Chapter Four

When I open the door, the scent of beeswax and roses wafts out.

Candles burn low in wrought-iron sconces. The fire crackles in the hearth. A trail of white petals lines the floor, spilling across the velvet runner at the end of the bed. The mattress is turned down. Champagne chills in a silver bucket by the window.

She freezes in the doorway, not crossing the threshold into the room.

Her eyes scan the room like she’s looking for a trap.

“This was never your choice,” I say, stepping behind her, my voice low. “But it’s still your night.”

She turns to face me, the light catching her eyes. “You promised I’d be safe.”

“You are.”

“Then why did you lock the door behind us?”

I meet her stare, unflinching. “Because I don’t trust myself not to walk away if you ask me to.”

The air thickens between us.

She blinks, and I can see the war playing out behind her eyes. Fear. Defiance. Curiosity.

I step closer. Slowly. Deliberately. Like I’m approaching a wild and untamed animal that is cornered. I stop just in front of her, close enough to feel the heat coming off her skin.

“If you want me to sleep somewhere else, say so,” I offer.

She doesn’t speak. But she doesn’t move away either.

Her throat bobs as she swallows. Her lashes flutter once. And then—quietly—she says, “What if I don’t?”

My breaths are heavy.

“Then I’ll show you exactly what it means to belong to me.”

I lift a hand and brush a strand of hair behind her ear. She trembles beneath my touch, but she doesn’t flinch. Her eyes stay locked on mine.

“Take off the dress,” I say softly.

She stiffens.

I let the silence stretch, then lean in to whisper against the bare skin of her neck.

“Let me.”

I move behind her slowly. My fingers find the zipper hidden at the base of her spine, and I lower it one inch at a time,exposing pale skin that glows like silk in the candlelight. She stands dead still, her breaths shallow, her body taut with a tension that isn’t quite fear.

The gown slides down, pooling around her feet with a soft rustle.

She stands in lace and satin. Stockings. No bra. A garter that makes my cock twitch.

I circle to face her again.

And stop.

She’s exquisite.

Hair tousled. Nipples peaked. Hips curving beneath the delicate band of silk.

My voice drops to a rasp. “Have you ever let a man see you like this?”