The shrill, mechanical screech of the motel room phone tore through the quiet.

I jumped, my heart slamming into my throat. The ancient beige plastic unit bolted beside the bed vibrated against the nightstand, its red indicator light blinking like a warning beacon.

Adrian moved first, but I held up a hand to stop him.

"I'll take it," I said.

I crossed the carpet in two strides and lifted the heavy plastic receiver to my ear. "Hello?"

"Where the hell are you, Emma?" Damien’s voice barked through the line, sharp and laced with furious irritation. "I had to call six motels along the north route before a desk clerk remembered a runaway in a ballgown. Give me the exact address right now."

No apology. No remorse. Just the same commanding tone he used when an intern misfiled a spreadsheet.

"How did you think this was going to play out?" I asked, my grip tightening on the receiver until my knuckles turned white. "You thought I would pick up and tell you where to pick me up?"

"Stop acting like a child," he snapped, the sound of traffic and wind rushing behind his voice. "We have twenty-two million dollars in institutional funding tied to the public image of this wedding. Do you have any idea what the board is saying? What the press is printing? I know you're with Vale. Don't be stupid, Emma. You don't sleep with Adrian just because you're angry at me."

A bitter, venomous spark ignited in my chest.

"Why, Damien?" I asked, my voice dropping to a deadly chill. "Because cheating is only allowed when you do it?"

"Emma—"

I slammed the plastic receiver back onto the cradle with everything I had. The base cracked against the table, the sharp chime of the internal bell cutting off his voice for good.

I stood beside the bed, my chest heaving, tremors running straight down my arms into my fingertips. The adrenaline was a physical poison in my veins, hot and frantic.

Adrian watched me from across the room. He didn't ask what Damien had said; the volume of the old phone had been loud enough that every insult had carried through the small space.

He walked over to the bathroom vanity, filled a clean glass with water from the tap, and brought it over.

"Drink," he said, holding the glass out to me.

I looked down at his hand. His fingers were long and steady, completely unaffected by the storm outside or the man chasing us. I reached out to take the glass, but my hand was shaking so badly that the water sloshed over the rim, spilling cold drops across my wrist.

Adrian didn't pull away. He closed his fingers gently around mine, steadying the glass between our hands until the shaking stopped.

I didn't drink. I set the glass down on the edge of the nightstand with a sharp clink, never taking my eyes off him.

The room went dead silent. Outside, the rain drummed violently against the glass, but inside, the air suddenly felt thick, heavy with an electric pressure that had nothing to do with Damien.

I looked at the sharp angle of Adrian's jaw, the slight shadow of dark stubble along his cheek, and the steady slate gray of his eyes.

"Have you ever wanted to kiss me?" I asked.

The question hung between us, stark and unvarnished.

Adrian didn't flinch. He didn't look away, and he didn't offer a polite deflection to ease the awkwardness. His gray eyes held mine, dark and completely unreadable for two long heartbeats.

"Yes," he said, his voice dropping an octave, low and gravelly.

My pulse kicked against my ribs.

Before I could process the answer, Adrian tilted his head slightly, the line of his mouth hardening.

"Wanting isn't permission," he added quietly. "You just survived the worst day of your life, Emma. You're running on pure shock and rage. I'm not going to take advantage of you because you're looking for a way to burn down his memory."

His words should have calmed me. They were honorable, safe, and entirely responsible.

They made me furious.

I took a step closer, closing the small distance between us until the toes of my bare feet almost touched his black leather dress shoes.

"All day, every single person in my life has decided what I'm supposed to do," I said, looking straight up into his face. "Damien decided I was supposed to fix my makeup, keep my mouth shut, and walk down that aisle so he wouldn't look bad in front of his investors. Two hundred guests decided I was supposed to handle my humiliation with quiet dignity. The business tabloids decided I'm a pathetic victim who got discarded in a side room."

I took another half step, close enough that the heat radiating from his chest warmed the cotton of the oversized shirt I wore.

"I spent four years letting everyone else write the script for me," I said, my voice dropping to a fierce, steady murmur. "I am sick of being handled. I am sick of being protected, managed, and told what is good for me. For once in my life, I want to make a choice purely because I want it."

Adrian’s breath hitched slightly, his gaze dropping to my lips before rising back to meet my eyes with scorching intensity. He didn't step back, but his fists clenched at his sides, fighting the pull between us with rigid discipline.

"What are you choosing, Emma?" he asked, his voice rough as sandpaper.

I reached up with both hands. My fingers wrapped firmly around the loosened knot of his black tie, gathering the silk in my fists.

I yanked downward, pulling his head down to my height.

"You."

I pressed my mouth to his.

The contact was a shock of heat. His lips were firm, warm, and tasting faintly of clean water and cold rain. For half a second, Adrian remained rigid, his hands resting lightly against the air near my hips, holding back the sheer force of his own reaction as if giving me one last chance to pull away.

I didn't pull away.

I leaned up on my tiptoes, parting my lips, and kissed him again—deeper this time, fierce and demanding, pouring every ounce of bruised pride, betrayal, and raw hunger into the contact.

The last trace of his control shattered.

A low, jagged groan tore from Adrian's throat.

His right hand shot forward, fingers splaying across the small of my back, while his left hand clamped onto my hip. In one fluid motion, he lifted me off my feet and drove me backward, slamming my back firmly against the heavy wood of the motel door.

The impact rattled the lock, but I barely felt it.

His mouth came down on mine with a dark, suffocating intensity that stole every breath from my lungs. It was nothing like Damien's polite, measured kisses. It was hungry, possessive, and completely unhinged.

His tongue slid past my lips, claiming my mouth with an urgency that sent a jolt of fire straight through my veins.

On the floor beside the bed, fifty pounds of French lace and muddy satin lay discarded like trash, but against the door, I wore nothing but his shirt.

Adrian's hands moved under the hem of the crisp cotton, his calloused palms sliding upward along the bare curve of my waist. The heat of his skin against mine was unbearable, searing through the damp chill of the room.

I let go of his tie and buried both hands in his thick dark hair, pulling him closer, crushing my chest against his until there wasn't an inch of space left between us.

He broke the kiss for a fraction of a second, his mouth trailing fire down the exposed column of my neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin right beneath my jaw.

"Emma," he growled against my pulse, his breath scorching my skin.

I arched into him, my fingers gripping his shoulders, pulling his mouth right back to mine.