Chapter 95

Amelia

I wasn’t sure where we were going until the air began to shift. The further we drove, the cleaner it smelled. Pine needles, damp soil, and crisp mountain air replaced the heavy tension that usually followed us. Richard drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on my thigh. The silence between us wasn’t awkward. It felt intentional. It felt good.

The lodge appeared like something out of a dream. It was nestled between ancient trees and wildflowers, all timber beams and stone chimneys. There were no staff. No press. Only us. I stepped onto the porch and breathed in deeply. My entire body softened.

“This place is beautiful,” I said, fingers trailing over the railing.

Richard came up behind me and pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “I thought we deserved to feel like people for once.”

That day, we hiked trails that wound through the woods in gentle curves, far from the sound of traffic or the clicks of cameras. At one point, we found a small ridge with the valley sprawling beneath it. I turned and found him already watching me.

“What?” I asked.

“You look like you belong here. In the wild.”

We kissed beneath a canopy of pine. For a moment, it felt like we could pretend the world didn’t exist beyond the trees.

That night, we cooked together. It was clumsy and chaotic. We laughed through smoke alarms and burnt bread. We curled up in front of the fire with a bottle of wine between us. I nestled into his chest and watched the flames move while his hand combed gently through my hair.

“You’re quiet,” he said after a while.

“I’m scared to say how happy I am. I don’t want to jinx it.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. “Just stay right here.”

I felt myself nod against him, eyes growing heavier. Everything about that moment—his scent, the warmth of the wine, the quietness of the world outside—lulled me into something tender and safe. I let myself drift, knowing he would hold me through it.

Richard

I held her long after she fell asleep. She looked peaceful, her hair tangled across my chest and her breath slow and steady. The weight of what we’d left behind hadn’t followed us here. I let myself believe, just for a little while, that we were safe.

When she stirred, I kissed her forehead. “Want to see something?”

She nodded sleepily. I led her down a narrow trail to a hidden lake I hadn’t visited in years. When we stepped into the clearing, the stars reflected on the still water like scattered gems.

She gasped. “This doesn’t feel real.”

“It’s real,” I said. “Just hidden.”

She stripped first, laughing as she ran into the cold water. I followed her in. When we surfaced, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“This is ridiculous,” she whispered.

“But perfect,” I said.

She smiled. “Why don't you show me how perfect it is?”

Amelia

His hands gripped my hips as I guided him inside me, and I gasped, my head falling back as he pressed in deeper. The cold of the lake wrapped around us, but the heat between us was overwhelming. My legs tightened around his waist. His lips found my neck as I rocked against him, the water slapping softly at our skin.

“You feel like so perfect,” he murmured, voice shaking with restraint.

“So do you,” I whispered. “I need more.”

He groaned and gave it to me. Deeper and slower. The kind of pace that made my body vibrate. He held me up with one arm, the other trailing down my back to the curve of my ass. I clenched around him and felt him shudder.

“Tell me what you want,” he said, his mouth grazing the corner of mine.

“I want to forget everything,” I said. “I don't want to think about anything but you inside of me.”

He kissed me hard, his teeth grazing my lower lip. I moaned into his mouth, my hands slipping up into his hair. We moved together in a rhythm that felt carved out of something older than either of us. The friction of his thrusts against the resistance of the water made every movement more intense. More necessary.

“You take me so well,” he muttered. “Always so perfect for me.”

My body tightened as his hand slipped between us, fingers stroking where we met. My thighs shook.

“I’m close,” I gasped. “Don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” he said. “I want to feel you clenching around me.”

I tipped over the edge with a sharp cry, nails digging into his back, my orgasm ripping through me like a wave crashing on stone. He held me through it, thrusting slowly until I started trembling again.

“Good girl,” he whispered against my temple. “You’re so perfect.”

He groaned, burying himself to the hilt and coming with a shudder so deep I felt it in my chest. His forehead dropped to mine, his arms tightening around my waist.

We stayed like that for a long time, his length still inside me, our skin cooling in the night air, our hearts beating against each other like we were still mid-climax. I ran my fingers along his neck. He kissed my jaw.

Then I saw the light. It wasn’t moonlight. It was the unmistakable flash of a camera.

I twisted in his arms. My heart slammed against my ribs. A silhouette disappeared into the trees.

The headlines arrived before we made it back to the lodge.

Alpha King and Former Intern Caught in Intimate Forest Escape.

Photos from a distance. Speculation. Ridicule. But that wasn’t what hurt the most. Adam’s press conference was.

He stood behind a podium in a pale blue sweater. He looked soft. Approachable. His eyes were heavy, his voice carefully steady.

“She was my partner,” Adam said. “Until Richard decided his power and status gave him the right to step in. Until Amelia was placed under his direct supervision and slowly pulled away from me.”

I stared at the screen.

“I loved her. I respected her. I never used my position to control her. But some people believe the rules don’t apply to them. Some people think they can rewrite reality with charm and power. That’s not love. That’s manipulation.”

The reporters leaned in. The comments started within seconds.

Social media turned brutal. People called me a climber. A traitor. A girl who used sex to gain power. Some said Richard had groomed me. Others claimed I had schemed the whole thing.

My hands trembled as I scrolled. I felt sick. Richard slammed his phone onto the table, cracking the screen.

We didn’t speak. Not at first. The silence filled every corner of the room.

Then he crossed it. He reached for me and pulled me in, kissing me like it was the only thing anchoring him to the earth. I met him with the same fire. I needed something to hold onto.

He didn't want to talk about it. Or come up with a plan to diffuse the fire. And that was fine by me.

Richard

I took her outside, back to the lakeshore. I laid her down on a blanket and hovered over her.

I entered her slowly. I wanted her to feel all of it. When she gasped, I pressed deeper. Her fingers curled against my skin.

My hands gripped her thighs. Her nails raked across my back. I moved harder, faster, every thrust a refusal. I kissed her and told her what she needed to hear.

“You are not a scandal. You’re mine. Mine to protect.”

“I’m yours,” she said. Her voice cracked. She held onto me like she believed it.

I kept going. I needed her to feel it. I needed to feel her back. Her moans were so beautiful. Her body met every movement with need and certainty.

When she came, she gasped my name like a vow. The way she pulsed around me undid every bit of control I had left. I followed with a growl, thrusting deep as I spilled into her, forehead pressed to hers.

Mine. The word echoed in my mind, again and again. Mine. Mine. Mine. She felt too good, too warm, too perfect. My body trembled above hers, lost in the rhythm of her breath and the wet heat wrapped around me. I couldn’t stop whispering it against her skin, couldn’t stop thinking it even when the world faded away around us.