27. Fiora

God-fucking-damnit.

Why couldn't Braken have left it alone? Why did he have to show up now and wreck my privacy? Why does he have to look at me like I'm a present to unwrap whenever he feels like it?

Thank God the crowd bustles and talks now that the prizes have all been handed out. This is when the party will start, but I'm ready to head home and say forget it. Between Braken's "Mrs." bath earlier and my secret being out, I'm not up to celebrating.

I need air. Thanks to my annoyance, I've had one glass of champagne too many. I'm not even close to drunk, but my big mouth will get away with me if I stay here.

"I'm going for a walk," I say simply and brush past Braken.

His heeled dress shoes follow much too close behind me. "Trying to run away?"

His voice holds so much sarcasm and humor it makes me spin to face him. Though I'm wearing heels, he's a few inches taller than me. He's so close even a slightly deep breath will allow my tits to brush against his chest. My body warms at the proximity, reminders of his office, and the woods during The Hunt floating through my mind. I want to be mad at him, but it's so hard when he looks like he's about to devour me.

And to my dismay, I realize I'd willingly let him.

Blame it on the years of pent-up sexual frustration. If a man lays a hand on me and Papa finds out? He'd be dead before his dick gets hard. Being a Godwin means there are restrictions. For all the glitz and glamor, if I step out of line, my father won't hold back.

Now I wonder if the punishments are up to Braken. My skin prickles at what kind of punishments he could offer. If they're anything like the fingering on his desk, maybe marriage won't be so bad.

Wait, what the hell am I thinking?

"Where I go isn't any of your business," I shoot back.

"I already told you it is. You are my business, Fiora."

The velvet in his voice makes me shiver. I draw a deep breath and shake my head. "I need to go to the bathroom."

"The one in the back hallway is barely used. Less cameras and people."

I turn and eye him. What's he playing at? Braken is sporting his usual smirk, but it's strangely amused instead of annoyed.

"Since you don't want people to know about you or our engagement."

I cross my arms over my chest and narrow my eyes at him. "These events are about charity. Not gossip."

Braken shrugs his right shoulder. "I didn't realize our engagement was gossip, Fiora. Are you embarrassed to announce it?"

"You are infuriating," I hiss and push past him to head to the bathroom.

I need to clear my head. It's swimming with way too many thoughts to keep up with, but the loudest one screams to shut him up in any way possible. Maybe a method that includes my lips on his or his cock inside me.

That's it. I've had too much to drink. I need to lay off the champagne.

I smile as I pass through the excited crowd. Levanta wiggles her eyebrows at me as I pass, trying and failing to discreetly point behind me. Ugh, is Braken following me? I wish he wouldn't. It's his fault I'm such a disaster tonight.

The hotel hallway is cool on my flushed cheeks, but my body still feels so warm. It's completely dead back here. The bathrooms are further up, and I can hear workers in a kitchen at the end of the hallway. Other than that, I'm alone.

Except for Braken fucking Frost.

"You didn't answer my question, Fiora."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I turn to face him. In the hallway's dim lighting, he looks shadowed. Mysterious. Dangerous. He takes another step toward me.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"Of you? Or of my family's dirty money?"

"Both."

I exhale through my nose and set my hands on my hips. "If my name gets tied to these large donations, people will start to talk. Words have weight, Braken. If the public thinks these organizations have ties to the shady Godwin money, they'll lose status and funding."

Braken doesn't look convinced. "So, you're playing Batwoman, are you?"

His scorn heats my neck. "Someone has to undo all the evil people like Papa and you put on this city. Now if you'll excuse me, fiancé."

I don't make it more than two steps before Braken's hands are on my shoulders, spinning me around and trapping me against the wall next to the bathroom. I yelp and drop my clutch, chest heaving as I stare up at the big bad wolf I want so badly to eat me right this second.

"What the fuck do you know about me, Fiora?" Braken's voice is so low, it resonates down to my bones.

