The door clicked shut.
Everything changed.
The easy laughter, the teasing smiles, the warmth that had wrapped around them all evening? Gone. In its place, a silence so thick it made the air feel heavy.
Shawn's hand lingered on Isabella's backfirm, possessive the same way it had gripped her thigh under the restaurant table. His control had been taut, barely restrained, but now? Now, there were no witnesses. No one suspected the kind of man he became the moment he stepped out of the world's view.
Outside, he was effortless, magnetic, the kind of man who could turn a room's energy with just a glance. The perfect blend of charm and confidence. But Isabella knew better. She was the only one who had seen beneath the mask.
And she wasn't sure if that thrilled her or terrified her.
She inhaled slowly, her chest rising and falling in measured control. But even then, she felt the weight of his stare. Dark. Unwavering.
Shawn had treated her like a queen tonight, his touch lingering, his voice wrapping around her like silk, his presence making her feel like the only thing in the world that mattered. And yet, she had still pushed him.
Had smirked when his jaw tightened. Had run teasing fingers across his knuckles at dinner. Had watched the quiet war in his eyes, the one between restraint and destruction and dared him to lose.
Now, that patience is gone.
Barefoot, she stretched deliberately, teasingly. The hem of her dress inched higher, exposing smooth, bare skin, the shape of her curves accentuated in the dim light. She felt his stare. Scorching. Devouring.
She turned to him, slow, deliberate, a small, knowing smile on her lips. "Mmm, that was the perfect night," she purred, voice teasing, playing innocent when she was anything but. "Thank you for spoiling me, baby."
Shawn exhaled sharply, his fingers flexing at his sides. She was testing him. She saw it in the way his jaw tensed. The way his breathing deepened. The way his control teetered on the razor's edge.
"You should change into something comfortable," he said, voice even, measured warning disguised as patience.
Isabella smirked. "Oh, I plan to."
She turned, disappearing into the bedroom, but left the door just open enough for him to see.
The dress slipped from her shoulders, pooling at her feet. She ran her hands over her bare skin, humming softly as she sorted through her options, knowing he was watching.
"What should I wear?" she mused, voice thick with mischief. "Something soft and sweet... or something you might be tempted to ruin?"
Silence.
Heavy. Dark.
Then
"Come here, baby girl. Now."
Her pulse skipped. Heat curled low in her stomach, her thighs pressing together instinctively.
She stepped out of the doorway, draped in something sheer, something delicate, something meant to be torn away. She leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed loosely over her chest, feigning innocence.
"You like?"
Shawn didn't answer. He didn't need to. Two slow steps. That was all it took to close the distance between them.
His presence was suffocating, his stare burning into her skin, his control dangerous in its quiet intensity.
"Take off my belt."
A violent shiver raced down her spine. She shouldn't want this, shouldn't crave the rough leather against her skin, the silent promise in his eyes.
But she did.
God, she did.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for his waist, unbuckling the thick leather strap, sliding it free. She handed it over without hesitation.
Shawn's movements were slow, deliberate. He lifted the belt, looping it around her wrists, pulling it tight. Tight. Restricting. Final.
"Hands up."
She obeyed. Because what else could she do?
His gaze swept over her, devouring every inch.
"You know why I'm punishing you, don't you?"
His voice was low, almost amused, but there was an edge to it like a warning wrapped in silk.
His fingers trailed lightly over her skin, teasing, coaxing. She shivered under his touch, but the anticipation coiled tight inside her, tension rippling through her muscles.
She licked her lips, tilting her chin up defiantly, her voice a hushed whisper.
"Because I was being a tease?"
Shawn's grip tightened in an instant, his fingers wrapping around her jaw, forcing her to meet his gaze. His expression was unreadable, dark, controlled, but beneath that, something dangerous simmered just out of reach.
"Because you know exactly what you do to me," he murmured, his voice laced with something possessive, something feral.
"Because you push me, knowing how much I want to break you, knowing I will break you and you still do it."
A slow, deliberate stroke down her neck sent goosebumps rippling over her skin. His hand drifted lower, over her collarbone, down the valley between her breasts, barely grazing her.
Her breath hitched.
He smirked, watching her with a knowing glint in his eyes.
"You like pushing me, don't you?"
His voice was like velvet smooth, rich, but threaded with an unmistakable undertone of authority.
"You like seeing how far you can go before I snap."
His fingers trailed lower, his touch maddeningly slow.
Isabella's pulse thundered in her ears. She swallowed hard, lips parting as her breath quickened.
She did like it.
She liked seeing the control flicker in his eyes, knowing that she was the reason it teetered so close to breaking. That she could make a man as composed as Shawn lose himself, unravel at the seams.
But some part of hersome small, rational part buried beneath the heat, beneath the desire wondered if she was anything more than a game to him.
Would he grow tired of her one day? Was this all she was a fleeting challenge?
The thought should have made her stop.
It didn't.
By the time he reached ten, her body trembled, heat pooling between her legs, every inch of her desperate for relief.
The line between surrender and resistance had vanished.
Shawn turned her around, his grip firm, final. His gaze burned into hersdangerous, hungry, all-consuming.
His fingers gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"Eyes on me, baby girl."
She obeyed, not because she wanted to but because there was no other choice.
She could feel his dominance pressing down on her, unraveling her one thread at a time. The way he held her wasn't just possession, it was control.
His thumb brushed over her lower lip, his smirk deepening as she instinctively parted her mouth for him.
"Look at you," he murmured, his voice thick with amusement.
His grip on her jaw tightened, not enough to hurt, just enough to make sure she couldn't turn away.
"Shaking. Breathless. Completely at my mercy."
His free hand traced slow, torturous circles down her spine, making her arch into him.
"You act like you can fight this," he mused, his lips grazing the shell of her ear. "Like you don't love the way I ruin you."
His hand slid lower, over the small of her back, fingertips skimming just beneath the lace of her lingerie.
"You want me to prove it?"
Her stomach clenched.
God, yes.
But she didn't speak.
She couldn't.
Her body answered for her the way her breathing hitched, the way her thighs pressed together in search of friction.
Shawn chuckled. "That's what I thought."
His fingers wrapped around her wrists, dragging them up, pinning them above her head against the wall.
"You want to push me?" he murmured, his lips brushing over hers, teasing but never giving.
"You want to see how far I'll go?"
His grip tightened.
"You're about to find out."
A moment stretched between them.
Isabella's pulse pounded against her ribs, her breath coming in short, uneven pulls. She could feel the heat of his body, the firm grip of his fingers wrapped around her wrists, keeping her exactly where he wanted her.
She should have been nervous.
She should have pulled away.
She didn't.
Because she knew what was coming.
