Ava's POV

His hot breath burned against my ear.

"Don't you think we need a room?"

Those words sent a shiver down my spine, like warm oil sliding over my skin. My thighs squeezed together hard. A throb started between my legs, so strong it made my teeth hurt.

I tried to speak-Leon, my vows, my promises-but the words stuck in my throat.

Before I could get them out, his fingers grabbed my wrist tight. Not soft at all. He yanked me hard, and I lost my balance. My heels scraped across the marble floor. The VIP door banged shut behind us, cutting off the loud music and the people outside. The room went dark, except for a red light glowing from a lamp on the wall.

He pushed me face-first against the cool wall. My hands pressed flat on the wall.

Before I realized, he smacked my backside. The sting that came with it was what I needed. Heat spread under my skin, rushing right to that sensitive peak. I gasped and arched my back without thinking.

"Take me," I said, the words coming out rough, like a beg and a secret all mixed up together. I couldn't still believe how my body was responding to his actions.

He stopped moving. I felt his body change. Then he laughed in the darkest tone. "Oh, I will. But after."

After?

He turned me around fast, picked me up like I was nothing, and threw me on the bed. Black silk sheets felt cool on my bare skin. I tried to sit up, but his hand pushed flat between my breasts and held me down.

"Stay."

Just that one word and my nipples got hard.

He opened the drawer by the bed and pulled out red silk ties. My heart pounded in my chest. I should fight him at this point. Kick. Yell Leon's name until my voice broke. But instead, I lifted my wrists, giving them to him like I was under a spell.

He tied me to the headboard. The knots were so tight that I could never break them. It stretched my arms, and made my breasts lift up, and every breath came short. I pulled a little-no give at all. I was stuck and aching between my legs.

He leaned close, his lips touching my ear. "I'm going to make you want me so bad you'll beg in words you don't even know."

A shake ran through me. My hips moved on their own, looking for something to rub against. But nothing was there.

The door opened.

The blonde girl from before walked in. He took off his shirt.

Damn.

His muscles were hard and well cut under his skin, with tattoos the club lights hid before. My mouth felt dry. I swallowed loudly.

She got on her knees and took him in her mouth. He didn't look at her. His eyes stayed locked on mine, hot like fire.

"Look at me, Ava."

My name from him sounded different-intimate, possessive. Like he'd always known it. Like he'd been waiting to say it.

I couldn't stop staring.

Then he pulled her off. His hardness bounced free, red and demanding. He traced it across her cheek-once, twice. Then he turned to me, who was still tied up, my wetness obvious.

He was right about one thing.

I ended up wanting him madly.

---

The door clicked shut behind the blonde.

The air got heavier, and thicker, like the room shrank to just us. My wrists burned against the silk ties. My thighs shook. I couldn't hide how soaked I was.

He sat on the sofa across from the bed, his hardness in his fist, watching me.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. The screen lit up-Leon ❤️-the most loving, devoted little symbol in the world. And I was here, tied to a bed, desperate for another man's touch.

I strained against the ties, my fingers stretching toward the nightstand. He glanced at my phone. Saw the name. A slow smile curved his lips. Not a guilty smile. Not a surprised one.

He just watched me struggle until the phone finally stopped. Then he stood, still smiling, and walked back toward me.

He grabbed my chin. Hard. Tilted my face up. His thumb pressed into my bottom lip, parting it.

"That," he said, voice low and rough, "was your punishment."

His breath was hot against my ear. "Now, you're exactly where you need to be."

Leon never talked like this. Leon took like a storm-fast, brutal, and gone. This man? He was a slow blade, cutting me deeper with every second.

I swallowed. My voice cracked up. "I want to feel you." I paused. My chest heaved. "Inside me."

His eyes flashed. Something dark and hungry.

"That's more like it."

He clipped clamps onto my nipples. The sting shot straight through me. My back arched off the bed. Two fingers slid in without warning-I moaned as he curled them, finding that perfect spot. Then his mouth replaced his fingers, and I tasted myself for the first time. Salty and sweet.

