Prologue 00 One sinful night

"Ah… look at you, Cassandra," he said. "Just like a cat in heat."

He tossed his tie to the floor, removed his tuxedo jacket next, and kicked off his shoes.

I quickly pulled my fingers away from between my legs, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. When I tried to close my thighs, he approached and climbed onto the bed between them.

He grabbed the hand I had been using. "How does it make you feel?"

My lips trembled. "W-what—"

"Knowing that no matter how hard you try to touch yourself, you’re still starving for the real thing?

My breath caught when he pushed my fingers into his mouth, licking the juices that coated them.

I stared at his lips while releasing a shaky breath, feeling his warm tongue glide along my fingers. He hummed, closing his eyes as if he just tasted a luxurious delicacy. My body felt unbearably sensitive, my underwear already soaked.

"I've changed my mind," he said once he released my fingers with a pop

With one hand, he removed his belt from his pants. Then he grabbed both of my wrists and tied them together with it.

I couldn't look away from his hypnotizing eyes.

A slow smile spread across his lips as he finished tying my wrists.

Deep down, I knew what he was planning.

And I was waiting for it.

"I don't care if you have a boyfriend…" he whispered, "or if you're engaged or f*cking married..."

I gasped when he suddenly grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me closer. Our noses touched and brushed together, his breath hitting my lips from how close we were.

I thought he was finally going to kiss me, so I closed my eyes.

But his lips never came.

Instead, his husky whisper reached my ear.

"I’m taking you, and by the time I’m done, you won’t even remember anyone else’s name."

He paused, biting my ear and licking before whispering in my ear.

"I had you first, and the thought of someone else being where I wished and desired to be all those f*cking years... it wasn't fair. I was the one who had always been there for you, Cassandra."

My eyes softened, wanting to touch him but the rough leather of his belt biting into my wrists prevented me, pinning them together as he hovered over me.

His proximity was a drug, and even with my hands bound, I found myself leaning into the heat radiating from his chest.

The reality of my life outside this room—the responsibilities I carried alone after my parents disowned me, the past that I still need to continue to bury, the child I had hidden from the world, and the fact that the man above me was my boss —felt like a fading dream.

Here, under the weight of his gaze and the restriction of his belt, there was only the raw truth of what he was doing to me.

"I had you first," Adrien repeated, his voice vibrating against my skin, sending a fresh wave of heat straight to my core. "That means you're f*cking mine."