nd of retaliation he'd unleashed while I'd been locked in this gilded cage of marble and silk. But instead, all I could feel was the warmth of his lips lingering on my skin, the ghost of

should have. He wasn't gentle by nature. His power came from precision, from violence veiled in el

when I finally spok

mine, unreadable and dar

in his tone. Something c

ofter now, "because they'll remember

but from the certainty in them. Lucien wasn't just ma

iled against it. But the truth was, something in me curled inward at his words,

pped c

you're thinki

a brow.

kind that didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're

ve

u didn't make a deal, Ava. You gave me your word. Your blood. Your so

caught in

g the fluttering pulse there. He felt it-my fear, my arousal, my confusion-and I hated h

," he said. "Unle

ed free. It wasn't a promise of s

u want from

ne hand came to rest on my hip, grounding me, the other traced a slow line up my arm. I closed my eyes and let myself

he shell of my ear. "Your defiance. Your pain.

dropped lo

ion of you even

es wasn't lust. It was obsession. It was hunger wrapped in

tender. Not rushed

gh me with terrifying ease. My hands found his shoulders, fingers di

akable. Then he stepped between my legs, palms sliding up my thighs with deliberate slowness, and kissed the hollow beneat

d into that gala," he whispered. "So poised. So unto

w wh

t my throat. "Th

ry second felt like a decision, a test I couldn't fail. He slid it over m

you surrender," he said

rendering,"

epened. "No

gers tangling in my hair as if he needed to hold

pose. His movements were measured, precise - the calc

ark and holy. I could feel my pulse thundering beneath his mouth, like it knew something my

promise of both pleasure and punishment. I closed my eyes and let him map my body like uncharted territory, felt the

cie

it ag

s a whisper

his throat, satis

ecause it wasn't just the words - it was the way he said them. Like praise w

ndary between mercy and indulgence. When his fingers curled into the waistband and tugged

tongue on my clits sha

and in his hair pulling him closer as his mouth worshiped me with maddening slowness. He l

ape even as I trembled under his touch. When I tried to pull away, to breathe, to think, he simply growled against me and p

ured between strokes.

red on h

a curse. He didn't let up. He licked through every

ick with me, and his eyes - God, his eyes - were

ingers brushing my jaw as h

softly, "this isn't

is tongue like a final signature on our pact. My head spun, dizzy with the sc

y so - but he made no move

gainst my mouth, "You came for me, Av

Like I'd taken something back for myself

th was, I f

d under years of cold survival, the place that wanted to be devoured, not saved. I could still

his arms folded, his shirt still pristine, his expression unreadab

aid quietly, the truth of

u're allowed to. Just don't

enged, but my voice lacked

ping forward until my back met the edge of th

rt stu

that?" I

hain

gaze to his. "You've built a life on control. On silence. O

it. What would

ut this kiss was different - slower, dee

red, "This wasn't about sex, Ava. This was about the first thread

el," I sai

touched his li

e it did. "So what now? You conquered me and

d. "Now we m

t was bitter. "F

narrowed.

ed like a bla

now, Ava. Threats. Alliances shifting. And you-" he stepped closer again, eyes n

ed. "Th

ing. The pressure point. They'

ittered. "W

ed in a voice carved f

ut... surrounded by shadows, and yet untouched by any light. A fortress of a man who tr

nto your world to

aw tensed.

d n

his eyes. It wasn't softness. It wasn't vulnerability. It was

"I'm not sure

far side of the room. He poured two glasses of somet

ook

against mine and said

d like fire down

came in

iling curtains. I lay awake in the bed that wasn't mine, wrapped in the crisp scen

dn't

gering imprint of his presence and the bitter truth that no

t meant. My blouse was folded neatly on the nearby chair. My underwear was gone.

is until I say

whether to l

ical stillness. The guards who lined the corridor didn't speak. One opened the door to

offee in the other. He was dressed in all black, sharp as sin, his sleeves ro

p the momen

marble as I approached. The silenc

t ask if

ologize for

he said

di

he coffee. "Yo

hat?"

. A live feed blinked into view - grainy, shaky footage of a m

him. A message card w

was low. "That

wh

ssing like a weight. "To everyone who thinks

oat ti

scalating

ping his coffee. "I'm

works? Blood for blood until

ntly. "Ruin i

tite va

nce - to maintain civility while seated across from a man who

of toast before saying, "Y

he

w and dark. "To

nked.

e if someone tries to take you, I want it

eath

a contract?" I

was the most natural thing in

I thought I saw last night - the one wh

retti Global. Crime lord in a Brioni suit. And he wanted

thing," I

ened. "No. You

he way he said it, like I was a blade he

belong to

ng like coal. "But you'll stand beside me,"

tepped out first, his frame cutting through the shadows like a guillotine. I followed in silence, the silk robe l

d engraved i

RE

isoner?" I asked, vo

nce at me. "You l

the teeth. But none of them looked directly at me. N

lt like stepping into a lio

en men sat around it, all in dark suits, all watching Lucien with so

ood whe

ne was glac

obe

s right, then placed a single document bef

ms of protection. All cloaked in enough legitimate busine

ed a pen be

it," h

d me closer to him. But buried in the fine print was somethi

t me once. Just once. A single ex

cape

him. "You

d

hy

I want you to choose me-e

ut the weight of what Lucien had just done registered

r in this room.

whispered, the pen

e didn't wav

ign

but not from Lucien. He was

the chair. Before I could speak, he kissed me - har

soft. It wa

as f

e whispered against my

ha

're

gers together. Turned to face

d pact is

questio

no one