CHAPTER 5

I should have run.

Every instinct screamed at me to push him away... to grab whatever was left of my dignity and walk out that door.

But I didn’t.

My body refused to move, powerless, while my gaze flicked between his eyes and his lips— liquid and undiluted heat unfurling between my thighs.

A wicked smile touched his lips.

“Just as I expected— the wildfire in you doesn't want to be tamed. It wants to be fed. And I have every intention of letting you burn.”

He pressed his thumb more firmly against my lip... dragging it down just enough to leave it parted.

“You want to be ruined. Used. Like a perfect little slut.”

A breathless gasp escaped me. And I hated how much it sounded like surrender.

My heart slammed harder.

But I didn't back off— Because for the first time in years, I felt seen.

Wanted.

Desired.

Not chosen out of convenience.

He let go of my lip and traced his finger along my arm. Like he was mapping every place I’d let him touch.

“I'm forty.” I warned.

If anything, he stepped closer now... consuming the little space between us.

“Do you know what they say about wine?”

I frowned. “What?”

“The older it gets,” he whispered into my ear. “The sweeter it tastes.”

A tremor ran through me.

I tried to step back. But my feet refused to move. I found myself leaning in again despite myself.

He caught my wrist and pressed a kiss on the hollow. My core clenched shamelessly, reacting to him before my mind could even process the touch.

I closed my eyes.

“Open your eyes,” he instructed. “Watch as I ruin you for anybody else.”

My breath hitched. Eyes snapping open, only for him to claim my lips with a kiss so intense it stole the breath from my lungs.

I melted. Like a candle thrown in a furnace.

Never in my life— did I know a kiss could feel aching and sweet.

I clutched the lapel of his shirt. My whole body trembling.

He parted my lips with a ruthless mastery. Took my breath, only to return it to me.

Then he pulled back.

“Tell me to stop. I'll stop.”

That was the problem. Not a fibre in me wanted him to stop.

He must’ve read my thoughts... because a devilish smile curved his lips.

“Careful, Little Bird. I’m not a man who shares his things.”

He kissed my cheek. My jawline. My ear.

“One taste of you will never be enough.”

Our lips met again.

He released my hair. His hands sliding down to find the small of my back. Then hauled me flush against the hard heat of his body.

A traitorous warmth curled in my belly. Mocking my earlier attempts to pull away.

The air in the room suddenly felt too shallow to think. Charged with a heavy, sweet tension.

‘Belong to You’ by Sabrina Claudio played as he peeled the silk strap of my nightdress down my shoulder until my breasts were exposed.

He pulled back.

He paused.

And simply dragged the back of his knuckles around the curve of my breasts. A slow, clinical trail that made my nipples ache and peak for him.

“Please—” I whispered.

“Please—what?”

I didn't answer. I couldn't.

Not with the way he was looking at me. Not when he was touching me with unmatched expertise.

He finally cupped me. His hands large. Palms rough.

He squeezed them hard. Enough to make me gasp.

I lost every train of thought.

He leaned down. His breath a hot brand against my collarbone before his mouth found the swell of my breast.

My knees buckled.

A low sound rumbled in his chest.

He sucked me as though his life depended on it. As though if he wasted any minute, I would disappear.

It was wrong. I shouldn’t want him. I shouldn’t even be here.

He was off limits. Dangerous. Sin wrapped in a sturdy body.

A line I should never have crossed.

And tonight?

Tonight was my wedding night.

It was supposed to be the happiest night of my life if I hadn't caught my husband cheating.

Now I was miles away. In the arms of a man I just met.

He was younger. Dark espresso eyes. A chiseled jaw.

Straight nose. Brows carved to perfection.

His hands dropped until they cupped my butt. He swept his fingers between my thighs and paused.

Our eyes met.

“No panties?”

“I spent an hour freshening up.” My voice shook. “I waited for him, only to find him tangled with his mistress.”

He dragged a finger along my soaked entrance.

“Too bad. He has no idea what he's missing.”

He continued, dragging a finger along my entrance. Then slid a finger inside my cunt. And another finger.

A wave of dizziness washed over me.

“Fvck!” he groaned. “You're so tight.”

My fingers dug into his shoulder. My body tightening, betraying me with every passing second.

I should have stopped him.

I didn’t.

My eyes lifted to his—and whatever he saw there made something dark flicker in his gaze.

This is so wrong. And yet, it feels like the only thing that’s real tonight.

“That’s it,” he said softly. “Don’t hide it.”

“Cum for me.”

My brows creased.

The tension coiled tighter... and tighter in my stomach.

It snapped.

A raspy sound left my lips as the wave hit me.

My toes curled against the floor.

The world splintered into a thousand white-hot shards. It wasn't a release.

It was a wrecking ball.

I saw stars behind my eyelids.

He didn’t stop until the last tremor left my body. Then slipped his fingers into his mouth.

“Hmm, you taste like trouble.”

My breath jackhammered.

The glass slipped from my hands.

What had I done?

A/N: Should Madeline regret this?