All Chapters of Burning Desires (An Open Marriage With The Billionaire): Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

120 Chapters

31: He Takes

SOPHIA LANCASTER The morning sun sliced through the curtains of the master bedroom, hitting me directly in the eyes. I groaned, shielding my face with my arm, but the headache that pulsed behind my temples wasn't from a hangover, it was from the exhaustion of existing in the same space as my husband.Beside me, Daniel groaned louder."Sophia," he croaked, his voice thick with sleep. "My head is splitting, close the damn curtains."I sat up, ignoring him, and swung my legs out of bed. "It's ten o'clock, Daniel," I said, standing up and grabbing my silk robe. "The sun does what it wants.""I think the wine last night was corked," Daniel muttered, burying his face in the pillow. "Or maybe I mixed the scotch wrong. God, I feel like I've been hit by a truck."I tied the sash of my robe tight, looking down at him. He looked pathetic."You drank half a bottle of Pinot Noir and three fingers of Macallan," I said flatly. "It wasn't corked, it was excess.""Don't lecture me," he snapped, muffle

32: White-Hot Tension

SOPHIA LANCASTER Ethan carried me into the bedroom, I was wrapped in a charcoal towel, my skin still damp and warm from the bath, my arms looped around his neck, my face buried in the crook of his shoulder. I could feel the steady, powerful thrum of his heart against my chest.He lowered me onto the bed. Ethan straightened up, looking down at me. He was still fully dressed in his jeans and the damp t-shirt that clung to his muscular frame. His hair was slightly messy from the steam, falling over his forehead."You're shivering," he murmured."I'm cold," I lied. I wasn't cold, I was burning up from the inside out. I was vibrating with a mixture of anticipation and terrified vulnerability."No," he corrected gently. "You're not cold, you're waiting."He reached out and began to pat me dry with the towel. He didn't rush, he started at my neck, blotting the water droplets with a tenderness that made my throat tight. He moved down to my collarbone, then over the swell of my breasts.It wa

33: Pay Back

SOPHIA LANCASTER The silence in the room was heavy, but for the first time in my life, it wasn't suffocating. It was a rich silence, thick with the scent of sex and the cooling aftermath of a storm.I lay tangled in the charcoal sheets, my limbs feeling pleasantly weighted, as if gravity had increased just for me, pinning me to the mattress in the most comforting way possible. Ethan lay beside me, one arm thrown behind his head, the other resting heavily across my waist, claiming me even in repose.I turned my head on the pillow to look at him. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and deep. In the dim light filtering through the blackout curtains, the sharp angles of his face were softened.I traced the line of a scar on his shoulder with my fingertip, watching the way his skin rippled in response. "You're thinking too loud," he rumbled, his voice rough with sleep, his eyes remaining closed."I didn't know thinking made a sound," I whispered, smiling against the pillow."Yours do

34: Make It True

SOPHIA LANCASTER Sunday mornings in the Hawthorne penthouse were usually a study in avoidance. Daniel would retreat to his study to "review quarterly projections" which mostly meant scrolling through Twitter and nursing a hangover while I occupied the living room with an iPad, silently correcting the code his team had butchered during the week.It was a quiet truce.But today, that truce was shattered by the chime of the private elevator. I frowned, looking up from my screen, the doorman hadn't buzzed. Daniel hadn't mentioned guests.The doors slid open, and loud voices and perfume flooded the foyer. "Oh, look at this! Look at the light!" a shrill voice exclaimed. "Danny boy really outdid himself this time, didn't he, Frank?"My stomach dropped.It was Beatrice and Frank Hawthorne. Daniel's parents.They marched in, luggage trailing behind them, looking like they owned the place. Beatrice was wearing a leopard print coat and Frank was already eyeing the liquor cabinet.They weren't b

35: Alone And Relief

SOPHIA LANCASTERThe drive back from the care facility was a blur, my mind was still back in Room 304, holding my mother's frail hand, listening to her apologize for existing, for costing money, for being a burden.Is the marriage still good? She had asked.He's wonderful, Mama, I had lied.The lie tasted like bile in my throat. I swallowed it down, gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I had promised her safety, I had promised her I would protect the legacy and to do that, I had to go back into the lion's den and play the role of the dutiful wife for a little while longer.I pulled the Mercedes into the private garage, parking next to Daniel's flashy Aston Martin. I took a deep breath, armoring myself. I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. My eyes were dry, but they looked hard. Good, I needed to be hard.I took the elevator up to the penthouse. The moment the doors slid open, the peace I had found at my mother's bedside evaporated. Frank was snoring s

