The Forbidden

Chapter 1

Evelyn

The city pulsed around me like a living, breathing organism—neon lights flickering in rhythm with my heartbeat as I stepped out of the cab and into the night. I didn’t usually come to this part of town. I didn’t usually do... this. But tonight wasn’t about usual. Tonight was about me needing to show my face at the work's function, a necessary suffering for the good of my position in one of the most elite companies in the city. I never belonged in rooms like this.

The chandelier above shimmered like frozen stars, casting glints across tailored suits and designer heels. Glasses clinked, laughter rolled off marble walls, and the air reeked of wealth and inherited arrogance. People here were born into power. I’d clawed my way into survival.

And then there was me.

A borrowed dress, heels I could barely walk in, and a lifetime of pretending I belonged. My hands curled around a champagne glass I hadn’t touched. My stomach growled but my nerves turned the hors d’oeuvres into decoration.

I made a loop around the ballroom, nodding politely to faces I didn’t know, dodging flirty interns and bored executives. The music pulsed low—a smooth jazz number that did nothing to calm the tension tightening in my spine.

I reached the refreshment table, drinking one flute of champagne after the other to help calm my nerves. My borrowed dress hugged my curves a little too tight. My heels pinched. The smile I wore was more practiced than genuine.

A tray passed by and I plucked a cracker from it, nibbling as I scanned the room—until I felt him.

That gaze. Hot and focused.

My heart stuttered before I even looked.

Alexander Hunt.The big shot CEO, everyone knew his reputation so everyone said clear of him unless necessary.

He stood across the room, tall, polished, lethal in a midnight suit. Our eyes met, and it felt like the breath had been snatched from my lungs.

But I looked away.

Because I had to.

Alexander

There she was.

Wrapped in black satin that clung to her like a whispered sin. Evelyn Hart. Quiet. Invisible. Or at least, she tried to be. But not to me.

She stood by the refreshment table, fingers trembling just slightly as she lifted a cracker to her lips. Like she didn’t know she was the most intoxicating thing in the damn room.

I watched the way her chest rose and fell. Nervous. She hated being here. That was written all over her. And still—she stayed.

God, you had no idea what you did to me, did you?

I step away from the executive I was pretending to listen to, ignoring his droning voice, ignoring the way the room stilled as I moved. My eyes never left you. Not for a second.

You turned then—finally feeling the heat of my stare. Our eyes locked.

And fuck, kitten… you looked away.

Evelyn

"Evelyn!" Jared's voice broke the tension. IT guy. Office flirt. Tipsy, like always.

He approached, holding two drinks. "You vanished on me earlier. Thought I'd lost my favorite girl."

"You flatter all the girls by the snack table, Jared. I'm not that special."

He grinned, clearly drunk. "You are tonight. Come on, one drink won't hurt. Loosen up."

He shoved the glass toward me. His fingers brushed mine. Too long.

"I'm good, thanks."

"One sip," he insisted. "You'll like it. Sweet and strong. Just like you."

I took a step back.

And then I heard it.

"She said no."

The voice didn't rise. It sliced.

Jared turned, blinking. "Hey man, I was just—"

Alexander was beside me now. Too close. Calm. Dangerous.

"Leave," he said. Just one word.

Jared hesitated, then scurried off without a fight.

Alexander turned to me, his eyes scanning for damage. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Thanks."

"You shouldn't have to thank me. That should've never happened."

“I’ve had worse.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

A pause stretched between us. His presence wrapped around me like a storm cloud. Intense. Heavy. Familiar in a way it shouldn't be.

"Come," he said. "You need air."

I followed on half unsteady legs as the full impact of all the champagne hits me. I think I had one or two glasses to many and it's making me braver then usually as I follow the stern CEO to the balcony.

The crowd swallowed us as he led me to the balcony. Cold wind bit my skin, but I could breathe.

I turned to him, pulse racing. “Thanks. Again”

The space between us pulsed.

Alexander

I should have walked away. Should’ve handed you off to someone else—HR, security, anyone but me. But your eyes were glassy from champagne, your lips parted like you were fighting to stay composed, and I couldn’t leave you. Not tonight. Not like that.

