PROLOGUE - NATASHA

My back hits the cold stone wall forcefully, knocking out the air in my lungs. Before I can catch my breath, Rael is right in front of me using his body to cage mine. 

“Back off, Rael.” I snap as I try to push him away. “I have already told you I don't want to talk to you.”

Before I can finish my statement, his hands grip mine and pin them above my head firmly. We are so close that I can feel the heat radiating from his body and I can't help but find it intoxicating as his pine scent fills my lungs, in contrast to the icy wall at my back.

"Ash," he murmurs with his deep, gravelly voice that could impregnate any willing female. I shiver as his hot breath caresses my ear. "Open your eyes and pay attention to who truly owns you."

Indignantly, I jerk against his grip and huff. "I have told you this so many times, I've lost count. You don't own me!”

I swear, as I say this, I am deadly serious, but the way my body betrays me tells a different story.

He raises a mocking eyebrow at me, and. allows his piercing gaze to drift down over my body.

From the angle he is standing, he has an ample view of my chest and I can feel his gaze as he traces the swell of my breasts beneath my shirt.

I squirm under his gaze as my shirt is straining as if begging to be undone because of the position I am in.

I wasn't expecting any of this tonight so I didn't wear a bra under my shirt, and now, I wish I did as the thin fabric did nothing to hide the hard peaks of my nipples.

‘This is bad.’ I think as I feel warmth pooling low in my belly and a dull ache between my thighs that makes me press my legs together. ‘This is really, really bad.’

Rael inhales sharply, and I know he can smell the scent of my arousal. When he looks back at me with darkened eyes, a slow, knowing smirk curves his lips.

The bastard.

"Then why," he whispers slowly, fanning his breath over my exposed throat, "does your body tell me otherwise?"

I clench my jaw, refusing to answer, but my body speaks for me as I get wetter and hotter.

My shirt had ridden up in our struggle, exposing my waist and my toned stomach to his watchful eye.

Almost immediately, he uses his free hand to skim his fingers, starting from just above my navel, down to the waistband of my joggers.

The touch is such a tease, so light I can barely feel it, yet it sends a shiver racing through me.

"You drive me insane," he mutters darkly, as if annoyed. “But, I like what I see.”

“What..?”

The next I know, his fingers elongate into claws that extend to hook onto my top button.

Pop.

The first button disappears.

My breath hitches in disbelief.

Pop.

The second one vanishes.

Before I can react, my shirt is opened and my breasts spill out, bouncing free before his hungry gaze.

“Rael!” I gasp, as his lips cover my left breast, grazing my sensitive nipples with his teeth and at the same time licking it with his tongue.

“Mmm.” I groan as I arch my back into him despite my brain telling me to stop. His hand push against my back to bring my breasts closer to his mouth.

A satisfied sound rumbles from his chest, delightfully sinful as I feel my arousal grow in response.

"Not seducing me, huh?" he murmurs against my boob, his tongue continuously flicking over the sensitive nipple.

I can feel my knees trembling as his actions make it harder to keep myself standing.

“I hate you, Rael.”

I hate how easily you unravel me... yet I want you to be my undoing.

“Natasha, I'm going to make sure you hate me more.”

I tremble beneath him as he says that, my arousal becoming worse as my body tenses with need. The throbbing between my legs becomes harder to ignore.

‘I should push him away.’ I argue with myself, but before I do or say anything…

Rael chooses that moment to nip hard at my nipple, and the whimpering sounds I make in response sound foreign to me. 

Rael groans against me as he tightens his hold on my wrists.

Dipping his head lower, his hot mouth claims my right breast and his breath feels scorching against my skin as his tongue traces slow, deliberate circles around my hardened nipple before nipping at it with his teeth.

"You're dangerous, Natasha," he murmurs against my skin, his voice low and rasping with need. "You make me forget myself."

I shudder involuntarily at his words as they send molten desire pooling deep in my core, causing my fingers to curl uselessly above my head, as my nails bite into my palms.

"Then, let me go,” I whisper, barely able to recognize my own voice.

He lifts his head, and I watch as his smoldering purple eyes darken deeper with a hunger that made my breath hitch.

‘Rael smirking at me should be illegal,’ I think as I watch a slow and sinful smirk stretch across his lips.

"Ash," he breathes softly, as he drags his free hand down my side roughly, sending another heat wave to my core. "If I let you go now, would you really run?"

I open my mouth to respond, but I can't say a word. Because the truth is, I don’t want to run.

And he knows it.

His grip on my wrists loosens, but before I can react, his hand trails lower, brushing his fingers just above the waistband of my joggers.

His touch is such a teaser that my stomach tightens, and I can't help but press my thighs together in desperation.

He chuckles darkly, obviously loving my reaction. "Your body speaks louder than your words, little spark."

"Stop calling me that," I bite out, turning my face away from him as I try to regain my composure.

"Then stop looking at me like you want me to ruin you, Natasha." He shoots back smoothly as he slips his thumb just beneath my waistband, and traces the sensitive skin beneath.

I inhale sharply, unable to speak as every nerve in my body stands on edge, burning under his touch, screaming for more.

Rael leans in, close enough for his lips to brush against the shell of my ear. "Tell me, Natasha.. do you really want me to stop?"

The way he calls my name with his velvet-wrapped temptation of a voice is a whisper of sin, sin that feels so good.

I want him to stop.

I don't want him to stop.

Goddess, this man is drowning me with his intensity!

The way his scent wraps around me, the way his body cages mine, the way his fingers tease my skin with the promise of devastation has all my resistance melting away quickly rather than slowly.

I should push him away.

But as he presses featherlight kisses over the base of my throat, the only sound that escapes me is a breathless, shuddering sigh.

His deep, wicked chuckle vibrates off my skin as he says, "That's what I thought.”