36: I Want You

SOPHIA LANCASTER Monday morning at Lancaster Innovations usually had a specific rhythm. It was the hum of servers, the clicking of keyboards, and the quiet, focused energy of engineers trying to beat deadlines. It was my sanctuary.But today, my sanctuary had been invaded."It's just so... gray, isn't it?" Beatrice Hawthorne's voice cut through the air conditioning, she was standing in the doorway of my office, clutching her purse as if she were afraid the coding manuals on my shelf might jump out and mug her.I looked up from my dual monitors, fighting the urge to close my eyes and count to ten. "It's an office, Beatrice not a boudoir.""Well, I know, dear," she said, stepping inside and running a finger along the edge of my glass desk. She inspected her fingertip for dust. Finding none, she looked disappointed. "But Daniel's office has those lovely shelves and the leather chairs. It feels like a CEO's office, this..." She gestured vaguely at my whiteboard, which was covered in comp

37: Scent Of Sex

SOPHIA LANCASTER "I waited," he had whispered. "And now, I'm done waiting."The words vibrated against my skin, Ethan was standing so close I could feel the heat radiating off him, his eyes were dark, dilated, stripping me bare without moving a muscle. A surge of power, purely feminine and intoxicating, rushed through me.Ethan Calder, the man who controlled markets, who broke companies for sport, who had disciplined me on the hood of a car had spent days aching for me. He had walked around his glass tower, sat in board meetings, all while nursing a physical need he refused to satisfy because he wanted me to be the one to fix it.A slow, wicked smile curved my lips. I took a half-step back, breaking the contact of our bodies but locking my gaze with his. I saw his jaw tighten, a muscle feathering in his cheek as he tracked my movement. "You waited?" I purred, my voice dropping to a whisper. "A man like you? That must have been... difficult."I reached out, placing my palms flat again

38: Destroy Him

SOPHIA LANCASTER The cab ride from Ethan's apartment felt like a descent from heaven into hell. I was wearing the same clothes I had worn yesterday, my skin still hummed with the memory of his touch but as the elevator doors slid open into the Hawthorne penthouse, that warmth was instantly sucked out of the room.Beatrice was standing right in the center of the foyer, her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot like a warden waiting for a runaway prisoner. Her eyes raked over my disheveled appearance, the wrinkled blouse, the smudge of mascara I hadn't quite wiped away, the undeniable glow of a woman who had been thoroughly satisfied."You didn't come home," she stated, her voice accusatory."I stayed at a hotel," I lied, walking past her toward the kitchen. "The dinner ran late, and I was tired.""Liar," she spat.I stopped, my hand tightening on the strap of my purse. I turned slowly to face her. "Excuse me?""I know a walk of shame when I see one," Beatrice sneered, stepping

39: The Rooftop

SOPHIA LANCASTER The only sound in the master suite was the dripping of water from my soaked clothes onto the expensive rug.I stepped out of the bathroom, my silk blouse was plastered to my skin, my skirt clung to my thighs, heavy with water, pooling around my ankles. My hair was tangled dripping down my back. I felt frozen to the bone, a deep, pervasive chill that had nothing to do with the temperature of the water I had just stood under for forty-five minutes.Daniel was still in bed.He was propped up against the pillows, scrolling through his phone with a casual nonchalance that made my stomach churn. He looked up as I emerged, taking in my appearance with a slight grimace of distaste."Are you done with the dramatics now?" he asked, his tone mild, reasonable. Like he was talking to a moody teenager instead of the wife he had just physically assaulted.I didn't answer. I walked past him to the walk-in closet. "Look, Sophia," Daniel called out, his voice drifting into the closet

40: Shattering Scream

JULIAN THORNE Victory, in my experience, usually tasted like vintage champagne. Tonight, however, the Dom Pérignon tasted like carbonated water and boredom.I sat in a secluded booth at The Onyx Room, watching the energy of the dance floor with detachment. Four hours ago, the Asian markets had opened, and the massive short position I'd taken against a failing logistics conglomerate in Seoul had finally paid off. Thorne Capital was richer by eighteen million dollars.My phone buzzed on the table. Congratulations texts, invites to after-parties, and women wondering where I was. I ignored them all. The thrill of the kill lasted exactly thirty seconds. Now, I was just a man in a tuxedo, sitting in a room full of people desperate to be seen, wondering why I had bothered to come out at all.I signaled for the check. It was time to go home, review the Q3 projections, and sleep. I stood up, adjusting my cufflinks, and began to navigate the perimeter of the room toward the exit. I moved effic

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