"I know enough," I snap. "Because I've seen enough."

"I'm not your father. Stop making assumptions about what I do and don't do in this city."

"What did I get wrong?"

"Everything." He tightens his grip on my shoulders so much that I gasp. "And here's one of them."

His mouth is hard against mine, hard body pressing against me and leaving me with no escape. Not that I want to. The champagne and his powerful kiss leave my head spinning. I throw my arms around his shoulders and pull him even closer. When his tongue runs along my bottom lip, I open willingly to let him in.

Tonight, I belong to Braken Frost.

His tongue pushes against mine, hands tugging at my long green skirt. There's an urgency in his movements that has my body singing. He wants me as much as I want him. Enough that he's willing to fuck me out in the open at one of his hotels, since he isn't bothering to move anywhere else. He bites onto my bottom lip and tugs, making me moan. By the time he's done ravishing my mouth, my lips are swollen, and my vision is glazed with want.

"Fuck me," he whispers before forcing my head to the side and attacking my neck.

I tug at his suit jacket and shirt, trying to open them enough so I can feel his skin. His tattoos peek out from his clothes, and I dig my fingers into the black ink around his neck. It's a reminder of whose mercy I'm at, and that only makes my core throb even more.

Braken finds my panties with his fingers, but there's no playing like at his office. He rips them down my legs with a few tugs, and I kick them off as best I can with his large body pinning me down. I still have them around my right ankle when he pries apart my folds.

Fuck, I'm so wet that one finger easily slides inside. With just a few pumps, he adds another. His strokes are fast and deliberate, meant to make me arch against him and scream his name. And it fucking works. I moan his name as soon as he touches my aching clit, and I feel him smirk against my neck. With his other hand he gropes at my covered breasts, squeezing and rolling through the fabric until my nipples are hard.

Everything is so overwhelming. My head spins with the heat, my walls clenching down around his fingers. I whine when he curls them and cry out when he tugs on my earlobe with his teeth as he presses hard against my throbbing clit with his thumb. I'm putty under his touch, hips rising to get him deeper with more of that delicious friction.

"Are you gonna come for me, Fiora?" he whispers into my ear. His low, throaty voice makes me flush. "Have you been a good girl?"

"Fuck you, Braken," I answer breathlessly, nails digging in so hard to his skin I'm sure I leave marks.

Braken, for all his bullshit, has mercy on me. He pulls my hips further off the wall with his other hand so he's at the perfect angle to make a mess of my pussy. I drip down his fingers, each thrust bringing me closer and closer to the brink. His thumb speeds up on my clit, matching the furious pace of his fingers. A few more rubs, and I come undone. I throw my head back as I yell out in pleasure, my world going white. Days of sexual tension wash over me, and I tremble with each pulse of passion.

For a second, I'm floating. Then Braken brings me crashing back to earth by pinching my swollen and sensitive clit. I gasp and try to squirm away from his fingers, but he doesn't let me. He maintains that sadistic smirk as he brushes my throbbing clit with his thumb again and again, his wet fingers patting my slick folds.

"I think you mean fuck me, Braken." He smacks my folds a few times, the sting making me gasp. "Go on. Say it."

I bite my swollen lip. Saying it means giving myself to him completely. Making me his girl in every way. Claiming my body and my innocence. Can I really do that?

Clearly not liking my hesitation, he flips me around and spanks my ass over and over, igniting my flesh and sending jolts of pleasure to my core.

"I'm going to spank this ass of yours until you do," he says, continuing the spanking, each swat harder than the last.

If someone were to walk in on us right now and see this man spanking me?—

"Fiora," he warns, and I crumble.

"Fuck me, Braken," I repeat, more of a sigh than actual words. "Now."

He continues to spank me, hard enough that I'm going to feel this tomorrow, and clearly not wanting to act on my command. With the intensity of the slaps, he's showing me one thing—spank after spank.

Braken Frost is in control.

