Chapter One

“342…342…340…” Thea muttered, staring down the brightly lit hotel hall with blurred vision. She could still hear the loud music from her engagement hall, echoing through the floors.

Her breath came out harsh and rugged, her skin tingled against her dress making her feel even more irritated! She wanted to claw at her skin; she wanted to take it off, but not here.

Not now.

The air in her lungs was hot and uncomfortable, suffocating the life out of her and driving her insane!

How the hell did this happen? One minute, she was in the hall downstairs, celebrating her engagement with her childhood crush, Rune Sterling; the next, she was offered a glass by Posy, and her skin started to crawl with heat and enormous pain.

The evening had started off relatively well and Thea was very much in her element, taking a few shots of liquor and enjoying the evening.

“She's so lucky to be engaged in that family! I would kill to be a daughter-in-law of the Sterlings!” One of the guests had gushed as she admired Thea Balmero, the second granddaughter of the Balimero family.

Despite feeling really tipsy, Thea had stood upright in her lovely evening gown that graced her delicate skin. Her smile, polite and her words graceful, she's the model child of the Balmeros, and now she is to become the daughter-in-law to the Sterlings, another large conglomerate in the country.

A subtle smile had graced her lips as she twirls the contents of her champagne flute.

She still couldn't believe it; she was truly engaged to her childhood crush, Rune Sterling, and their engagement party was far beyond her dreams. It was hosted at Regal Hotels which housed the most expensive wedding hall in the country.

Their families have been close friends for generations; thus, marrying her off to Rune to solidify their family-company merger was the right thing to do.

Thea had scanned her guests with a polite smile on her face, looking for the man she would soon call her husband. She had enough glasses for one night and she wanted to head to her hotel room.

“Congratulations Thea! I'm so happy for you!” Posy, her step-sister, had shrieked in excitement while holding onto two glasses of liquor.

“Thank you! I'm so glad you're here. Have you seen Rune? I can't seem to find him.” Thea asked.

“Oh. I think he escorted Mum and Dad to the parking lot. You should try these out! They are really good!” Rosy hands Thea a glass and takes the almost empty glass of champagne away from her.

Thea giggled. “What is this?”

“A little something from me to you! You need to unwind, girl! It's your last night of being single; take it!” Posy washed down her glass and Thea had followed suit blindly.

A smirk dances on Posy's lips as she watches her stepsister gulp down the entire content of her glass. Her plan was working.

Thea had winced as the warm liquor washed down her throat. It felt unfamiliar, cold, and..sweet.

And the rest was history.

Here she was, fighting for her life, desperate to find somewhere cold to get rid of the heat in her body.

Leaning on the wall, she dragged her body forward, looking for her room, the one she had booked earlier that day to get ready for her big night...

“340…340…” she muttered, struggling to match the number on the doors she stumbled by.

She should have called her fiance, Rune Sterling. He would have helped her to the room or better yet, her best friend Daisy. But neither of them were in the hall.

Hell, she couldn't stay another moment in that crowd after that drink! She had to leave, and fast.

Thea glanced up and sighed on seeing her room, she scanned the key to her room and stumbled into the room, shutting the door behind her.

Her skin began to crawl, her legs losing the last bit of stamina she had as she pushed the door leading into the bedroom...

“Clothes….I need to….”

Thea fumbled with the zipper of her dress; she needed to sit in the tub and run a bath of cold water.

Maybe the heat would subside; maybe she'd be sane again.

She kicked off her shoes and yanked the hair tie that clipped her luscious dark brown hair into a neat updo out with little to no effort. She returns to her zipper again, desperate to get out of this dress and finally, she pulls it down.

“What are you doing in my room?” A cold voice asked from the entrance into the bathroom just as her dress fell to the ground.

Thea's eyes met his briefly; he was soaking wet from a recent shower, water droplets falling down from his jet-black hair, and his deep blue eyes studied her in silence…

‘He's…so hot..’

Her eyes traveled down to the towel that hung around his waist, she would give anything to be that towel…

From her luscious breast cupped in a lacey bra to her slender waist and voluptuous thighs, she looked incredible; he couldn't take his eyes off her even if he tried.

He chuckled, folding his arms. “Did Arian send you?”

His deep voice sent shivers down her spine, making her wet without that much of an effort.

Thea's breathing became heavy as her eyes roamed his body. She tries to approach him but ends up stumbling to the ground. Luckily, the man caught her in time, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to his body.

His look of nonchalance was replaced with concern. “Are you drunk?”

Thea stared at him in silence, lips dry and eyes hungry for the one thing her body had been craving desperately for the last ten minutes.

She ran her fingers over his lips slowly, watching his eyes dilate at her touch.

“Kiss me..” she muttered.

He glanced down at her lips; they looked inviting, pink, and soft. Hell, he would kiss her if she wasn't so wasted.

“I think you need to relax and..”

Thea leans closer to him, placing a soft and moist kiss on his lips. His lips parted slightly, allowing her tongue to slip inside. She lasted like liquor both sweet and intoxicating. Their bodies pressed together heatedly against the wall, breathing heavily as their lips pressed together. Her lips were soft, almost silky, and pillowy against his. He could feel the soft tickle of her breath beneath his nose, fingers carding through her hair.

It was only a matter of time before he started to feel the heat she felt too, an uncontrollable wild desire for sex...

‘Was she…’

His thoughts vanished when she teased his lips with her tongue, making his breath seize as he pulled her closer to deepen the kiss.

He lifts her off the ground, heading over to the sofa. He wasn't sure he could make it over to the bed, which was at the farthest end of the huge bedroom.

Every taste felt addictive, and neither of them wanted it to end.

He pulls her thighs up to his waist, placing her on the work table in the corner. His eyes studied her, drunk with the intensity of their kiss and the softness of her skin.

Her eyes stared longingly into his, desperate for more but he shook his head. Whatever she was on, he got a tiny dose of it from that kiss…

Thea pulled the strap of her bra down, one shoulder after the other, exposing her breast to him. His eyes studied her nipples in silence, his finger tracing a line around it. She arched back; every inch of her was sensitive.

He could tell.

He cupped it in his hands and worshipped her with his tongue, licking and teasing her with slightly parted lips.

“Fuck me. Please..” she moaned.

His eyes met hers, he wanted more than anything to thrust into her, deep and hard..

“Are you sure about this? There's no going back from this, young lady..”

“I'm sure,” Thea replied.

“There's no one-time thing with me. If we do this, you're mine. Mine to pleasure, mine to have. Mine.”

Thea whispered against his lips. “Make me yours.. "