Claimed Raw by my Husband's Ruthless Best friend

Ava's POV

It was 11:47 p.m. at night.

I had spent another night alone. Another night of waiting for a man whose scent still lingered on the pillow but hadn't touched me in thirty days.

Leon Vance-my husband who was both my sin and my salvation.

The big TV gleamed with nude images. Sounds filled the air. Moans that weren't mine.

I lay on the bed, watching, with my thighs clenched really tight. Video after video of men taking women, their bodies joining in ways that made my breath catch. I rubbed that sensitive peak through my panties, imagining Leon's face as he drove into me on our honeymoon.

I didn't mean to watch it. Not really. It just... happened out of curiosity or punishment. I couldn't tell. I was so desperate that I couldn't bear it.

My chest rose and fell unevenly as the moans filled the room. My body ached really badly, not for the strangers on the screen, but for him. For the weight of his lethal hands. For that rough, commanding voice that could ruin me and make me whole in the same breath.

But he was gone. Another business trip for a whole month just as soon as the honeymoon was over.

I told myself that I'd be patient. That I was better than my past-the girl who used to dance under red lights and crave attention. The girl who stripped when men threw bills at her feet. I wasn't that woman anymore.

I was Ava Sinclair Vance now, the wife of the city's golden billionaire. The woman who swore loyalty and promised to be faithful as soon as I became his.

But loyalty felt heavier when no one was watching.

I ran my fingers through my hair and slowly to my chest, the air filled with perfume and loneliness. My vibrator was useless at this point. I needed something real.

My phone vibrated-a message from Bella, my best friend. "I'm still in Paris. Miss you, babe. Don't go crazy while I'm gone."

Too late.

I dropped the phone, laughing softly the moment I realized that I was going to do something reckless tonight.

Before I could even take a second-guess myself, I was already opening my closet. Dresses in shades of black and gold stared back at me. I reached for the one that used to make men forget their names and lose control.

"Just dance and have some fun," I whispered to myself. "No more than that. Not even touching."

Leon wouldn't find out anyway.

---

The city was alive when I stepped out of the car. The club's name glowed above me-Club Orion. I used to dance here years ago, before Leon claimed me and asked me to be his forever.

Now I was going back as a ghost visiting her own grave.

Inside, the air tasted just like liquor. I walked past the crowd, until I reached the VIP section-where the lights dimmed and money rained in the air.

No one recognized me except for the manager. The manager blinked twice the moment he saw my face.

"Ava Sinclair?"

"Just Ava tonight," I said.

He didn't ask anymore questions. He never did. After all, the man didn't even attend my wedding.

I walked to the stage, my heels clicking like confessions. My pulse beat faster than the music. As I wrapped my fingers around the cold pole, I felt that forgotten hunger inside me exhale.

The music started. My body remembered it all before my mind did. The sway, the rhythm, and the slow arch of my back. Eyes followed and men leaned forward, longing for my body.

But none of them caught my eyes. I wasn't dancing for them anyway. I was dancing away the ache that Leon wasn't there to heal.

And then-I saw him.

He sat in the far corner of the VIP lounge, shadows hiding half of his face. He was wearing a loose shirt and pants, and I could see the muscles of his chest. I hated the way my body reacted to him, and how heat bloomed between my thighs.

Two women sat by his side, one massaging his chest and the other's hand moving lower. But he wasn't looking at them. He was looking at me.

The moment our eyes met, I forgot how to breathe. His gaze was heavy-not the kind that only undressed you, but the kind that consumed you.

My fingers trembled around the pole. I turned away, trying to focus on the rhythm of the music, but my heart was already pounding on a different beat.

I told myself it was just a harmless curiosity but my body was starting to betray me.

Before I knew it, I was walking toward him, heels clicking on marble like a countdown. He didn't move or blink.

The closer I got, the more my knees wanted to give in.

When I reached his table, I stopped. He leaned back, resting his arms on the sofa.

I should've turned back. But I didn't.

Instead, I sat down right on his lap, my chest facing him. I could feel the hard length of him pressed beneath me, and I couldn't help but want it inside me.

His body was really warm. The smell of leather, whiskey, and something darker clung to his skin. My hand moved on its own, tracing the hard lines of his chest through the open buttons of his shirt. His breath hitched barely but I caught it.

