SOPHIE

“Look at me.”

Ethan’s voice was quiet, but it cut through the dark room like a blade. No perfume order. No black lace waiting on the bed. No soft, husky Madison-voice demanded the second I stepped inside. He stood by the window with his back to me, shirt already off, the long line of his spine tight with something that looked like decision.

I closed the door. The lock clicked. My heart was already pounding between my legs.

“Ethan—”

“I said look at me.”

He turned. His eyes were darker than I’d ever seen them—hungry, focused, and completely free of the usual distance he kept when he was pretending...