Twisted Oaths and Tainted Lust

The storm outside raged as fiercely as the war within her. Rain lashed against the glass windows of the grand estate, lightning illuminating the darkened room where she stood, trapped between the past she wanted to escape and the future that had been carved in blood.

Taehyung's world was suffocating, a gilded prison where he was both her captor and her obsession. And after everything, after the broken promises, the stolen kisses, the bruises that weren't always born from violence—she still couldn't decide if she wanted to fight or surrender.

She barely flinched when she felt his presence behind her. He was silent, a shadow in the darkness, but she knew he was there before he even spoke.

"You're running out of places to hide, sweetheart."

Her breath hitched as his fingers ghosted over her bare shoulder, a touch so light it was almost cruel. It made her shiver, but not from the cold.

"I'm not hiding," she whispered, gripping the edge of the vanity before her.

A dark chuckle. "Then why do you look so desperate to escape?"

His reflection loomed behind hers in the mirror. Taehyung's gaze was unreadable, a lethal mix of amusement and something far more dangerous. Something she wasn't sure she could resist anymore.

She swallowed hard. "You don't own me."

Taehyung hummed in amusement, his lips curving into a wicked smirk. "Don't I?"

In a flash, he spun her around, caging her between the vanity and his unrelenting body. His fingers gripped her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. They were dark, consuming, and filled with an emotion she refused to name.

"Say it again," he dared, his voice nothing more than a sinful whisper. "Tell me I don't own you."

She should have. She should have spat the words at him, should have shoved him away. But her body betrayed her. Heat coiled low in her belly, her breath coming in ragged gasps as his thumb traced the curve of her lips.

"You don't—" The words were barely out before he kissed her.

It wasn't soft. It wasn't gentle. It was raw, claiming, a kiss that tasted like possession and ruin. His hands tangled in her hair, yanking her closer as he devoured her as if punishing her for the mere thought of denying him.

She moaned into his mouth, gripping his shoulders to steady herself, to keep from falling into the abyss he pulled her toward. But it was useless. Taehyung was gravity itself, and she had been falling from the moment she met him.

His lips left hers, trailing down her jaw to the pulse fluttering wildly at her throat. "Your body tells a different story," he murmured against her skin, his voice thick with dark satisfaction.

She hated him.

She hated him for knowing her better than she knew herself.

"You can't break me," she whispered, a final act of defiance.

Taehyung pulled back just enough to look at her, his smirk laced with something more dangerous than amusement. "Sweetheart, I don't need to break you." His fingers tightened on her waist, pressing her against the hardness of his body. "You'll give yourself to me willingly."

Her stomach clenched. "Never."

His grip on her waist turned bruising, his other hand tangling in her hair as he forced her head back. "We'll see."

And then he kissed her again, harder this time, a bruising clash of lips and teeth that left her breathless, left her questioning whether she had ever truly wanted to escape him at all.

Hours passed, but the war between them never settled.

Taehyung had always been a man who took without asking, who devoured and conquered. But tonight, he was something else. He was patient, like a lion toying with its prey, waiting for the moment she would surrender.

And she hated that part of her already had.

She lay in his bed, the silk sheets cool against her overheated skin. He was beside her, propped up on one elbow, watching her like she was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

"You can hate me all you want, but it won't change anything," he said, voice laced with amusement. "You're still mine."

She turned her head to glare at him. "I don't belong to you."

He chuckled, low and knowing. "No? Then why are you still here?"

She opened her mouth, but no words came. Because the truth was cruel. The truth was that she didn't know if she could leave anymore, even if he let her.

Taehyung reached out, tracing a lazy circle on her bare shoulder. "You're scared of how much you want me."

She scoffed. "You're delusional."

His smirk widened. "Am I?" His fingers trailed lower, over the curve of her waist. "Then tell me to stop. Tell me you don't want this."

She hated him.

Hated him for making her question everything.

Her silence was answer enough.

Taehyung leaned closer, his lips brushing against her ear. "That's what I thought."

Her breath hitched. She should have pushed him away. Should have run. But she did neither.

Because deep down, she knew the truth.

Her surrender came in waves, creeping in like the tide she thought she could resist. It was there in the way her body molded against his, in the way her breath stuttered when his fingers traced forbidden paths over her skin. It was in the way she clung to him despite the war raging inside her.

"Sleep, sweetheart," Taehyung murmured, his lips grazing her temple. "Tomorrow, you'll understand."

She wanted to ask—understand what? But exhaustion weighed heavy on her limbs, and before she could fight it, darkness pulled her under.

The morning light was cruel, spilling into the room and illuminating the bruises he had left on her skin. Possessive marks, a silent claim. She stared at them in the mirror, tracing them with shaking fingers. Proof of the war she had lost, the war she had never truly wanted to win.

The door creaked open. Taehyung stood there, dressed in black, a devil draped in silk. "Get up."

She turned to him, eyes wary. "Why?"

His smirk was lazy, but his eyes burned with something darker. "Because your place at my side is not just in my bed. It's time you learn what it means to be mine."

A shiver ran down her spine. Not from fear.

From anticipation.

She was already his.