Chapter 3

JULIA

Tears pricked my eyes. My chest ached so hard it hurt to breathe.

“What should I do with you,” he murmured darkly, leaning closer until his breath fanned across my ear, “if you keep making rash moves, hm?”

His thumb brushed me, slow, deliberate, teasing in a way that made me gasp. A pathetic sound tore from my throat, part pleasure, part fear.

Marcus’s smirk deepened. “So sensitive.” his tone was threaded with amusement, but also something sharper, like hunger. “This obviously hurts.” his lips ghosted the shell of my ear as his voice dropped lower. “Bear with it.”

“Ahh!”

My heart slammed in my chest, erratic, frantic. My body trembled beneath him, torn between wanting to run and wanting to disappear inside the heat of him.

Then he pressed forward.

Agony ripped through me, white-hot and unbearable. My body seized, my nails clawing into his naked back as a strangled cry broke from my lips.

Marcus froze instantly, his chest heaving as though fighting himself. His jaw was tight, his brow furrowed.

“Christ.” he hissed the word, his eyes sharp, locked on my face. “You really are untouched.”

I couldn’t answer. My throat ached from holding back a sob, my entire body trembling under the weight of him.

Marcus’s face twisted with a mark of disbelief, with something rawer, almost primal. He braced a hand beside my head, knuckles whitening, as if it took everything in him not to pull away or to drive deeper all at once.

“Look at you,” he muttered, his voice rough, strained, like he was the one in pain. “So tight I can barely move.”

“P-Please,” I whispered, my voice breaking, tears finally spilling. “Don’t—don’t move… it hurts…”

For a moment, silence swallowed the room. His chest rose and fell hard, his breath a heavy rasp. He studied me with eyes that looked like they could cut me in half, disbelief still etched into every line of his face.

Then his lips curved, cruel and slow. “Hurts, huh?” his voice was low, mocking. “You begged for this, princess. You kissed me like you knew what you wanted.”

“I-I didn’t…” my words faltered, too broken, too soft.

“Yes, you did.” his hand slid down to my hip, fingers gripping hard enough to bruise. “And now you don’t get to back out.”

The pain throbbed. My body clenched desperately around him. I couldn’t stop the whimpers that escaped, couldn’t stop the way I shook beneath him.

“Oh..” Marcus groaned through clenched teeth, his forehead dropping briefly against mine. “Fuck. You’re going to kill me.” His voice cracked with tension. “So tight. So untouched. And you give yourself to me instead of him?”

My breath stuttered. My tears blurred my vision, but I forced my eyes open, meeting his. “J-just… don’t move. Please.”

His gaze burned into mine, and for the first time, I thought I saw a flicker of hesitation—just a flicker. But it vanished quickly, swallowed by that cruel, hungry gleam.

“Begging already,” Marcus rasped, his voice thick. “You really don’t know what you’ve done.”

He shifted slightly, and I gasped, the pain lancing sharper. “Ahh! Please!” My nails dug and scratched into his shoulders.

Marcus’s jaw tightened, his own breath breaking unevenly. “Fuck it,” he growled, half to himself, half to me. “I’m not the gentle type.”

He pulled back an inch, then pressed in again, slower but deeper, watching every flicker of pain across my face. My body arched involuntarily, the sheets twisting in my fists.

The ache was unbearable, tearing me apart, and yet… beneath it, heat began to coil, faint and traitorous.

“You feel that?” Marcus murmured against my ear, his voice dark and intoxicating. “That’s me, breaking you open. Making you mine.”

I whimpered, turning my face into the pillow, ashamed of the sounds spilling from me.

Why is he even saying this? Why do I feel so turned on…?.

“No hiding,” he ordered, grabbing my jaw and forcing me to face him again. His eyes burned, sharp and merciless. “You look at me when I take you. Understand?”

My lips trembled, but I nodded weakly.

Marcus smirked, satisfied, though his own restraint looked razor-thin. “Good girl.”

He rocked his hips again, steady, deliberate, dragging another strangled cry out of me. My legs shook uncontrollably, my body torn between agony and some new, overwhelming fire.

“See?” he whispered, his lips brushing my temple. “The pain fades. It always does. And when it does…” he thrust deeper, his voice dropping to a growl. “…you’ll beg for more.”

I shook my head, whimpering, but my body betrayed me, heat pooling low despite the sting.

“Ohh! Marcus! Ahh!”

Marcus’s laugh was low, disbelieving, edged with something dangerous. “Christ. You really are going to ruin me.”