Chapter 4

Lucian didn't give me time to breathe.

The first thrust buried him to the hilt thick, unrelenting, stretching me so wide I felt split open in the best, most terrifying way. My scream dissolved into a choked moan as my walls fluttered around him, trying to adjust, trying to take every brutal inch.

"Fuck," he growled against my ear, voice raw. "So tight. So fucking perfect."

He didn't move at first. Just stayed deep, letting me feel him throb inside me, letting my body learn the shape of him. My cheek pressed into the sheets, ass high, wrists still pinned in one of his massive hands behind my back now. The position left me helpless open, exposed, owned.

Then he pulled out almost all the way slow, torturous until just the head kissed my entrance.

I whimpered. Empty. Aching.

"Beg for it again, princess."

"Please" The word tore out of me, desperate. "Please, Daddy, fuck me. Hard. I need it."

He slammed back in.

My vision blurred. Pleasure-pain exploded through me, white-hot. He set a punishing rhythm deep, deliberate strokes that hit that spot inside me every single time. The wet slap of skin on skin filled the room, obscene and endless. My breasts bounced with each thrust, nipples grazing the sheets, sending sparks straight to my clit.

"You feel that?" he rasped, grinding deep on the next stroke, circling his hips so the base of him dragged over my swollen clit. "That's what a real man feels like. Not that pathetic excuse you almost married."

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes not from pain, but from the overwhelming rush of finally being wanted. Taken. Used like I'd always secretly craved.

"Yes-God, yes-" I sobbed. "More. Please, more."

He released my wrists only to fist my hair, yanking my head back so my spine arched painfully sweet. His other hand cracked across my ass sharp, stinging.

I cried out, clenching hard around him.

"You like that," he said. Not a question. "Dirty little girl. Getting off on being spanked while I ruin this tight cunt."

Another smack. Harder. The heat bloomed across my skin, spreading straight to my core.

"Yes-Daddy-fuck-"

He fucked me faster now, relentless.

The bed creaked under us. My arms gave out; I collapsed forward onto my elbows, ass still high, taking every punishing thrust. His balls slapped against my clit with each drive home wet, rhythmic torture.

I was close again. Too soon. Too much.

"Don't you dare come yet," he ordered, voice like gravel. "Not until I say."

I whined, thighs trembling. "I can't..I'm gonna.."

He pulled out completely.

The sudden emptiness made me sob. "No..no, please"

He flipped me onto my back in one smooth motion. Spread my legs wide, hooked them over his shoulders. Looked down at me eyes blazing, cock glistening with my arousal.

"Eyes on me," he commanded. "Watch who's fucking you."

He thrust back in deeper angle this time. I screamed his name.

He leaned down, caging me, forearms braced beside my head. His mouth crashed over mine brutal, claiming. Tongue fucking my mouth in time with his cock. I tasted myself on him. Tasted us.

One hand slid between us. Rough thumb found my clit rubbing fast, merciless circles.

"Come," he growled against my lips. "Come all over Daddy's cock. Now."

The command shattered me.

The orgasm hit like a tidal wave harder than the first, violent, blinding. My whole body seized, back bowing off the mattress, walls pulsing around him in frantic waves. I screamed into his mouth, nails raking down his back, marking him.

He didn't stop.

Kept fucking me through it harder, faster chasing his own release now. His rhythm faltered, breaths turning ragged.

"Where do you want it, princess?" he rasped. "Tell me."

"Inside" The word flew out before I could think. "Please fill me up. I want to feel it."

A guttural groan ripped from his throat.

He slammed in one last time deep, deep and came with a roar. Hot pulses flooded me, thick and endless. I felt every spurt, felt him throb inside me as he marked me from the inside out.

He stayed buried, grinding slow, lazy circles, milking every last drop while I trembled beneath him.

When he finally pulled out, I whimpered at the loss. Warmth leaked from me his cum, mine, mixed. Filthy. Perfect.

He didn't let me wallow.

Lucian rolled to his side, pulling me against his chest. One arm banded around my waist, possessive. His free hand stroked down my spine surprisingly gentle now. Soothing the places he'd just wrecked.

"Breathe," he murmured against my hair. "You did so good."

I buried my face in his neck, inhaling smoke and leather and sex. My body still buzzed, oversensitive, wrecked in the best way. Tears slipped out again quiet this time. Relief. Release. Something dangerously close to safety.

He felt them. Thumb brushed them away.

"No crying unless it's because I'm making you come too hard," he said softly. Teasing, but tender underneath.

I laughed shaky, raw. "Too late."

He kissed my forehead. "Then cry all you want, princess. I've got you."

