Chapter three

The car rolled through the iron gates of Hood Creek Estate. Sterling sat opposite me in the back seat, his profile sharp against the dim light filtering through the tinted windows.

His blue eyes were fixed on some distant point beyond the windshield, unreadable.and then it moved towards me, like static electricity.

"You're pale," he observed, his voice low and smooth.

My fingers tightened on my lap. "I'm fine."

“Spend the night with me. Will you?” He said, inching closer to me, sniffing the scent of my hair.

My heart hammered against my ribs. If I stayed, if I let him in, I was betraying the ghost of the kiss Harris had just pressed into my soul.

But as Sterling’s hand moved from my chin to the nape of my neck, his thumb grazing the sensitive skin there, a different kind of hunger flared in my gut. It wasn't just desire, it was a desperate need to be anchored and held by someone and fill up the desire Harris had left me in.

"Yes," I whispered, the word barely a breath.

The door to his bedroom clicked shut behind us, sealing out the rest of the world. The room was vast, lit only by the silver moonlight spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Sterling didn't wait. He turned me toward him, his movements fluid and commanding. His hands found my waist, pulling me flush against the hard planes of his body. I gasped, my hands instinctively clutching the lapels of his suit jacket.

"You've been trembling since we left the venue," he murmured, his voice dropping an octave, vibrating deep in his chest. He leaned down, his lips hovering just inches from mine.

"Is it fear, Vanessa? Or is it something else?"

He didn't give me time to overthink. His mouth crashed against mine, swallowing any protest or hesitation I might have voiced.

Unlike Harris's desperate, clumsy kiss, Sterling's was measured, deliberate, like he was a man claiming what was already his, by contract. His tongue slid against mine, slow and deep, tasting me thoroughly, gasp escaping my lips.

I made a sound, something between a gasp and a moan as my fingers curled into the fabric of his jacket.

He pulled back just enough to speak, his breath hot against my swollen lips. "This dress has been driving me mad all evening," he growled, his hands moving to the zipper at the back.

"I've been imagining peeling it off you since the ceremony."

My skin prickled as cool air met heated flesh. Sterling pushed the silk of my shoulders, letting it pool at my feet. I stepped out of it, suddenly feeling exposed in just my lace bra and panties. His eyes raked over me slowly, possessively, like he was memorizing every curve.

"Beautiful," he muttered, running a finger along the edge of my bra. Then, without warning, he lifted me into his arms and carried me to the massive bed, laying me down gently against the crisp sheets.

He followed, caging me in his arms as he hovered above me. "Tell me what you need, Vanessa," he said, his voice rough with restraint. "Tell me how to make you forget about everything except me."

The irony wasn't lost on me. Here was my husband, asking me to forget about the man whose kiss I'd been drowning in just hours ago. But as Sterling's hand trailed down my body, his touch both tender and demanding, I realized I didn't remember Harris. My body ached to be consumed by the man above me, the one who chose me, claimed me, and owned me.

"Touch me," I breathed, arching into his palm. "Please, Sterling."

A slow smile spread across his face. "As my wife wishes."

His hands roamed freely now, mapping my body like territory he was staking claim to.

When he finally slipped beneath the lace of my panties, his fingers found me already wet not from Harris's kiss, but from the sheer overwhelming presence of the man touching me now.

"Good girl," he purred against my neck, his fingers working slow circles that had me writhing beneath him.

Sterling paused mid-kiss, his hand still cupping my breast. His breathing was heavy, but when he pulled back, his expression had shifted into something calculating, still heated, but with an edge of danger.

"We should stop," he said, his voice low and steady despite the obvious strain in his jaw.

I blinked up at him, confused. "What? Why?"

He withdrew completely, sitting back on his heels. His blue eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made me feel naked in more than just the physical sense.

"Because you're not here. Your body is, but your mind..." He shook his head slowly.

"Wherever you are right now, Vanessa, it isn't with me."

My cheeks flushed hot with shame and frustration. "That's not true. I…”

"It is." He cut me off, rising to his feet and buttoning his shirt with precise, controlled movements. "You keep tensing up. Flinching at certain touches. Thinking about something or someone else."

The accusation hung in the air like smoke. My throat constricted around words that wouldn't come.

"So here's what's going to happen," Sterling continued, his tone shifted.

”We're going to bed. Separately. And tomorrow, you're going to tell me exactly who you were in that bathroom with at the reception."

I froze, every muscle in my body became rigid.

"The cameras caught everything," he added quietly.

"Including the fact that you left through the back exit, the one that leads directly to the parking lot. Convenient, given that Harris left five minutes later."

My blood ran cold. Of course Sterling would have surveillance everywhere.

He moved toward the door, pausing with his hand on the frame, his eyes locking into mine.

Without looking back, he spoke again "I won't ask again. But know this, Vanessa, whatever you're hiding, whatever happened with Harris... It ends tonight. You're mine. And I protect what's mine. Even from itself."