Chapter 17.7 chains of jealousy

The phone vibrated and rang on Veronica's nightstand.

There was Haru's name on the display, but Veronica was paralyzed.

Elizabeth's girth held her in place, her lips leaving scorching kisses on Veronica's face, neck, and even clavicle.

"Mmm—Eliz, please," Veronica's protests ended in muffled gasps as Elizabeth's lips descended once more, hard and unforgiving. Fingers traced over her waist, holding her down, her body held beneath Elizabeth's.

"Yours," Elizabeth breathed into kisses, hungry and warm. "Mine alone." Her lips branded Veronica's once more, more forceful now, her fingers wandering as if to brand her with unsuspected assertions of ownership.

The phone continued ringing—unpicked, abandoned.

Until finally it fell silent.

But the air in the room grew heavy by the second. Veronica turned, struggling to get free, but Elizabeth pursued her, kissing harder, kissing anywhere, her cheek, eyelids, jawline, the soft curve of her neck. All was a desperate touch. Possessive touch. Irresistible touch.

Later, Haru came to see why Veronica was not answering her phone

Downstairs, the door creaked quietly.

Haru had arrived.

He hadn't knocked; he couldn't. His chest was too tight, his mind in chaos. As he ascended the stairs, muffled sounds reached him. A voice. Veronica's voice.

Breathless.

Then another, Elizabeth’s, low and commanding:

“You’re mine. Only mine.”

Haru’s breath caught. He stopped outside Veronica’s room, his hand hovering over the doorknob. But he didn’t open it. Something inside warned him.

Instead, he bent down, his heart pounding, and pressed his eye to the keyhole.

The vision on the other side shattered him.

Elizabeth straddling Veronica, pinning her down into bedclothes, kissing her over and over with her lips, bruising. Her hands on her sides, gripping tight, holding her close until she was as close as she could get. Veronica thrashed, grunting "stop" between gasps, but Elizabeth kissed more desperately, harder, as if she owned every inch of Veronica.

Kisses on her lips. Her neck. Her collarbone. Even her eyelids.

Everywhere.

Too many. Too much.

Haru's fists were bunched at his sides, shaking with anger and sorrow. He would have loved to break the door, to tear Elizabeth from the arms of that man, but his feet were rooted, stuck by what he was seeing, stuck by the realization of how much Elizabeth had given.

Within, Veronica's hands struggled in vain against Elizabeth's shoulders, but Elizabeth pushed them down once more, her lips pressing hers until Veronica's breath was robbed.

"I told you," Elizabeth panted, her lips against hers, "every beat, every breath, it's mine."

In the corridor, Haru's gasps were coarse. His jaw was clenched, his nails biting into his palms. Envy seared like flame in his breast.

And in that oppressive instant, Veronica was pinned full, caught between Elizabeth's raging hunger and Haru's vengeful rage seething just beyond the door.

"El-EEliz, p-please," Veronica gasped, her voice cracking.

Elizabeth silenced her with another kiss, fiercer than the last, her tongue sliding in, claiming her completely. Her hands roamed everywhere, sliding along Veronica’s waist, down her thighs, back up to her arms, squeezing, holding, refusing to let her go.

“You’re mine,” Elizabeth whispered hoarsely, her lips brushing against Veronica’s ear before capturing it in another kiss. “Only mine.”

Her lips followed down, falling kiss by kiss onto Veronica's collarbone, before coming to her shoulders. Her hands pinned Veronica's wrists down tight against the sheets, as if binding her down, before drawing back to her sides, stroking and holding on possessively.

Veronica struggled beneath her, face red, water forming in her eyes. "I-I can't… breathe…"

Elizabeth simply smothered him over and over and again, thrust harder, her kisses unending, mouth to mouth, cheek to nape, jaw to forehead, lips to back again, unrelenting, tormented. All of her caresses were howling with craziness.

Outside, Haru's fists shook with rage and desperation. His knuckles went white, his jaw clenching hard. Every kiss that he saw was a blade stabbing him deep, every caress burning holes through his chest.

Elizabeth knew her haru was outside, so she kissed her more.

Inside, Elizabeth smiled darkly against Veronica’s lips, her voice dripping with hunger.

“No one else can have you. Not Haru. Not anyone. You’re mine, forever.”

Her mouth claimed Veronica’s again, deeper, hungrier, until she could barely breathe.

And from the hallway, Haru could do nothing but watch, his heart breaking, his rage burning, his jealousy consuming him