CHAPTER 38: SOMETHING BREAKS OPEN

Tracy stares at Timothy in pure shock, what is he doing here ?, did i mistake the room numbers? No that’s not possible i double checked before coming here , she thought as she continued to look at Timothy in disbelief , before she could say anything ,Timothy’s towel loosens from his waist and drops to the floor.

She shrieks, slapping both hands over her eyes.

"Is your towel always this loose?!" she yelled , flashbacks from the bathroom coming back and she shook her head, this seriously cant be happening , is this deja vu?

Timothy groans ,he leaned down. snatching the towel off the floor and wrapping it around himself again, clearly annoyed.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Tracy slowly spreads her fingers, peeking through them.

"W-What do you mean? This is Hunter’s room! How did you end up in his room?" she stammers, pointing at him accusingly.

Timothy pauses for a while as he looked at Tracy for a while . His expression shifts, not mocking this time, just tired. He pushes back his damp hair with his fingers.

"So he didn’t even bother to tell you." He mumbled

"What?"

He sighs.

"Look, peeping tom—"

"Tracy," she snaps.

"Yeah, I know. I just don’t care." He leans against the wall casually.

"I’m the one sleeping here tonight. But I never expected a girl to surprise me wearing such cute attire."

He smirks as he looked at Tracy from top to bottom. "Not that I’m complaining, i guess the room service here are really considerate."

Tracy freezes.

Then she looks down.

Her revealing lingerie shines under the dim room light.

Her face goes red instantly. She covers her chest and thighs with her arms before yanking a blanket off the bed and wrapping herself in it like a burrito.

"PERVERT!" she screeches.

Timothy scoffs and steps toward her, crouching so their eyes are level. He lifts her chin with a single finger.

"Pervert? How ironic, princess. You’re the one who dressed like a whore in front of another man."

Tracy slaps his hand away, fury and embarrassment burning her cheeks. She storms off the bed, grabs a gown, throws it over herself, and heads for the door.

"Don’t you ever call me that! And whatever happened here, don’t tell anyone!"

She grabs the doorknob.

Twists.

Nothing.

"...It’s locked," she whispers. She tried again , harder this time but it still wouldn’t budge

Back at the ballroom, Merida greets guests, her gaze wandered around before spotting Hunter.

"Oh, Hunter, have you seen Tracy? She’s been gone a while." She said as she made her way to him

"...How would I know, Mother? She’s an adult, not a child." He blankly said, clearly showing no interest in that conversation

Merida huffs, typical Hunter , i should have known the poor girl will be lonely because of lack of attention . "Well, you’d better find her. I forgot to give her the room key to your suite." She said as she folded her arms

"I’m not in that room anymore," Hunter says flatly.

Merida blinks, confused, but before she can pry, her husband calls for her.

"Well, I’m going. Make sure you look for Tracy, Hunter. I mean it." She said before she walked away

She leaves, and Hunter stands there, silent.

Then he grabs a champagne glass, takes a long swig, sets it down. His mind was still a mess , he didn’t know what to do anymore , how to fix the missing pieces , and without realizing how he got there... he finds himself outside Lucien’s suite, but he knew this is where his heart wanted to be right now , he didn’t care about anything else despite this moment

He doesn’t knock.

He enters like he owns the place

Lucien turns toward him and their eyes locked , for a moment , time slowed down between them , as the distant noises went complete silent

Hunter’s breath catches.

He steps inside and shuts the door behind him.

"We gotta talk, chiquittin," he says quietly.

Meanwhile, Tracy pounds on the locked door.

"HELLO? CAN SOMEONE OPEN THIS? ANYONE?!"

No answer.

"ANYONE? I CANT STAY HERE ANY LONGER , I FEEL LIKE DYING... WELL DYING IS AN EXAGERRATED WORD BUT YOU GET THE POINT " she continued to yell as she pounded on the door , i really need to find Hunter before the drug wears off , or the day will be ruined for nothing

Timothy watches her from where he sits lazily on the bed, back against the bed frame.

"You do know this is a private suite, right, princess? No one can hear you." He taunted "and here i thought you were smarter than this , and even f you do yell , there is music playing downstairs , no one is going to hear you

Tracy spins around, annoyed beyond belief. This stupid buffoon....

