Mara . . I had gone days without a single touch from him. The house had been crawling with bodyguards, everyone was on edge, and I had buried myself in chores just to keep busy, just to stop my mind from slipping into that space again. That space where all I could think about was him. His hands, his voice, the way he made me feel things I never thought I could feel. We hadn’t done anything since the last time and it was driving me crazy. I needed him, even if it was just his punishment, even if it was rough. I didn’t care. I was starving for him. When I saw him in his study, something inside me snapped. I bit my lip hard as I stood there watching him. He looked so good. Relaxed in that chair like a king, dangerous and quiet, flipping through papers like he wasn’t the source of every ac

