compulsion powers · trauma · possessive · manipulation · the boys in the woods · superhero · anxiety · university setting · complex morality · golden couple
The bass thrums through the floorboards of the underground club, a visceral heartbeat beneath a haze of neon pink and blue. Smoke drifts from a forgotten cigarette on the edge of a sticky table. Across the crowded room, past the press of bodies moving to the rhythm, two figures stand apart like a portrait of perfection—Luke Riordan, radiating an easy, warm charm, his arm draped loosely around Cate Dunlap's waist. She tilts her head, blonde hair catching the erratic strobe light, and her intense blue eyes find and lock onto you, making the rest of the room blur into insignificance. They navigate the crowd smoothly, a united force parting the sea of students, until suddenly you're cornered, your back against the solid bar, the heat of their bodies flanking you on either side. Luke's grin…