He pressed a vibrator to my peak on the highest setting. I screamed. The buzz shot through me like lightning. He leaned down and bit my neck.

I shattered. Hard and fast. My vision blurred.

He untied the silk and flipped me onto my back. He climbed over me and pushed my thighs apart with his knees. The head of him nudged at my entrance.

I bucked. "Please-"

He slapped my center. "Beg for it."

"Please. Take me. I need it."

He sank in slow and relentless, inch by inch. So full. He bottomed out. We both stilled.

Then he moved. Hard. Deep. No mercy. The bed slammed against the wall. I screamed. He grabbed the chain between the clamps and pulled. Pain and pleasure collided.

"Gosh. I'm going to come," I blurted out.

I shattered, clenching around him. He drove into me through it, harder and faster, his hand wrapped around my throat.

"Look at me."

I did. His eyes were wild. With one final thrust, he came, filling me with his hot release.

He rolled off the bed without a word. I lay there, his warmth leaking onto the silk sheets, staring at the ceiling.

---

When I sat up, he was already dressed.

"Uber's outside," he said. "Five minutes."

I cleaned up quickly with tissues from the nightstand-pathetic. My reflection in the mirror was a stranger: mascara smudged, bite marks blooming on my neck. I pulled my hair into a messy bun and slipped out the service exit.

The rideshare was a dented Prius. The driver-a college kid-did a double-take when I climbed in reeking of sex and whiskey.

"Rough night?" he asked.

I didn't answer. I just stared out the window, very tired. I could barely feel my body.

I paid in cash, tipped too much, and tiptoed through the lobby. The doorman's eyes lingered on my neck.

The penthouse was dark. Leon's side of the bed was cold. I planted my face into the pillow, still tasting the stranger on my tongue, and let the blackout take me.

Mrs. Lin, the housekeeper, found me an hour later.

"Young mistress?" she whispered, voice sharp with alarm. "Ava, wake up. What the hell did you drink?"

I didn't stir.

She leaned closer, noticing the red marks circling my wrists, and the faint bruise blooming on my collarbone. Her eyes widened.

"Hello? Did you forget? You're meeting the heir of HK Group at noon-your husband's best friend, the one who missed the wedding. He's already landed."

Ava's POV

The sun didn't ease in that morning. It slashed through the curtains like a blade straight across my face. I winced before my eyes even opened. My head throbbed in rhythm with my pulse.

I tried to swallow but my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. The clock on the nightstand glowed in red: 11:47 a.m.

Late in the morning.

I pushed up on one elbow. The movement sent a wave of nausea rolling through me. The room tilted, came back to normal. The pillows and the silk sheets clung to my thighs, smelling of sweat and sex.

One heel still dangled from my left foot. The other one lay across the room, kicked off near the dresser..

I then looked down in my body only to notice the bite marks. Not gentle or playful but dark, deliberate bruises scattered across my collarbone, my chest, and the tops of my boobs. Red rings circled my wrists and my skin, broken in places from the silk ties.

"Oh fuck. The psycho at the club."

It came in flashes. Red lights. His hand fisted in my hair. That low, ruthless voice. Me screaming and begging for more.

No.

I bolted for the bathroom, knees slamming into the tile as I dropped in front of the sink.

Mascara streaked down my cheeks in thick black rivers. Lips swollen, red, bitten. My neck-Holy crap-was covered in purple hickeys, blooming like bruises from a fight that I'd lost on purpose.

Leon.

His face flashed behind my eyes. The altar, the white dress and the way he'd smiled at me like I was his salvation.

"Clean slate, Ava. No more games. No more nights like before. Just us. You and me. Forever."

He held my fingers tight that day. His voice was soft.

I promised.

We both did.

And now?

Not even a year in and I'd broken it. What I hated the most is that I enjoyed every bit of it.

I slid down the cabinet. My back hit the wood with a soft thud. I pulled my knees to my chest. I didn't fucking care.

Tears came then. They rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my thighs.

What have I done?

The door creaked open behind me.

