They traded her to me.
A fierce-eyed woman with betrayal carved into her every sarcastic barb, handed over by cowards pretending at family loyalty. Payment for debts they couldn't pay in blood. I was supposed to keep her caged in this rain-lashed penthouse, a trophy bride to flaunt across New York's glittering sprawl. Simple transaction. Clean alliance.
But nothing about her defiance feels simple.
Her body arches against mine in inches-apart standoffs, breaths fever-hot and ragged, unblinking stares daring me to shatter her. I pin her wrists above tangled sheets still damp with our sweat, her husky whispers turning to gasps as I take what's mine - over the marble island, against rain-streaked glass, marking her throat where silk collars can't hide the bruises. She fights it with fire that matches my own hunger, but her thighs part anyway, craving the ruin only I can give.
I've built an empire on ruthless commands, yet this woman unravels me.
Tender fingers trace my scars at dawn, city lights bleeding gold across her skin, and for a heartbeat, I wonder if I'm the one chained. Her rage for freedom mirrors my possessive storm - I'd raze alliances to keep her, but lose her to isolation or worse, and we'd both fracture. Hate twists into obsession, every thrust a vow she resents but returns.
She's my forbidden salvation, laced with the annihilation we both court.
Can the bride bartered into my world seize control, or will our devouring nights drag us into endless dark?
