LOGINCHAPTER THIRTY-NINEI’m still sitting on Dante’s lap. And everything is getting worse. So much worse I think I’m going to die from it.My skin is on fire. Not fake. Not pretty words. Real fire. The silk of my shirt feels like knives.My jeans are cutting into my thighs. Every breath hurts. Every second without touching him hurts worse. I need. Fuck, I need. I don’t even know what. I just need it now. The aphrodisiac is killing me. It’s in my blood. In my bones. It pulses through me and makes my vision blur.My heart is beating too fast. I can hear it in my ears. In my throat. In my fucking fingertips. My body moves on its own. It lunges for him. Because he’s heat. He’s the only thing that might stop the burning. I slam my face into his neck. Inhale. He smells like cedar and smoke and something wild.Something that doesn’t belong in this car. Something that belongs in the dark with teeth. My wolf wakes up. I haven’t felt her in days. Not since he kidnapped me. S
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT The door doesn't just open.It explodes.The heavy wood slams against the wall with such force that the doorknob punches straight through the plaster. Chunks of drywall rain down onto the floor.A man fills the doorway.Tall. Imposing. Radiating fury so intense the temperature in the room seems to drop ten degrees.Through my blurred, drug-addled vision, I can barely make out his features.But I know that silhouette.Know that presence.Know the way the air itself seems to bend around him.Dante.And for the first time since I met him, for the first time since he bought me in that warehouse, I don't want to unsee him.I want him here.Because right now, in this moment, with these men surrounding me and drugs coursing through my system, he's not my captor.He's my salvation.The only person who can save me.Dante steps into the room, and the change is immediate.Professor Harrison's hand drops from my waist. The other professors scramble backward, nearly tripping
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN He pours a glass. A full glass. All the way to the brim.And slides it across the table to me.I stare at it.I'm not a drinker. Never have been. The few times I've tried alcohol, I've gotten drunk embarrassingly fast.But I need this extension.I need my scholarship.I need my future.So I pick up the glass.And I gulp down the entire thing in one go.The whiskey burns going down. My eyes water. My throat feels like it's on fire.But I finish it.I set the empty glass down with shaking hands.One of the other professors laughs. "Oh my god! You must really like whiskey. How about we give you another one?""No, I..."But Professor Harrison is already pouring. Another full glass."I'm so sorry, professors," I say quickly, my words starting to slur slightly. "But I really want this extension, not this. I'm...I'm just here for the assignment."Professor Harrison leans forward. I notice him shifting his chair closer to mine."Baby girl," he says, and the pet name make
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIXI stand in front of Ariel's tiny bathroom mirror for what feels like the hundredth time.Adjusting my hair. Smoothing down the borrowed blouse. Checking my reflection from different angles.I look... appropriate. Professional. Put together.Nothing like the terrified girl who showed up on Ariel's doorstep last night with bleeding feet and an expensive dress.Why am I so nervous?I know why.Because Professor Harrison didn't ask to meet me in his office. Didn't suggest we discuss the makeup assignment during his office hours like a normal professor would.He asked me to meet him at Elysium Club.A club. Not the school. Not anywhere professional.When I went to his office this morning, it was early, before classes, because he'd sent me an email telling me to come by, he'd barely let me explain before cutting me off."I don't take issues like this in school premises, Ms. Reeves," he'd said, leaning back in his chair with that thin smile. "You disobeyed the law by not s
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE"Did you say De León?" Ariel's voice changes completely. Her grip on my hand tightens.I nod slowly, confused by her reaction."Elena." She stands up abruptly, pacing now. "Oh my god. Elena, do you understand what you're saying?""What do you mean? Do you know him?""Do I know him?" She laughs, but it's not a happy sound. It's terrified. "Who doesn't know the De Leóns? They're one of the most ruthless families in the entire continent, Elena. They own almost every oil and gas company. Their power cuts across different sectors. They have influence everywhere."My stomach drops."I... I didn't know that," I say quietly."You didn't know that?" Ariel stops pacing and stares at me. "Oh my god. You do not understand what I'm talking about. The De León family is an aristocratic family, Elena. They're what you call old money. They have influence across kingdoms. England, the Arab kingdoms, everywhere. They're literally one of the most powerful families in the world."She s
CHAPTER THIRTY FOURSpeeding away into the night without a backward glance.Leaving me standing on the side of the road in an expensive dress with absolutely nothing.I watch his taillights disappear around a corner.Then I look around.I'm somewhere in the city. I recognize the area vaguely, maybe fifteen minutes from campus by car. But on foot? In heels? At night?My heart sinks as reality sets in.I don't have my phone. Dante took it when he first kidnapped me.I don't have my wallet. Don't have money. Don't have ID.I have nothing except this dress and the shoes on my feet.No way to call anyone. No way to get help. No way to even prove who I am if someone asks.Ariel. My best friend The thought comes suddenly.Ariel's apartment isn't far from here. Maybe a thirty-minute walk? Forty-five?I don't have any other choice.I kick off the heels, there's no way I'm walking that far in them, and pick them up to carry. The pavement is rough and cold under my bare feet, but it's better t
CHAPTER SIXTEENI look at him, feeling a confusing mix of emotions churning in my stomach.Shy. That's the dominant one. Followed closely by anger. And underneath it all, a thread of something I don't want to examine too closely."Is everything about sex to you?" The question comes out more timid t
CHAPTER FIFTEEN I scorn at him. Actually make a sound of disgust."Of course. That's your answer to everything, isn't it? Threats and intimidation and...""I could get you into the best school here in Colombia."The subject change is so abrupt it takes me a second to process."What?""The best uni
CHAPTER FOURTEENI wake up with a pounding headache.The first thing I register is brightness. Sunlight streaming through those massive floor-to-ceiling windows, hitting me directly in the face with an intensity that makes my eyes water.I groan and squeeze my eyes shut again, turning my face away
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:I spread my arms wide. Stopped fighting."You've already taken everything from me. My freedom. My life. My future. You've separated me from everyone I know, paused my entire existence, trapped me in this gilded cage."My voice cracks."Might as well take this too. What's one more







