Bound by Fire

Episode 5: The First Lesson

The air between them was electric.

Seraphina had never been the kind of woman to back down. Not in business. Not in war.

And certainly not in the face of Kieran Blackwell.

Yet, standing in his penthouse, with his dark eyes locked onto her, the sheer weight of his presence threatened to consume her.

“I told you,” she murmured, tilting her chin up, “I don’t take orders.”

Kieran chuckled, low and dark, his fingers brushing a slow path down her arm. “And yet, you’re here.”

Her skin burned where he touched her, a treacherous warmth blooming deep inside her.

She had walked into this willingly, knowing the danger, knowing what this game entailed.

But she hadn’t expected to want him like this.

“Take off your dress,” Kieran said smoothly.

Her breath caught. “Excuse me?”

He stepped closer, until their bodies almost touched. His heat wrapped around her, suffocating and intoxicating all at once.

“I don’t like repeating myself.”

Seraphina should have walked away. She should have slapped him across his arrogant face and reminded him that no man commanded her.

But instead, she reached for the zipper.

She hated how easy it was to obey.

The silk slipped down her body, pooling at her feet, leaving her in nothing but black lace and the cool air against her skin.

Kieran’s gaze darkened, his lips curving in approval.

“You look stunning on your knees, I imagine,” he mused.

Her pulse spiked. “You imagine wrong.”

His smirk deepened. “I guess we’ll see.”

She should have been embarrassed. She should have been afraid of how much she wanted him.

But all she felt was powerful.

Kieran thought he was in control?

Let him think that.

Because if she was going to play this game, she was going to play to win.

And Kieran Blackwell had no idea what was coming.