Chapter 2

NATALIA POV

The morning sun felt too bright, the air too crisp, the world far too ordinary after everything that had happened. I woke up in my small bedroom, my body still aching, my lips still swollen, and every time I closed my eyes, I saw him — the stranger in the shadows, his heavy gaze, his rough touch, the way he had kissed me as if he meant to consume me entirely.

I did not even know his name.

I had fled the moment I regained my senses, pushing him away and running blindly into the night, leaving him standing there confused and breathless. I had not looked back. I had not stayed to see his face clearly. I only knew that he was tall, broad-shouldered, and that his touch had awakened something inside me that I did not want to acknowledge.

And now… now I had to face the world. I had to pretend that my heart had not been shattered by Marco, that I had not been ravished by a stranger in the dark, that everything was still the same.

“Natalia? Are you awake, dear?” My mother’s voice drifted through the door, bright and unusually cheerful. “Come down quickly! There is someone very important I want you to meet.”

I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes. “Coming, Mother.”

I splashed cold water on my face, trying to wash away the traces of tears and sleeplessness. I dressed in a simple dress, took a deep breath, and walked downstairs. Whatever this was… I would get through it. I had to.

The moment I stepped into the living room, my feet froze on the wooden floor. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it might break free.

Standing beside my mother, tall and impossibly commanding, was a man I had never thought I would see again.

He was no longer disheveled, no longer swaying unsteadily, no longer hidden in the shadows. He stood there in a tailored black suit that fit his broad frame perfectly, his dark hair neatly combed, his posture straight and proud. But it was his face that made my knees buckle — the same strong jawline, the same intense, dark eyes, the same stern expression that had haunted my dreams all night.

It was him.

The stranger. The man who had pulled me into the alley. The man who had kissed me until I forgot my own name.

And he was looking at me now with an expression that sent a shiver racing down my spine — his eyes widening slightly, darkening with recognition, and then… burning with something that looked dangerously like possession.

“Natalia?” My mother’s voice pulled me back to reality. She smiled warmly, gesturing toward the man beside her. “Come, meet Mr. Drakon Vance. He is the man I told you about — the one I have been seeing lately.”

The floor seemed to tilt beneath me.

The man she was seeing?

My mother stepped forward, her hand resting gently on his arm, her eyes shining with happiness. “Natalia, this is Drakon. And Drakon… this is my daughter, Natalia.”

Drakon Vance turned his head slowly toward me, his gaze sweeping over me from head to toe, heavy and deliberate. He took a step forward — one slow, powerful step — and extended his hand. His voice was deep, smooth, and terrifyingly calm as he spoke.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Natalia.”

His voice. Even his voice — deeper now, steady, without the thick slur of alcohol — was the same voice that had whispered don’t fight me against my lips last night.

I stared at his outstretched hand. The same hand that had held my face, that had tangled in my hair, that had pulled me flush against his body. I could not breathe. I could not speak. My mind was spinning, screaming that this could not be happening — that the man I had shared that dark, reckless moment with was now standing here, introduced to me as my mother’s boyfriend.

“Natalia?” My mother sounded confused. “Shake his hand, dear. Don’t be rude.”

I forced myself to move, forced my trembling fingers to wrap around his large, warm palm. The moment our skin touched, a jolt of electricity shot through me, sharp and undeniable. His grip was firm, lingering just a second longer than necessary, his thumb brushing lightly over my knuckles in a way that felt anything but innocent.

“Hello,” I managed to say, my voice barely above a whisper.

Drakon did not let go immediately. He held my hand, his dark eyes locking onto mine, searching, probing, as if he were seeing right through me — as if he could still feel my lips beneath his, still feel the way my body had trembled against him.

“We have met before, have we not?” he asked, his voice low, carrying a quiet challenge that only I could understand.

My heart stopped. He remembers.

“N-no,” I stammered, quickly pulling my hand away as if burned. “I… I think you are mistaken.”

