Chapter 1

“What are you doing here?”

I choked out, my heart hammering a frantic, erratic rhythm against my ribs. I stared back at the man who had ruined my life with the same ease most people use to breathe.

He had been the one person that plagued my thoughts ever since I left my father's house 1095 days ago and now—now he was here. This was not possible at all.

Raze’s eyes didn't just look at me; they bore holes through my soul. Was this even real? He couldn't be here, in this room, standing on the rug I’d picked out with my fiancé.

His gaze raked over my body with a terrifying, predatory familiarity, claiming every inch of skin like I was his property all over again.

When those dark, bottomless orbs finally met mine, a slow, lazy smirk curled his lips. He was giving me a look that promised nothing but beautiful destruction.

“I missed you, princess,” he drawled, the vibration of his voice making the marrow in my bones ache. “Didn't you miss me?”

“I—I have a life now, Raze. Get out,” I stammered, but the words had no edge to them. Raze saw right through me and smiled.

“This isn't a life, Nyra. It’s a cage.” Before I could breathe, he moved. His hand fisted in my hair, tilting my head back with a sharp tug that made my eyes water. “And you’ve always loved being mine. You just forgot that. But don't worry. I'll remind you.”

He didn't wait for an answer. He threw me onto the bed, the mattress dipping violently under my weight. Before I could scramble back, he was over me, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand.

“Raze—please…” I whispered, not knowing whether I was begging him to take me or to leave. No matter how I acted like I didn't want him, my traitorous body had other plans.

His other hand disappeared beneath the hem of my shirt, his fingers rough and demanding as they found my pussy lips.

I let out a broken moan as he began to finger me, his touch devoid of any gentleness. He knew exactly where to press, exactly how to make me arch off the sheets in a desperate, shameful quest for more.

“Look at you, all wet and ready for me. You may say you don't want me but this fucking clit has missed me, hasn't she?” He whispered against my ear as he added another finger into me.

I let out another moan, not trusting my words. My hips met his fingers thrust after thrust. I could feel my orgasm rising deep within me. This was unlike anything I had felt with Magnus.

I couldn't deny that at all.

“Look at me,” he commanded, his voice a low growl. I opened my eyes, captivated by the hunger and pure malice flooding his gaze. “I’m going to fuck you so badly you won’t even remember that bastard’s name, baby. Do you want me to? Tell me you want it.”

“I can’t… Magnus…” I whimpered, the name of my fiancé feeling like a sin on my tongue.

“Fuck Magnus,” Raze hissed, his tone laced with venom. He shoved his fingers deep inside me, a brutal stretch that made me cry out. “Say it, Nyra. Tell me you want me to ruin you.”

“Yes,” I sobbed, my resolve shattering like glass. “Please—please fuck me, Raze.”

He didn't waste another second. With one quick move, he tore my T-shirt, his eyes devouring the sight of my trembling body. He pulled out that huge cock I had sucked on when we were still together.

My eyes didn't leave his dick. In fact, I wanted him inside me now more than ever. Raze must have noticed because he smirked and climbed back on the bed.

When he sank into me, it wasn't a reunion; it was an execution. He drove into me with a punishing, relentless pace that tore the air from my lungs.

“Oh God, Raze…” I moaned, not caring that I was fucking another man on the bed my fiancee and I shared.

Raze buried his face against my neck and fucked me like he had gone mad. “Fuck, baby I've missed this pussy. Does he fuck you the way I do? Did you miss the feel of my dick inside you?”

He asked and I moaned, not knowing what else to say. Raze grabbed my throat and then thrust inside me again and again and again.

Every thrust was a reminder of what I had tried to forget. I hated how much I missed the wreckage of him. I hated that I was screaming his name into the quiet of the room.

“Raze—don’t stop, please…” I moaned when he pulled out almost completely and slammed back inside me. This was pure torture and yet, I couldn't get enough.

Just as the white-hot peak of an orgasm shattered my vision and pulled a final, jagged scream from my throat, my eyes snapped open.

The silence of the room was deafening. The air smelled of expensive sandalwood and lavender, not the smoke and rain of my nightmare. But the pleasure was still there, racking my body in heavy, physical pulses that I couldn't stop.

The weight between my legs wasn't a ghost. It was Magnus. His head was dipped low, his tongue buried deep inside my pussy, working with a patient, rhythmic devotion that felt like a slap in the face.

A wave of crushing shame washed over me, followed by a hollow, bitter disappointment that it wasn't Raze. I felt like a traitor, dreaming about a monster while a good man worshipped me.

Magnus finally pulled away, his face flushed with affection. He slumped onto the mattress beside me, breathless. “I love you, Nyra,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” I lied, the words tasting like ash.

I slid off the bed, my skin crawling, and grabbed my phone. The screen illuminated the dark, revealing a missed call from a number I hadn't seen in 1,095 days.

All those days of silence from the man who raised me in a world of blood My father. My fingers shook as I hit redial. The line clicked open. “Father?”

“Nyra.” The voice was deep and cold, but it wasn't his. It was Silas, his second-in-command. “He’s gone. Your father is dead.”

The world tilted. My hand went numb, and I watched, detached, as the phone slipped from my palm and hit the floor with a dull, final thud.