Ownership

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POV: Jes

He stepped out of the house like nothing had happened.

Like he hadn't just taken his fake husband across his lap and left five perfect fingers of discipline stamped on him like a designer logo. Jes exhaled slowly through his nose, trying to stay composed. Trying to focus. But his mind kept circling the same damn thing.

That sound. That feeling. That reaction.Nope. We're not going there.Not right now.

Outside, Job was politely escorting the last of the guests off the property—most of them still giggling, pretending they hadn't just witnessed a public breakdown of married life at Mach 3.

But two stayed behind.

Mio and JJay.

Still standing at the steps like bouncers on strike.Voices raised. Arms flailing.Clearly mid-freakout.

"I'm telling you, let us in!" Mio snapped, face red, forehead shiny with heat and rage. "I don't trust that dude! He drags our friend across the yard like some trophy and we're supposed to just chill?!"

"He's fine," Job said, calm as always, hands tucked in his pockets like he hadn't just witnessed a full-blown husband-on-husband correction minutes earlier. "He's in good hands. I know Jes."

"Yo, you might know your friend, but I also know a hostage situation when I see one!" JJay jumped in, voice cracking slightly from panic or drama—or both. "Who drags someone like that back into the house and doesn't get a restraining order?!"

"Guys, you threw an illegal race in his driveway," Job reminded flatly. "If I were Jes, I'd be mad too."

"I swear to god, if Bible's brother finds out—Bas will burn this place down," Mio growled. "He's not gonna take this lightly."

"He's got everything," Job tried again, gesturing toward the mansion behind him. "He's in air-con luxury, he's got a gym, a pool, five kinds of imported water—he can relax."

"Have you seen the rule list?" JJay snapped back. "Because I did. That's not a marriage, that's a prison with a minibar."

"I co-wrote the rule list," Job said without blinking.

Mio stared. "You're a terrible friend."

"Thanks."

"But we're his friends," JJay jumped back in. "Which is why we're here to renegotiate. Like, point number one: he can't leave the house? Really? You realize that's why he did the race here in the first place, right? If he could've gone out, we'd have had the chaos elsewhere."

Job sighed, shifting slightly in the doorway, still physically blocking them like a wall in linen. "Guys..."

Then—a voice behind him.

Low. Tired. Dangerous only in the way that suggested his blood pressure was still too high.

"Let them in."

Jes.

Standing in the doorway now, shirt sleeves rolled, expression unreadable, eyes shadowed like he hadn't quite calmed down yet. His tone wasn't sharp anymore. But it wasn't warm either.

Job stepped aside without a word.

Mio and JJay exchanged a look—half triumphant, half oh shit what are we walking into—and followed him inside.

Jes didn't say anything else.He just walked ahead, shoulders stiff, mind spinning.

Because despite the rage, despite the rules, despite everything he had planned to control—There was one thing he hadn't accounted for.

The moment his hand connected with Bible's ass—the way it felt.The way Bible sounded.The goddamn pause afterward.

No.No no no.

Jes clenched his jaw and walked faster.

He needed ice.For his hand.And maybe for whatever the hell was happening inside his chest.

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They stepped into the living room. Mio spun in a slow circle, eyes wide, jaw slack."Damn... This house is amazing," he said, voice full of awe, the kind that couldn't be faked.

JJay elbowed him hard in the ribs, not even looking at him—his eyes were already scanning the room like Bible might suddenly materialize from behind one of the twelve-foot curtains.He was nervous. Not good at hiding it.

Jes walked in behind them, cool and clean like nothing had happened, a bottle of water in his hand. He didn't say much. Just gestured casually to the couch.

Mio and JJay sank into the plush cushions, still not sure if this was a conversation or a trap.

"Where's Bible?" JJay asked after a beat, voice tight, cutting straight to the point.

Jes sat down opposite them, casually, crossing one leg over the other. He took a slow sip of his water before answering, tone light, almost polite.

"He's in the bathroom. Showering."

Showering. Right.Because nothing says "normal marriage" like dragging your spouse through a backyard biker race and into the house by force, then sending him to shower like a dog who rolled in mud.