I hated the sound of my own heartbeat. It wasn't supposed to race like this for anyone else but Leon.

Gosh. What was I doing?

I told myself before leaving home that I'd just dance and nothing more. But his body called to something wild inside me. It was something that I'd buried when I said I do to Leon.

He tilted his head, studying me like a secret that he already knew. His voice, when he finally spoke, was low and thick like smoke curling around my ear.

"You dance like you've done this before."

I swallowed hard. "Maybe I have."

He smiled, very slow and wicked. "And maybe you still want to."

That hit way too close. I stood up quickly, breaking the spell. My heart felt like it might jump out from my body.

"I should go," I whispered, mostly to myself.

I turned, ready to leave and find whatever was left of my self-control.

But before I could take a step, his hand caught mine. He was already on his feet.

In one motion, he pulled me back, spinning me around until my back hit the wall beside the sofa. His body pressed close enough that I could feel his heartbeat through his shirt.

His hand came up and rested against my throat, almost choking me. He came at rough, holding me still.

The world shrank. All that existed was the heat arising between us.

He leaned closer, his lips brushing my ear as he whispered,

"And where did you think you're going?"

Oh shit!! Soo much for being a changed person.

I wanted to speak up. I wanted to remind myself of Leon, of my vows, and of the life I was supposed to protect. But the words never came.

Because in that moment-under the dim light and under his control, I realized something terrifying.

I wasn't sure I wanted to be faithful anymore.

Ava's POV

His hot breath burned against my ear.

"Don't you think we need a room?"

Those words sent a shiver down my spine, like warm oil sliding over my skin. My thighs squeezed together hard. A throb started between my legs, so strong it made my teeth hurt.

I tried to speak-Leon, my vows, my promises-but the words stuck in my throat.

Before I could get them out, his fingers grabbed my wrist tight. Not soft at all. He yanked me hard, and I lost my balance. My heels scraped across the marble floor. The VIP door banged shut behind us, cutting off the loud music and the people outside. The room went dark, except for a red light glowing from a lamp on the wall.

He pushed me face-first against the cool wall. My hands pressed flat on the wall.

Before I realized, he smacked my backside. The sting that came with it was what I needed. Heat spread under my skin, rushing right to that sensitive peak. I gasped and arched my back without thinking.

"Take me," I said, the words coming out rough, like a beg and a secret all mixed up together. I couldn't still believe how my body was responding to his actions.

He stopped moving. I felt his body change. Then he laughed in the darkest tone. "Oh, I will. But after."

After?

He turned me around fast, picked me up like I was nothing, and threw me on the bed. Black silk sheets felt cool on my bare skin. I tried to sit up, but his hand pushed flat between my breasts and held me down.

"Stay."

Just that one word and my nipples got hard.

He opened the drawer by the bed and pulled out red silk ties. My heart pounded in my chest. I should fight him at this point. Kick. Yell Leon's name until my voice broke. But instead, I lifted my wrists, giving them to him like I was under a spell.

He tied me to the headboard. The knots were so tight that I could never break them. It stretched my arms, and made my breasts lift up, and every breath came short. I pulled a little-no give at all. I was stuck and aching between my legs.

He leaned close, his lips touching my ear. "I'm going to make you want me so bad you'll beg in words you don't even know."

A shake ran through me. My hips moved on their own, looking for something to rub against. But nothing was there.

The door opened.

The blonde girl from before walked in. He took off his shirt.

Damn.

His muscles were hard and well cut under his skin, with tattoos the club lights hid before. My mouth felt dry. I swallowed loudly.

She got on her knees and took him in her mouth. He didn't look at her. His eyes stayed locked on mine, hot like fire.

"Look at me, Ava."

My name from him sounded different-intimate, possessive. Like he'd always known it. Like he'd been waiting to say it.

I couldn't stop staring.

Then he pulled her off. His hardness bounced free, red and demanding. He traced it across her cheek-once, twice. Then he turned to me, who was still tied up, my wetness obvious.

He was right about one thing.

I ended up wanting him madly.

---

The door clicked shut behind the blonde.

The air got heavier, and thicker, like the room shrank to just us. My wrists burned against the silk ties. My thighs shook. I couldn't hide how soaked I was.

