CHAPTER 3

Thalia woke up to the first rays of sunshine filtered through the windows of the Valentino’s suite with the possessive weight of Julian’s arm draped around her waist. For a moment, she forgot where she was until she felt the heat of the man beside her. He was still very much asleep, his breathing deep and steady for the first time since she’d arrived. He looked innocent in his sleep.

She carefully slid out of his arms, her body aching in places that reminded her exactly how she had spent her night with the drugged deranged man. She made her way to the bathroom and found his robe on the hanging, shrugged into it, and went back to the room.

Sitting on the bed, she grabbed her phone from her purse… ready to call Gigi. No service.

“Damn it.” She hissed,walking to the heavy doors. She pulled. Nothing. "Still as good as dead.”

“The bio-security jammer is working perfectly, and It won’t open until the city clears the Code Red Protocol.” a voice spoke from the bed.

Thalia turned to see Julian sitting up, the sheet pooled around his waist. The dark, drugged haze was gone now. His blue eyes were piercing, clear, and currently fixed on her with a frightening level of focus. He looked at the robe she was wearing, his face went blank as the memories of the night clearly flooded back.

Letting out a sigh, "So I'm going to be trapped in here with a supposed client for how long?" 

"Mr. Valentino," Thalia said, reclaiming her cool mask. "Glad to see you’ve returned, and the drug seems to have finally let go of your throat."

Julian rubbed a hand over his face, a long, weary sigh escaping him. "It has. Along with my dignity,  I guess."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, atleast you had a good time." she smirked, walking toward the mini-bar to fix a shot of espresso. "You were quite... thorough. But I hope you also remember that my thirty-minute alarm went off five hours ago."

She leaned against the counter, the steam from the coffee rising between them. "The first thirty minutes cost you ten thousand. For the next forty hours? My rate has gone up. Significantly."

Julian let out a dry chuckle. "You’re trapped in a lockdown with a billionaire during a city-wide crisis, and your first thought is the cash?"

"In this city, Julian, the only thing that’s more dangerous than a murderer on the loose is a woman who works for free." She took a sip of the coffee. "So, do we sign a new contract for the next 48 hours or not? Or do we just sit in silence and wait till they let us out?”

Julian stood up, no longer caring about his nakedness, walking toward her with his usual powerful stride that commanded boardrooms, he stopped inches away from her,

"Silence isn't an option for us, Tee," he rasped. He reached out, his thumb grazing the hollow of her throat where her pulse was jumping despite her calm face. "I'll have Damian wire a hundred thousand to your account the moment the jammers are down. Consider it a retainer for your... exclusive attention."

Thalia didn't blink, though the number made her blood hum. "A hundred thousand? For a saint, you negotiate like a sinner. But make it a One hundred and fifty thousand." 

With a blank face. "Fine. Deal." he said. 

Julian reached past her to click on the massive TV screen. The news banner was still plastered on the screen. 

"Update on last night’s assassination: One of the  victim has been identified as Marcus Thorne, CEO of Thorne Tech."

The room instantly went cold. Julian’s hand tightened on the remote without a word. but the air around him seemed to darken.

Thalia looked from the TV to Julian. "Marcus Thorne," Thalia whispered. “Do you know him?” 

"Why?" he asked. 

"Because you look like you just saw a ghost." 

"He was a ghost," Julian said, his voice dropping  to a dangerous low. "One I’ve been trying to bury for five years. That bastard should have been long dead." 

"But… don’t you think this might be traced down to you? What happens when the police find out you were drugged, they’ll think it was a cover," Thalia asked. "What if they break in here and find me with you? How do I get away?" 

Julian turned to her, a slow, dark smile crossing his face. "The world doesn't need to know why I’m missing, or who I’m with," he said, clicking the TV off and plunging the room back into an intimate silence. "The doors are sealed. The press thinks I'm in a medical retreat. For the next forty hours, I simply don't exist to them."

