All Chapters of Lust & Love: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Xavier didn't answer. He gripped the heel of her black stiletto and pulled the shoe off her foot, tossing it onto the floorboard. He reached for her right leg, ignoring her weak resistance, and pulled her other foot into his lap, removing the second shoe.His large, warm hands wrapped around her bare, aching arches. His thumbs pressed deeply into the sore muscles of her feet, applying a heavy, deliberate pressure.A month ago, this gesture would have made her heart melt. She would have looked at the terrifying CEO massaging her feet in the back of his Maybach and believed it was a profound act of care.Now, the touch made her want to throw up.He wasn't massaging his partner's feet. He was maintaining his property. He was making sure the woman he used for stress relief wasn't physically broken so he could continue to use her until his formal engagement.Hazel squeezed her eyes shut, digging her fingernails into the leather seat to stop herself from pulling her legs away. She had to en

The silence of the penthouse was suffocating. For the first ten minutes, her mind remained completely blank. Then, the protective numbness slowly began to wear off.The image of Victoria kissing Xavier’s jaw flashed behind her closed eyelids.A sharp, violent ache seized her chest. Hazel curled into a tight ball, pressing her face into the pillow as a fresh wave of tears hit her. She cried silently, her shoulders shaking. She felt incredibly small, completely trapped, and utterly alone. She was stuck in a massive, sterile cage owned by a man who was actively building a future with someone else.She needed to hear a familiar voice. She needed a lifeline to the real world, far away from corporate mergers and high-society galas.Hazel reached over to the nightstand. She picked up her phone, completely ignoring the late hour, and dialed her mother’s number.Her mother lived in a small, quiet countryside village three hours north of the city. It was a completely different world from Manhat

The absolute silence inside Penthouse 42 was deafening.It was Tuesday night. Exactly forty-eight hours had passed since the stainless-steel elevator doors had slid shut, cutting off Xavier’s view of Hazel’s defiant, tear-stained face.Xavier stood by the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the main living room, staring out at the sprawling, glittering grid of the Manhattan skyline. A heavy autumn storm was battering the thick, bulletproof glass. The rain lashed against the windows in dark, sideways sheets, distorting the city lights into blurry streaks of yellow and white.He held a heavy crystal glass in his right hand. He took a slow, deliberate swallow of the expensive scotch, letting the dark amber liquid burn its way down the back of his throat.He did not care that she was gone.That was the fact he had been repeating to himself since Sunday afternoon. He was Xavier Sterling. He commanded a multi-billion dollar financial empire. He crushed rival hedge funds before breakfast, an

The rain hammered aggressively against the thin glass of the bedroom window, a steady, rhythmic drumming that usually helped Hazel sleep. But tonight, she was wide awake.It had been two days since she drove out of the Vanguard Holdings parking garage and left Manhattan behind.She lay on her back in her childhood bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. The small, creaky house in the countryside was completely silent, filled only with the smell of old wood, lavender laundry detergent, and the lingering scent of the chicken stew her mother had cooked for dinner.Being home was supposed to bring her peace. For brief moments during the day, it actually did. Sitting at the worn kitchen table and listening to the quiet sounds of the village felt like a massive relief compared to the suffocating pressure of Penthouse 42. But the peace was incredibly fragile. Every time her mother smiled and asked about Liam, Hazel had to quickly change the subject, offering short, vague answers. She couldn't t

He grabbed both her wrists in one massive hand and slammed them above her head. “You think you can just pack a bag and run from me?” he growled, voice low and vicious against her ear. “This pussy is mine. You belong exactly where I put you—under me, taking my cock like the angry little slut you are.”He shoved her legs wider with his knees and drove into her in one savage thrust. The thick head of his cock stretched her open, forcing her walls to part around every heavy inch until he was buried to the hilt. The old wooden bedframe groaned dangerously under their combined weight. Hazel’s eyes rolled back, a loud, broken moan tearing out of her before she could stop it. Terrified her mother would hear, she twisted her head and sank her teeth into the thick muscle of his shoulder.Xavier snarled at the bite, the pain only making him thrust harder. “That’s it—fight me, sweetheart. Fucking mark me.” He pulled back and slammed in again, the bed creaking louder, wood splintering faintly unde