LOGINThe morning smelled of coffee and burnt toast, but Elena’s stood frozen in the bathroom, palms pressed flat to the sink, staring at the faint red bloom along her throat where his teeth had grazed her. She had scrubbed hard with cold water, dragged concealer over the marks until her skin was raw, but she could still feel them. His fingerprints were carved into her body and into her mind.Her stomach knotted with guilt. Adrian was already up, preparing for the day, utterly unaware of what had happened just down the hall last night while he slept. The thought made her chest ache. It should have repulsed her. But all it did was make her thighs press together as memory slid over her again—Roth’s cock teasing her slick slit, his hand gripping her throat as she came apart for him, his promise whispered against her ear. Next time, I won’t stop here. Her body shivered. “Baby?” Adrian’s voice broke through the door. He knocked twice. “We’re gonna be late. You okay in there?”Elena sucked in
Elena stood at the sink, hot water running over her wrists as she rinsed the last of the wine glasses. Steam curled up against the window, fogging her reflection. She stared at herself faintly in the blurred glass—eyes wide, lips red from where she had bitten them raw all evening, body still humming with nerves from sitting across the table with Roth.He had barely spoken to her at dinner. That made it worse. His silence was unbearable. His gaze, the rare times she caught it, was molten and merciless, sliding over her as if stripping her clothes away right there in front of Adrian. She had pretended not to notice. She had laughed at Adrian’s stories, nodded at his mother’s questions, and smiled when Roth finally spoke in his low, smooth voice that reached down her spine like a stroke of heat.But beneath the table, when Adrian’s hand rested casually on her thigh, all she could think about was how Roth’s touch burned hotter. Adrian had decided they should spend a month with his parent
The sound of rain against the window woke him first. It was soft, steady, the kind of sounds that usually pulled Adrian deeper into sleep, but not tonight. His eyes opened, and his first thought was her.Elena lay curled against him, her cheek pressed into his chest, her breath fanning steady and warm over his skin. Strands of her dark hair spilled across his collarbone, tangled from the night before. He tucked some behind her ear and let his fingers trail through the silk until she stirred with a soft sigh.For a few blissful moments, it felt like nothing had changed. She was his. She was here. But the feeling never lasted anymore.There was something about her, something she tried to bury. The stiffness in her body when certain subjects came up. The way her eyes slid away too fast when his father’s name was mentioned. He’d caught her smiling to herself once, in the mirror, a smile that dimmed the moment she noticed him watching. Adrian had told himself not to think too hard about i
Elena woke with the weight of guilt pressed across her chest before her eyes even opened. It was becoming a ritual, a sickness that found her at dawn, pulling her into a storm of shame before the day even began.Adrian’s arm was draped lazily over her waist, his body warm against her back, his breathing deep and steady, the calm of a man who trusted her completely and that trust was a knife.She should have loved this life with him. She should have turned into his chest, breathed in his scent, pressed her lips to his throat and reminded herself that this was home, this was safety, this was the man who had chosen her. But instead, she lay rigid and wide-eyed, her pulse hammering, her mind consumed by the one man she could never allow herself to think of. Roth.The shame was instant and scorching, hot enough to sting. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if darkness could block out the images that came, his strong hands gripping her soft thighs, his mouth between them, the rough rasp of his v
Roth had told himself after that early morning in the kitchen, it was over. He would shut it down, bury the hunger, and lock Elena back into the unreachable place she should’ve stayed in from the beginning—Adrian’s. But lies were easy in the dark and harder in daylight. Every morning since then, he caught himself listening for her footsteps in the hallway. Every time Adrian brought her over, Roth’s body betrayed him. His blood quickened. His jaw clenched. And his cock hardened at the sound of her laugh. It was madness. He was forty-seven years old. He had lived enough to know better. To control himself. And yet Elena burned through him like poison. The memories didn’t fade; they multiplied. He could still taste her when he drank his coffee. Still smell her perfume in the fabric of the couch. Still hear her broken moans in the silence of his office. It was dangerous. Too dangerous. But Roth had always lived on the edge of danger, and now he was slipping. He thought of her on his
Roth Dimitri had lived his entire life in control. He prided himself on the discipline to bend the world to his will. But now, every time he thought of Elena, that control cracked.It started with the first night he met her at the club, that was the very first day he landed in the country. The X-club was one of the favorite clubs he owned. He had sit in the VVIP section at first, watching everyone dance and make out until he decided to move into the crowd. He couldn’t get that night out of his head, no matter how many drinks he poured, no matter how many hours he spent convincing himself, it was only a mistake. The memory played on a loop. The way her skin tasted of salt and heat, the way her thighs trembled when he spread them wide. She’d been drunk, reckless, and wild. So had he. They’d kissed like strangers starving, touched like they’d been waiting years.Her dress bunched up to her waist, her panties torn aside, her moans spilling into his mouth. He had made her beg. He had mad