A corner of his mouth curved upward — a faint, knowing smirk that made my blood run hot and cold at the same time. “Is that so? I could have sworn…”

“Drakon has been so wonderful to me, Natalia,” my mother chimed in happily, completely unaware of the silent war raging between us. “He has been helping me with the business, taking care of everything… truly, I never thought I would find someone like him. Someone so kind, so generous, so…” She blushed, looking up at him with adoration in her eyes. “So everything I have ever wanted.”

Every word she spoke felt like a knife twisting in my chest. She looked at him with such pure, trusting love. And he… he stood there, calm and composed, his eyes never leaving mine, as if waiting for me to crack, to break, to reveal everything.

“I am very happy for you, Mother,” I said, forcing a smile that felt like it would shatter any second.

Drakon watched me closely. “I hope you will be happy for us both, Natalia. I intend to take very good care of your mother. And… of this family.” He paused, his gaze dropping slowly to my lips, lingering there deliberately. “Every single member of it.”

The implication hung in the air, heavy and dangerous. He knew. He remembered everything. And now… he was here. In my house. With my mother.

“Drakon will be joining us for dinner tonight,” my mother said cheerfully. “Isn’t that wonderful? We can all get to know each other better.”

I felt like I was going to be sick. “I… I am not sure if I can—”

“Of course you can,” Drakon cut in smoothly, his tone leaving no room for refusal. “I would be very disappointed if you were not there, Natalia. After all… we have so much to talk about.”

He turned his head and smiled at my mother — a warm, charming smile that did not reach his eyes. “Do not worry, Elena. I will make sure your daughter feels right at home with me. We are going to be… very good friends.”

My heart sank. This was not over. This was only just beginning.

Dinner came, and with it, the longest, most excruciating hours of my life. Drakon sat across from me at the table, every movement deliberate, every glance loaded with meaning. He was the perfect gentleman toward my mother — attentive, affectionate, charming — but whenever her attention was elsewhere, his gaze would find mine, dark and intense, reminding me without a single word of what had happened between us.

He knew. And he was not sorry.

Later that evening, as Drakon prepared to leave, my mother walked him to the door. I stayed in the living room, pretending to busy myself with a book, my heart pounding furiously in my chest. I just wanted him to leave. I wanted him to walk out that door and never come back. I wanted to wake up and realize this had all been nothing but a terrible nightmare.

But then my mother turned back to fetch something from the kitchen, leaving Drakon and me alone in the hallway for just a moment.

He stepped closer. One long stride, and he was standing right in front of me, towering over me, his presence overwhelming.

“You thought I would not recognize you?” he whispered, his voice low and rough, sending shivers straight through me. “You thought I would forget the girl who ran away from me last night?”

I stepped back until my back hit the wall. “Please… do not speak of it. You are with my mother. This is wrong.”

“Wrong?” He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his warm breath fanning over my lips — the very same lips he had kissed senseless only hours ago. “What happened between us… was far from wrong, Natalia. It was inevitable. And I intend to finish what we started.”

“You cannot,” I whispered, trembling. “She loves you. She trusts you.”

Drakon lifted one hand, his finger tracing the line of my jaw slowly, deliberately, making my breath hitch.

“She does not know you the way I am beginning to,” he murmured, his gaze fixed on my mouth. “She does not know how soft your skin is. She does not know the sounds you make when you are kissed properly. She does not know…” He leaned closer, his lips brushing my ear, sending a wave of heat crashing through me. “…that you belong to me now.”

Before I could reply, before I could even find my voice, he pulled back, his expression shifting instantly back to calm and composed as my mother returned to the hallway.

“Goodnight, Natalia,” Drakon said loudly, his tone polite and proper — yet his eyes remained locked on mine, burning with a dark, unspoken promise. “I will see you very soon.”

And with one last lingering look, he walked out the door.

I stood there long after he had gone, my hand pressed to my chest, my heart racing uncontrollably. He was my mother’s boyfriend. He was supposed to be off-limits. He was forbidden in every way that mattered.

But as I closed my eyes, all I could feel was the ghost of his touch, the memory of his kiss, and the terrifying realization that this was far from over.

Drakon Vance had not forgotten. And he was not going to let me go.

 

TO BE CONTINUE