4— One-Night Stand.

~Elowen POV~

I can see the smug that never left his face. He watched me. I feared he would see how my chest rose and fell in an attempt to catch a good breath.

I could sense the curiosity in him or skepticism...something I could barely decipher until I felt the tip of his fingers on my jaw. Brushing the corners of my lips with his thumb, he pulled me against his body, making a gasp escape my lips.

What was he doing?

"Very well then. I'll do what you asked of me." He said, raised a brow, and lifted his head.

Slowly, he moved away from me, giving me the privilege to entice my sight while he removed every piece of clothing shielding his fair skin, and only stopped when it was that one piece that barely hid his predator now popping out between his legs.

For a split second, a hot lump went down my throat burning so hot I could barely carry my own feet.

I wasn't expecting the shivers running down my spine.

How could a one-night stand be so breathtaking? Come on, what's wrong with me? I needed to get my act together.

Perhaps, if I had been given a chance to see who my arranged husband was, maybe I would have given a second thought to what I was about to do, something that would ruin the career I had worked so hard to build for years.

But no. Not for once have I gotten a chance to.

All I knew was the stories told about him, stories that never ceased to bring fear to me since the day my father told me I would be getting married to Owen Vitmoz.

There is no way I would be a toy to pay my father's debt by accepting a marriage with such a man.

I'd rather end my career than spend the rest of my life with him.

I'd rather sleep with this handsome stranger, lose my dreamed first night, and end myself in a scandal than marry that man.

"Aren't you going to..." The man before me spoke and paused, making his remaining words known by tilting his head to one side in question.

I gulped hard suddenly realizing how I had strayed just staring at his sexiness I never knew would tingle my body.

I don't know why. Was it because I had never let any man have me that made my body tingle this much, that made me shiver just staring at him?

I remember, sometimes, Emily would be shocked at how I made it through four boyfriends without doing it.

My first boyfriend had begun in the innocence of high school but ended too soon when he left the country with his family, disappearing from my life before we could even begin. Up till now, we lost contact and never spoke to each other again.

The second even before we could do anything, shattered my confidence in my college days. He walked away with cruel words, calling me 'too much' and 'not enough' all at once, only to spiral into his own downfall. Sonofabitch got arrested after being caught with hard drugs. A bitter irony I never quite forgot because he almost got me involved.

The third...love in its purest– would have worked until the night which would have fulfilled the first night I had always dreamed of. The moment I'd finally waited for was shattered the same night because his parents had found us together.

Davis had loved me enough to sacrifice everything, even his own family just to be with me. However, how could I have let him do that when another woman was already heavy with his eight-month-old child? A truth forced into existence by betrayal.

His parents, long before I knew, had already promised him to another woman and despised us enough to drug him, orchestrating a pregnancy to force him into marriage.

I tried again, falling into the arms of my fourth. He loved me, he said, but not enough to be faithful—to dedicate himself only to me. Fame had made him selfish; he refused to give up the endless attention of other women. So, I walked away.

That was even, because I knew that a part of my heart still belonged to Davis while I dated him.

Even after two months of knowing him, I couldn't bring myself to give him that first night. Sometimes… I wondered if I'd been too selfish. But I couldn't deny that up till today my feeling for Davis never died. Sometimes I regret letting him go.

Ever since my fourth, I had given up on relationships and focused on building my career till I find a man who will understand my self-worth, if there ever will be.

Focus, Elowen. You need to get this done with. I chided myself and then remembered there was something I was missing. The camera.

Quickly I set the camera in a good position so as not to miss the scene.

Before I could turn back toward him, the ground vanished beneath my feet. Again, a startled gasp tore from my throat as he lifted me with sudden force, and in the next breath, my legs were wrapped around his waist, his hands firm on my ass like I paid him to own it too.

Before words could leave my mouth he kissed me deliberately. Like he needed to stir the moment. Stir something in me.

My pupils flared at the shock of his movement, my heart pounding so violently it felt as though it might break free from my chest.

My brows knitted even more.

Then, I saw his gaze travelling down my body, as if he was making a mental note of every step he took.

He began tracing his fingers along the lines of my jaw, coming to rest them just below my cleavage making my belly knot at his action.

And then suddenly, he stopped and brought my feet to meet the floor again.

I cursed at the erratic beating of my heart, the unimaginable effect he was having on me.

"I wouldn't mind helping you strip if you aren't going to do it yourself?" His voice dripped with a demand that felt more like a command instead of a request.

My hands flew to my zip instantly but suddenly paused at my own actions.

I cursed at myself for not having control. Did I tell him I paid him to also stir an arousal?

My eyes tore on the man in front of me, something building inside of me. I didn't know what it was at the moment. Anger or hunger...But I was sure that if it wasn't Emily who recommended him to me, I swear to have lashed out and ordered him out and stopped this shit with him.

I was supposed to be the one in command, and him obey my rule, not the other way around.

However, the way those very eyes pinned me to the spot, I found myself obeying every single command he made.

Instinctively, my eyes blinked, recalling that I told myself I would not follow this process. Only having in mind to be done in just one minute and not this sudden romantic process.

There was nothing to be romantic about with a stranger when I was about to betray myself. Was he even...

My thoughts and breath hitched, noticing his hand now drew the lines of my smooth thigh making it under my skirt.

My eyes flew wide at his fingers on the strip of the little piece of clothing being suddenly ripped from underneath my skirt, sending the warm biting air without notice.

My hands found their way up on his neck in an attempt to get a hold of myself when I felt something wet on my lips and next a sudden poke from between where my legs involuntarily welcomed the motion.

My own response to his actions came as a shock to me. I wasn't supposed to be feeling this moment of betrayal, but this strange one-night was sending every feeling to my bones. Making me do things more than I wanted to do.

Before I could count minutes, every piece of clothing on my body was undone.

"This can be a one-night stand, but don't worry, I will make sure to make it a memorable one," He leaned and whispered into my ear. Before I could think of speaking, he pinned me to the bed and began controlling every motion, every inch of my body.