JACKSON'S POV

“I can’t take this anymore! I’m sorry… I hope you forgive me,” I rasped when I tore my lips away for air. My chest heaved, my throat raw, but the fire in me wouldn’t die.

The ten-day contract had been my excuse, my safety net. Ten days until my doctor returned, ten days until the pills arrived, ten days until I could cage this beast clawing inside me. If he had been here now, none of this would have happened. But he wasn’t.

And she was.

Vera Santos. The one woman who made my body betray my mind. She was a drug I couldn’t quit, and tonight, I didn’t even want to try.

I grabbed her shirt and ripped it open, buttons scattering across the floor like broken rules. Her breasts tumbled free, firm and soft, tipped with pink buds that begged for my mouth.

I gasped, my control snapping. I latched onto one nipple, sucking hard, biting lightly until she cried out. My hands slid lower, grabbing her ass roughly, kneading and pulling her against me as if I could mold her body into mine.

“Oh fûck! You’re dead!” she screamed, but her nails dug into my scalp, pulling me closer.

Her cry wasn’t fear. It was fuel.

I groaned and sucked harder, my tongue swirling around her until she arched into me. I kissed across her chest, up her collarbone, and bit down on the soft skin of her neck, leaving a raw red mark.

“Ouch!” she cried, but it was followed by a moan, loud and shaking, filling the room.

“That’s it, baby,” I growled against her skin. “You’re driving me fûcking crazy.”

I crushed her mouth with mine, kissing her rough, desperate, a clash of teeth and lips. We weren’t gentle — we were starving.

My fingers worked clumsily at the button of her shorts, hunger moving faster than my hands, but just as I pushed lower—

BANG!

A loud knock on the door froze us both.

“Vera?! Are you still there? Don’t tell me you locked the door to eat that porridge alone! Aish! Anyway, I’ve got an emergency. I’ll see you tonight. Keep some for me!”

The voice faded, footsteps retreating. But the moment had cracked.

I was kneeling, my chest heaving. She stared at me, her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes wide in panic until the silence reassured her.

“Good thing… you locked it,” she whispered, blowing out a shaky breath. “I didn’t know… gosh.”

I stood, shame creeping in like a cold wind. “I’m such a jerk. I must look like a pervert. How did it even get to this? I’m sorry. I think I should leave. Who am I to trouble you with my problems?”

I grabbed my suitcase and turned toward the door.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Her voice cut sharp, stopping me.

She stormed to me, yanked my hand from the knob, and shoved me back onto the couch. My body dropped onto it, my mind spinning, but when I looked up at her eyes, I froze.

They burned. Fierce. Untamed.

The tigress had awakened.

She stood before me half-dressed, her breasts bare, her shorts barely hanging on. My eyes betrayed me, drinking her in.

“You did this yesterday,” she snapped. “You lit me up and left me burning. Yesterday I ran because I was scared — scared of your size, scared of your hunger. But today? Today I won’t let you leave me aching again.”

Her finger jabbed at my face, but my gaze was locked lower, at the pink peaks begging for my mouth again.

“Look at me!” she demanded.

I dragged my eyes up to hers.

“What are you even saying?” I whispered, though I already knew.

“Finish what you started, Jackson. Or I’ll make you pay for yesterday.”

I rubbed my face, groaning. “You should read the contract first. The conditions—”

“What contract?!” she spat. “To hell with your stupid conditions. What I want is you. Inside me. Hard. Fast. Furious.”

She yanked off her shorts and stood bare before me, no shame, no hesitation.

“I… don’t want to hurt you,” I muttered, my voice rough with the truth. “I don’t want you regretting—”

“What the fûck! Didn’t I say I don’t want your damn contract?!” she shouted. “I’m not broke, Jackson. I’m not begging. I just want this. Tonight. After this, find someone else for your games. But today? You’re mine.”

She strode to the armchair, dropped onto it, and spread her legs wide open in invitation.

The sight broke me.

I tore off my shirt and fell between her thighs, lifting her legs over my shoulders and burying my face in her heat.

Her taste hit my tongue like fire. I devoured her, rough and greedy, tongue stabbing, lips sucking, every sound she made feeding my madness.

She clawed at my hair, her head falling back, moans spilling out unrestrained.

“Jack… oh fûck…!”

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I dragged kisses up her body, her chest heaving as I slammed my lips to hers again. My fingers slid inside her, two at once, pushing deep, fast, relentless. She gasped, her hips jerking against my hand, torn between shock and need.

“Slower—ahh!” she whimpered, but her body clamped down, pulling me deeper.

Her voice begged restraint, but her body betrayed her.

I pinned her tighter, my hand gripping her hair, my teeth marking her neck, my free hand keeping her thighs open wide.

She trembled under me, her cries mixing pain and pleasure until even she couldn’t tell them apart.

“Don’t… stop,” she choked out finally, breathless.

That was all I needed.

I spun her around, pressing her against the wall. Her palms slapped it for balance as I pulled her hips back, lining myself against her. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes wild, lips trembling.

“Do it,” she whispered.

I thrust into her, hard and deep.

She gasped, her body jolting, but her ass pressed back against me instantly. Her nails scratched the wall, her breath ragged, moans spilling from her lips despite the sharp sting.

Every thrust was rougher, faster, as if the beast in me had finally broken free. She cried out, her body shaking, but she didn’t run. She took it, raw and consuming, her voice breaking but her hips meeting mine.

I held her by the waist, pulling her back against me, biting her shoulder, my breath hot against her ear.

She whimpered, but when I slowed, she groaned louder. “Don’t stop. Harder.”

So I gave her all of me.

The beast. The hunger. The madness.

And she took it all, body and soul tangled with mine in fire we both couldn’t control.

Until she couldn't.

I slammed her head harder against the wall and a scream tore from her throat as she shuddered, trying to fight me off her.

“Jack… Stop!”