CHAPTER 7

Asha

I could feel her as soon as the elevator doors opened.

She was already in the room, sitting on the white leather couch as though she owned it and had never left. Her legs were crossed, her gaze were chilly and impenetrable, and a half-empty glass of wine hung from her fingers.

Caroline.

My stomach coiled tight, not from jealousy… no. From instinct. The kind that whispers run when a predator enters the room.

She turned her head slowly. "You must be the new pet."

My jaw locked, my hands clenched by my sides.

She smiled. Polite. Elegant. Vicious.

Kade's hand brushed my lower back, grounding me, but he didn't speak. Didn't introduce me. Didn't even look at her. He walked right past, taking off his jacket like he wasn't even breathing the same air.

That burned. But not as much as her voice when she spoke again.

"They usually last a week. She paused before continuing. "Pretty face, though. I'll give you that."

My fingers clenched. I took a step forward. "Do you always come back to haunt the man who moved on?"

She blinked. "Moved on?" Her smile widened. "Sweetheart, I left."

That's stuck right into my skin, my eyes squinted.

But I didn't flinch. "Then why are you here?"

"I forgot something."

My eyes narrowed. "What, your dignity?"

Kade's voice cut in like a blade. "Enough."

He stood between us, but didn't touch me. Didn't defend me either.

Something twisted in my chest, and I wanted to disappear. 

Caroline sipped her wine slowly, like the queen she believed she was. "Don't worry, Kade. She'll understand eventually. You don't keep girls—you break them."

Kade didn't even blink. Just grabbed my hand and turned away.

His grip was tight. Possessive.

But I didn't resist.

Not when the air between us shifted the moment we stepped into his bedroom.

He slammed the door shut, shoved his jacket off, and faced me like a storm barely held together.

"She doesn't matter," he said, voice low, breath hot. "Nothing she says matters."

I wanted to believe him.

But my skin still burned where her words landed.

"Then why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell her to leave?"

He stepped closer. "Because I don't waste breath on ghosts."

"Ghosts you once loved," I snapped.

His jaw tensed. "Love's not in my vocabulary."

I hated that I cared.

I hated it more that he saw it in my eyes.

In one motion, he pulled my face to his, but didn't kiss me. Just pressed his forehead against mine, exhaling like he was trying not to break something inside him.

"I don't want anyone but you in this bed," he whispered, voice raw.

My breath hitched.

The words didn't come out smoothly. They weren't charming. They were... cracked.

And that scared me more than Caroline ever could.

Because I believed him.

When he stepped back, he reached for my shirt and stripped it off with a quiet kind of violence. Like every button was a war he was losing.

I didn't stop him. I let him.

Because I wanted the same thing—wanted to feel something real. Something raw. Something that didn't carry another woman's name. I want his cock badly.

As if he were ravenous, his mouth pressed into the flesh of my collarbone while his hands slowly and roughly yanked down my pants.

 "Before I lose my fucking mind," he murmured, dragging me onto the mattress. "I need to feel you."

Moments blurred.

He started passionately kissing me. He caressed my face gently but not too slowly as brushed my hair out of my eyes. His hand found my breasts and his mouth moved slowly as he sucked the right and used his other hands to play with the other one. 

I let out a soft moan, my pussy tingling under me waiting for his penetration. But it didn't come.

He spread me open like a prayer, like I was something sacred and forbidden, and when his mouth finally met the inside of my pussy, I forgot my name. I had an orgasm and he didn't stop licking, he just kept going. Eating me like he had been starving for days. 

Each suck was a mark. A claim.

It was Soft. Sharp. Perfect.

He worked his way higher back to my stomach, breathing against my skin, dragging his teeth across the places that made me tremble.

And just when I thought I'd shatter from the buildup, he looked up at me, eyes molten.

"I want you to remember this," he said. "Every single time she tries to get inside your head."

Then he dragged his tongue back to my pussy. Faster now, as if he was punishing me for my defiance.

And I did forget her.

For a moment, she didn't exist.

Only his mouth. My moans. His name on my lips.

As he moaned inside me, I felt his yearning, and my thighs tightened around his head. Every flick, every breath, every stroke—it pulsed.

He devoured me like a snack. His favorite meal.

And when I shattered, screaming, he didn't stop.

He kept going.

Dragging more from me. Breaking me. Remaking me.

I reached an orgasm and cum into his mouth, but he didn't stop licking, he just kept going. He then took his fingers inserted into my pussy before dipping it into my mouth, making me have a taste of myself. 

Oh God, it tasted so good. By the time he pulled away, my skin was wet with sweat, my legs trembling. 

I have no idea how long I laid there.

 Hazy eyes. shallow breathing.

But everything as I looked at him. He was having trouble breathing, looking up at the ceiling. It looked as if he was also disintegrating inside.

"Kade," I whispered.

He didn't answer. Just reached out and pulled me into his chest.

And I let him.

Let him hold me like we weren't both falling down a cliff we swore we'd never climb.

~~~~~~

The next morning, he was cold. Not in a cruel way.

But distant.

I watched him from across the kitchen as he poured coffee, like nothing had happened.

Like he hadn't made me forget every woman who came before me.

I sipped quietly. I didn't uttered a word

But my chest ached.

He finally looked up. "You should go. I've got meetings."

Right. So that was it. Nothing more than a pleasure partner 

I dressed slowly, every layer feeling heavier than the last.

And just as I reached the door, he called out—

"Don't listen to Caroline."

I paused.

"She doesn't know you. And doesn't know about this either."

I didn't turn around. "Then maybe you should've told her that last night," I said, before making my way out of the house, the door closing behind me.

Some hours later, I came back.

I didn't mean to. But something pulled me.

An invisible thread.

The penthouse was quiet. Almost too quiet.

Needing a diversion and answers I hadn't previously had the courage to ask, I headed for the office. And that's when I saw it.

It was left open.

Her name—Caroline.

Written in bold at the top.

My stomach dropped.

This wasn't a love letter. This was… something else.

Medical records?

Contracts?

I reached out with shaking fingers—

And then I heard the door.

Footsteps.

He was back.

I slammed the folder shut, heart hammeri

ng.

But when I turned around—

It wasn't Kade.

It was her.

Caroline.

Wearing black. Lips red.

Smiling.

Like she never left.

Like she never would.

"Curiosity," she purred, "is what kills the ones he keeps."