We lay like that for long minutes rain still pounding the windows, city lights flickering through the streaks. His heartbeat thumped steady under my cheek. Strong. Real.

Eventually he shifted, easing me onto my back again. He disappeared for a moment came back with a warm cloth. Cleaned me gently between my legs, careful with the tenderness there. Then himself.

When he slid back into bed, he pulled the sheets over us. Tucked me against him like I belonged there.

"Sleep," he said. Not a suggestion.

I wanted to argue wanted to ask what this was, what tomorrow looked like but exhaustion crashed over me like a wave.

My eyelids drooped.

Just before I slipped under, I whispered, "Thank you."

His arm tightened around me.

"Sleep, Lila."

I did.

But when morning came gray light filtering through the rain-streaked windows I woke alone.

The bed was cold on his side.

Panic clawed up my throat.

His clothes were gone. No note. No number.

Just the faint scent of him on the sheets, the delicious ache between my legs, and the crushing realization that last night might have been exactly what I'd asked for

A beautiful, filthy mistake.

I sat up, hugging my knees, staring at the empty space where he'd been.

And for the first time since walking in on Ethan and Mia, I didn't feel broken.

I felt... awake.

But also terrified.

Because I had no idea who Lucian Kane really was.

Or how to find him again.

Chapter 5

The penthouse felt colder in daylight.

Gray morning light sliced through the half-drawn blinds, turning the black sheets silver-gray. I sat in the middle of the massive bed, knees drawn to my chest, staring at the empty space beside me like it might suddenly fill with Lucian Kane again.

It didn't.

His scent lingered smoke, leather, sex but that was all. No note on the pillow. No business card on the nightstand. No text lighting up my dead phone screen (battery long gone, charger nowhere in sight). Just silence and the dull throb between my legs reminding me last night wasn't a fever dream.

I'd begged a stranger to ruin me.

He had.

Thoroughly.

And then he'd vanished like smoke.

My laugh came out cracked. Of course he did. Men like that didn't do mornings. They did one-night obliterations and walked away clean.

I dragged myself out of bed on shaky legs. Every step pulled at sore muscles, tender skin, the faint bruises blooming on my hips where his fingers had gripped. I caught my reflection in the full-length mirror across the room and froze.

Mascara tracks had dried into faint black rivers down my cheeks. Lipstick smeared. Hair a wild tangle. Neck marked with faint red blooms from his teeth. Breasts still flushed, nipples dark and sensitive. Between my thighs God. Dried evidence of him, of us, streaked my inner thighs like war paint.

I looked wrecked.

I looked alive.

For the first time in years, I didn't hate what I saw.

I found my ruined dress crumpled near the door, panties shredded beyond saving. No bra to begin with. I slipped the silk back on anyway clammy now, wrinkled, clinging in all the wrong places. Barefoot, I padded through the suite.

Kitchen. Living room. Bathroom.

Empty.

Immaculately clean. Like no one had ever been here except me.

The minibar was stocked. I grabbed a bottle of water, chugged half, then splashed the rest on my face. Cold shock. Better.

My phone finally found on the entry table blinked to life when I plugged it into the suite's charger. Notifications exploded across the screen.

Mom: 17 missed calls.

Ethan: 8 texts (I didn't open them).

Mia: 3 voicemails.

Work: 2 emails marked urgent.

Reality slammed back like ice water.

I had a life to return to. A canceled wedding to explain. An apartment that wasn't mine anymore. A job I suddenly remembered I still needed.

I dressed as best I could smoothed my hair with wet fingers, wiped away the worst of the mascara with a tissue. Slipped my broken heels back on. Took the private elevator down.

The lobby was quiet. Early Saturday morning. The concierge gave me a polite nod, no judgment in his eyes.

Either he saw this kind of walk-of-shame every weekend, or he was very well paid to mind his own business.

Outside, the rain had stopped. The city smelled clean, wet asphalt and coffee from somewhere. I hailed a cab, gave my address our address Ethan's and mine.

Halfway there, I changed my mind.

"Actually... take me to Reed Enterprises Tower instead."

The driver glanced in the rearview. "You sure, miss? That's downtown. Traffic's gonna be hell."

"I'm sure."

I didn't know why. Maybe because I needed to feel in control of something. Maybe because showing up at work looking like I'd been thoroughly fucked would be the most honest version of myself I'd presented in years.

Or maybe just maybebecause a tiny, reckless part of me hoped that the man who'd disappeared this morning owned half the skyline and might be waiting behind one of those glass walls.

