Chapter 13 The Point Of No Return

• The days that followed felt like a blur, each one blending into the next as Noah spiraled deeper into the vortex Elias had created around him. No matter how much he tried to escape, no matter how many nights he spent in solitude, the shadow of Elias loomed over him. He tried to distract himself, focusing on his work at the bar, keeping busy, but it was impossible to shake the feeling that Elias was always just around the corner, watching, waiting, pulling the strings.
• Noah couldn't help but wonder if this was how it was always going to be. If this was his fate now—caught between the push and pull of something he couldn’t control, torn between the part of him that hated Elias with every ounce of his being, and the part that craved him, that wanted to surrender to his touch. It was maddening, the way Elias got under his skin. The way he made Noah feel both small and powerful at the same time.
• It was late when Noah found himself once again standing in front of the bar, the familiar neon lights casting a soft glow over the street. He didn’t want to go inside. He didn’t want to face Elias again. But his feet betrayed him, pulling him toward the door as if they were under someone else’s command.
• When he stepped inside, the usual hum of conversation and the clink of glasses filled the air, but Noah’s senses were honed in on one thing: Elias. And there he was, sitting at the bar, a glass of whiskey in hand, his eyes fixed on Noah the moment he entered. The tension between them was almost tangible, thick enough to cut with a knife.
• Noah tried to keep his composure, tried to act as though nothing had changed, but the truth was, everything had changed. He wasn’t the same person he had been a week ago. Elias had broken him in ways he didn’t even understand yet, and every time he saw him, every time their eyes met, it felt like he was losing a little bit more of himself.
• Elias raised an eyebrow, his lips curling into a slow, predatory smile. “You’re getting better at this,” he said, his voice smooth and velvety. “Pretending like you don’t care. But we both know that’s not true, don’t we?”
• Noah’s heart raced, and he forced himself to swallow the lump in his throat. “I don’t care,” he lied, but the words felt empty. The lie hung in the air between them, heavy and suffocating.
• Elias stood and walked toward him with that same predatory grace that always made Noah’s breath catch in his throat. His gaze never wavered, and it was like he was reading Noah’s every thought, stripping him bare in a way that made Noah feel exposed and vulnerable.
• “You’re lying again,” Elias murmured, standing so close that Noah could feel the heat radiating off him. “You care. You care more than you’re willing to admit. And it’s driving you crazy, isn’t it?”
• Noah stepped back, his pulse quickening. He didn’t want to be this close to Elias, didn’t want to feel the heat of his presence, but it was like Elias had an invisible hold on him, one that he couldn’t break free from.
• “I’m not like you,” Noah said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want this.”
• Elias laughed softly, a dark, knowing sound that made Noah’s skin crawl. “Oh, but you do. You want this more than you want to admit. You’re afraid of it, but you crave it. You crave me.”
• Noah shook his head, trying to push the words away. “I’m not some... some toy for you to control,” he spat, the anger rising within him. “I’m not your plaything.”
• Elias’s smile only deepened, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He reached out and cupped Noah’s face, his thumb brushing over Noah’s cheek in a way that was both tender and possessive.
• “You’re wrong,” Elias said softly, his voice laced with a quiet, lethal confidence. “You are mine, Noah. You always have been.”
• Noah’s breath hitched as Elias’s thumb moved down to his jaw, tilting his face upward so that their eyes met. The world around them seemed to fade away, and for a moment, there was nothing but the two of them, caught in a silent battle that neither of them could win.
• “I can see it in your eyes,” Elias continued, his voice low and hypnotic. “You want this just as much as I do. The only difference is, you’re too scared to admit it.”
• Noah’s heart was pounding in his chest, the words echoing in his mind like a curse. He wanted to deny it. He wanted to pull away, to escape, but his body betrayed him. His heart was racing, and his body ached for Elias in ways he couldn’t explain. It was like a drug, and Elias was the dealer, and Noah was addicted.
• “You don’t know what you’re doing to me,” Noah whispered, his voice shaking. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
• Elias’s expression softened, and for a brief moment, he looked almost... tender. But the tenderness was fleeting, replaced by the same dark hunger that Noah had come to associate with him. Elias stepped closer, his body brushing against Noah’s, and Noah felt his control slipping even further.
• “I know exactly what I’m doing to you,” Elias said, his voice low, almost tender in a way that made Noah’s skin burn. “I’m breaking you, Noah. And I’ll keep breaking you until you understand that you belong to me.”
• Noah felt a surge of fear, a sharp pang in his chest. He didn’t want to belong to anyone, let alone Elias. But the way Elias was looking at him, the way he was touching him, made Noah’s resistance crumble piece by piece. He was already falling. Falling into Elias’s world, into his obsession, and he didn’t know if he had the strength to pull himself out.
• Elias’s lips brushed against Noah’s ear, and the heat of his breath sent a shiver down Noah’s spine. “You can fight it all you want,” Elias whispered, his voice filled with dark promise. “But in the end, you’ll be mine. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
• Noah’s knees felt weak, and he realized then that it was too late. He had already crossed a line he couldn’t uncross. Elias had claimed him, and there was no going back.
• When Elias kissed him, it wasn’t gentle. It was demanding, a force that made Noah feel like he was drowning in it. And as much as he tried to fight it, as much as he told himself he didn’t want this, he couldn’t help but give in.
• Because deep down, Noah knew the truth: he had already lost.
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