Chapter 5 - Beneath the Mask

"Some touches are louder than words. Some kisses never need lips."

Elina stood frozen in the dim light of Damon's penthouse. The silence stretched between them, soft and charged. The glass wall behind her revealed the glittering skyline—but all she saw was the reflection of him.

"You didn't have to bring me here," she murmured, her voice barely above a breath.

Damon leaned against the marble counter, the top buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a line of skin that made her heart stumble. "You fainted in my office, Elina. What was I supposed to do—drop you at the hospital and walk away?"

His tone was teasing, but there was something else in it… concern? Or control?

She stepped toward him, drawn like a tide to the moon. "I'm not your responsibility."

"No. You're not," he said, taking a slow step forward. "But I've already made you mine."

The way he said it—it wasn't a claim. It was a confession.

Their eyes locked. The air between them turned molten.

His fingers brushed her wrist first, then trailed lightly up her arm. Her breath hitched. When his palm cupped her cheek, she didn't pull away. The roughness of his thumb grazing her bottom lip made her knees weaken.

"I imagined this," Damon whispered, his lips close enough to feel, but not touch. "You… standing in front of me, flushed and breathless. But even my imagination wasn't this bold."

Elina's lips parted. "Then show me what reality feels like."

His mouth crashed onto hers—hot, demanding, but tender in the places she didn't know could ache. Her hands gripped his shirt, pulling him closer. Time blurred.

It wasn't a kiss.

It was a surrender.

She felt herself unravel beneath his touch—lost between fantasy and fact. Her body responded like it had been waiting years. And for a moment, the weight of contracts, secrets, and struggle… disappeared.

They broke apart, breathless. His forehead leaned against hers, his hand still tangled in her hair.

"If you think I'm dangerous in business," he whispered, voice ragged, "you haven't met the man I become behind closed doors."

Elina shivered.

Not from fear.

But from the promi

se of everything that came next.

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