CHAPTER THREE

The Dimitri estate glittered, every chandelier spilled gold, and every surface gleamed as though polished only for tonight. Laughter hummed, glasses clinked, and silk gowns brushed against marbles of the ball room.

Elena smiled when she had to, lifting her champagne as though it were a shield. On the outside, she was perfect Adrian’s fiancée but inside her skin burned. Because across the room, Roth Dimitri watched her like his prey.

He didn’t bother hiding it. His gaze was fire and steel, stripping her, pinning her and daring her. When she shifted, his eyes followed. When she sipped her drink, his mouth curved in the faintest smirk, as though he remembered how she had tasted sweet, moaning into his mouth.

Adrian was gone, lost in business talk and laughing with his friends. Elena excused herself, her heels clicking down the corridor lined with portraits of the Dimitri men. She told herself she needed air and out of Roth’s preying eyes.

But the low rasp of his voice from behind her slid down her spine. “You keep running, Elena. And every time, you run straight to me.”

Her breath hitched. She turned, and there he was, filled the hallway, tall and merciless, his presence alone enough to trap her. He moved closer until her back pressed against a heavy wooden door. His palm braced the panel beside her head, completely caging her.

“This is where you belong,” he said, voice dark velvet. “Not hanging on my son's arm, smiling like a puppet. You belong here, pinned against my door. Waiting for me to decide what I’ll do with you.”

Elena's lips parted, words tangled on her tongue. She wanted to deny him, to throw his arrogance back in his face but his breath warmed her ear, and every argument died there.

“Say it,” he whispered. “Tell me you don’t dream about that night. Tell me you don’t wake up soaked, wishing it was my cock inside you again.”

Shame flooded her, hot and dizzying, because the truth burned too close. She hated him for saying it. She hated herself more for how her body trembled.

Roth’s mouth twisted in a knowing smirk. “That’s what I thought.”

The lock clicked. His other hand had turned it without her noticing. Then the door swung, and she was pulled into his study. The hush inside was suffocating. Books lined the walls, the scent of leather and smoke wrapped around her when roth shut the door with a solid thud.

He didn’t touch her at first. He paced, like a predator circling prey, slipping his tie loose and sliding it through his hand. Her gaze snagged on the movement, hypnotized. “Do you know how many times I’ve imagined bending you over that desk? Watching you break apart as I make you scream, Elena. Loud enough for everyone to hear and to shame you.”

Her grip tightened on the edge of the desk behind her. “You can’t—say things like that.”

“Why not?” His stare was merciless. “We both remember how you sound, begging for me that night.”

Her thighs pressed together at the memory. The hotel sheets, his mouth, his hand over hers when she clutched at the headboard as he pounded into her until she saw lights. The shameful rush of need betrayed her, and Roth saw it instantly.

“There it is,” he murmured, stepping in. “That ache you can’t hide from me.” He crowded closer until her back arched against the desk. His hand slid up her thigh, stopping just shy of where she throbbed. His restraint from touching further was worse than a touch. “You see?” His voice rumbled darkly. “Your body knows who it belongs to. Even if your lips keep lying.”

Elena's hands braced against his chest, trembling, not pushing him away but only holding herself together. “I’m engaged to your son.” Her voice cracked.

“And I’m the man who fucked you so good you still can’t breathe without thinking about it.” His words were a strike, filthy and cruel, but they lit her veins with fire.

Elena squeezed her eyes shut. The guilt was unbearable. And yet her pulse drummed with hunger.

His lips brushed her jaw. “Tell me you don't want this, Elena. Just one word, and I’ll walk away from you forver.” His mouth grazed her throat. “But you won’t. Because you want me to ruin you again”

Her body shook against his, her lungs scraped for air but the word never came.

“That’s my good girl,” he whispered. And then he devoured her mouth. The kiss was savage. His tongue demanded, his teeth scraped her mouth, and his grip on her hip was bruising. She moaned into him, raw, desperate, and shamed by how fast she melted. Roth swallowed it like victory and possession.

When he broke away, his lips trailed fire down her neck. He wrapped his silk tie around his hand, dragging it across her mouth, slowly. “One day I’ll bind you with this,” he growled. “Tie you open and make you mine”

Elena knees buckled. She shook her head weakly, but her lips parted against the silk, her body betraying her even as guilt clawed at her chest.

He smirked, pulling it away. “Not tonight. Tonight you’ll sit beside my son, smile pretty, and pretend.” His lips brushed her ear, breath hot. “But every time you cross your legs under that table, you’ll remember my hand in your cunt instead.”

A shudder ripped through Elena as he pressed one last slow kiss to her throat, leaving her marked. Then he stepped back, his heat gone, leaving her swaying against the desk.

“Go,” he ordered softly. “Go be Adrian’s fiancée. While I wait for you to admit you’re mine.”

Her legs barely carried her to the door. She lingered there for a second, hand trembling on the handle, breath shallow, and cheeks flushed.

When she stepped back into the glittering hall, the noise of laughter and clinking glasses rushed her like a lie. Adrian spotted her from across the room and smiled, oblivious to what had happened.

Elena smiled back at him, lifted her glass, curving her lips into the perfect mask. But inside, she was breaking. Because Roth was right. She was already his.