Captured by Desire

Pain.

A dull, relentless ache crawled over my body, settling in my wrists and shoulders. My throat was dry as if I had been screaming. 'Had I?' I pondered.

The scent of damp earth, smoke, and something darker curled around me, thick and suffocating. My mind swam through a haze, grasping for something solid, something familiar. But there was nothing. 

Then it hit me. 

I wasn't in Velmoria anymore.

A sharp, panicked breath rattled in my chest. My fingers twitched, brushing against something soft beneath me. A bed. The plush, expensive fabric clung to my skin, silkier than anything I'd ever touched. Too soft... too comfortable... and too foreign. 

The realization sent a violent shudder through me. My stomach churned as my pulse hammered against my ribs, the frantic pounding filling my ears. 'Where am I?' The air in the chamber was too thick, like it was pressing down on me, waiting to swallow me whole. 

I forced my eyes open, blinking hard as my vision sharpened. 

Massive stone walls loomed around me, flickering with golden light from iron sconces. The chamber screamed opulence, power, and authority. Shadows stretched and twisted, cast by flames that burned with creepiness. No windows or doors that I could see. The room felt like a living thing—ancient, waiting. 

Then my gaze landed on the heavy velvet curtains swallowing the walls. Blood red. The color of spilled wine and war banners mixed together. They muffled the sound, suffocating any hope of escape. 

And then I saw him. A shadow reclined on a throne at the far end of the chamber. 

King Kaizer. 

Instantly, there was tension in the air. I sucked in a breath, but it did nothing to steady the frantic beating in my chest. Even seated, his presence filled the room, coiling around me like a dark whisper. He lounged there with the kind of effortless dominance that sent an instinctive chill racing down my spine. 

One leg draped lazily over the other, his body angled just so, sharp angles cast in flickering gold. His fingers tapped against the armrest in slow and deliberate beats. A predator biding his time. 

The firelight kissed his bronzed skin, highlighting the ink-black markings coiling over his arms and climbing up his throat. Ancient symbols: power, possession, ruin. 

His golden eyes gleamed as they studied me. King Kaizer was assessing me... Waiting. Watching. Calculating. 

His gaze was penetrating and unbearable, yet I refused to look away. 

"You're awake," he murmured, his voice rolling through the chamber like a slow-burning fire. The sound sent a shiver through me. Deep, rich, and blended with something dangerous. 

I swallowed hard, forcing my body to sit up. My arms trembled from exhaustion, but I ignored the weakness. 'Never show weakness, the first rule of survival in a strange land,' I thought. 

"Where am I?" My voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper. 

Kaizer didn't answer right away. Instead, he stood—a smooth, controlled movement that sent a jolt of something cold and electric through me. He was tall. Too tall. And too powerful. His tunic, black as midnight, clung to the sharp cut of his chest, the deep V exposing just enough golden-brown skin to remind me he was something more than a man. 

Something untamed. Something right and wrong. His markings shifted as he moved, the firelight making them look alive. He took a slow step forward, and I pressed back, my fingers digging into the sheets. 

"You are in my kingdom now," he said, voice edged with something dark and final. A slow, sickening dread pooled in my stomach. "You have no right—" 

"No right?" His voice curled around me, smooth as velvet and sharp as a steel blade. His smirk was slow. Wicked. He prowled toward me, his boots whispering against the obsidian floor. "Your father signed that right away the moment he declared war." 

My breath caught. "Liar," I yelled. Kaizer tilted his head, a ghost of amusement flickering in his gaze. "Am I?" 

"You are a prisoner of Tenebris Noctis," he continued, stopping just two feet from where I sat. "No one is coming for you, Redgold." 

The way he said my name like a promise and a curse sent a violent shiver through me. I wanted to deny him, to fight, to scream, but his words slammed into me with crushing finality. 

I shook my head, my throat tightening. "My father—" 

"—has already declared you lost," he finished smoothly with dark satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. "You were a pawn in his war. And now? You're mine." 

Something inside me snapped. And before I could think, I lunged. My fingers curled into a fist, aiming for his throat... aiming to choke him to death. I was fast. Precise. Merciless.

But Kaizer was faster. Before I even saw him move, he caught me. Easily. Effortlessly. His grip locked around my wrist like iron, yanking me forward and straight into his chest. 

A sharp gasp left me. 

Heat; pure, suffocating heat. 

The impact sent a jolt through me, my senses flooding overwhelmingly. His body was a wall of raw strength, carved from something far too powerful. The scent of him filled my lungs—like something smoky, spicy, dark, and forbidden. 

My breath hitched. I had never been this close to a man before. His grip was now tighter around my wrist, forcing me to meet his gaze. Those golden eyes. Piercing. Possessive. Amused. 

"You have spirit," he whispered, his lips against my ear. His breath was warm and sultry. "I wonder how long it will last," he concluded. 

I fought. Twisting, jerking, trying to break free. But he was too strong. "Let... me... go..." 

His lips curled, dangerous amusement flickering in his gaze. "Not yet." 

Then, in one swift motion— 

He threw me onto the bed. A soft cry left me as I hit the plush mattress, the silk sheets tangling around my limbs. I scrambled up, but he was already on top of me. A cage of heat and dominance. 

My breath came fast, my pulse raced. 

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. 

I shoved at his chest, but it was like pushing against a mountain. "You bastard—" 

Kaizer laughed; low, sinful, cruel. 

Then he leaned in, his breath ghosting over my ear. "You are mine now," he repeated, his voice a promise wrapped in sin. 

A violent shudder raked through me. "I will never be yours." 

His smirk deepened. "We'll see." 

His fingers trailed down my throat—slow, deliberate. A claiming touch. A challenge. 

Heat—dark, wicked heat—coiled low in my stomach. I hated it... hated him. Yet my body betrayed me, my breath coming faster, my pulse thrumming too hard. 

Kaizer's lips hovered just over my skin. Not touching. Not yet. 

But his next words were a promise and a warning rolled into one. "Fight all you want, Redgold. But in the end, you'll realize one truth." 

His mouth brushed the shell of my ear, and the tip of his tongue tickled my earlobe. Adrenaline surged through me. The feeling was too alien.

"You were always meant to be mine."