I wake up to the scent of him.
Not just his skin. But his sheets, his shirt wrapped around my body, his cum still seeping down my thighs. My pussy aches—used, pulsing with memory. He’s already up. I hear the shower running and my pulse quickens. I should leave. I should get dressed, walk out, and never look back. But I don’t. Instead, I rise from the bed and follow the sound of water like a moth to flame. The bathroom door is open. Steam spills out in curls. He stands under the spray, facing away, water running down every inch of his muscled back. I don’t announce myself. I step in. Naked. Quiet. My hands slide around his waist. He doesn’t flinch. “I was wondering when you’d crawl back.” His voice is deep and sharp, like velvet laced with blades. “You made me ache,” I whisper. He turns. Water slicks his dark hair back. His jaw is sharp, his lips slightly parted, his eyes locked on mine like I’m a prize he hasn’t finished breaking yet. “You liked being denied, didn’t you?” I nod. “Say it.” “I loved being teased. In public. Controlled.” “You’re filth.” “And you make me worse.” He slams me against the shower wall with one hand around my throat, just enough pressure to thrill but not bruise. “Beg me to use you.” I shiver. “Please. Fuck me. Punish me. Break me if you want to.” His growl vibrates against my skin. He drops to his knees and licks me. Rough and fast. No buildup. No mercy. His tongue flicks over my clit in tight, punishing circles, then plunges deep into my core. I cry out, the sound bouncing off the tiles. My hands claw into his hair. “You’re already soaked,” he mutters, voice muffled against my pussy. “You were dreaming about me, weren’t you?” “Yes,” I pant. “I woke up wet.” “You’re always wet for me.” His hands spread my thighs wider, lifting one leg over his shoulder as he buries himself deeper. Every lick is brutal. Fast. Desperate. Addictive. I come in seconds. But he doesn’t stop. He keeps going, licking through the aftershocks, driving me straight into another. I scream his name, hips jerking, toes curling on the wet tiles. He finally stands. Wipes his mouth with the back of his hand then slaps my ass hard. Once. Twice. I whimper and fall into his chest. “I’m not done with you.” He doesn’t take me to the bed this time. He takes me to the full-length mirror on the closet door. Bends me over the dresser. Forces me to watch. “Look at yourself.” My reflection stares back—flushed, lips parted, collar snug around my throat like a neon sign screaming ‘owned’. He rubs the head of his cock against my slit. “You know what I see?” he asks. I swallow. “What?” “A dirty little slut who begged to be filled in public and loved every fucking second of it.” He thrusts deep inside me. I moan, watching my reflection tremble. He grabs my hair, forces me to keep my eyes open. “Don’t look away.” I don’t. Even when he pounds into me harder than he ever has. Even when he slaps my breast, then grips my throat, fingers digging in possessively. Even when he talks—filthy, dominant, raw. “You wanted punishment?” “Yes.” “You want to be used?” “Yes, sir.” “You’ll never be able to fuck anyone else again. You’ll ruin yourself for every man who isn’t me.” “I already am.” He loses it then. Slams into me with such force the dresser rocks against the wall. My orgasm is messy, loud, and long. He doesn’t pull out. He spills deep inside me, still gripping my throat as his eyes stay locked on my reflection. “Mine,” he growls. We lie tangled on the floor afterward. Naked. Sweaty. He drapes one arm over my waist. The other trails fingers lazily up and down my back. “I should leave,” I whisper. “Why?” “Because I don’t know who I’m becoming with you.” “You’re becoming honest.” I turn my head to look at him. “I don’t do relationships.” “Good,” he says without missing a beat. “Because this isn’t one.” “Oh?” “This is ownership.” I shiver. “You’re serious.” “I told you what I want. You obey. You come. You beg. That’s the deal.” “No feelings?” “None.” My chest twists. But it’s exactly what I told myself I wanted too. So why does his detachment sting? Later that night, he tells me not to come back for three days. A rule. A test, of course. “Keep the collar on,” he says. “Sleep in it. Touch yourself if you want, but you don’t get to come unless I give permission.” “And if I do?” “I’ll know.” “You can’t possibly—” “I’ll know.” I nod. He kisses me. But it’s not tender. It’s a warning. Three days later, I’m back in Room 406. Panting. Desperate. I didn’t last more than twenty-four hours without touching myself. And I came. Twice. I’m ashamed of how easily I gave in. How needy I became. When he opens the door, I drop to my knees without a word. He looks down at me coldly. “You disobeyed.” “Yes.” “You came without permission.” I nod. “Twice,” I admit. His jaw tightens. “I warned you.” “I’m sorry,” I whisper, lowering my eyes. He steps aside. “Get in.” The punishment starts the second the door shuts. He grabs a black silk scarf from the drawer and blindfolds me then cuffs my wrists behind my back. I hear him circling me. Hear drawers open and close. I don’t know what he’s going to do and I love that. He pushes me onto the bed. “Face down.” I comply, ass up, thighs spread. I feel cool air as he parts me. Then… Crack. A crop lashes across my left cheek. I cry out. Crack. Right side. He doesn’t stop until I’m trembling—my skin hot and stinging, my pussy dripping and twitching. He leans down. “Are you going to come without permission again?” “No.” “Are you mine?” “Yes.” “Say it.” “I’m yours, sir.” He removes the blindfold. And finally—finally—he fucks me. No games. No teasing. Just raw, punishing thrusts that fuck the lesson deep into my bones. I scream with every stroke. Begging. Crying. Cuming until I forget my own name. He finishes inside me again, lips pressed against the back of my neck. “You learn fast,” he murmurs. I smile through the haze. “I aim to please.” He kisses the side of my face. “You do.”Chapter FourTastes Like ObsessionArielle’s POVI wore red lipstick to see what he’d do.Dmitri had been silent all morning. No texts, no demanding calls, no “come here now” or “what the fuck are you wearing.”He was testing my patience with this distance and I hated it. So I wore a barely-there black dress, no panties, and the lipstick he hated. I drove to his office unannounced.The receptionist tried to stop me but I smiled sweetly and ignored her.His door was cracked open when I walked in. He stood at the window, back turned, suit jacket slung over the chair.