Finally Giving in🥵🥵

The sunlight streaming through the windows of the Lopez breakfast nook felt like an insult to the chaos churning inside Ariana’s body. She sat rigidly, her spine barely touching the chair, clutching a cup of black coffee as if it were the only thing keeping her grounded. Every time she breathed, she felt the friction of her clothes against her skin—skin that was still hypersensitive from the night before.

She couldn't stop the flashbacks. The image of Mateo’s face, the heat of her own hands, the way she had cried out his name in the dark of her suite while Tyler was a distant, fading memory of a life she no longer recognized. Tyler had been safe. Tyler had been gentle. But Tyler had never made her lose her mind the way the ghost of Mateo Lopez had last night.

"Ariana? Earth to Ari!" Cami laughed, waving a hand in front of Ariana's face. "I said, we have a massive day. The Christmas party is tomorrow night, and we still haven't picked out your gown. Dad is actually coming with us to the mall today the driver is on holiday leave.'"

Ariana’s heart did a slow, painful roll in her chest. She looked up and caught Mateo’s gaze from the head of the table. He was dressed in a tailored navy suit, looking every bit the powerful, untouchable patriarch.

The drive to the high-end shopping district was a blur of nervous static. While Cami prattled on about guest lists and silk swatches, Mateo sat in the driver's seat of the car with Ariana at his side, his presence a heavy, suffocating weight. He didn't touch her, but he didn't have to. The way he looked at her—slowly, from her boots up to her high-necked sweater—told her he was documenting every inch of her.

Once they arrived at the designer boutique, Cami was in her element. She grabbed a handful of glittering gowns and pushed them toward Ariana.

"Go try the gold one first! I’m going to go see if they have that emerald slip dress in my size," Cami said, disappearing toward the back of the store.

Ariana stepped into a plush, velvet-lined changing room. She had just begun to unzip her jeans when the heavy curtain was swept aside and a large, commanding figure stepped inside, closing the door and locking it with a sharp, final click.

"Mr. Lopez!" Ariana gasped, clutching her shirt to her chest as she backed into the mirror. "What are you doing? Cami is right outside!"

"Cami is occupied," Mateo said, his voice dropping to that lethal, private register. He didn't stop until he was inches from her, his sheer size turning the changing room into a claustrophobic cage. He looked at her reflection in the mirror, his eyes dark with a terrifying kind of amusement. "Acting all innocent are we, Nina? Tell me... how was your night? You look a bit tired. You didn't really sleep much, did you?"

Ariana’s breath hitched. "It... It, the wind"

"I’m not talking about the wind." Mateo reached out, his hand sliding around her waist, his large palm flat against the small of her back as he hauled her flush against his suit. "I heard you last night, Ariana."

The world seemed to stop spinning. Ariana’s face went bone-white. "What... what are you talking about?"

"I heard everything," he growled, leaning down so his lips were ghosting over her earlobe. "I was standing right outside your door,I thought I heard wrong,I mean why would an innocent looking girl like you think of that. I heard the way you gasped. I heard the way you whimpered when you finally broke. But most of all... I heard you calling my name."I've never been happy checking the house at night Nina.

Ariana felt like she was going to faint. The shame hit her like a physical blow, hot and suffocating. "You... you were at the door?"

"You were very loud, Nina. Very wild." He moved his hand from her back to her throat, his thumb applying a gentle, possessive pressure that made her pulse throb against his skin. "I watched the light under your door and listened to you do to yourself what you’ve been dying for me to do since the day we met. It was a very... evocative performance."

"Please," she sobbed, but she couldn't pull away. Her body was already traitorously arching toward him.

"Instead of touching yourself, you could have come to me," Mateo whispered, his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin of her neck. "I would have shown you exactly how much louder you could scream. But let this be a lesson, Ariana. That was the last time you touch yourself without my permission. Do you hear me? Your body doesn't belong to you in the dark anymore. It belongs to me."

"I... I understand," she breathed, her hands finding his shoulders. She didn't push him away. Instead, her fingers curled into his suit jacket, pulling him closer, her head falling back to give him better access to her throat.

The dominance in his touch was like a drug. She had spent years with Tyler, being 'respected' and 'asked,' and it had felt like nothing. But here, in a changing room with her best friend yards away, being claimed by a man who treated her like a possession, she felt more alive than she ever had.

Mateo groaned, a low, guttural sound of pure animal hunger. He abandoned his restraint, his mouth crashing against hers in a searing, possessive kiss. It wasn't a request; it was a conquest. He tasted of expensive scotch and raw power. His hands roamed her young body with practiced authority, his calloused fingers sliding beneath her shirt to find the soft mounds of her breasts.

Ariana let out a needy whimper, her legs tangling with his as they pressed into the mirror. The glass was cold against her back, but Mateo was a furnace, his muscular frame caging her in, his hands kneading her skin with a delicious, bruising pressure. She forgot the mall. She forgot the party. She forgot that she was a nurse with a career. She was just a girl, drowning in the scent and strength of the man who had ruined her.

They were lost in the heat, the sound of their heavy breathing and the rustle of clothes filling the small space, when a voice cut through the haze like a knife.

"Ariana? Ari, are you in there? I found the emerald dress, you have to see it!"

Cami’s voice was right outside the curtain.

Ariana’s eyes snapped open, wide with pure terror. She froze in Mateo’s arms, her heart hammered against his chest. "Oh my God... fuck... Mateo, what do we do?" she hissed, her voice trembling with the realization that they were seconds away from a catastrophe that would destroy everything.

Mateo didn't move. He kept his hand firmly on her waist, his eyes fixed on hers, a dark, dangerous smirk playing on his lips as Cami’s hand reached for the curtain.