The orphanage was quiet, a peaceful contrast to the lively chaos that had filled its halls only hours earlier. After dancing and indulging in too much cake, exhaustion finally took over. Blankets were spread across the floor, mattresses pushed together. The children and even the staff had collapsed in clusters, fast asleep.
Nora sat on Nana's bed, still nibbling at a piece of cake, the last of the celebration clinging sweetly to her fingers. Her legs were tucked beneath her, her hair loose and slightly tousled. The dim light made her look softer, more vulnerable—but still breathtaking.
Zayan stood at the doorway, leaning silently against the frame, his eyes never leaving her. He didn't speak, just watched. The power flickered once… then went out completely, plunging the room into darkness.
"Oh, shit," Nora muttered, sighing as she licked the last of the frosting from her fingers. She stood and began to undress in the dark, her silhouette moving with unhurried grace. She wasn't afraid. She already knew who was watching.
Zayan's smile deepened in the shadows as she stepped into the bathroom. He followed silently, and when she turned on the shower, the faint light illuminated his figure. He was already naked.
Water poured down around them as he moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, his hand sliding up slowly to her throat. Not in violence—but possession. Control. Intimacy.
She didn't flinch. She leaned into his touch.
"Darling…" he whispered in her ear, voice low and rich with hunger.
"Mhm…" she murmured.
His lips found her back, kissing her spine, trailing water and fire along her skin. His hands moved over her body with reverence, and when she turned to face him, their eyes locked with wild intensity. It was the look of two people who had tasted each other's darkness—and still chose to stay.
He lifted her easily, her legs wrapping around his waist, her arms clinging to his shoulders.
"My love…" he breathed.
"Nora…" she whispered before kissing him, raw and unfiltered.
Their bodies moved as one, water cascading around them, their heat boiling the cold away. He slid into her, and her head fell back, a gasp escaping her lips—sharp, desperate, and intoxicating.
Her moans grew louder, breathier, igniting something even deeper in him. He moved faster, harder, his mouth on her neck, his fingers tangled in her wet hair.
"You belong to me," he growled in her ear, each word punctuated with the rhythm of his thrusts. "Now and forever. No one else."
Her hand gripped his hair, nails scraping lightly against his scalp as her voice came out in a whimper, "Y-yes… only you…"
Together they reached the edge and fell—lost in each other, in pleasure, in something that burned beyond the physical.
Later, wrapped in nothing but silence and moonlight, they lay on the bed. Nora slept peacefully, her chest rising and falling slowly, skin glowing faintly beneath the soft silver light. Zayan didn't sleep right away. He watched her—this girl who had changed everything.
For the first time, the devil felt peace.