“Close the door,” he said.I did.Then I locked it.His voice dropped a note lower. “What are you doing here?”“I missed you.”He turned slowly. His eyes dropped to my mouth then lower. The hem of my dress barely brushed the tops of my thighs.He stared.“You wore that to get my attention.”“I wore it because I don’t like being ignored.”His jaw clenched. “You’re playing a game you don’t understand.”I stepped forward. “Th
Chapter ThreeMine in Every WayDmitri’s POVI woke up with her curled against me, bare skin pressed to mine, her head on my chest like she’d always belonged there.She breathed slowly, lips parted, thighs still marked with the red indentations my fingers had left. She hadn’t protested once, not even when I bent her over the desk a second time last night and made her scream through another orgasm.Arielle. My ward. My problem.My fucking undoing.I stared at the ceiling, trying to rationalize what we’d done. But the more I thought about it, the less I cared. My cock stirred again just remembering the way she looked—dripping, eager, mouth filthy with need. I’d never had a woman like that.And I’d never let anyone else touch her now.She stirred. Her hand slid across my chest, down to my stomach.“Morning,” she murmured, voice husky with sleep.“You should be in your own room.”She lifted her head, eyes narrowing. “You want me to leave?”I didn’t answer.Because if I said yes, I’d be ly
Chapter TwoLines Meant to Be CrossedThe kitchen was still warm from his body.Even after Dmitri left me standing there, trembling and soaked through, the echo of his voice, the threat in it, the promise—clung to my skin like sweat. I should’ve gone back to my room. But instead, I stood there in the silk shorts and tank top, gripping the edge of the counter, replaying every word he said.You think I haven’t pictured bending you over this fucking counter?My fingers clenched tighter.I knew I was playing with fire. That he had more control than any man I’d ever met. That the cold edge in him didn’t crack easily.But I also knew desire. I’d tasted it in his breath and I’d seen it flash in his eyes before he pulled away. He was holding back because he thought he had to. Because I was still, technically, under his guardianship.One more month. Just one.But I wasn’t going to wait.I wasn’t some wide-eyed girl anymore. I was twenty. I was tired of pretending. I knew what I wanted. I wante
Chapter One I hated how much I wanted him.Even before I stepped through the door of the Volkov estate, I could already feel it — that tightness in my stomach, the electric buzz under my skin, the furious pounding of my pulse. Not from nerves. No. From heat. From the ache I hadn’t been able to scratch in two long years away.My suitcase thudded against the marble floor of the entryway. Familiar smells curled up around me — leather, oak, expensive scotch — and the tension that lived inside this house for as long as I could remember. Tension, because he was here.Dmitri Volkov.My legal guardian. My father’s best friend. The man who took over the estate when my father died and I was still too young to do anything about it. The man who never looked at me for too long, never hugged me, never said my name like it meant anything. But still haunted every single fucking wet dream I’d had since I turned sixteen.He wasn’t in the foyer. Of course not. That would be too easy.I wheeled my bag t
Chapter NineThe Fire and the FallHe kissed me like it was the last time.That’s how it started.No pretense. No warm-up. Just his mouth on mine—desperate, all-consuming, like the truth behind it was too big to breathe.And maybe it was.Because when we broke apart, the air crackled with the weight of what was coming.“I told her,” Damon said.I blinked. “Told who?”“Lila.”The blood drained from my face.“You what?”He ran a hand down his face. “I couldn’t keep lying. She asked. I told her.”My knees went weak.“What did she say?”He looked at me.And that look told me everything.“Oh my god,” I whispered. “She hates me.”“She’s angry,” he admitted. “But it’s not just that.”“She feels betrayed,” I said, throat tight. “Because I was her best friend.”“You still are,” he said sharply. “This doesn’t erase what you meant to her. Or what she meant to you.”“You don’t know that.”“I do.”I pulle
Chapter EightShe Was Here First“You’re not the first girl I’ve done this with.”That’s how he started.No warning. No softening of the blow.Just those words conveniently wrapped in steel and stabbed ruthlessly into my chest like a knife. I didn’t speak, I couldn’t. My throat felt tight, my skin flushed, but not with heat this time.With shame and jealousy.“She followed you,” Damon said. “Because she’s been waiting and watching me ever since I ended it.”I stared at him.“You… ended it?”He nodded once. “Two years ago. She didn’t take it well.”“What was her name?”“Elena.”My stomach flipped.“Elena,” I repeated. “And what was she to you?”He exhaled through his nose. “My daughter’s best friend.”I went cold. It was like being doused in ice water.“You—” My voice broke. “You fucked Lila’s best friend before me?”“Yes.”“And you thought I wouldn’t care?”“I didn’t plan on caring either,” he said, eyes dark. “But then I met you.”I laughed—it sounded sharp, bitter and ugly.“So this