"Alright then, ’genius’. Do you have some brilliant plan to get out..?"

"Of course I do," Timothy says smugly.

"Why don’t you call your soon-to-be husband to come rescue the damsel in distress?"

She stares at him, horrified.

"Oh, wow. Genius plan. Let me just call Hunter and say, ’Hi, this is Tracy, please come unlock the door for us! Don’t worry, I’m just trapped with your nemesis and we’re both half-naked.’"

She throws her hands up.

"I’m NOT calling Hunter, no thank you. Why don’t YOU call someone?!"

Inside, her thoughts spiral.

This day was supposed to go well. Now I’m trapped with this pervert. Great. Fantastic ending.

Her heartbeat quickens, the wine she drank earlier starts hitting her hard.

No, no, not now... i cant get drunk with this pervert here , why did i even drink that much

Timothy sighs and pulls out his phone. He calls his mother.

No answer.

"See? Too loud out there. They won’t hear their phones."

He stands and towers over her, trying the doorknob again.

Tracy looks up at him, and her face flushes even harder. Her breath becomes shallow. Something about the room feels tighter. Warmer.

Timothy stiffens. His pupils shrink.

"Shit," he whispers.

He steps back slightly, swaying for half a second before stabilizing himself.

"I must’ve drunk too much..."

But then—

His pheromones spike violently.

Tracy gasps, her knees shaking. Her own pheromones spill out uncontrollably as she presses herself back against the door. What’s happening? , why is my body reacting so violently to his pheromones

"Stop... stop leaking your pheromones woman ," Timothy grits out, jaw tight, trying not to groan. "Shouldn’t have taken Hunter’s drink if I knew—"

"You did WHAT?" Tracy blurts.

She remembers the champagne she gave Hunter. She remembers him taking the champagne before going away, how did Timothy get a hold of that , so if Hunter didn’t drink the champagne , then the person who drank it was him..... then the drug...

Panic hits her.

Her breath catches as she sees Timothy’s expression shift into something dark, intense, overwhelmed.

"No..." she whispers.

Back in Lucien’s room

Hunter steps closer, closing the distance with slow, deliberate steps.

Lucien’s heartbeat spikes. He stands quickly, trying to compose himself, but his breath shakes.

"Talk about what?" he manages as he looked away .i really thought that tonight i wont be seeing him at all, but i guess faith had other plans

"How you ignored me the whole night," Hunter says, stepping even closer.

"How you never glanced in my direction, not even once"

Lucien backs away instinctively, until his back hits the wall. Hunter cages him in with one arm, palm pressed beside Lucien’s head.

"I wasn’t ignoring you," Lucien murmurs.

Hunter’s voice drops.

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me that, chiquittin."

Lucien tries. He really does. But his gaze wavers.

Hunter knows he should walk away. Knows he should let go. He’s said it a hundred times, to himself.

That he needs to move on.

Forget and move on

Let the past die.

But he can’t.

He wont

He can’t stop wanting Lucien.

Can’t stop craving him.

Even after everything

he was attracted to him like a moth to a flame,

and god help him , he needed Lucien in his arms

The temptation was too sweet to ignore

And tonight... he refuses to walk away again.

Lucien swallows, voice unsteady.

"Shouldn’t you be with Tracy? I’m sure she’s looking for y—"

"Chiquittin, don’t seriously piss me off tonight, this isn’t about her , its about you and me, so dont ... freaking drag her name into this " Hunter cuts him off sharply.

"I told you to look at me when you talk. Or should I make you?"

His pheromones seep out, slow, heavy, intense.

Lucien’s eyes widen as they meet Hunter’s at last.

The room stills.

His heart pounds painfully.

"This is wrong..." he breathes as his fist clenched painfully , he had to stop this madness from escalating , he had to

"what is wrong chiquittin?" Hunter whispers, leaning closer, their breath mixing.

"This is not right."

"What is not right?"

"We’re brothers, Hunter."

Hunter freezes for a heartbeat, then speaks quietly, firmly.

"...You’re not my brother, Lucien. I never considered you one from the moment I felt something for you."

He leans in closer.

"No matter what society says... you are not my brother and we will never be brothers got that?."

And he closes the remaining distance

pressing his lips to Lucien’s in a deep, consuming kiss.