JJay blinked.Mio looked at the ceiling.Jes tilted his head.

"You want something to drink?" Voice smooth. Almost too smooth. Friendly. Warm even.

It made JJay suspicious immediately.

"No thanks," he said quickly, shifting on the couch, clearly thrown off by how host-like Jes was being. "We... already had enough."

Jes nodded, as if that was the correct answer.He took another slow sip of water.

Inside?

He was smirking. Just a little. Because these two idiots had no idea what had gone down in the last half hour. No idea about the spanking. The absolutely feral meltdown that followed.

"So," Jes said as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, fingers steepled together. "What exactly do you want to discuss with me?" His tone was casual.

Across from him, JJay and Mio visibly shrank into the couch cushions like two schoolboys called into the principal's office. Mio swallowed hard.JJay cleared his throat first.

"Well..." His voice cracked slightly, but he pushed through. "We want to... make a deal. About Bible's house rules."

Jes didn't flinch. Didn't blink.Just raised one brow and tilted his head slightly like a man who had all the time in the world.

"What kind of deal?"

His tone was smooth. Calm. And somehow still terrifying.Mio and JJay exchanged a glance.

"We think," JJay said, slowly, cautiously, "that Bible should be allowed to leave this house. When he wants. How he wants. Without permission. I mean, yeah, the house is nice—it's basically a five-star resort, sure—but he's a grown man, not a houseplant. He shouldn't be kept here..."

Jes didn't say anything. A full beat of silence passed. Even Job, sitting off to the side, blinked at Jes—surprised. Watching closely. Then Jes leaned back in his chair, folded his arms slowly, and nodded once.

"He can go out."

Mio and JJay sat up like meerkats.

"But," Jes continued, eyes narrowing ever so slightly, "you'll have to promise me something in return."

Mio frowned. "Yeah? What?"

Jes gave a slow smile. Not a friendly one. One of those thin-lipped, I'm about to outsmart you smiles.

"You have to guarantee that he won't do anything stupid," he said simply, raising both brows like he'd just offered the most reasonable deal in the world. "So I don't have to clean up the mess afterward."

JJay blinked. Mio's brain visibly short-circuited.

"Uh..." JJay narrowed his eyes. "Define stupid."

Jes chuckled under his breath.Low. Deep. The kind of laugh that made it unclear whether he found them amusing... or pathetic.

"Guys..."

The voice came around the corner—light, casual, maybe a little hoarse—and all four of them turned at once.

Bible.

Hair still damp, wet strands clinging to his forehead and neck, a white robe tied loosely around his waist like he didn't realize how illegal he looked.

His chest was partially exposed, still beaded with droplets of water trailing slowly down the line of his collarbone, past his sternum, disappearing beneath the robe. His legs, bare and lean and still glistening from the shower, carried him forward without shame or urgency.

Jes's breath caught.Actually caught.It was subtle—barely a shift in his chest—but he felt it.

His eyes dragged over him for a second too long.Just one second.But it was enough to feel the heat crawl up the back of his neck and tighten his grip around the bottle in his hand.

He didn't even blink until Job—sitting beside him, too silent for too long—turned slowly with a grin spreading across his face like he'd just won a private bet.

Jes caught the look.

And returned it with a sharp, silent glare that clearly said: Say one word and I'll bury you in the koi pond.

But Job just smiled wider.

Meanwhile—

"Bible!!" JJay and Mio yelled at the same time, already on their feet, rushing over like he'd just been rescued.

"Uh—!" Bible huffed, half-laughing, half-wincing as they tackled him in a very uncoordinated hug. JJay's elbow accidentally bumped a certain very sore spot and Bible tensed, lips pulling back in a breathless grimace.

"Are you okay?"Mio stepped back and looked him over with all the seriousness of a nurse, hands moving to check his shoulders, his neck, his cheeks.

Jes sat frozen.Still. Watching.

And the longer he watched the way they touched him—hands on his waist, one of them brushing back a wet strand of hair from his face—the more his jaw began to tighten.

He wasn't even sure why it annoyed him.It wasn't like it meant anything.It was Bibles' best friends. It was harmless.

