MY BROTHER IN-LAW
My eyes narrow across the room, and they fall on him again.
Kael.
My brother-in-law.
Even though we’ve only met two hours ago, every nerve in my body recognizes him.
My sister’s fiancé.
The man I should not want.
Yet the one whose eyes have been burning into me all evening.
It isn’t just a look. It is a claim. Subtle, unreadable, yet heavy enough to make my pulse jump every time our gazes lock.
The look that sends a jolt straight through me, down to places I shouldn’t feel ache for him. My thighs press together beneath the table, trying to stop the shiver that crawls up my spine.
God, what am I doing?
He sits beside my father, quiet yet commanding the table like he owns the air everyone breathes. Maybe he indeed does.
A man used to attention. To silence. To control. Even when he doesn’t speak, people listen.
Kael Drovian. A business tycoon. The man my family calls a blessing. The man my sister Lilian will marry in less than a month.
The man who seems larger than life itself. Broad-shouldered, and standing well over six feet, his presence alone demands attention. Even seated, he fills the room with power stitched into every inch of his tailored suit, confidence in every unhurried movement.
His shoulders strain the fabric, his chest solid, his hands large… veined and surely the kind that could wrap around my throat and I’d still lean closer.
His jaw is sharp, his eyes impossibly dark, carrying that quiet authority of a man used to being obeyed. Everything about him feels deliberate. Controlled. Dangerous.
And the man whose stare slid down my neckline just moments ago.
Heat blooms where his gaze lands, low and deep, and a slow ache curling through my belly. I shouldn’t feel this alive under his eyes, this hot… and this wet.
I drag my eyes away, forcing a shaky breath. My chest aches with guilt. I close my eyes, muttering silently, ‘Stop staring, Ravenne. He’s your sister’s.’
But something about him draws me in like gravity.
The deep timbre of his voice when he speaks to my father. The way his hand grips his wine glass, deliberate and calm. The faint scar near his temple, hidden under perfectly styled dark hair. He isn’t just handsome. This man is dangerous. The kind of man mothers warn their daughters about.
“Are you even listening, Ravenne?” Lilian’s voice snaps me back.
I blink and sit upright. “Huh?”
She rolls her eyes, her perfectly manicured nails tapping the glass. “I said you’ll be helping with the wedding planning, remember?”
“Oh. Right. Yes.” I force a smile. “Of course.”
Her lips curve into a smirk. “Good. At least try not to mess up this time.”
Heat crawls up my neck. Lilian always has a way of reminding me where I stand… beneath her shadow. The golden daughter. Our parents’ favorite. The one who always gets what she wants.
Including him.
I look back at Kael, just once more. And damn it, he’s already looking at me.
Our eyes hold only for a second, but it’s enough.
He didn't smile. He didn't look away either.
He just watches.
Like he knows.
No, he knows.
This man knows what he is doing.
He looks at me knowingly, like he can read between the walls I’m supposed to put up.
It feels like he’s undressing my thoughts, peeling them open, one filthy secret at a time.
My breath hitches, and I reach for my glass of water, needing something to hold. But the air around me has shifted.
He makes me aware of everything. The rise and fall of my chest, the heat between my thighs, the sound of my heartbeat.
My n*****s strain against silk, my skin too tight for my body. I cross my legs, desperate for friction, for relief, for anything but this forbidden need crawling under my skin.
God, no, no, no.
What is going on?
I can feel the beads of sweat that gather on my forehead, and just like that, dinner blurs. Words turn to background noise, and I keep trying not to look, but keep failing miserably. Each stolen glance is met by his steady, unreadable eyes.
Every time his gaze finds me, my stomach clenches and my skin prickles. He doesn’t have to touch me, his eyes alone feel like a caress. A silent warning. A promise I can’t name.
I try to distract myself, cutting my chicken, nodding at conversations but all I can feel is him. His presence is everywhere, wrapping around me like smoke. And when his hand brushes his tie, slow, deliberate, I swear I feel that movement in my own skin.
By the time the plates are cleared, I can barely breathe.
When the night finally ends, everyone scatters laughing, chatting, saying their goodbyes. I slip away to the kitchen, hoping to breathe, to wash off the tension coiled inside me.
The house is silent now. The chandelier light softens over marble counters. I reach for a glass, filling it at the sink, trying to shake his image off.
But the moment I turn, he’s there.
Kael.
No way I’m hallucinating the man I’m just meeting for the first time today.
Oh, God.
He leans against the doorframe, hands in his pockets, watching me with that same infuriating calm.
My hand freezes mid-air. He’s real. “Oh- I thought everyone left.”
His gaze flicks to the water, then back to me. “You shouldn’t wander off alone, Ravenne.”
I swallow. “I just needed some air.”
He steps closer, slow, deliberate. “And you found me instead.”
My pulse spikes. “You’re my sister’s fiancé,” I blurted.
He tilts his head, eyes narrowing slightly. “You think I don’t know that?”
The air between us tightens.
“Then stop looking at me that way,” I whisper.
A faint, dark smile curves his lips. “You looked first.”
I freeze.
He takes another step, stopping just close enough for his cologne to sink into my lungs— cedar and something dangerous. His voice drops, low and certain.
“When a man looks at you like that, Ravenne, you don’t look back unless you’re ready to play with fire.”
His words drag across my skin like a tongue. My breath catches, my thighs clench hard, desperate to ease the ache building there.
I shiver. “I’m not… ”
“You are.” He cuts in gently, like he’s been reading me all evening. “And you’ll keep looking, because you want to know how it feels to burn.”
His words curl around me, heavy and intoxicating.
For a second, neither of us moves. His eyes linger on my lips. My breath catches. The world fades to the sound of his breathing, steady and deep, a reminder of the danger standing inches away.
Then… like he’s decided something, he steps back, eyes dark and sharp again.
“Goodnight, Ravenne.”
Before I can speak, he turns and leaves, his footsteps echoing down the hall leaving me gripping the counter, trembling, heart thundering, and mind screaming the one truth I don’t want to admit.
I want my sister’s fiancé.
Fuck, I want Kael Drovian.
