BOUND BY HIS BROKEN VOWS

THE FIRST KISS

The mansion was quieter than usual after the gala, but inside Elena, noise raged.

Every time she closed her eyes, she felt Adrian’s arm around her waist, the steel in his voice as he defended her, the way his gaze had lingered just a second too long.

But with Adrian, nothing was ever simple.

The next morning, she found him in the study, his desk buried under contracts and files. He didn’t look up when she entered, didn’t acknowledge her at all.

“About last night,” she began softly.

“Forget it,” he said flatly.

Her breath caught. Forget it? You stood up for me.

“I told you,” he interrupted, still not looking at her. “This marriage is about appearances. Don’t read meaning where there is none.”

Her chest burned. “Then why did you do it?”

Finally, his eyes lifted, cold as steel. “Because you’re my wife. And no one disrespects what’s mine.”

The words cut deeper than he knew. Property. Possession. That was all she was to him.

Anger flared. “I’m not just some thing you own, Adrian. I’m a person. I feel. I bleed.

“Stop,” he snapped, standing so abruptly his chair scraped against the floor. “You think I don’t know what you feel? You think I don’t see the doubt in your eyes every time you look at me?”

Her pulse raced. “Then tell me why, Adrian! Why marry me at all if you’re determined to keep me at arm’s length?”

His jaw clenched, his eyes dark with something she couldn’t name. “Because I swore I’d never love again.”

The words hung heavy between them. Elena’s heart pounded, her throat tight.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have married me at all,” she whispered.

Silence.

And then, like a spark in dry tinder, it happened.

Adrian closed the distance in two strides, his hands gripping her arms, pulling her against him. His mouth crashed onto hers with a ferocity that stole her breath.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t sweet.

It was fire and fury, a collision of anger and desire that left her trembling.

Elena gasped, her hands instinctively clutching his shirt, and he deepened the kiss, his lips moving against hers as though he’d been starving for this.

When he finally tore away, his breath was ragged, his eyes stormy.

“This,” he growled, his forehead pressing against hers. “This is why. You break every rule I set. You make me feel when I swore I wouldn’t.”

Her heart thundered, her lips still tingling from his kiss. “Then stop fighting it,” she whispered.

But he released her abruptly, stepping back as though burned. His walls slammed back into place.

“I can’t,” he said hoarsely, turning away.

And Elena stood there, her body still aflame, knowing one thing with painful certainty—

The lines were no longer blurred.

They were shattered.