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This Chapter contains an intimate scene.

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The heavy sound of the door sealing shut cut off the outside world entirely.

The VIP suite was large, dark, and cool, illuminated only by the city lights filtering through the floor to ceiling windows.

For the first few seconds, neither of them moved. Then Adrian loosened his tie a little and walked forward a step.

Elara stood near the entrance, her breathing shallow and uneven, her bare shoulders shivering slightly from the sudden drop in temperature.

Adrian stopped a few paces ahead of her. Then slowly, he turned back to look at her. His expression was still composed but his eyes were unmistakably dark.

His gaze locked onto hers with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat. He did not say a word. He only took a deliberate step into her space, staring down at her.

Elara’s fingers curled tightly into the fabric of her dress. Her heart was still beating so fast it almost hurt but looking at him now, away from the cameras and the crowd, she realized she did not even want to run. She didn’t want to pull away or escape the course of a regretful, unpleasant event taking place again.

Driven by a sudden impulse she herself could not control, she closed the remaining distance between them. She stepped directly into his space until her front was almost flush against his shirt. Raising her hands, her fingers brushed against his silk tie pulling it completely loose with a desperate tug before letting it fall to the floor.

Adrian froze, his entire body going rigid.

Elara did not stop. Her hands moved down to the top buttons of his crisp white shirt, her fingers trembling slightly as she undid them one by one. She pushed the expensive fabric off his shoulders, letting the shirt fall carelessly to the floor beside the tie.

For the first time, her bare palms pressed flat against his bare chest. Her fingers traced the defined contours of his fine muscles beneath her touch, feeling the violent thudding of his heart under her hands.

A low dark sound escaped Adrian’s throat the exact moment her fingers brushed over his lower ribcage. Before she could slide her hand any lower, he suddenly caught her wrists, his grip tight but not painful, pinning her hands flat against his chest so she was forced to look up at him.

"Do you have any idea what we’re doing?" he asked, his jaw clenched tightly as he stared at her hands against his skin.

"Is this another one of your debts? Are you only willing to do this just to pay me back for tonight?" His voice dropped lower. "If this is some calculated way to settle things between us, end it now. Because I am right at my limit."

Elara looked straight into his burning eyes, her mind flashing back to the way he had caught her in the hall. Most importantly... in front of the media and so many people.

"It’s not any debt," she said softly.

Her fingers flexed against his skin before she slowly broke free from his grip and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck, pulling him just a little closer.

Those four words seemed to completely break the last bit of Adrian’s control. He let go of her wrists but instead of stepping back, his hands locked tightly around her waist.

Before she could even gasp, he lifted her off her feet and carried her backward through the dark room until her back pressed firmly against the cool wall.

The force wasn’t enough to hurt, but it trapped the air in her lungs. He pushed his body against hers pinning her in place.

"You shouldn’t have said that," he muttered, his breathing warm and heavy against her lips.

His hands moved down to the zipper of her dress. His fingers worked quickly along her side until the fabric loosened and slipped down her body, pooling around her ankles.

Elara shivered as the cool air touched her skin, but the cold lasted only a second before Adrian pressed himself fully against her. The contrast was strong– the cold wall behind her and the burning heat of his bare chest in front.

He leaned his forehead against hers for a short moment. His hair was messy and stuck to his forehead with sweat.

Slowly, his hand rose to her face. His thumb smooth and strangely gentle, traced the tattoo beneath her eye. He looked at it with his lips tightly pursed.

Surrounded by the darkness and the strong scent of his cologne, Elara’s eyes flashed with a strange light as a thought came through her mind. She needed to know. She needed to understand his reasons for all of this. She had asked him before but his answers had always never given anything away.

"Mr. V..." she stopped, her lips trembling slightly. It felt kinda ridiculous to be so formal right now. She tightened her arms around his neck and asked softly, "Why are you doing this? Why did you bring Zia here?"

She didn’t even know what she anticipated hearing from him, or what kind of answer she was truly expecting to get from a man like him.

Adrian’s thumb seem to freeze on her cheek for a second. But instead of answering, he lowered his head and buried his face in the curve of her neck. His lips pressed a hot, urgent kiss on the spot where her pulse beat wildly, as if he’d not even heard her question. Her whole body arched against him at once.

His hands moved down. One palm slid to his waistband and loosened it quickly. He pulled her hips flush against him, closing the last bit of space between them.

He didn’t give her any chance to question him further and Elara didn’t even want him to. The moment his mouth moved back up to capture her lips, she met him halfway. Her fingers tangled fiercely in his dark hair.

With a sudden surge of his hips, Elara’s chin lifted toward the ceiling. A breathless, broken gasp tore from her throat as her back arched against the cool wall.

She clung to his bare shoulders, her nails digging into his skin as he locked her thighs tightly around his waist...