Chapter 2 The Night

Ember didn't move,Her breath caught as Reagan's cold eyes stared right through her. Her knees felt weak. Every inch of her screamed to run, to scream but she couldn't. She was trapped. Not by the locked door or the high hotel walls. But by him.

Reagan Cross.

Ember's mind spun. That name. That face. The man no one had ever seen, now standing before her like a nightmare wrapped in silk.

"You're shaking," he said softly, walking closer. "Scared?"

She nodded, her lips trembling. "Please... don't do this."

He chuckled. Low. Dangerous.

Reagan watched her...fragile, afraid, innocent. And that made it worse. They had sent him something untouched. A gift, or a cruel joke? Either way, he wasn't going to stop now.

"That dress says otherwise."

"I was forced to come here. I'm not who you think I am," she whispered, hugging herself.

He paused. His eyes moved down her body slowly, making her skin crawl.

"You think I care?"

Ember's heart pounded so hard it echoed in her ears, louder than the silence between them. Her hands trembled at her sides, cold sweat gathering on her palms and tracing down her spine like ice. The air in the room was thick, almost suffocating....too still, too quiet....like a storm was waiting to erupt just beneath the surface. Her knees wobble slightly, threatening to give up, but she forced herself to stay still. She didn't dare to blink. Didn't dare move.

Reagan hadn't touched her yet, but the tension trapped around her was like invisible rope.

She stared at him. Noticed everything. The way his dark eyes held no warmth, only coldness ,sharp and , like glass. His face was striking, disturbingly so: high cheekbones, a strong jaw, lips that looked carved from stone. But it was his stillness that terrified her most. He stood like a man who never needed to raise his voice to command fear. His tailored suit fit him like a second skin, not a crease out of place, and yet he felt more animal than man. He smelled like clean leather, cold metal .

Her eyes darted to the door. A window. Anywhere. She took a step back,barely noticeable, but enough. He saw it. His gaze followed her like a predator tracking prey.

Reagan moved then. Slow. Purposeful. He circled her like she was something delicate to be broken. A finger lifted and brushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. Light. Barely there. But it made her flinch. He saw that too.

"Still thinking of running?" he murmured.

She didn't answer.

But inside, Ember was screaming.

She knew then,there was no way out of this room. No way out of him.

Only through him.

And she didn't know if she'd survive that.

He should've walked away. But something about her trembling voice, the way her eyes begged, it made him angry. Angry that she stirred something inside him. That she looked so damn breakable.

She looked away, fresh tears building. "You don't understand..."

He reached her, tilting her chin up with two fingers. "Oh, I do. They sent you here as part of a deal. I didn't ask for a name. I just asked for someone who could follow orders."

Her skin was soft. Too soft. She didn't belong in this world of shadows and power plays. And yet, here she was.

Ember's heart raced. "You don't have to..."

"I never do anything I don't want," he cut her off. "Now take off the dress."

She didn't move.

He leaned closer, breath hot against her ear. "Take it off. Or I will."

Her hands trembled as she reached behind her, slowly pulling the zipper down. The fabric slipped over her shoulders and fell to the floor. She stood there, vulnerable, arms crossed over her chest.

Reagan's eyes darkened.

"Tell me, Ember," he said, voice rough, "have you done this before?"

She didn't answer.

He stepped closer. "You haven't, have you?"

Her silence gave her away.

Reagan's breath stilled. No one told him she was a virgin. A wave of rage and possessive hunger shot through him. They had given him something pure...something no one had touched. And now, he would be the first. The only.

"They sent me a virgin," he muttered like a curse. "How thoughtful."

Ember backed up a step, chest rising and falling in panic. "Please don't... I don't want this."

She was shaking. She meant every word. But Reagan didn't stop. He couldn't. Beast awakened inside him had already claimed her.

Reagan grabbed her waist, pulling her against him. "Too late."

His lips crushed hers...not gently, but with a hunger that felt more like punishment. She gasped, trying to pull away, but his grip tightened.

"You don't get to say no anymore."

Her tears fell silently.

She tried to scream, but no sound came. She begged, whispered, cried...but it didn't matter. Her words were drowned beneath his need.

He lifted her, pushed her onto the bed, and covered her body with his. She cried his name once. Begged. But he didn't stop.

That night, he took her. Again and again.

And Ember felt like she broke into pieces.

Her hands clenched the sheets. Her voice cracked with every sob. This wasn't what she imagined her first time to be. It was painful. It was a shame. It was fear wrapped in heat.

But he didn't stop.

Reagan lost. Her tears fed something twisted inside him. He wanted to ruin her. Mark her. Keep her. She was now a part of him...something he didn't plan for, but wouldn't give up.

"You're mine now," he whispered harshly against her neck. "Every inch of you."

By the time he was done, her throat hurt from crying, her body shaking with pain. She curled up, hugging herself, trying to stop the bleeding inside her soul.

Reagan got up, dressed like nothing happened. He didn't look at her as he straightened his cufflinks.

"I told them no games," he said quietly. "But they gave me something pure to destroy."

He dropped a small card on the table.

"Room's paid till morning. Take a shower. Clean yourself up."

Then he left.

The door shut with a soft click, but the silence that followed was louder than any scream.

Alone in the cold hotel room, Ember curled into the sheets, heart breaking as fresh sobs shook her chest.

She had just lost everything.

And he had walked away like she was nothing.