THE FORBIDDEN OBSESSION (My Brother Best friend )

Shattered vows

The penthouse felt dangerously hollow the moment Leo’s car pulled out of the driveway for his overnight gala. For the first time in days, it was just the two of us. The air felt charged, heavy with the weight of every lie Dante had told and every touch he had denied.

I needed to wash the scent of his cologne and the memory of the library off my skin. I stepped into the master bathroom, the steam from the hot water quickly fogging the floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

As I climbed into the oversized marble bathtub, my injured ankle gave a sudden, sharp throb. My foot slipped on the slick surface, and I went down hard, my side hitting the edge of the tub before I splashed into the water.

"Ah! God!" I cried out, the pain in my ribs blooming like a wildfire.

The door didn't just open; it was nearly ripped off its hinges. Dante was there in a heartbeat, his shirt discarded, his eyes wild with a panic I had never seen before.

"Elena!"

He didn't hesitate. He stepped straight into the water, his expensive trousers soaking instantly as he dropped to his knees in the tub. His large hands were all over me, checking for broken bones, his touch trembling with a frantic energy.

"I'm fine... I just slipped," I gasped, clutching his soaking wet shoulders.

He stopped moving. The panic in his eyes shifted, darkening into something far more dangerous as he realized the situation. I was completely naked, the clear water doing nothing to hide the curves he had spent years obsessing over. The steam clung to my skin, and the heat of the room was nothing compared to the fire in his gaze.

"Are you a fool?" he rasped, his voice sounding like it was being dragged over broken glass. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

His gaze dropped. He saw my breasts, the way my n*****s were peaked from the heat and the shock. The "Beast" didn't just wake up; it took control. Beneath the water, I could see the staggering length of his arousal, a heavy, pulsing evidence of the war he had just lost.

"Dante," I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Don't," he growled, but he was already leaning in. He cupped my breast, his thumb grazing the tip until a soft moan escaped my throat. "I told myself I wouldn't do this. I told Leo I would protect you. But you’re standing there looking like a sin I’m dying to commit."

He didn't wait for an answer. He lowered his head, his mouth catching my n****e, his tongue swirling around the sensitive bud with a hunger that was almost violent. I arched my back, my fingers digging into his wet hair, pulling him closer.

He sucked harder, his hand moving down to my hip, his fingers bruising the skin. The unyielding thickness of his desire pressed against my thigh, a rigid promise of the ruin he had whispered about in the library.

"You're mine," he muttered against my skin, his voice a possessive growl. "Not Theo’s. Not Marcus’s. Mine."

He moved to my other breast, his lips devouring me as if he were a starving man finding a feast. All the lies, all the "brat" comments, all the "chores"—they were gone. There was only the sound of the water splashing and the heavy, desperate rhythm of two people finally surrendering to a forbidden obsession.