Chapter 11: It Gets Darker

••~~MADDISON~~••

“What thing…?” I asked, anxious to a fault.

“Protection,” he said. “I don’t do condoms. I need to feel all of you…. everytime I am inside you.”

My stomach flipped. My pulse spiked. That wasn’t what I expected. Not at all.

“EVERY TIME,” he repeated, smirk curling at the edge of his mouth. “No halfway. You. Me. All in.”

Did he really need to stress that word?

I blinked, trying to process, but he didn’t give me a second. His hand pressed against mine on the file, grounding me, daring me, warning me—like everything he just said was a promise I couldn’t escape.

My whole face went red. We definitely didn’t use one last night and I felt… all of him.

“Ms. Sinclair… already handled me,” I mumbled.

“I know,” he said calmly. “I’ve seen your whole panel. Blood work and all. You’re clean.”

I sat up, squinting. “Well, I haven’t seen yours.”

“You can. Anytime.” He leaned back. “But just to be clear, if you got pregnant, that would be a disaster. A big one.”

A disaster?

Okay, fair. I wasn’t out here trying to be anyone’s baby mama.

I had things to do. Dreams to chase. Like becoming the next Angeliqua Raine.

Still… disaster?

“I’m on birth control,” I muttered, hearing the nurse’s voice in my head.

Escort pregnancies are not tolerated.

He scratched his temple. “I’m sure. But I’d prefer Avi handle it.”

“Avi?”

“My doctor.”

Of course. Because Corian Van Halen doesn’t do clinics or pills. He has a whole medical team for sex.

His world. His rules.

“Okay, Mr. Van Halen.”

“Now.” He slid the file in front of me. “Open it.”

I flipped it open with trembling hands. One sheet. Fine print.

There was a cover page that read:

"The Van Halen Dark Complex."

My eyes darted to his. “What is this?”

“A contract.”

“I signed one yesterday.”

“That was the NDA. This is the real thing.”

Brows raised. “The real thing?”

He dragged my chair closer with one hand until we were inches apart. His breath touched my lips.

“Last night was just a start,” he said, voice low. “Things are about to get… darker.”

Darker?

What the hell could be darker than last night?

My heart pounded. My thighs clenched.

“Mr. Van Halen… last night was…”

He scratched his dark sexy beards, squinting. “Call me Corian,” He said it like he was daring me to disobey.

“Corian…”

He groaned. Just from hearing his name on my lips.

His finger touched my mouth. Traced it.

“Good girl.”

I blushed. My voice cracked. “What could possibly be darker than last night?”

He leaned in. “Last night was a speed run…. happened faster than I would have liked. Sinclair also left out a few things about you.”

“Please don’t be mad at her. I didn’t disclose the part that I am a…” I swallowed. “Was a virgin.”

He stared at me, his dominating green eyes burning into my skin.

“Last night we merely tested the waters. What I have planned from here on out, it requires full consent. Every part of it. Every line on that document.”

I looked down, flipping the page again.

The next page had me staring like, wait, what just happened?

“A submission agreement.” I muttered, reading through while holding my breath.

A student. A teacher.

A line that said I would surrender. Obey. Let him command. Touch. Own. Break and rebuild me.

Something about KINK training.

Hard limits.

Soft limits.

Extreme limits.

There was no safe word. Just trust and the choice to stay or to walk away.

I looked up, stunned. “I would have to let you do… all these things to me?”

“Yes. Every single word. I’ll be your teacher. You’ll be my good little student… if you sign it.”

He’d written “Owner’s discretion” in bold ink like it was the main dish.

I blinked. “What the hell does ‘owner’s discretion’ even mean?” I muttered, half to myself.

Corian leaned in. “It means… I decide how far we go. And you trust me not to take it too far.”

I swallowed so hard my throat clicked.

“A whole month of… what? Learning sex?”

His smirk was wicked. “Dark sex.”

My thighs trembled.

What does that even mean?

“Is this… like one of those BDSM things? Sydney talks about it all the time, but I don’t really get it.” I laughed awkwardly, waving my hand like I could erase what I just said.

He allowed a chuckle to slip. “I don’t use toys, baby.” His finger traced my bottom lip again.

I shivered.

“This is my own complex. Tailored to my needs. And it’s so much more… intense. You’ll see.”

His dark mirror room flashed in my head. I had certainly never seen anything like it before.

At first, I thought it was insane.

But after last night?

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.

But… don’t get attached, Maddison. Rule number two.

“How do you know I can handle it?”

His hand slid down to my thigh. Gripped it. I gasped as his fingers dug in, his eyes practically stripping me bare.

“I’ve seen you, Maddison. You’re stronger than you realize.”

Yes he has. Every naked inch of me.

I swallowed.

“Do you do this with every escort you bring here?”

His eyes darkened. “No snooping, Maddison.”

Right. Rule number three.

Then he pulled out this little booklet from the side of the file.

Scribbled something fast, ripped out a page, and slid it across the table.

I picked it up… and froze.

Half. A. Million. Freaking. Dollars.

“What the….”

“It’s yours. No strings. Whether you sign or not.”

My brain? Screaming: RUN.

But my body? Oh, it was singing: STAY.

“If I leave, you still give me this?”

“Yes. I make that every 50 minutes. Money means nothing. But this”.... he tapped the paper….“means everything.”

I looked back at it.

Last night should’ve scared the shit out of me.

But here I was… wanting more.

God, help me.

“I can’t take this,” I said, sliding it right back across the table.

His brow darkened, eyes narrowing. “Why?”

“Ms. Sinclair already arranged my payment. Taking this would be like... double-dipping.”

He looked at me like I just insulted his bloodline. “You’re refusing more money, Ms Summers?”

Well... yeah. I’m not a cash-chaser.

Julia says that makes me stupid. She would chew off my head right now if she saw me turn down money.

But I’m my father’s daughter.

I nodded. “Yes, I am, Mr Van Halen.”

He didn’t blink. Just pushed the envelope back toward me. “Take the money, Ms. Summers.”

Oh, he’s commanding me now.

I hate when men do that.

Even though... It's different when he does it.

I pushed it right back, eyes steady. “I don’t want your money, Mr. Van Halen. I have enough.”

His jaw clenched. Then relaxed. Then he sighed like I’d drained a sliver of his patience.

“Fine. But let me make one thing clear….”

He leaned forward.

“You can walk away…. right now.”

My eyes landed on the dotted line. And I started mumbling excuses to myself. “It’s semester break. I don’t have to go back to school yet.” I don’t have to face Chad or Willow….

He let me talk. Let me spiral. Let me justify why I should let him ruin me.

Finally, I grabbed the pen. He caught my wrist.

“You have to be absolutely sure, Maddison. Because everything you knew about sex is about to be re-written and once you sign this, there’s no going back… until the final lesson is complete.”

If I could survive Chad cheating, my dad dying on my birthday, my mom being absent most of my life, I could survive this.

Whatever THIS is.

“I am sure,” I said.

He let go of my hand and I signed.

He stood so fast the chair screeched. Scooped me into his arms. My legs wrapped around him like they belonged there.

“I promise I won’t break you…” he whispered against my neck. “But you will take everything I give you, Maddison Summers.”

Oh, I wanted it. Everything I felt last night, I wanted to feel it again.

I moaned.

“Yes.”

He paused. “Yes what?”

“Yes, Master.”

He smirked.

“Good girl. Welcome to Lesson One.”

And just like that, I was carried into his dark complex, and my heartbeat hit a reckless rhythm.

His lips ghosted along my ear. “You have no idea what comes next…”