Thaila smiled. 

He stepped into her space, his fingers catching the tie of his robe she was wearing. "Which means I have plenty of time to get my money's worth."

"Are you sure the drug is out of your system, Julian?" she teased, though her breath was catching. "You’re acting very... un-saintly right now."

"The drug is gone," he rasped, lifting her chin so she had to meet his intense gaze. "This? This is just me." he leaned in, his lips brushing against her ear, sending a fresh jolt through her. "And even though I'll regret this later, I still want it." 

He didn't rush this time. He picked her up gently. her coffee cup clattering onto the counter as he carried her back to the bed. But as he went to pin her down, Thalia planted her palms against his chest, feeling the heavy, frantic thud of his heart.

"Slow down, Saint," she said, maneuvering until she was straddling his lap. The robe slipped off her shoulders, pooling at her waist. "You’re paying for the premium package now. That means I get to do the work, while you sit back and enjoy."

Julian’s muscles tensed, his hands fisting the sheets as he forced himself to let her take the lead. He watched her, his eyes dark with a mix of hunger and something that looked almost like a devotion.

Her fingers traced down the line of his jawline slowly before sliding lower, circling and playing with his nipples until he let out a jagged breath. "You were a beast last night, Mr. Valentino. But let’s see how well you can handle the heat now that you’re sober.”

Then she gripped his cock,slowly guiding him to her entrance. She teased him, hovering at the tip, and rubbing it off on her already dripping hole, watching his blue eyes darken until they were almost black.

"Ahhh... damn it, Tee," he groaned, his hands finally snapping out to grip her waist, his thumbs digging into her skin.

She smiled, watching his composure shatter piece by piece. 

"Patience, Julian," she whispered, leaning down to brush her lips against his. "We have all the time in the world. 

When she finally sank down fully and began to move, taking all of him, a jagged, broken sound escaped his throat.

“Ahhh…. Fuck.” He gasped.

Julian’s control, the discipline he had spent five years building, finally snapped for good. He flipped her, pinning her wrists above her head, his eyes burning.

"In this room," he growled, his voice vibrating against her skin as he began to drive into her with a sober, and a calculated hunger.

"There is no CEO."--- STROKE

 There is no Saint." --- STROKE

"There is only this."--- STROKE 

"Ahhh!" Thalia's eyes rolled back. His hips hitting hers with a raw force that knocked the breath from her lungs. She arched her back, her hair spilling across the silk bedsheet. 

Thalia wrapped her legs tight around his waist, pulling him deeper, her nails digging into the muscles of his back. As she to meet with his intensity stroke for stroke. 

He suddenly pulled back, he looked down at her, his large hands starts sliding down her body till it stopped at the sensitive nub of her clitoris. 

"Fuck!" she gasped, her eyes rolling back as his thumb began a rolling it. 

“Look at me, Tee,” he rasped. “I want to see you when you let it all out. I want you to know that I'm the one doing this to you, not the drug.”

He increased his pace, his fingers began moving in and out of her dripping it roughly, like an expert while his other hand went to her boobs.

The heat became unbearable when he replaced his fingers with his mouth, sucking and driving his tongue in and out of her, sending spark that traveled from her core to her brain.

Her vision blurred. 

“Now,” he commanded, his own voice breaking as he felt her internal muscles begin to clench around him in a violent squeeze.

“Ahhhh!” Thalia’s scream was muffled against his shoulder as her body buckled, a wave of release crashing over her so hard it felt like she was coming apart.

He slowly pulled his mouth away, he watched her deep breathing and the rising and falling of her boobs, then smiled.

His eyes went down to her swollen pink hole, now turning red. He stared at the creamy hole and clit. And slowly, he took his mouth there again. 

“Ahhh… holy fuck.” Thalia cried out, rolling her eyes backward as her fingers drove into his dark thick hair.

“This is fuc… fuckinggggg good.”