Preface

Experience can't be taught—it must be tasted.

Vanessa had played the game of life with polished grace: a high-profile marriage, motherhood, a lucrative career. She knew how to walk in heels through fire, how to sip red wine with a smirk that said I've seen worse, and how to say no without ever uttering the word. But beneath the curated armor of silk and success, something primal stirred—something unsatisfied.

He was younger. Bigger. Hungrier. But not reckless. Malik Cross didn't chase women—he invited them, seduced them with quiet confidence and a look that said, I know what you need before you say it. He wasn't a boy looking for a lesson. He was a man ready to explore a world seasoned by time, a world that didn't giggle—it purred.

It started innocently. A glance. A comment. A collision of worlds in a parking lot under the golden sun. But with every brush of fingers, every look that lingered too long, their unspoken fantasies came to life.

She wanted to be wanted for what she knew, not just what she had.

He wanted to be consumed, slowly, by a woman who didn't need him—but chose him.

Desire would be the spark.

But experience? That would burn them both.