A shiver runs down my spine despite the cold floor beneath me. His words—low, rough, possessive—send a thrill through me, settling in the pit of my stomach.
I hate myself for it, but my body reacts. There, between my legs, a warmth spreads, a pulse I can’t ignore. It’s humiliating, but it’s there.
Xavier wants to claim me. The thought sends a dangerous spark through me, igniting something I’ve tried to smother. But even if he means it—even if, by some twisted chance, he’s telling the truth—it’s just a distraction. A way to pull his attention away from Lila’s absence, from the emptiness that’s been growing in this house since she left. He doesn’t mean it. He can’t mean it. Not really. Not when he has Winter and Sable—women who know how to play this game, who know how to be what he wants.
But the pain curling in my chest tells me I want him to choose me. I want to be the one he keeps, the one he needs. And that’s what hurts most. Because it’s not just about being wanted—it’s about being enough. And I’m not. I’m just Everly, the naïve charity girl who doesn’t even know how to be what he needs.
His fingers tighten in my hair, tugging my head back farther, and I gasp, the sound catching in my throat. He’s closer now, his lips against my earlobe.
“Let go, Everly,” he whispers again, his voice a low, velvety command. “Submit.”
I want to scream. I want to tell him he’s already in—buried so deep in my head, in my chest, that I don’t know how to get him out. But I can’t. Because if I do, he’ll know. He’ll know how much I want him, how much I ache for him to choose me, to keep me, to want me. And then he’ll push me away.
Like Liane.
But then I hear it—the metallic rasp of Xavier’s zipper. My breath catches in my throat, a sharp hiss that gives me away. I want to pretend I didn’t react, to keep up the mask, but Xavier’s low, knowing chuckle tells me he heard it. He hears everything.
“You want this,” he murmurs, his voice a silky taunt. “You want me to fuck you, don’t you, Everly?”
The truth is too dangerous to admit out loud, even to myself. But I feel my pussy heating up, an ache stirring there. I'm getting wet at just the thought of him.
Then he’s inside me.
One brutal thrust and he’s buried deep, his cock filling me completely. I gasp, the sound muffled against the floor. His hands find my hips, gripping hard, his fingers digging into my flesh as he pulls me back to meet him. Each thrust is hard, punishing, as if he’s trying to drive something deeper than just his cock into me.
“Submit to me,” he growls, his voice rough and raw.
He knots his hand in my hair, yanking my head back. My scalp stings, but the pain only sharpens everything else.
“Let me in, Everly. Stop fighting me.”
I moan, the sound torn from me despite my best efforts to stay silent. My body trembles and arches into his relentless rhythm. But I won’t give him what he wants. I won’t say it. I won’t admit it.
“Say it,” he hisses, his thrusts faster now, harder. “Say you’re mine.”
I shake my head, defying him. Fuck the rules. Tears sting my eyes—not from the pain, but from the anguish of wanting him and hating myself for it. He’s using me, distracting me from the ache of Lila’s absence, from the truth that I’m just another doll to him. But I don’t care. I still want more.
I still want him.
“Xavier,” I whisper, the name breaking free despite my resolve.
It’s not surrender, not exactly. But it’s enough to make him growl, a raw, primal sound. He’s everywhere—his weight pressing me into the floor, his breath hot against my neck, his cock driving into me like he’s trying to erase every thought, every doubt, every fear.
But he can’t. I’m still holding on, still locked in this endless cycle of wanting and resisting, of fearing and craving.
And I know he knows. He can feel it in the way I’m tensed beneath him, in the way my body responds but my mind refuses to let go. He can feel it, and it only makes him more ruthless, more determined.
The flogger bites into my skin again, the pain searing, but it only adds to the fire that's building inside me. I can't stop it, and I don't want to. I want to fall into it, to let it consume me.
Xavier's thrusts become more frenzied, his grip on my hips bruising. He's using my body to work out his frustration, his anger, his need for control. And I'm letting him.
I'm losing myself in the sensation, in the burn of my back, the stretch of my body, and the ache between my legs. It's too much and not enough. I need more. I need—
I cry out as the pleasure explodes through me, my body bucking involuntarily against his. I can't stop it, don't want to. I'm coming, my pussy clenching around him, my body bowing as the waves of pleasure roll through me.
Xavier grunts, a sound of surprise, and suddenly, the flogger stops. He's frozen above me, his breath hot against my neck. I can feel his cock twitching inside me, his release triggered by mine. The realization is overwhelming, this power I seem to have over him, even as he wields so much power over me.
He pulls out abruptly, and I whimper at the loss, my body feeling suddenly empty. But then I feel his release on my back, his warm come mixing with the sting of the flogger. Fuck, it's all so intense. A rush of emotions and sensations sweeps me up.