Mrs. Lin stood in the doorway. Her eyes went wide-then narrowed as she tried to read the room: the dress, the marks, the lone shoe on the floor, and me curled up like a broken doll.

"Oh! Crap, Ava. What did you do?"

I couldn't look at her. My voice cracked when I spoke. "I don't know. I was... just a bit horny. It was supposed to be just a fun, night party. I didn't mean for it to-"

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Her thumb brushed one of the bruises on my neck-gentle, but I flinched anyway.

"Who's the guy?"

I shook my head. "Don't know his name. I didn't ask."

Her eyes searched mine. "You remember his face, don't you?"

I closed my eyes. Tried to pull it up.

Dark hair. Messy. Tattoos crawling up his arms, and across his chest. That dragon-coiled tattoo that was alive under the red light. His body-hard, and unforgiving.

But his face?

Blank.

"His voice," I whispered. "Like gravel. Very ruthless. Like he owned the whole damn room. That's all I've got."

Mrs. Lin stood up with a heavy sigh. The kind that came from years of cleaning up my messes. "Stay out of clubs for now. For a long while. You hear me?"

She dug into her apron pocket and tossed a small tube onto the counter. Arnica gel. "Cover those up. You've got lunch meeting to attend."

Lunch.

My brain clicked into gear like an engine trying to turn over in the cold.

"The HK heir. Leon's best friend."

She nodded. "The one who missed the wedding. You're going to meet him at HK premises. Noon sharp. You have to start getting ready. You are already late as it is."

I glanced at the clock on the wall: 12:22 p.m.

"Shit."

Mrs. Lin turned to leave. I grabbed her wrist-my fingers trembling around her thin bones. "Please. Don't tell Leon. I don't want to break his heart. I can't-" My voice cracked up again. "Just keep it between us? Please?"

A short, sharp laugh escaped her like she'd heard this before. "Forget that mess, girl. Just get ready. You look like hell warmed over."

The door clicked shut behind her.

I dragged myself into the shower. I scrubbed hard until my skin turned pink and raw. The hickeys faded a little but not enough.

The mirror had fogged completely. I wiped a circle clear with my palm.

Still me.

But not.

I applied foundation, making sure that it was as thick as armor and concealer under my eyes to hide the exhaustion and the redness. Hair in loose waves that fell over my neck, hiding what it could. A black backless gown and four-inch heels, the kind that made men stare and women whisper.

I looked in the full-length mirror. I looked dangerous and polished as a billionaire wife, not like the girl who'd begged on silk sheets last night.

But inside? I was still shaking.

The elevator ride up to the lobby at HK felt endless. I clutched my bag like a lifeline. "Why do I even have to meet this guy anyways?" I muttered to myself as I stepped out of the elevator.

The lobby glittered under crystal chandeliers. The lounge area had plush velvet sofas arranged in a half-circle, all gold accents and low lighting.

I spotted him from behind. Broad shoulders filling out a dark suit. One leg crossed over the other and phone pressed to his ear.

My steps faltered the moment I realized that the voice was similar to the one that tortured me last night.

He laughed into the phone. I clearly recognized that deep rumble. My knees nearly gave out.

No.

I forced myself forward. One foot in front of the other. The click of my heels echoed in the vast space.

"Hi. I'm Ava."

He ended the call and lifted his head.

My bag slipped from my fingers the moment our eyes locked.

"What the-"

Ava's POV

My handbag hit the marble floor with a dull, expensive thud. Everything inside me stopped for a moment. My heartbeat, breath, thoughts. They were all frozen.

The devil himself turned his head and the world tilted.

He was damn handsome in the way a blade is beautiful: sharp, clean, and lethal. High cheekbones, a jaw that looked like it was carved from stone, eyes the color of midnight right before a storm. The top two buttons of his white shirt were open, revealing the edge of that same dragon tattoo that had writhed over his chest last night while he ruined me.

But right now he looked... calm and civilized. A perfect CEO sipping coffee in broad daylight except I knew what those hands could do. I knew how that mouth tasted when it wasn't smiling politely. I knew the exact sound he made when he came inside me.

My knees almost gave out at that spot.

