Chapter 3 His Pet in Plain sight

Chapter 3

The next morning, I woke to the sound of his voice-deep, firm, commanding.

But he wasn't speaking to me.

He was on the phone.

I blinked, my body sore from the night before, wrapped in black silk sheets that still smelled like him. The echoes of his hands, his mouth, his body, still tingled across my skin.

I sat up slowly.

Dante stood by the window, shirtless again, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. His back was sculpted, his tattoos stark against golden skin, the muscles shifting with every movement.

"No," he said into the phone, clipped. "If the code doesn't run clean, we pull the product. I don't care how much it costs-Wolfe Technologies doesn't release broken things."

His voice. His control. It made my thighs squeeze together just hearing him work.

"Good," he finished, then turned.

His eyes found me instantly.

"On the bed. Naked. Knees apart."

I shivered.

He dropped the phone and came toward me.

No hello. No soft touches.

Just ownership.

I obeyed without a word. My legs opened, trembling. My lips parted. My pulse roared in my ears.

He didn't speak as he knelt between my thighs, his eyes dark and hungry. He tasted me like a man starved, and I came apart with a cry muffled by the back of my own hand.

When I tried to collapse, he grabbed my waist and flipped me, pushing my face into the sheets.

"You're not done," he growled.

He took me from behind-slow, hard, possessive. One hand wrapped in my hair. The other squeezed my hip hard enough to bruise.

I didn't care.

Every thrust said what his mouth never would: You're mine now.

---

After he left me panting and wrecked, he rose from the bed, adjusted his slacks, and lit a cigar at the window without looking back.

I curled around a pillow, sweat cooling on my skin, trying to slow my breathing.

"You'll ride with Harper to the event tonight," he said suddenly. "Act normal. Smile. Laugh. Keep your mouth shut."

My stomach twisted. "An event?"

He nodded. "Charity gala. Everyone will be there. Including me."

"But-"

"No buts." He turned, blowing smoke, his jaw sharp. "You'll be there in black. Heels. Collar."

My heart stopped.

"Collar?"

He smirked. "A diamond one. Look for the box on the table."

"I can't-"

"You already did. Now you'll keep doing it."

I sat up, the sheet clinging to my chest. "What if someone notices?"

"Then they'll know who you belong to." He exhaled slowly. "You're not just my best friend's daughter's friend anymore. You're my pet. My possession. My weakness."

That last word sounded like a confession he hadn't meant to say.

And yet, he said it anyway.

Then he walked out.

---

The dress was black, satin, backless, thigh-high slit, the kind you only wear when you want to be looked at and claimed at the same time.

But the collar... oh God.

It was a choker of small diamonds with a single black crystal hanging from the center. Elegant. Dainty. Dangerous.

It looked like jewelry.

It felt like a leash.

Harper squealed when she saw me come downstairs. "You look so hot! Oh my God, I told you my dad had style!"

She had no idea.

She didn't know her father had picked this out. That his hands had touched this skin hours ago. That I still had bite marks on my thighs under this dress.

She didn't know he'd called me his weakness and then fucked me until I cried.

Harper looped her arm through mine as we walked out to the limo. "Tonight is going to be insane. So many hot people. Try not to fall in love with any billionaires, okay?"

I laughed hollowly. "I'll try."

---

The gala was held at a massive rooftop ballroom. White lights, crystal chandeliers, champagne fountains. The place oozed wealth and power.

And danger.

Because he was already there.

I saw him the second I stepped through the doors.

He was talking to some senator, nodding politely, but his eyes were on me.

Locked.

Like a predator tracking his prey.

And the moment he saw that I was wearing the collar-his collar-I saw it in his eyes.

Pride. Possession. Need.

No one else would know. Not unless they looked closely. But he knew.

And that was all that mattered.

---

The hours dragged.

Harper introduced me to socialites, entrepreneurs, arrogant heirs who tried to flirt with me while my skin crawled under Dante's distant gaze.

Every touch, every compliment felt wrong.

Because I knew he was watching.

From the shadows.

Guarding what was his.

At one point, a handsome trust fund idiot brushed his hand over my lower back.

I didn't even have time to react.

Because suddenly-Dante was there.

"Excuse us," he said coolly, stepping between us, eyes never leaving mine.

The guy blinked. "Hey, man, I didn't mean to-"

"She's taken," Dante said. Then he looked at me. "Come."

I followed.

Like a good girl.

---

He didn't say a word until we were in a private hallway behind the ballroom.

Then he pushed me against the wall.

His hands on my throat. Not choking-just holding me still.

"You let him touch you," he said low.

"I didn't-"

"You wore my collar and still let another man touch what's mine?"

His eyes were fire. His body pressed close.

"I didn't let him-he just-"

He kissed me. Brutal. Hot. Unforgiving.

Then his hand slid between my legs, beneath my dress, stroking.

I gasped.

"No panties?" he growled.

"You didn't give me any," I whispered.

He smiled darkly.

"You remember the rules?"

"Yes."

"No coming unless I say so?"

"Yes."

"Then be a good girl and take what I give you."

Two fingers slid inside me.

I moaned.

But I didn't come.

Not yet.

He worked me fast, rough, his breath hot against my throat. My thighs shook. My mouth opened in a silent cry.

He didn't let me go.

Didn't stop until I was begging.

"Please," I gasped. "Please let me-"

"No."

I whimpered.

"Not yet. I want you dripping and desperate all night."

He pulled his fingers out and sucked them clean while staring at me.

"You'll walk around this place knowing your owner touched you. And you'll behave."

I nodded, lips trembling.

He leaned close.

"Tonight, you'll sleep in my bed. With your wrists tied. And if you're a good girl... maybe I'll let you come then."

Then he left me.

Shaking. Wet. Owned.

And I'd never felt more Alive.