Reed Enterprises. The name had been everywhere lately billboards, news, the new tech merger that swallowed three smaller companies whole. Billion-dollar shadow. Cold. Ruthless. Untouchable.

Exactly like him.

The cab pulled up outside the sleek black tower forty minutes later. I paid with the last of the cash in my clutch, stepped out barefoot (heels in hand screw it), and walked straight through the revolving doors.

Security stopped me immediately.

"Ma'am, ID and appointment?"

I lifted my chin. "Lila Harper.

Marketing department. I work here."

The guard frowned at my appearance wet dress, bare feet, wild hair but swiped his tablet.

"Badge?"

"Lost it," I lied smoothly. "Long story. Can you call up? Tell them I'm coming in to... handle a personal emergency."

He hesitated, then buzzed someone.

Two minutes later, the elevator dinged. A woman in a crisp blazer stepped outmid-thirties, sharp bob, no-nonsense eyes.

"Lila Harper?"

"Yes."

She looked me over once. Didn't comment on the state of me. "Follow me. Mr. Kane wants to see you. Now."

My stomach dropped through the floor.

Mr. Kane.

I followed her into the private executive elevator. She swiped a card. We shot upward fast, silent.

When the doors opened, it was straight into a corner office the size of my entire apartment.

Floor-to-ceiling glass. City sprawled below like a toy set.

And him.

Lucian Kane stood at the window, back to me, hands in the pockets of a charcoal suit that probably cost more than my car. Shoulders broad. Posture relaxed. Like he'd been expecting me.

The woman left without a word. Doors closed behind her.

He didn't turn around yet.

"You're late," he said quietly.

I laughed-short, disbelieving. "Late for what? You didn't leave a fucking note, Lucian."

He turned then.

Same midnight-blue eyes. Same scar on his jaw. Same mouth that had devoured me last night.

But this version wore power like a second skin. Cold. Controlled. Untouchable.

"Language, princess," he said mildly. "You're in my office."

My pulse roared in my ears.

"You knew who I was," I whispered. "Last night. You knew I worked here."

"I did."

The admission hit like a slap.

"You let me beg you. You fucked me like I was nothing. And then you left me in your bed like yesterday's trash."

He crossed the room in three strides. Stopped just close enough that I could smell him again same cologne, same sin.

"I left because I had a board meeting at seven," he said. "And because if I'd stayed, I would've fucked you awake. Again. And again. Until you couldn't walk. And you have a presentation Monday you need to be able to stand for."

I stared at him. "You're my boss."

"Technically, I own the company you work for." His gaze dropped to my mouth. "And right now, you look like you've been thoroughly claimed by your boss."

Heat flooded my face and lower.

"You can't just "

"Can't what?" He tilted my chin up with one finger. "Make you come so hard you forget your own name? Mark you so everyone downstairs will smell me on your skin? Own every filthy little secret you gave me last night?"

My thighs clenched. Traitorous body.

"I should quit," I breathed.

"You won't." His thumb brushed my bottom lip. "Because you're already wet thinking about what happens next.

"

Damn him. He was right.

He leaned in, mouth hovering over mine. Not kissing. Just breathing me in.

"Monday," he murmured. "Nine a.m. My office. Wear something I can rip off easily."

Then he stepped back.

Dismissed me.

Just like that.

I stood there trembling, heart hammering, thighs slick again.

He returned to the window. "You're dismissed, Ms. Harper."

I turned. Walked to the elevator on numb legs.

As the doors closed, I caught his reflection in the glass.

He was smiling.

Small. Predatory.

Satisfied.

And I knew bone-deep, terrifying certainty

This wasn't over.

It was only beginning.

Chapter 6

The executive elevator doors slid shut with a soft, expensive hush, sealing me inside a mirrored box that smelled faintly of Lucian's cologne. My reflection stared back at me mascara still faintly smudged under my eyes, lips swollen from last night's kisses, hair wild and damp from the rain that had finally stopped. The black silk dress clung in all the wrong places now, wrinkled and ruined, screaming walk of shame to anyone who looked too closely.

I pressed a trembling hand to my stomach. The ache between my legs was a constant, delicious reminder. Every shift of my thighs sent a fresh pulse of memory through me his thick cock stretching me, his voice growling "Good girl" while he filled me, the way he'd cleaned me afterward with surprising gentleness before disappearing like a ghost.

And now he was my boss.

Lucian Kane. CEO of Reed Enterprises. The man whose name was on half the tech patents in this city. The man who had just dismissed me from his penthouse office like I was an intern who'd delivered bad coffee.

