Chapter 61: Edge of the Blade

The sleek black sedan cleared the subterranean garage of The Vault, its engine humming low as the driver navigated into the late-night traffic.

Inside the rear cabin, the air was suffocatingly thick. The heavy privacy glass was raised, blocking out the front seat entirely and locking Xavier and Selah into a private world heavy with residual power and unspent adrenaline.

Xavier didn't say a word. The moment the car smoothed out onto the main avenue, he reached across the leather interior, taking Selah by the back of the neck and pulling her flush against his chest.

Selah leaned into him, her heart hammering against her ribs as his lips met hers in a hard, bruising kiss. She tasted the edge of the victory on his tongue—dark, intense, and demanding.

When he finally pulled back just an inch, his dark eyes burned into hers before dropping to the silk of her dress.

Without breaking eye contact, his heavy right hand slid down her torso and under the hem of her split dress. Selah let out a sharp, quiet breath as his large, warm palm brushed up the smooth skin of her thigh, moving deliberately until his fingers found the lace of her panties.

"Xavier..." she whispered, her voice laced with a sudden, breathless heat.

"You sat across from Mercer and made him sweat, corazón," Xavier growled low, his voice a dark rumble against her ear as his hand slid beneath the lace, finding her already slick and hot.

His thumb stroked over her center, finding a slow, deliberate rhythm that made Selah’s hips tilt off the leather seat. The luxury sedan glided through the quiet city streets, but inside the back seat, Xavier worked her body with devastating precision. He knew every nerve, every reaction. He pushed her higher, his thumb applying a firm, rhythmic pressure that brought her right to the razored edge of an explosive peak.

Selah’s knuckles turned white as she gripped his arm, her head thrown back against the headrest, her breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps. "Xavier... please—"

Right as the first wave of release hovered at the crest, Xavier pulled his hand away completely.

Selah let out a needy, frustrated gasp, her eyes snapping open, dazed and burning with protest. "You didn't..."

"Not in the back of a car," Xavier murmured, his voice thick and rough as he leaned in to press a hot kiss to the pulse point on her neck. "You're going to get every single drop of what you earned, but you're getting it inside."

By the time the sedan pulled through the iron gates of the residence, Selah was completely undone—hot, bothered, and aching for him.

The second the heavy front doors locked behind them, all restraint shattered.

There was no walk to the stairs. Selah grabbed the collar of Xavier's shirt, ripping the remaining buttons open as she shoved him back against the heavy mahogany paneling of the foyer. Xavier didn't fight her; he let out a low, dark laugh against her throat as his hands stripped her dress down her shoulders, letting the fine fabric pool at her ankles.

Selah dropped to her knees right there in the warm dim light of the entryway.

Xavier’s breath hitched, his hands instantly tangling in her hair as she unbuckled his belt and pushed his trousers down. When her warm, wet mouth slid over him, taking him deep with a slow, ruthless suction, a harsh, guttural groan tore from his chest.

"Selah..." he choked out, his fingers tightening in her hair, his hips instinctively flexing forward as she set a blistering rhythm, using her lips and tongue to drive him to the absolute brink of his sanity.

He couldn't take it. He reached down, hooking his hands under her arms, and hauled her up against him, lifting her off her feet.

Selah wrapped her legs securely around his waist, her back pressed flat against the wall as Xavier guided himself to her entrance. With one heavy, unyielding drive of his hips, he buried himself full-length inside her.

Selah cried out, the sharp, exquisite stretch filling the void he had left in the car. The sudden, total connection sent her straight over the edge he’d teased her with minutes before. Her inner muscles clamped down hard around him in violent, rippling waves of pleasure.

Feeling her walls contract around him shattered Xavier’s last thread of control. Holding her suspended against the wall, he hammered into her with deep, relentless thrusts, taking her mouth in a wild, possessive kiss that swallowed her breathless cries.

Every stroke was hard, possessive, and raw. They burned through the adrenaline together until Xavier drove deep one last time, a low growl echoing through the quiet foyer as his own climax hit him, pouring everything into her as they held each other tight in the dark.

Later, the quiet of the master suite upstairs was soft and absolute.

Selah lay curled against Xavier’s chest under the cool sheets, her body thoroughly exhausted and completely satisfied. Xavier’s arm was wrapped securely around her waist, his chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm as his lips rested against her forehead.

A soft, discreet knock sounded at the heavy bedroom door—Marcus’s signature code.

Xavier pulled on a pair of dark sweatpants and opened the door just an inch.

Marcus stood in the dim hallway, holding a secure datapad. "Mercer just boarded his jet back to Switzerland. But his office just initiated a massive transfer request to their primary European clearinghouse to force a Zurich board vote."

From the bed, Selah pulled the sheet up over her chest, her eyes sharp and clear once again. "Then we don't wait for him to call the vote," she said softly.

Xavier turned back toward her, a slow, dark smile touching his lips.

"Call Damaris," Xavier told Marcus, his tone absolute. "Tell her to prep the transatlantic filings. If Mercer wants to take this to Zurich, we take the flight to Geneva on Monday."