He flips me back to facing him. His smirk only grows as he smashes his lips to mine. His kiss is demanding and dominant, all teeth and tongue as he sucks, licks, and bites to leave his mark on my mouth.

Just as I'm about to weave my fingers in his hair, he roughly grabs my hips and spins me around, making me face the wall again. I'm bent over a full ninety degrees, my long green skirt thrown haphazardly over my back. The swish of his clothes and the clink of his belt follow, and when I turn my head to look back, his hard cock bobs by his stomach in between his unzipped slacks.

God, is he going to fit inside me? He has before, but it hurt each time.

It stretched me to unbelievable limits, and I felt him for days.

I almost tell him to be gentle, but the words don't form. I don't want him to be gentle. I want him to fuck me so hard I can't think right in the middle of this hallway. Again, my body flushes hot at the thought that someone could see us.

Let them.

The secret will be out soon enough anyway.

I brace my hands against the cold wall as Braken lines up the tip of his cock with my entrance. Though I'm wet, the first push stings. Each little choppy thrust to get inside stretches my walls with the perfect mix of pain and pleasure.

"Fuck, you're tight," he grunts. "And so fucking wet."

His deep voice sends shivers down my spine. My walls pulse around him and suck him in until he's completely inside me. Braken gives three shallow thrusts to get me used to his size, but that's all I get. He grips my hips, and his fingers bite into me as he starts really fucking me.

Toe-curling pleasure replaces the pain every time his dick hits deep inside me. My entire body is on fire whenever his hips buck into mine. I can't stop moaning, fingers digging into the wallpaper as I cling to the wall. Fuck, it feels so good. Braken presses on my back to make me arch even more and holds me steady as he fucks me even deeper. My legs shake and burn with the position, but I don't dare move. He's so deep, filling me so perfectly until I can't breathe.

I move one of my hands from the wall and down my body, but before I can touch my clit, Braken grabs my hand and pins it against the wall.

"I don't fucking think so," he mocks. "Don't touch what's mine."

I'm about to complain that I need more, that I need something to bring that high again, when his hand lands firmly on my ass. The sting hurts but is so good. He does it again, the ringing on my skin louder than the snaps of his hips. Braken gives me a third slap, and my gasp turns into a moan the second that hand wraps around and finds my clit. He rubs in time with his sharp thrusts, his dick dragging against my walls, and my swollen clit throbs with the need for release.

I push my hips back against his, chasing that high for another time. Braken's dick hits that spot that makes me whine, his fingers working me into a sweaty, dizzy mess. I squeeze my eyes closed as pleasure mounts. I teeter on the edge of my second orgasm, a desperate plea on my lips. So close, so close, so close…

"Come, Fiora," Braken growls, huffing for breath and pressing hard on my clit. "Come for me."

His growled command sets me off. My toes curl, pleasure running up and down my spine, my body shuddering and shivering as I come. I don't know if I yell or moan or scream; my mind is lost in a white-hot haze. My trembling body is kept upright by a firm hand on my hip.

I'm still swimming in pleasure when Braken slams into me a few more times and grunts something that sounds like my name.

His warm cum paints my walls and fills me to the brim. Shit. He's done it on purpose. He's marking me in every way, making sure I know I'm his. Thank God I'm on birth control.

Our mixed juices drip down my folds when he pulls out. As soon as he lets me go, I collapse against the wall, my skirt falling and sticking to my sweaty legs. I turn back slightly to check around us. No one. It's still only Braken and me in this back hallway that now smells of sex and sweat.

Braken stuffs his still-hard cock back into his underwear and zips up his pants, that stupid smirk on his face. Goddamnit, what did I just do? And why am I sad his dick is back to being covered up?

"Believe whatever you'd like, Fiora." Braken fixes a few sweaty hairs from his forehead. How can he look so fucking perfect? I hate it. "But just know whose cum is dripping from you every step you take."

Then Braken walks off and leaves me catching my breath against the wall.

Bastard.