The elevator dinged on the marketing floor. I stepped out on shaky bare feet, heels still dangling from my fingers. Heads turned. Whispers rippled through the open-plan desks like a wave. Sarah from accounting nearly dropped her latte. Ryan Brooks my closest work friend froze mid-conversation with a client, his eyes widening as he took in my state.

"Lila?" He excused himself and hurried over, voice low. "Holy shit, what happened to you? You look like you got hit by a truck. Or... fucked by one."

Heat flooded my cheeks. "Not now, Ryan."

I tried to slip past him toward my cubicle, but he fell into step beside me, concern etched across his boyish face. "Seriously. Ethan called the office twice already. Said something about the wedding being off? And you're walking in here looking like you spent the night in a hurricane."

I dropped into my chair, wincing at the soreness. The computer screen blinked to life, showing Monday's presentation deck I was supposed to finish. My hands shook as I reached for the mouse.

"I caught him," I whispered, voice cracking. "Ethan and Mia. In our bed. Four days before the wedding."

Ryan's jaw dropped. "That motherfucker."

Before he could say more, my desk phone rang. The caller ID made my stomach flip.

**Executive Office – Mr. Kane**

I stared at it like it might bite me.

Ryan glanced at the screen and whistled low. "The big boss? On a Saturday? Girl, what did you do?"

I swallowed hard and picked up the receiver, trying to sound professional. "Lila Harper speaking."

Lucian's voice poured through the line like dark velvet and smoke. "My office. Now."

No greeting. No please. Just that low, commanding tone that had me clenching around nothing.

"I-I just got to my desk, sir."

"Ten minutes ago you were in my penthouse. Don't make me repeat myself, princess."

The line went dead.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "You good? You look like you're about to faint."

"I'm fine," I lied, standing on unsteady legs. "Just... new boss stuff."

I grabbed my bag and headed for the private elevator again, heart hammering so loud I was sure the entire floor could hear it. The ride up felt endless. When the doors opened onto the executive level, Sophia Lang Lucian's sharp-eyed assistant gave me a once-over that missed nothing.

"Ms. Harper. He's expecting you."

She didn't smile. Just gestured toward the heavy oak doors.

I stepped inside.

Lucian stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Miami's glittering skyline and the turquoise stretch of ocean beyond. Sunlight poured in, highlighting the silver at his temples, the powerful lines of his shoulders in that perfectly tailored charcoal suit. He didn't turn around immediately.

"Close the door."

I did. The click sounded final.

He finally faced me. Those midnight-blue eyes dragged slowly down my body taking in the wrinkled dress, bare legs, the faint marks I knew were still visible on my neck if you looked close enough.

"You came to work like this," he said, voice dangerously calm. "Looking like you've been thoroughly fucked. My cum still inside you?"

My breath hitched. Heat pooled low despite everything.

"I didn't have time to change," I whispered. "I needed... I needed to feel normal."

He crossed the room in three strides, stopping so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body. One large hand came up, thumb brushing the corner of my mouth.

"You don't get normal anymore, Lila. Not after last night. Not after you begged Daddy to ruin this tight little pussy."

I whimpered. My thighs pressed together instinctively.

He smirked that cruel, beautiful curve of his lips.

"Monday morning. Nine sharp. You'll present the Q3 campaign deck in the boardroom. Wear something I can slide my hand under during the meeting without anyone noticing. No panties."

My eyes widened. "Lucian "

"Mr. Kane in front of others," he corrected, but his voice dropped lower. "And if you're good... I'll reward you after. On your knees under my desk."

The image flashed through my mind me on my knees while he took calls, his hand fisted in my hair, feeding me his cock while the company carried on outside the door. Fresh wetness slicked between my legs.

He leaned in until his lips brushed my ear. "You're mine now, princess. Every moan, every orgasm, every filthy secret. Mine to take whenever and wherever I want. Understand?"

I nodded, breathless. "Yes... Daddy."

His hand slid down, cupping me possessively through the damp silk. A low growl escaped him when he felt how wet I already was.

"Good girl."

He stepped back abruptly, leaving me aching and empty.

"Dismissed. Fix your face before the floor sees you again."

I turned on trembling legs, pulse racing, mind spinning with equal parts fear and dark, addictive excitement.

As I reached the door, his voice stopped me one last time.

"Oh, and Lila?"

I glanced back.

His eyes burned with promise. "If Ethan calls again... tell him the wedding is off. And that you belong to someone else now."

The door closed behind me with a soft click.

I leaned against the wall in the hallway, breathing hard, thighs slick, heart thundering.

This wasn't just a one-night mistake anymore.

This was the beginning of something dangerous.

Something I wasn't sure I could survive.

But God help me... I didn't want to.