SMOKE, SEX & WHISKEY

I am a married woman. And for once in my life, I want to have wild, boundary-shattering sex.

The very thought of it feels like a sin. But I don’t care.

I am going to cheat on him.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I tugged at the neckline of my dress. It was modest, restrained, and boring—just as Garrick wanted. Garrick controlled everything. His company, his house, his schedule... And me.

“Lana!”

I flinched at the harsh, authoritative voice echoing from the hallway. Garrick’s voice rang off the walls of the house. I took one last look in the mirror and left the room. He was standing at the door of his study. His suit was tailored to millimeter perfection; his tie was razor-sharp. He fixed his eyes on me, scanning me from head to toe. There wasn’t a hint of warmth in his gaze. He was merely an inspector.

“We’ll be sitting next to the Albertine family at the gala tonight,” he said, his voice that icy tone that brooked no argument. “I just want you to sit at the table and smile. Don’t get into any unnecessary topics. And only lift that glass in your hand out of courtesy; I don’t want a drunken wife.”

I tried to hide the lump in my throat by swallowing hard. “I understand, Garrick.”

He stepped closer and gripped my chin firmly with his fingers. It didn’t hurt physically, but that sense of ownership he used to steer me stung. He tilted my face upward slightly.

“Don’t just tell me you ‘understand,’ Lana. Follow my instructions to the letter. You carry my last name. The discipline in this house applies outside as well. Now, go downstairs and wait for me in the car. Be there in ten minutes.”

He let go of my chin, turned his back, and straightened his jacket. There was no love in his world. Only rules, orders, and obedience. Even our bedroom was sterile, like a temple. Sleeping with him was a chore.

Planned, mechanical, and soulless.

But I wanted to burn. I wanted someone to pin me against the wall, to make me lose my mind.

As Garrick reached for his phone inside to bark out more orders, that wild desire within me fully awakened for the first time. The well-behaved woman would not be getting into that car tonight.

Garrick would be spending tonight alone. And Lana? Lana was going to break those chains.

I didn’t remember how I left the house or how I drove through those dark streets. All I knew was that I wasn’t going to Garrick’s gala. For the first time in my life, I had disobeyed one of his orders, and the feeling made the blood in my veins feel like it was boiling.

I pulled the car over in one of the city’s dangerous backstreets. From the bag in the backseat, I pulled out the dress Garrick would never allow me to wear. I tore off that modest, boring outfit and discarded it. Now, I was wearing nothing but a black satin dress that clung to my skin, with a plunging neckline.

There. I was ready to cross the line.

I got out of the car. It had started to drizzle, but my skin was so hot I didn’t even feel the drops.

In front of me, under the glow of a dim street lamp, I saw the sign.

Velvet & Vice

I pushed open the bar’s heavy metal door and stepped under the dim, neon-purple lights, and I could hear the thumping of my own heart.

This place reeked of lawlessness. It was dangerous.

And that was exactly what I was looking for.

Struggling to stand steady in my heels, I walked toward the counter. I sat on an empty stool.

And then I saw him.

Behind the bar, he was pouring whiskey into a glass. The silver hoop earring in his left ear glinted in the neon light. He had rolled up the sleeves of his black t-shirt; his muscular arms were covered in savage tattoos etched into his dark skin. He was so relaxed. As if the chaotic crowd around him didn’t matter to him at all.

Fuck. I mean, seriously, fuck.

The man was walking danger. He looked like a damn masterpiece.

I should have maintained my noble, distant composure, but every time those tattooed arms leaned against the counter, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

A voice inside me said “don’t look,” but everything else in me was dying to wrap itself around those arms. I was effectively hypnotized.

After Garrick’s sterile, meticulously planned world, this man... he was the embodiment of lawlessness.

He lifted his head in a slow, languid motion. His eyes, peering through his messy brown hair, found mine directly. His gaze traveled slowly over my face, my lips, and then down to the neckline of the black silk dress I was wearing. He was in no rush as he studied me.

Don’t just look, I thought to myself. Come and tear me apart. I’m already ready to be your plaything tonight.

Every time his eyes touched my skin, a sudden, hot ache flared between my legs. The rhythm of my heart mixed with the bass of the bar.

In that moment, all those fake rules Garrick had set turned to ash in my mind.

I wasn’t going back to that bed tonight.

Tonight, I was going to be crushed under this man.

And yes, I had made my decision right then and there.

Tonight, I was going to cross the line.

I was going to have sex with this man.