Chapter 1

"You will go to that suite, Kaliyah, or you can kiss your grandmother's trust fund goodbye."

The memory of Preston's voice played on a loop in her head. Kaliyah Acevedo stepped out of the elevator. The thick carpet of the Elysium Hotel's top floor absorbed the sound of her footsteps. She took a deep breath. The air in her lungs felt like crushed glass. Her fingers gripped the cheap leather of her clutch so hard her knuckles turned a stark, bone white.

She walked down the long, silent corridor. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Three years of a paper marriage to a man she had never met. Now, her father was forcing this meeting. She stopped in front of the presidential suite. She raised her fist to knock.

The heavy carved wooden door was already cracked open.

Kaliyah pushed it. The hinges made no sound. The entryway was dark. The only light came from the dim sconces on the walls. The air inside hit her face. It was unnaturally hot. A thick, suffocating heat that made the fine hairs on her arms stand up.

"Bryton?" she called out. Her voice was barely a whisper.

The only answer was a heavy, ragged breath from the shadows.

She stepped carefully past the foyer. She walked around a large decorative screen. A man's suit jacket lay crumpled on the floor. A silk tie was discarded a few feet away.

A large, burning hot hand shot out from the darkness.

Long fingers wrapped around her wrist like an iron vice. The heat of his skin seared through her thin blouse. Before she could even gasp, a brutal force yanked her forward. She crashed into a wall of solid muscle.

The heavy scent of aged whiskey and raw male sweat flooded her senses. It choked the air out of her lungs.

She pushed her hands against his chest. His muscles were rigid and slick with sweat. He was a furnace.

Bryton Lott slammed her back against the cold wall. The impact knocked the breath out of her. His eyes were bloodshot. The pupils were blown wide, swallowing the iris. He could not focus on her face. He just stared blindly at her silhouette.

He let out a low, guttural curse. The sound was thick with absolute agony and blind hunger.

"I am your..." Kaliyah opened her mouth to speak.

His large hand snapped up. His fingers clamped around her jaw, forcing her mouth shut. The grip was punishing.

His mouth crashed down on hers. It was not a kiss. It was a violent collision. His teeth scraped against her bottom lip. The taste of copper bloomed in her mouth. She hit his shoulders with her free hand. She punched the hard muscle of his back.

He did not even flinch. He grabbed both of her wrists in one massive hand and pinned them above her head against the wallpaper.

His free hand grabbed the collar of her silk blouse. He pulled. The fabric tore. Buttons popped off and hit the hardwood floor like tiny bullets.

The cold air of the room hit her bare skin. Kaliyah shivered violently. The involuntary movement only made the man more feral.

His breathing was entirely out of control. His skin was burning up. Kaliyah realized it instantly. He was heavily drugged.

She twisted her hips. She dropped her weight, trying to use a close-quarters combat sweep to take his legs out. It was a move that had dropped men twice her size during her operative training.

Bryton simply shifted his massive frame. He pinned her legs with his knee. The drug pumping through his veins gave him terrifying strength. Her violent thrashing seemed only to stoke the chemical fire in his blood, making his movements more powerful and entirely uncontrollable.

He bent down and scooped her up. He threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

Kaliyah slammed her fists into his back. He ignored it. He took long, heavy strides across the room and kicked the bathroom door open.

He tossed her onto the wide marble vanity.

The stone was freezing. The shock of the cold marble against her bare back made her gasp. Bryton pressed his burning body against hers, trapping her on the counter. The extreme temperature difference made her stomach knot.

His arm hit the shower handle behind her. Freezing water blasted out of the overhead fixture. It soaked them both in seconds.

The icy water plastered her hair to her face. It did nothing to cool the fire in his blood. The water only made his grip tighter. His eyes darkened with pure, unhinged possession.

A sharp, tearing pain ripped through her body.

Kaliyah bit down hard on her own lip. Her teeth broke the skin. Warm blood mixed with the freezing water running down her chin. Tears spilled from her eyes, instantly washed away by the shower.

Bryton froze for a fraction of a second. His body tensed as if registering her lack of experience. But the chemical wave in his brain drowned out any rational thought. The storm took over completely.

Time lost its meaning under the freezing downpour.

When it finally ended, the drug's peak crashed. Bryton's massive body went entirely slack. He collapsed onto the wet floor beside the large bathtub, falling into a dead, unnatural sleep.

Kaliyah lay on the cold marble. Every muscle in her body screamed in pain. Her chest heaved. She pushed herself up. Her arms shook so badly she almost slipped on the wet stone.

She looked down at the man on the floor. His face was striking, all sharp jawlines and straight nose. But to her, he was a monster.

A cold, heavy block of humiliation settled in her stomach. She grabbed her torn, soaked clothes from the floor. She pulled them on with numb fingers.

She turned toward the bathroom door.

Footsteps echoed in the outer hallway. Heavy, fast, and accompanied by the sound of men talking.