You stood in front of me, shivering slightly in that tight little dress, arms crossed under your chest. Defiant. Gorgeous. So unaware of the chaos you stirred inside me.

"You're drunk," I said, softer than I meant to. My voice never softened. But with you… it did things. Dangerous things.

I stepped closer.

"You shouldn’t be here alone."

Your breath caught—subtle, but I caught it. I always noticed everything about you.

"You didn’t have to step in," you whispered, pretending to be composed, but that tiny shake in your voice betrayed you.

"Yes. I did."

My hand moved on instinct—fingers brushing your hair behind your ear, the tips grazing your skin. You flinched like you didn’t expect me to touch you.

Hell, I didn’t expect it either.

"You don’t like attention," I murmured. "So why come?"

I was testing you. Teasing the wall I knew you’d built to survive a life I couldn’t even begin to understand.

Evelyn

“I should leave,” I whispered.

“I’ll drive you.”

“I can—”

“I said I’ll drive you.”

—

The car was silent at first. Then his hand found mine.

“You’re still shaking.”

We stopped at a red light. I leaned forward. Our lips met halfway.

It wasn’t soft. It was a claiming.

“I’m taking you home,” he growled.

“Good.”

Alexander

The taste of you still burned on my tongue as I drove through the slick city streets. One hand on the wheel. The other gripping yours like I owned it. Like I owned you.

That kiss? You didn’t pull away. You leaned into it like you’d been starving for it. For me.

My jaw clenched as I glanced at you under the dim dashboard lights—cheeks flushed, pupils wide, chest rising like you couldn’t catch your breath. Good. You weren’t supposed to breathe around me. Not unless I allowed it.

“You have no idea what you’ve done to me,” I muttered, voice gravel and restraint. “You think you’re this quiet little shadow at work… but you walk into a room and I fucking feel it.”

You looked at me like you wanted to deny it. But your thighs pressed together. Your hand squeezed mine tighter.

We pulled into the underground garage, and I didn’t wait. The moment the car stopped, I came around and opened your door. Not out of chivalry. Control. Dominance. Possession.

You stood up, legs a bit unsteady from the champagne and something far more dangerous—desire.

“You sure you want this?” I murmured, standing far too close, voice dipped low, eyes locked on your lips.

“Because once you step into that elevator with me, Evelyn, I’m not stopping. Not tonight. Not until I’ve ruined every man that’s ever made you feel like you weren’t enough.”

Evelyn

His building loomed like temptation. Private elevator. Gilded walls. Mirrors.

He backed me into the glass.

“You wore that dress to kill me.”

He pinned me before the doors closed, my flush body against the cold glass making me gasp.

“You’ve been driving me mad,” he growled.

“I didn’t mean to.”

He kissed me hard. Deep. Like he needed to taste every word I’d never said.

His hand fisted my dress at the hem, lifted it high on my thighs as I moaned into his mouth. I could feel the heat of him through his suit, his desire barely restrained.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No.” I whisper into his mouth as the liquid courage is still running through my veins. I'll worry about the consequences tomorrow, but for tonight, I give into months of fantasies about this sex appeal on legs, a God made human. My friend teases me on a regular basis for not even talking to him and staying far away from him as possible. She is obviously on the Alexander Fan Club Bus and tells me all the new scoops that always shows up on the internet. As he continues his exploration of my body in the elevator, all my restraints and thoughts disappear and I give in to him fully.

He doesn't stop as the elevator climbs to his top penthouse apartment floor.

The elevator dinged and he carried me out.

Alexander

You melted for me—finally. All that careful distance you’d kept for months, all that silence in meetings and fake indifference in hallways… gone. Just like your breath when I pinned you to the glass.

I carried you through the corridor like you weighed nothing, like you were already mine. Your legs locked around my waist, arms around my neck, lips dragging down my throat as you whispered my name like a sin.

The penthouse doors swung open, and I didn’t stop.

I didn’t want slow. I wanted you ruined.

I slammed you against the wall, your moan punching straight through my control. I gripped your wrists above your head with one hand, the other tugging at the zipper of that dress.

