Lila Hart's body still hummed with the aftershocks of Alexander Knight's claiming. Her skin burned with the imprint of his hands. Her heart throbbed with the bruise of surrender.
The penthouse bedroom felt like a gilded cage. Silk sheets mocked her with their softness—luxury woven around captivity. Ethan Caldwell's voice from the intercom still echoed in the air, his threat to expose Alexander flickering like a spark of hope.
But that spark died fast under the weight of Alexander's gaze.
He had ended the call with a curt order to his guards, his eyes turning cold, his fury now aimed straight at her.
"You think Ethan can save you?" His voice was a low growl, raw and dangerous. Sweat glistened on his bare chest as he loomed over her. Those blue eyes—the same ones she had looked into two years ago as flames surrounded them—burned with possessive rage.
"You're mine, Lila. No one else."
She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. Defiance flickered through the ache in her body.
"I'm not your property," she shot back, voice sharp, shaking. "You can't just take me, Alexander. Ethan knows what you're doing—he'll stop you."
His laugh came dark and low. It slid through the room like smoke.
"Oh, little flame… so bold."
He moved closer—smooth, predatory—and before she could react, his hands caught her wrists. He pinned them above her head, his weight pressing her into the mattress. His body radiated heat. His arousal pressed against her hip, undeniable.
"But you need to learn," he murmured, eyes gleaming, "what happens when you defy me."
Her breath caught. Fear and unwanted desire tangled inside her.
"Let me go," she demanded, struggling beneath him. But his grip didn't budge. The fight in her only seemed to feed the darkness in his smile.
"Disobedience has consequences." His tone softened to something almost tender, which somehow made it worse.
He freed one wrist only to trail his hand down her body—slow, deliberate. Fingers grazed the curve of her breast, teasing until her nipple hardened under his touch.
She gasped. Hated the sound. Hated that her body betrayed her again.
"Stop it," she whispered, but her voice faltered when his fingers slipped lower, tracing the inside of her thigh.
He parted her legs with a firm push, eyes drinking her in.
"You're wet for me," he said, voice edged with mockery and heat. "Even when you fight, your body begs for me."
Her face burned with humiliation. But she couldn't deny what he felt beneath his fingers.
He circled her slowly, mercilessly. Each motion sent sparks through her nerves but never gave release.
"Say you're mine," he breathed against her ear. "Say it, or I'll keep you on this edge all night."
"Never," she hissed, though her hips lifted, chasing his touch.
He chuckled—dark, pleased—and his mouth found her breast again. The suction pulled a moan from her lips before she could stop it. His fingers kept their torment, giving her just enough to make her tremble, never enough to let her fall.
"You'll break, Lila," he whispered, teeth grazing her neck. "I'll tease you until you beg. Until you forget Ethan. Forget everything but me."
His hand tightened on her wrist. The other kept working her body, each touch pushing her closer to madness.
Her mind screamed to resist. Her body refused to listen. Every nerve burned under his control. Every breath felt stolen. She hated him for this—for the contract, for the obsession, for twisting her act of saving him into this cage of desire.
Yet heat still spread through her, wild and uncontrollable.
Just as she teetered on the edge, a loud bang echoed through the penthouse.
Alexander froze. His head snapped toward the door, fury flashing in his eyes.
"Stay here," he growled, rising from the bed, muscles tense, rage rolling off him in waves.
Lila's chest heaved, her body trembling, caught between relief and aching need.
He leaned down one last time, voice a low warning against her ear.
"If you disobey again," he said, every word a promise, "I'll show you what real consequences feel like."
Another bang rattled the door.
Then—Ethan's voice, sharp and furious.
"Knight! Open this door, or I swear I'll tear your world apart!"
Lila froze. Her pulse pounded.
Ethan was here.
But as the silence stretched, one thought clawed at her:
Had her savior just become the spark for war?