The storm had started slow, a whisper of rain against the hotel's glass, by the time she unlocked the door.
Lena stepped inside, shutting it with a soft click, but the air already felt different.
He was there.
Black hair still damp from the weather, gray eyes tracking her like she'd just walked into his cage. The collar at her throat seemed to tighten, even though he hadn't touched it.
"Ten a.m. tomorrow," he said, low, as if it were the weather report. "You see him."
Ethan. The name didn't pass his lips, but it didn't need to.
"Yes, Sir."
Julian's gaze swept her; shoes, hem, the faint color in her cheeks, "Then tonight, you'll remember me."
She exhaled, the storm ticking harder against the window now.
"Take off your dress."
She did, the sound of the zipper loud in the quiet. The fabric fell to the floor, pooling at her heels. She stood in nothing but the collar and the soft black lace he'd allowed her earlier.
"Come here."
She crossed the room, stopping just within his reach. The faint heat from his body bled into her skin before he touched her.
His hands were warm when they closed around her hips, pulling her in.
Not rough.
He brushed his mouth over hers; once, then again, slower. Her pulse stumbled. His lips traced her jaw, down the side of her neck, lingering where the collar lay hidden.
The tenderness almost hurt
Because with him, even gentle could break her.
"On the bed," he said.
She went.
The sheets were cool beneath her, the rain outside steadying into a low, relentless drum. Julian followed, bracing over her like a shadow she'd invited in.
When he kissed her this time, it wasn't only possession. It was slow, coaxing…dangerously reverent.
His hand slid beneath her panties, fingers parting her easily, finding her already wet. A quiet breath of approval rumbled in his chest.
"You've been ready for me all day."
"Yes, Sir."
The first touch inside her was unhurried, his thumb pressing lightly to her clit in time with the distant thunder. She arched, caught between the pace he set and the ache for more.
He pulled the lace down her legs, tossed it aside, and pressed himself to her entrance. "Eyes open."
She obeyed.
The push inside was deep, every inch deliberate. She gasped, but his gaze held hers, steady as the storm.
"Feel me," he murmured. "All of me."
His hips pressed into hers in a rhythm that wasn't just fucking; it was claiming. Each slow thrust filled her completely, the stretch making her shudder, the drag making her ache. His mouth found her temple, her jaw, the tender hollow beneath her ear, each kiss sending heat spiraling low.
Her thighs quivered around him. He held the pace, unyielding, keeping her suspended in that exquisite edge.
Every movement coaxing another gasp, another tremor, until her breath came in sharp, uneven pulls.
"Tell me who you're thinking about."
"You," she whispered.
"Say it again."
"You, Julian."
The storm deepened outside, rain drumming harder. His hand found the back of her thigh, lifting her leg higher to take him deeper. She cried out, nails curling into the sheets.
When her body began to tighten around him, his voice dropped to that velvet steel.
"Now, Lena. Come for me."
It broke her. The permission, the depth, the way his hand slid up to cradle her jaw as her orgasm tore through her. The sound that left her throat wasn't just pleasure, it was surrender.
Julian's pace finally broke, his breath catching as he followed her over, locking her against him while he spilled inside her.
They stayed there, knotted together, her cheek to his chest, his hand resting over the collar as if to remind them both who she belonged to. The leather was warm beneath his palm, her heartbeat steady under it. Outside, the storm softened, but the charge between them did not.
"Sleep," he said against her hair.
She did. But even as her breathing slowed, she knew tomorrow's meeting wouldn't erase this.
It couldn't.
It was in her now
In the ache, in the collar, in the way he'd shown her tonight exactly what Ethan never could.
End of Chapter
Next - Chapter Thirteen: Marked