He sat on the sofa across from the bed, his hardness in his fist, watching me.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand. The screen lit up-Leon ❤️-the most loving, devoted little symbol in the world. And I was here, tied to a bed, desperate for another man's touch.

I strained against the ties, my fingers stretching toward the nightstand. He glanced at my phone. Saw the name. A slow smile curved his lips. Not a guilty smile. Not a surprised one.

He just watched me struggle until the phone finally stopped. Then he stood, still smiling, and walked back toward me.

He grabbed my chin. Hard. Tilted my face up. His thumb pressed into my bottom lip, parting it.

"That," he said, voice low and rough, "was your punishment."

His breath was hot against my ear. "Now, you're exactly where you need to be."

Leon never talked like this. Leon took like a storm-fast, brutal, and gone. This man? He was a slow blade, cutting me deeper with every second.

I swallowed. My voice cracked up. "I want to feel you." I paused. My chest heaved. "Inside me."

His eyes flashed. Something dark and hungry.

"That's more like it."

He clipped clamps onto my nipples. The sting shot straight through me. My back arched off the bed. Two fingers slid in without warning-I moaned as he curled them, finding that perfect spot. Then his mouth replaced his fingers, and I tasted myself for the first time. Salty and sweet.

He pressed a vibrator to my peak on the highest setting. I screamed. The buzz shot through me like lightning. He leaned down and bit my neck.

I shattered. Hard and fast. My vision blurred.

He untied the silk and flipped me onto my back. He climbed over me and pushed my thighs apart with his knees. The head of him nudged at my entrance.

I bucked. "Please-"

He slapped my center. "Beg for it."

"Please. Take me. I need it."

He sank in slow and relentless, inch by inch. So full. He bottomed out. We both stilled.

Then he moved. Hard. Deep. No mercy. The bed slammed against the wall. I screamed. He grabbed the chain between the clamps and pulled. Pain and pleasure collided.

"Gosh. I'm going to come," I blurted out.

I shattered, clenching around him. He drove into me through it, harder and faster, his hand wrapped around my throat.

"Look at me."

I did. His eyes were wild. With one final thrust, he came, filling me with his hot release.

He rolled off the bed without a word. I lay there, his warmth leaking onto the silk sheets, staring at the ceiling.

---

When I sat up, he was already dressed.

"Uber's outside," he said. "Five minutes."

I cleaned up quickly with tissues from the nightstand-pathetic. My reflection in the mirror was a stranger: mascara smudged, bite marks blooming on my neck. I pulled my hair into a messy bun and slipped out the service exit.

The rideshare was a dented Prius. The driver-a college kid-did a double-take when I climbed in reeking of sex and whiskey.

"Rough night?" he asked.

I didn't answer. I just stared out the window, very tired. I could barely feel my body.

I paid in cash, tipped too much, and tiptoed through the lobby. The doorman's eyes lingered on my neck.

The penthouse was dark. Leon's side of the bed was cold. I planted my face into the pillow, still tasting the stranger on my tongue, and let the blackout take me.

Mrs. Lin, the housekeeper, found me an hour later.

"Young mistress?" she whispered, voice sharp with alarm. "Ava, wake up. What the hell did you drink?"

I didn't stir.

She leaned closer, noticing the red marks circling my wrists, and the faint bruise blooming on my collarbone. Her eyes widened.

"Hello? Did you forget? You're meeting the heir of HK Group at noon-your husband's best friend, the one who missed the wedding. He's already landed."

Ava's POV

The sun didn't ease in that morning. It slashed through the curtains like a blade straight across my face. I winced before my eyes even opened. My head throbbed in rhythm with my pulse.

I tried to swallow but my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. The clock on the nightstand glowed in red: 11:47 a.m.

Late in the morning.

I pushed up on one elbow. The movement sent a wave of nausea rolling through me. The room tilted, came back to normal. The pillows and the silk sheets clung to my thighs, smelling of sweat and sex.

One heel still dangled from my left foot. The other one lay across the room, kicked off near the dresser..

I then looked down in my body only to notice the bite marks. Not gentle or playful but dark, deliberate bruises scattered across my collarbone, my chest, and the tops of my boobs. Red rings circled my wrists and my skin, broken in places from the silk ties.

"Oh fuck. The psycho at the club."

It came in flashes. Red lights. His hand fisted in my hair. That low, ruthless voice. Me screaming and begging for more.

