The sun barely touched the edges of the city when Ann slipped into the massive walk-in closet, searching for her robe. She could still feel the ghost of Xavier's touch under her skin — bruising yet addicting, like a sin she'd beg forgiveness for and commit again anyway.
She tied the robe tight around her waist, trying to hold herself together. Last night's promises, his lips on her skin, the storm inside her chest — it was all too much and yet never enough.
She didn't hear him come in until his reflection appeared behind hers in the mirror. Xavier, fully dressed in a sharp black suit, every button in place, every lock of hair tamed to perfection — except his eyes, which were still wild for her.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs brushing the side of her throat. She hated how her pulse jumped under his touch.
"Why are you hiding in here, Mrs. Blackwood?" His voice was velvet over steel, so gentle it made her throat tighten.
Ann met his eyes in the mirror. "I needed a moment."
He leaned in, pressing his lips to her shoulder, the silk slipping under his mouth. "A moment to do what? Escape me?"
She tried to smile but it broke halfway. "If I ran, would you chase me?"
He laughed softly, the sound dark, beautiful, dangerous. "Not chase, Ann. Hunt."
She turned, her back pressing into the rack of his neatly pressed shirts and expensive ties. He caged her in easily, one hand braced beside her head, the other tipping her chin up.
"Do you want to know a secret?" he asked.
Ann's breath trembled. "What?"
He tugged at his tie, loosening it just enough to unbutton the top of his shirt. Beneath the expensive fabric, a long, thin scar cut across his collarbone, a pale reminder that even monsters can bleed.
She'd never seen it before.
"Where did you get that?" she whispered, reaching up, fingertips hovering just above the raised skin.
He caught her wrist gently. "Price I paid to keep what's mine."
Her eyes widened. "You mean… me?"
Xavier smirked but didn't answer. Instead, he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her palm like she was made of glass — precious and breakable at once.
"Don't ever doubt how far I'll go for you, Ann." His voice was so soft she almost believed it was kindness instead of a threat. "Or how far I'll drag you with me if you try to leave."
He let her hand drop and stepped back, his suit perfectly crisp, only the scar and his dark eyes betraying the violence underneath.
"You're coming with me today," he said, his tone final.
"Where?" she asked, wary.
He leaned in close, lips brushing her ear. "Somewhere they'll learn you're mine. And no one — no one — touches what's mine."
He kissed her once, firm and claiming, then pulled away, leaving her heartbeat tangled with his words.
Later that morning, Ann sat in the back seat of Xavier's black car, city buildings blurring past as they sped through the early traffic. She tried to calm her breathing, hands resting in her lap, but Xavier's hand covered hers a second later, his thumb stroking circles on her skin.
"You're shaking," he said, his eyes never leaving the road ahead. "Nervous?"
"A little," she confessed.
He squeezed her hand, so gentle it almost didn't fit the man she knew. "Don't be. Stay beside me. Smile when I tell you. And when they look at you, they'll know whose queen you are."
Ann swallowed the knot in her throat and leaned back against the leather seat. Outside, the city looked normal. Inside the car, she felt like she was about to be paraded in front of wolves — but Xavier's arm around her made it feel like she was being fed to him alone.