HIS TO DESTROY

sorry

rvous but not foolish, like a girl too green to be dangerous, the kind men like Lu

e rising mist of the private spa, her tray trembling just so

, or smoke-coating the marble with a kind of heat that didn't come fro

e stone rim, black ink curling up his forearm, a scorpion caught mid-sting. His ches

once, blinked twice, and moved. Her heels clicked once against the stone floor before she let them fall si

hidden den for politicians, loyalists, and discreet violence-

day, she was here to begin. She stepp

the hiss of the water, as she lowered the tra

tilted his head once, slowly, as if deciding whether she was worth the effort of a sin

ed, shattering somewhere behind her with a noise that should've sounded lik

ropped to her knees, her breath catc

quickly at the wine across his chest, h

l the heat coming off him, not just from the water, but from the way his muscles

n hers. She didn't flinch. She let her eyes widen just a little, let her breath hitch, played t

anger. It was a curiosity. Recognition. Heat. "You

i-na-like he was tasting it, like it already belonged to him. "I can be better," she said. He didn't blink. T

ging up his torso, over the lines of muscle, the sca

his time, but to explore. She moved slowly, her palms warm against his skin, her breath threading between her

th it. The salt of sweat. The clean edge of heat. Her tongue dragged

ath, fully clothed, silk clinging to her skin in seconds, water crashing

t wasn't even a kis

rom

ration

ssed h

ss twisting around her thighs as his hands sli

ible against her neck, and she

b

ar

e wall, his hands finding her hi

let

ontrolled

m already hard and dangerous. She stroked him with soft, cruel pat

oning herself over him,

hispered. He answered by thrusting

e of pain and pleasure. The bath sloshed around them, red wine float

is mouth, into his neck, into his hand when he silenced her. She b

self so deep it felt like a threat. They collapsed in t

wor

declared in moan

-

s later, her hair was damp, her dress clinging

er lipstick with practised precision, and wiped the c

ng outside the s

t acknowl

ust s

wing, dange