After I Faked a Hickey, My Celibate Husband Lost It

Synopsis

I stood backstage at Dylan Reed's sold-out academic award ceremony and held out the divorce papers. The hickey on my neck was one I had drawn on myself, bold and provocative enough to turn heads. Dylan was the youngest doctoral advisor in the city and widely regarded as untouchable in academic circles. He had just delivered a career-defining lecture, and his eyes behind those gold-rimmed glasses were as cool and detached as ever, as if the mark on my neck didn't exist. He took the papers without a word, and his gaze swept briefly over the name "Lucy" before he turned away. Click. He locked the lounge door behind him. He unfastened the cufflinks at his wrists with slow, deliberate precision, then removed the gold-rimmed glasses that had always made him look so composed and civilized. He tossed them onto the table without a second glance. The light shifted, and for the first time, I saw the raw, barely restrained intensity in his eyes with terrifying clarity. He walked toward me, step by step, and unbuckled his belt. The metal clasp rang out, sharp and dangerous. "You did this yourself?" Dylan let out a quiet laugh and pressed his fingertip against the red mark on my neck. His voice was soft, almost tender, but it sent a chill straight down my spine. "The color's too light," he murmured, "and it's in the wrong spot." He tilted my chin up and leaned in close enough that his breath grazed my skin. "Let me show you what a real one looks like, Lucy."