"You’ve got no idea how long I’ve waited to do this," I rasped against your jaw. “You think I didn’t notice you? You think I didn’t want to bend you over my desk every time you walked past me in those tight little skirts pretending like you didn’t care?”

The dress fell to the floor. My mouth followed—tracing over every inch you tried to keep hidden.

Your skin. Your scars. Your sounds. I wanted all of it. All of you.

I dropped to my knees before you could speak again, hands gripping your thighs as I dragged my mouth where you were already trembling.

“Let me hear you, Evelyn. No hiding tonight.”

Evelyn

The penthouse was masculine and sleek, but I barely saw it.

I felt his mouth. His hands.

He laid me across dark silk sheets and stripped me slowly—like he had every right to see what I tried to keep hidden.

He kissed down my neck, over my breasts, lower, lower—

When he found my core with his tongue, I came apart. His relentless actions driving me through one orgasm, into another where I finally push away, catching my breath. *Fuck Alexander, you want to be the death of me tonight?" His chuckles stir something in my chest, but I quickly push the feeling aside. This is just a one night stand and has no place for catching feelings.

And when he finally pushed into me, it was with a low groan, as if he’d been starved.

We moved together—desperate, then slow, then desperate again.

By the time we collapsed, sweat-slicked and breathless, I was his.

For the night.

Alexander

For the night?

Oh, baby… you think you’re leaving this in the morning like it meant nothing? That you can just walk out of my bed, out of me, like this was some reckless fling?

You have no idea what you’ve started.

I watched you fall apart beneath me, again and again, each moan seared into my bones. And when I finally sank into you, it wasn’t just need—it was claiming. A fucking branding.

And yet… when your breathing slowed, when your eyes drifted closed, when your body curled into mine with that soft, involuntary trust—you thought I didn’t notice the fear behind it.

The fear of feeling too much.

You weren’t the only one afraid.

I laid there, staring up at the ceiling, my arm tight around your waist like I expected you to vanish. Because women always did. But not you. I didn’t want it to be you.

So I stayed silent. I didn’t beg. I didn’t ask for more.

I let you think you won.

Evelyn

The morning came too soon.

Light filtered through the curtains and warmed my bare skin. I ached in all the best places.

I slid out from the bed as quietly as I could, grabbing my dress. I reach his ensuite bathroom to clean up a bit before I sneak out like a thief - unwilling to face him after last night. The champagne gave me short lived courage and this morning I am dreading the aftermath of my actions. As I wipe myself, I notice some bite marks on my shoulder and bruises on my legs from where he pinned me down. This was the best sex I've ever had and I will always cherish this memory but that's all it will be - an amazing memory. I quickly get dressed and slip back into the room. As I reach for the bedroom door, I hear his voice, still gruff from sleep.

He stirred. “You’re leaving?”

“I have to.”

“You don’t.”

“I never stay and this was a huge mistake,” I whispered.

He didn’t try to stop me.

But I felt his eyes on my back the entire way out.

I reach the front door of the big building, my cab already waiting for me. The drive home is long and antagonizing as I sift through my mind in all possible outcomes for this situation, but the only outcome I can get to is that Monday morning I am so fired.

Reaching my small apartment, I take a hot shower as I wash off all the remnants of the previous night. After my shower, I make some breakfast and coffee. Strolling through my phone as I eat up all the greasy bacon and eggs to get rid of the hangover. I will definitely never drink so much champagne ever again. Messages from Samantha. I roll my eyes. No, not today. I can't face her today. She will know something went on last night by just one stare and I'm not ready to tell her about my walk of shame, so I just send a quick text as reply: "Night was like expected, only stayed a short while. Will return the dress as soon as I took it to the dry cleaners. xxx"

Alexander

You're gone—but your scent still lingers on my sheets. Your taste still coats my tongue. And every damn second since you slipped out of my bed, I've been replaying that whisper: “This was a mistake.”

No. You don’t get to call us a mistake.

You don’t get to make me lose control, cry my name as I push you into bliss, and then vanish like I’m some chapter you regret writing. Like I didn’t just see everything you try to hide.

I let you go.

But I won't let you forget.