When Lorie stepped inside the house, a jolt of shock ran through her. Robert sat slumped on the sofa, his face grotesquely swollen, one eye bruised black and nearly shut. For a split second, worry flickered in her — and died just as quickly.
A cold, mocking smile tugged at her lips. "Hmph," she scoffed. "Looks like the mighty Robert isn’t so invincible after all. Your ti of terrorizing this city is almost up."
Robert’s head snapped up. Rage flared in his battered face, more dangerous than any wound he carried. With a roar, he lunged at her, faster than she could react. His hand clamped around her throat with a rciless grip.
"You dare mock ?" he spat. "You think you are safe from ?" He slamd her hard against the wall, his fingers tightening like a vice.
Lorie gasped, her nails digging into his skin as she struggled. Panic clawed at her chest. "I... can’t... breathe," she choked out.
Robert shoved her to the floor. Lorie crashed down, coughing, her vision swimming with tears of pain and humiliation.
Robert lood above her, pulling her hair. "If you ever speak to like that again," he hissed, his eyes gleaming with madness, "I’ll throw you into the filthiest nightclub and sell you off like trash."
He drove his boot rcilessly into her stomach before leaving.
Pain exploded through her body. She curled up instinctively, whimpering, cradling herself as tremors racked her fra.
The front door slamd. Silence swallowed the house.
For a long mont, Lorie lay there, her body throbbing with agony. But beneath the pain, sothing darker stirred. Her mind twisted, wrapping around the hatred toward Anne.
She dragged herself upright, every movent wracked with pain. "Anne..." she hissed through clenched teeth. "It’s you. You are the reason for my suffering. You ruined everything. I swear... I’ll destroy you. No matter what it takes."
At Augustine’s place...
The bedroom was bathed in dim light from candles, the faint scent of Anne’s perfu lingering in the air. She stood by the bed, wearing a silk robe that barely clung to her body. Its belt was loosely tied, revealing enticing glimpses of smooth skin with every slight movent. Her eyes, dark with purpose, locked onto Augustine’s.
Augustine sat frozen in the bed, his chest rising and falling heavily as if the very sight of her knocked the air from his lungs. He had been anticipating this mont since he had urged her to seduce him early that morning. He had even imagined Anne getting close to him, seducing him. But when she finally approached him with purpose, he couldn’t breathe.
His gaze darkened with desire, but he didn’t move, waiting to see what she would do next.
Anne clambered on the bed, moving closer to him slowly, deliberately, her confidence radiating off her in waves. She trailed a single finger up the center of his chest, feeling his muscles tense under her touch. She tilted her head up, eting his gaze.
"You work too hard, Mr. CEO," she murmured, her lips grazing his ear. "Let help you relax."
Augustine growled deep in his throat, grabbing her wrist to pull her closer, but Anne deftly slipped from his grip, her robe falling open just enough to show the curve of her bare shoulder and the delicate lace beneath.
"Patience," she murmured with a playful glint in her eyes. Her fingers slowly undid the buttons of his shirt and let them slide off his shoulders. His bare torso ca into view, and Anne’s breath caught slightly.
She ran her hand over his sculpted chest, then traced the path downward to the faint bruises that still lingered around his waist and abdon. They were nearly gone, barely visible — but every ti she noticed them, they stirred quiet curiosity within her.
She didn’t know what kind of pain he had endured in the past or how those marks had co to be. Tonight, she couldn’t hold back. "These bruises..."
But Augustine caught her wrist, cutting her off. "No questions. Just feel," he said huskily. Then he kissed her — hard, hungry, the restraint he usually held so tightly beginning to unravel.
As he moved to deepen the kiss, Anne pulled back with a teasing smirk. "You said you wanted to seduce you. But..."
She slowly loosened the tie at her waist, letting her robe slip away. Beneath it, she wore a sheer, lacy black number that left almost nothing to the imagination.
"You’re already hungry for ," she said in a sultry tone.
Augustine’s eyes darkened almost dangerously, his fingers clutching the bedspread. "You’re playing with fire," he rasped.
"Then burn with ," Anne invited, leaning on him, her body pressing against his.
That was all it took. In the next breath, Augustine seized her, crashing his lips to hers in a fierce, devouring kiss. Anne lted into him, her hands tugging at his clothes, desperate to feel his skin against hers.
Their kisses turned frantic, ssy, mouths clashing, teeth grazing. His hands road everywhere at once — gripping her waist, sliding up her ribs, cupping her breast in a possessive squeeze that made her gasp into his mouth. Anne responded with equal fire. Buttons popped and fabric tore as she tugged it off him.
In a swift, fluid movent, he pinned her beneath him on the bed, his body pressing hers.
Clothes vanished between kisses and frantic touches, scattered across the floor, until there was nothing between them but heat and bare, aching skin. The friction between them was electric, every brush of skin igniting sparks that raced through their blood.
Tonight, there would be no holding back — only a fierce claiming.
When he finally entered her, they both gasped — the sensation overwhelming. Anne whimpered, her legs tangling around his waist, urging him closer.
"God, Anne! You are perfect." A raw groan tore from Augustine’s throat. "Hot, welcoming — just made for ."
The pleasure was so fierce it was almost painful. Every nerve ending scread, every heartbeat thundered. He moved inside her with powerful, relentless strokes, each one deeper than the last, as though he was trying to brand himself into her very soul.
"You’re mine," he growled against her lips with feral urgency, feeling her warmth, her trembling, the way her body welcod him.
"Always," she panted, her eyes dark and heavy with need.
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