Celeste stood on the porch and squinted as she felt the light breeze cool against her skin.
The straps of her soft, floral print dress had slipped slightly from her slender shoulders, hanging casually down one side. The lightness of the fabric was elegantly tailored to every curve of her body, especially the slit that exposed her thigh, moving with the wind as if it promised more and more at any moment. As her long, wavy hair fell over her shoulder, she tossed it back with one hand, a gesture that unwittingly accentuated the exposed skin.
Across from her, Ethan stood lightly on the stone floor of the porch. He looked away for a few seconds, as if distracted by what he was seeing. But when Celeste realised this, she smiled. As if she were playing a childish game. She could read her son's thoughts.
‘Ethan.’ His voice was soft, but there was a question in it. ‘Is there something you don't want to tell me?’
Ethan flinched slightly. Celeste's observation of him was as piercing as ever. It had always been difficult to hide anything from her.
The young man put his hands in his pockets and bowed his head slightly. "No, mum. I'm just a little distracted."
Celeste squinted at him. Her lips were slightly curled upwards, but her eyes held a sincere seriousness. She gently adjusted the strap of her dress, her slender shoulders becoming more defined in the process. ‘You can't fool me, Ethan,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘I'm your everything, I understand everything without a reason.’
Ethan's eyes never missed the slightest movement in his mother's body. There was a fluctuation in him, but he wanted to suppress it. He frowned and shook his head slightly. ‘Stop analysing me so much, Mum,’ he said sarcastically. But his voice trembled a little.
Celeste took a step closer to her son, parting her lips slightly. Her hand gently touched Ethan's cheek. Her fingertips ran over his smooth skin. ‘Your eyes...’ she said in a whisper. "He looks like someone I know now. But I can't figure out who."
Ethan swallowed slightly. His mother's eyes were locked on him as if she could read him.
Celeste ran her fingers lightly along his jaw before pulling her hand back. She paused for a moment. Then she tilted her head to the side and smiled.
‘Whatever happens, Ethan...’ she said quietly. "Remember this. You're everything to me."
Ethan nodded, averting his eyes. But the ripple inside him was stronger than ever. His mother's voice, her touch, her eyes... All of it was being burned into the deepest recesses of his mind.
And Celeste could feel the storm raging inside Ethan.
As Celeste stared intently into Ethan's face, her maternal instinct whispered to her that something had changed.
She knew her son better than anyone. But today... Today there was something else in his eyes. She couldn't name it, but she felt it.
Ethan was thinking about something. Someone...
Celeste's thin floral dress curled around her knees in the light breeze. One of the straps had slipped down over her shoulders without her realising it. As she ran her eyes over her son's eyes, she couldn't suppress the natural feeling of possessiveness that came from within her.
She smiled slightly. Then he moved his hand to Ethan's cheek.
As she stroked his skin with her thumb, she felt the warmth inside her. Her fingers glided gently from his cheekbone to his chin. His son's breathing changed markedly. And then...
He placed a soft kiss on his lips.
Tender. But also possessive.
Ethan instantly averted his eyes. But the averting wasn't exactly pulling away. Rather...
His eyes deepened.
As if he realised he'd given himself away.
Celeste's eyebrows rose slightly. "Ethan?"
Ethan swallowed slightly but recovered instantly. He immediately assumed his usual confident demeanour. Denying, covering up...
it was one of the things he did best.
He had that mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Mum," she said with a wry smile, "if you scrutinise me so anxiously, I'll feel like I'm really hiding something."
Celeste wasn't so ordinary that she couldn't easily see the mask. She felt Ethan's hand move.
His fingers were running over the thin fabric of her floral print dress.
His touch was light but distinct.
And his voice...
heavy and full of desire, as always.
‘If you keep watching me with such curious eyes, I'll have to seduce you as usual.’
Celeste sighed lightly. God, how well she knew him.
Ethan was using his usual method of comforting her.
Words. Charm. The glamour.
But today... Today there was a rush in those words, an effort to cover up.
Celeste smiled slightly, but her eyes never left his.
"Are you trying to console me, Ethan?"
Ethan's fingers paused slightly on the thin fabric of the dress.
In that moment...
a brief but distinct gap appeared in his eyes.
And that's when Celeste knew.
Ethan had someone on his mind.
And maybe this time, it was something even he couldn't control.
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When Ethan noticed the suspicion in Celeste's eyes, something stirred inside him.
His mother knew her. She knew him too well.
But he couldn't appear weak in front of her. No matter what happened, she had to stay strong.
So, just like she always did, she took control.
As he ran his hand along Celeste's thin floral print dress, his fingers lightly pressed the fabric. The movement was deliberate, assertive.
Her eyes were fixed on her mother's face.
Inviting. possessive. Defiant.
‘Don't question me like that, mum...’ he said, his voice as heavy and expressive as ever. ‘You're the only thing that makes me think.’
Celeste had been expecting Ethan's sudden turnaround, but the fact that he had recovered so quickly was a testament to the mesmerising effect he had carried with him for years.
He cocked his head slightly to one side, his eyes sparkling with that familiar, sweet sarcasm.
‘Are you sure, Ethan?’ she said, her voice soft but challenging at the same time.
Ethan leaned in slightly, bringing his lips close to his mother's neck.
Her breath was hot.
And his voice...
it became even lower, even more provocative.
‘If anything can make me think of anything else, it's only what you've done to me, Mum.’
Celeste's chest rose and fell slightly. She knew how her body was reacting to him.
But
she also
knew...
she knew there was something Ethan was running from.
As Ethan's hand slid through the folds of her dress, he whispered her favourite words.
‘Have you forgotten?’ he said softly, his voice like lust seeping through Celeste's skin.
"I have a claim on everything that belongs to me. And you love it."
Celeste's eyelashes fluttered slightly.
These words, this tone... Every time she heard them, a ripple ran through her.
She closed her eyes slowly.
A warmth coursed through her, but...
That doubt...
That secret feeling...
It was still there.
Ethan was strong.
He always managed to show it.
But Celeste sensed that this time he was running from something different.
And yet...
she began to be drawn into Ethan's possessive behaviour.
For now...
she would put those thoughts aside.
Because Ethan...
As always, he knew exactly how to influence her.
