They appeared in the heart of a hidden forest, as if the earth itself had sighed them into existence. The air shimmered with golden motes, drifting like sacred dust. Beneath them, a blanket of blooming wildflowers whispered in the breeze, petals parting as though in reverence. It was too still, too perfect — untouched by time or man. A place lost to the world... or perhaps born for two beings no longer part of it.
Isabel's breath caught.
Everything was quiet now — the chase, the chaos, the blood. All of it belonged to a world they'd just abandoned. Here, only the hush of the wind and the heavy thud of her own heart dared to speak.
Her eyes found his, and in that gaze, time fractured.
Xavier stood like a storm caged in human form — fierce, ageless, untamed. Crimson eyes glowing like burning embers under a dying sun. But it wasn't fear that rose inside her.
It was longing.
Raw. Reckless. Unforgiving.
Xavier stepped closer. The wind bent with him. Trees leaned. Shadows shifted.He didn't touch her — not yet. But his presence alone was a touch — a brand — carving his name beneath her skin.
His voice came low, velvet laced with danger. "I am the devil."
Her body tensed, but it wasn't from fear. It was recognition. Truth. Destiny.
A cruel smile played at the corner of his lips as he leaned down, his breath a dark caress against her ear. "Are you certain of the pit you're choosing to bury yourself inside, princess?"
Her lips trembled. A storm of emotion raged in her chest — betrayal, wonder, defiance… love. Could this truly be love?
"I've known nothing but abandonment," she whispered, her voice cracking like glass. "But when I look at you, I don't see death. I see freedom."
His eyes flickered. That wasn't the answer he expected.
"You'd give your soul for me?"
"I think I already have," she said.
He lifted her chin with maddening gentleness, studying her as if trying to find the weakness that would make her run.
She didn't.
He could burn kingdoms with a glance. She knew it. He could end worlds. And yet, in this moment, he chose to touch her — not with fire or fury, but with reverence.
"I will destroy everything," he warned, voice barely above a breath. "Even you."She smiled, and it shattered him. "Then destroy me. But do it knowing I walked into your fire willingly."
His lips crashed onto hers — no hesitation, no apology. Just hunger, truth, and ruin wrapped in a kiss. The wind howled as if mourning the choice she'd made… or celebrating it.
When they pulled apart, the forest was no longer golden. The flowers around them had darkened, as though touched by his presence.
"Then_," he said. "Let's write our sins together."
With a single shove of his hand, reality obeyed him. A bed appeared behind them — draped in red, glowing faintly like embers under moonlight. Red petals were scattered like secrets across the sheets, the floor, the air. Flowers bloomed around them in spirals of crimson. A wedding robe, also red, wrapped itself around Isabel's body in a whisper of silk. She looked down, breath caught, realizing she was dressed in something sacred… and forbidden.
Before she could gather the strength to question it, Xavier lifted her hands above her head and guided her down onto the bed. His lips found hers again, stealing her breath, claiming her heartbeat. His kiss wandered — her cheek, her jaw, the fragile place where her pulse lived. Each touch felt like a vow sealed with heat.
She gasped softly as he traced a slow line along her neck, his breath warm, his presence overwhelming. His fingers brushed her lips with a tenderness that contradicted the danger in his eyes.
"Ssh…" he whispered, silencing whatever question trembled on her tongue.
Then he looked at her — really looked — deep enough that she felt something inside her shift. As though he wasn't just staring at her soul… but choosing it.
He kissed her forehead, then her closed eyelids, then the tip of her nose, then the curve of her lips. Down the line of her collarbone, each kiss slower than the last, each one pulling a deeper emotion from her chest.
The world narrowed to the sound of their breaths.
His voice, low and intoxicating, brushed her ear again.
"Which do you want?" he asked softly, almost teasingly.
"My fingers… my tongue… or my hunger?"
A devilish smile curved at the corner of his lips.
Before she could even think of answering, he placed a finger gently against her mouth.
"Don't worry," he whispered.
"You will taste everything."
The air thickened. His presence sank around her like velvet shadows. He lowered his head slowly, trailing warm kisses down the path of her body, each one softer, deeper, more reverent than the last.
Her breath hitched. Her legs trembled and instinctively drew closer together.
The forest, the petals, the red glow, the devil — everything dissolved into heat and heartbeat as the scene blurred softly toward darkness.
A fade into forbidden desire.
A moment suspended between danger and devotion.
A surrender written in breath and silence.