He ended the call, slipped the phone into his pocket, and stood up, slow and deliberate. Every inch of him was radiating control. The closer he got, the more the air thickened with cedar, smoke, and something darker that made my stomach flip the same way it had when he'd pinned my wrists above my head in the club.

He bent, picked up my bag like it weighed nothing, and stepped closer to me. Damn!! It was too close.

His chest brushed the front of my dress. Heat rolled off him. I caught the faint scent of last night still clinging to his skin: sex and whiskey and me.

His lips brushed my ear. "You look like you've seen a ghost, princess."

That voice. I could taste it. Gravel and smoke and pure sin. My pulse exploded in my throat.

He slid the strap of my bag up my arm, his fingers deliberately were slow, knuckles brushing the inside of my forearm. Every nerve ending in my body lit up like he'd flipped a switch. I sucked in a breath that sounded too loud in the quiet lounge.

He stepped back, gestured to the velvet sofa. "Please. Have a sit."

I couldn't move. It seemed my legs had forgotten how.

He sat first, with one ankle crossed over the opposite knee, arm stretched along the back of the sofa like a king waiting for tribute. Those dark eyes never left mine.

"Hi," he said in a smooth and gentle voice. "I'm Julian... Julian Hong-Knight, the CEO of HK Group. Pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure." The word rolled off his tongue the same way he'd growled it last night when he'd had me bent over, screaming and crying in pleasure and raw intensity.

My mouth opened but my words were no where to be found. Nothing came out except a shaky, "Do you... do you recognize me?"

He tilted his head, lifting a brow. "What?"

"Last night," I whispered. The words scraped out raw from my mouth. "Where were you last night?"

His gaze sharpened. Something I couldn't recognize flickered behind those eyes. He set his coffee down, stood up, and closed the distance again.

"Why don't we talk somewhere else?" he said quietly. "How about my office? You don't seem to be at ease."

Wow!! What a gentleman. He seemed to noticed my atmosphere but I don't know if he noticed that he is the cause.

He didn't even wait for me to agree. He just turned and walked away, expecting me to follow.

And God so help me, I did.

My heels clicked too fast across the marble as I chased the broad line of his back. People glanced up: employees, security, a woman with a clipboard who looked like she wanted to ask if I needed help. I obviously looked insane. That's for sure: My face was pale, lipstick half gone, and eyes wide like I'd seen the devil.

I had.

The private elevator doors slid open the second he approached it. He stepped inside, held the door with one hand, and looked back at me.

"Coming?"

I stepped in. The doors closed. For a moment, there was silence. Just the soft hum of the lift and the heat pouring off his body. He didn't look at me, just stared straight ahead, jaw tight, and one hand buried inside his pocket. I could feel his pulse from here. It was calm, steady, and controlled.

Mine was a hummingbird trapped under my ribs.

Twenty-third floor, the doors opened directly into his office. Dark wood, leather, the scent of whiskey filled the air. He walked to the bar, poured himself a glass and took a slow sip without offering me one. I wouldn't even be able to drink if he did offer me.

I stood in the middle of the room, clutching my bag like a shield.

He turned, leaned back against the window, sunlight cutting across his face and making the dragon tattoo peek above his collar again.

"Ask your question," he said simply.

"Do you know who I am? Have we meet before?" My voice cracked.

He took another sip. "Should I?"

"You-" I swallowed hard. "You.... I..." I started stuttering out of nowhere.

The glass paused halfway to his lips. Then he smiled in the most dangerous way ever.

He set the glass down, pushed off the window, and walked toward me. I started sensing something deadly with each step. He finally stopped as soon as the tips of his shoes touched mine and I had to crane my neck to hold his stare.

"You were saying?" He asked, his voice low and lethal. I could literally feel his breath on my face.

"You're.... Last night, you are the- "

"Devil who ruined you last night." He whispered gently, his lips brushing my ear and he lowered his head to meet my face to say the words that I couldn't say.

"Holy.... shit!" It was then I realized that I'd just walked into a trap, one that I won't be getting out from anytime soon.