No.

I bolted for the bathroom, knees slamming into the tile as I dropped in front of the sink.

Mascara streaked down my cheeks in thick black rivers. Lips swollen, red, bitten. My neck-Holy crap-was covered in purple hickeys, blooming like bruises from a fight that I'd lost on purpose.

Leon.

His face flashed behind my eyes. The altar, the white dress and the way he'd smiled at me like I was his salvation.

"Clean slate, Ava. No more games. No more nights like before. Just us. You and me. Forever."

He held my fingers tight that day. His voice was soft.

I promised.

We both did.

And now?

Not even a year in and I'd broken it. What I hated the most is that I enjoyed every bit of it.

I slid down the cabinet. My back hit the wood with a soft thud. I pulled my knees to my chest. I didn't fucking care.

Tears came then. They rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my thighs.

What have I done?

The door creaked open behind me.

Mrs. Lin stood in the doorway. Her eyes went wide-then narrowed as she tried to read the room: the dress, the marks, the lone shoe on the floor, and me curled up like a broken doll.

"Oh! Crap, Ava. What did you do?"

I couldn't look at her. My voice cracked when I spoke. "I don't know. I was... just a bit horny. It was supposed to be just a fun, night party. I didn't mean for it to-"

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Her thumb brushed one of the bruises on my neck-gentle, but I flinched anyway.

"Who's the guy?"

I shook my head. "Don't know his name. I didn't ask."

Her eyes searched mine. "You remember his face, don't you?"

I closed my eyes. Tried to pull it up.

Dark hair. Messy. Tattoos crawling up his arms, and across his chest. That dragon-coiled tattoo that was alive under the red light. His body-hard, and unforgiving.

But his face?

Blank.

"His voice," I whispered. "Like gravel. Very ruthless. Like he owned the whole damn room. That's all I've got."

Mrs. Lin stood up with a heavy sigh. The kind that came from years of cleaning up my messes. "Stay out of clubs for now. For a long while. You hear me?"

She dug into her apron pocket and tossed a small tube onto the counter. Arnica gel. "Cover those up. You've got lunch meeting to attend."

Lunch.

My brain clicked into gear like an engine trying to turn over in the cold.

"The HK heir. Leon's best friend."

She nodded. "The one who missed the wedding. You're going to meet him at HK premises. Noon sharp. You have to start getting ready. You are already late as it is."

I glanced at the clock on the wall: 12:22 p.m.

"Shit."

Mrs. Lin turned to leave. I grabbed her wrist-my fingers trembling around her thin bones. "Please. Don't tell Leon. I don't want to break his heart. I can't-" My voice cracked up again. "Just keep it between us? Please?"

A short, sharp laugh escaped her like she'd heard this before. "Forget that mess, girl. Just get ready. You look like hell warmed over."

The door clicked shut behind her.

I dragged myself into the shower. I scrubbed hard until my skin turned pink and raw. The hickeys faded a little but not enough.

The mirror had fogged completely. I wiped a circle clear with my palm.

Still me.

But not.

I applied foundation, making sure that it was as thick as armor and concealer under my eyes to hide the exhaustion and the redness. Hair in loose waves that fell over my neck, hiding what it could. A black backless gown and four-inch heels, the kind that made men stare and women whisper.

I looked in the full-length mirror. I looked dangerous and polished as a billionaire wife, not like the girl who'd begged on silk sheets last night.

But inside? I was still shaking.

The elevator ride up to the lobby at HK felt endless. I clutched my bag like a lifeline. "Why do I even have to meet this guy anyways?" I muttered to myself as I stepped out of the elevator.

The lobby glittered under crystal chandeliers. The lounge area had plush velvet sofas arranged in a half-circle, all gold accents and low lighting.

I spotted him from behind. Broad shoulders filling out a dark suit. One leg crossed over the other and phone pressed to his ear.

My steps faltered the moment I realized that the voice was similar to the one that tortured me last night.

He laughed into the phone. I clearly recognized that deep rumble. My knees nearly gave out.

No.

I forced myself forward. One foot in front of the other. The click of my heels echoed in the vast space.

"Hi. I'm Ava."

He ended the call and lifted his head.

My bag slipped from my fingers the moment our eyes locked.

"What the-"