ethan's heart pound.
Adrian didn't release him. Instead, he pushed Ethan against the wall, caging him in with an arm braced beside his head. The closeness stole Ethan's breath. His chest heaved, his instincts screaming at him to submit, to bare his throat—but his pride burned hotter.
"Adrian—"
"Do you have any idea," Adrian's voice was low, shaking with fury, "what it took not to tear him apart in front of everyone?"
Ethan's lips parted, but the raw ferocity in Adrian's eyes pinned him still.
"He touched you." The words were almost a growl. "He dared to put his hands on what is mine."
Ethan flinched, anger bubbling beneath his fear. "I am not an object!"
Adrian's eyes widened, the words striking him like a slap. For a moment, his expression cracked, pain flickering beneath the rage. But just as quickly, the mask returned.
"You think I see you as an object?" His hand caught Ethan's chin, forcing his gaze upward. "You think I fight, I burn, I rage—because you are nothing more than possession?"
Ethan trembled, caught between his own stubbornness and the storm before him. "Then why does it feel like a cage?"
Adrian froze. Silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Finally, his hand fell away, his body pulling back as if Ethan's words had carved into him. For a long moment, he stood still, his chest rising and falling, eyes shadowed with something unreadable.
"You don't understand," Adrian said at last, his voice softer, almost broken. "Leon—he doesn't care what he destroys. If he can't take you from me, he'll ruin you. He'll ruin everything."
Ethan's heart thudded painfully. The desperation in Adrian's tone wasn't anger—it was fear.
But before he could respond, Adrian closed the space between them again, pressing his forehead against Ethan's. His breath was warm, ragged, his hands trembling against Ethan's waist as if holding back something more violent.
"You are mine, Ethan," he whispered, voice rough. "Not because of a contract. Not because I bought you. But because the thought of losing you—" His voice cracked, and he bit down on the rest.
Ethan's chest tightened. His body betrayed him, heat pooling low, instincts warring with reason. Every word Adrian spoke wrapped around him like chains—terrifying, suffocating, yet cruelly intoxicating.
"Adrian…" His voice was a whisper, barely a plea.
Adrian pulled back just enough to search his face. His eyes burned, wild and possessive, but there was vulnerability buried deep inside.
For a heartbeat, the world was still.
And then Adrian crushed his lips against Ethan's.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't hesitant. It was fire consuming air, a storm tearing through walls. Ethan gasped against the force of it, hands bracing against Adrian's chest, but he didn't push away. He couldn't.
The kiss deepened, rough and demanding, Adrian's desperation bleeding into every movement. Ethan's body trembled, instincts sparking alive, heat rising despite the chaos in his mind.
When Adrian finally pulled back, both were breathless, their foreheads pressed together.
"Don't ever make me watch him touch you again," Adrian whispered hoarsely. "Or I swear, Ethan—I will burn this world down."
Ethan's lips trembled. He wanted to scream, to cry, to surrender, to fight. But all that left him was a shuddering breath.
Adrian pulled away suddenly, turning his back as though ashamed of the ferocity he had unleashed. His shoulders were tense, his fists clenched at his sides.
For a long moment, silence filled the room again.
Then, without looking back, Adrian spoke. "From now on, you don't go anywhere without me. Not to a party. Not to a meeting. Nowhere."
Ethan's eyes widened. "You can't—"
"I can," Adrian cut in, his voice low, final. "And I will. Until Leon learns his place, you will not step outside this house without my permission."
The words sliced through Ethan, rage and helplessness tangling in his chest. "So it is a cage," he spat.
Adrian flinched but didn't turn around. "If that's what it takes to keep you safe, then yes."
Tears stung Ethan's eyes. His fists shook at his sides, his chest tight with suffocating conflict. He hated Adrian's control, hated the chains tightening around him—yet the memory of Adrian's trembling hands, of the raw fear in his voice, twisted his heart.
He didn't know what hurt more: the cage he was trapped in… or the fact that part of him didn't want to escape.
---
Far away, in the shadows of the city, Leon swirled a glass of wine in his hand.
The party had long ended, but he replayed Adrian's fury in his mind with a grin.
"You're rattled, cousin," he murmured to the empty room. "And the more desperate you become, the easier it will be to break you."
He set the glass down, eyes gleaming.
"And Ethan… You'll come to me on your own. Sooner than you think."