But something in his chest didn't agree.

Something heavy.Something hot.Something weirdly territorial.

He swallowed, hard, and looked away—forcing himself to focus on the condensation sliding down his water bottle instead of the literal half-naked man across the room getting fawned over like some lost prince.

"Come on, Bible, take a seat," Mio said, patting his shoulder with exaggerated calm, like he was about to ease him into a therapy session. "We're negotiating your early release."

Bible didn't budge.Instead, he glanced over at Jes with a sharp glare that could cut glass.

"I'll stand."

JJay looked confused. "Why would you stand?"

Bible crossed his arms, completely unfazed. "Because I love standing. I enjoy the breeze on my bare ass."

Jes choked slightly on his water.Job, sitting beside him, blinked and turned his head like he didn't just hear that—but the grin breaking across his face said otherwise.

Jes, on the other hand, just stared.No expression. No blinking.

His jaw locked. His soul left his body.And in that moment, if silence could kill, it would've murdered the entire room.

"You're something else," Job muttered with a low chuckle, shaking his head.Jes didn't respond. His eye twitched.

JJay cleared his throat, clearly trying to move the conversation forward before Jes exploded."Anyway. Bible—focus. We spoke to Jes. We made a deal. You're officially allowed to leave the house."

Bible paused mid-eye roll.

His face shifted.

The sarcasm dropped, just for a second, as the words sank in.He turned fully, his robe swaying a bit too dramatically, and stared straight at Jes with wide eyes.

"For real?" he asked, voice genuinely stunned.

Jes looked up at him. And for just a second, he forgot how to be annoyed. The look on Bible's face—genuine, happy, hopeful, and somehow still smug—hit harder than it should've.

Jes didn't answer right away.He just stared for a moment too long, his throat tightening as he took a slow sip of water to buy time.

Job glanced at him sideways and whispered under his breath, "You're so screwed."

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POV: Bible

"Bible. Let's talk."

Jes's voice came low, even, like he was trying very hard not to explode now that the others had left. Of course. It had been too good to be true—Jes playing the calm, respectable husband in front of his friends.

Bible turned back around, ready to fire off something smart, something biting.But Jes just raised a brow.

"First, put on your robe properly."

He stepped forward, reached up, and tugged the robe sleeve that had slipped halfway off Bible's shoulder back into place. Then, without asking, he pulled the loose belt tighter around his waist, knotting it with a sharp tug that made Bible lurch forward.

"Why are you tying it so tight?! It feels like a damn corset!" Bible snapped, his voice rising an octave in pure dramatic protest.

Jes narrowed his eyes. "Dress properly in front of others."

"Why do you care?! We're all men here!" Bible shot back, cheeks flushed from more than just annoyance. Jes stepped closer.

"Because you're married to me now."

His voice dropped a note—low and heated, heavy with something Bible couldn't name.

Jes raised a hand again and pointed directly at Bible's chest, where the robe was still gaping open.

"This," he said, dragging his finger slowly across the bare skin of his collarbone, down over his sternum, tracing every exposed inch like it was his already.

Bible's breath hitched. Jes didn't stop.

"And this—" he added, letting his hand fall lower, sliding deliberately over the top of Bible's thigh, under the hem of the robe and up over the curve of his hip.

He moved slow.Deliberate.Possessive.When his fingers brushed over Bible's ass, it was gentle—painfully gentle—because he knew it was still sore. Because he remembered every mark he left.

Bible stood completely still, frozen like his brain had stopped processing.Jes's hand lingered.And then—

Jes leaned in just slightly, voice husky, his breath brushing Bible's neck.

"All of this belongs to me now. At least for a year."

And just like that, he pulled his hand away.

Left Bible standing there—silent, robe clutched tight, heart pounding, unsure if he wanted to scream or–

Jes didn't even glance back as he walked away.

Bible blinked once.Twice.

"...Did I just seduce a straight man?"

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POV: Author

Jes is losing it. Like—absolutely spiraling.He's now obsessing over his fake husband's perfectly shaped, stupidly distracting, betrayal-of-nature ass.

It's haunting him. The ghost of that soft curve ruining his life.