Rising From Ashes: The Betrayed Heiress

Dorene pushed open the frosted glass door of the bathroom. Thick, warm steam rolled out into the hallway, instantly blurring her vision. She took one step onto the cold hardwood floor when a heavy, muffled thud echoed from the living room of her penthouse suite.

Her stomach dropped. The muscles in her thighs locked instantly.

She grabbed a thick, pure white towel from the rack and wrapped it tightly around her wet body. Her bare feet sank into the plush wool carpet as she crept toward the living room. She forced her breathing to slow down, inhaling shallowly through her nose.

The heavy glass door leading out to the penthouse terrace had been forced open. The locking mechanism was visibly mangled. The night wind howled through the wide gap, sending the heavy curtains thrashing wildly in the dark. Dorene reached her trembling hand toward the wall switch to turn on the lights.

A massive hand, reeking of fresh, metallic blood, shot out from the pitch-black shadows.

Before she could scream, the rough palm clamped hard over her mouth.

Dorene's eyes widened in pure terror. Her survival instinct kicked in, and she thrashed violently, kicking her legs and twisting her torso. The body behind her was heavy and dense, but in the split second their bodies collided, she could feel a slight, involuntary tremor of exhaustion vibrating through his muscles. The agonizing pain in his bleeding abdomen clearly made his movements slightly stiff. Yet, survival instinct fueled him. Even with compromised strength, his arms were still like bands of steel. He managed to overpower her, though a suppressed, ragged grunt of pain escaped his lips, vibrating deep in his throat as he pulled her backward until her bare spine slammed against his burning hot, rigid chest.

"Shut up, or we both die," a man whispered directly into her ear.

His voice was a harsh, raspy gravel, tight with obvious physical pain. The sheer ice in his tone sent a violent shiver down her spine. Dorene froze instantly, her lungs burning as she held her breath.

Heavy, chaotic footsteps suddenly thundered from the hallway outside the suite. The sound of heavy leather boots stomping against the carpet felt like a countdown to an execution. Dorene felt the man's chest muscles tighten against her back like coiled springs.

A violent pounding hit the heavy wooden door of the suite. Muffled, foreign curses bled through the wood.

Augustus spun Dorene around by her shoulders and slammed her back against the cold wall. His dark eyes locked onto hers. They were the eyes of a cornered wolf-feral and lethal.

The towel around her chest slipped half an inch during the struggle, exposing the pale skin of her collarbone. Augustus's gaze dropped for a fraction of a second before snapping back up. He didn't hesitate. He grabbed her waist and shoved her backward onto the wide leather sofa.

His massive frame covered her instantly, pinning her beneath him.

Dorene opened her mouth to scream.

"Play along," Augustus ordered in a low, rushed breath, his face inches from hers.

The pounding on the door grew frantic. The wood groaned under the force. Augustus reached up and violently ripped the collar of his own dark shirt open, exposing a hard chest smeared with fresh blood, creating the illusion of a frantic, messy encounter.

To make it believable, his rough fingers suddenly clamped down hard on Dorene's jaw. He forced her head to tilt back.

A short, sharp gasp of pain escaped Dorene's lips. It sounded breathy. It sounded intimate. The sound pierced right through the heavy door.

The pounding stopped abruptly. A heavy silence fell over the hallway as the men outside listened.

Augustus buried his face into the curve of Dorene's neck. His hot, ragged breath washed over her sensitive skin, making her entire body tremble uncontrollably. He deliberately lowered his voice, letting out a deep, heavy groan that dripped with sexual implication. He shifted his weight and slammed his knuckles hard against the edge of the brass coffee table, making it rattle loudly against the floor.

Dorene's brain short-circuited. She lay rigid on the leather cushions, suffocated by the overwhelming scent of copper blood and pure, dangerous male heat pressing down on her.

Faint whispers drifted from the hallway, followed by a low, vulgar chuckle. The heavy footsteps slowly retreated, fading down the corridor until the silence returned.

The threat was gone.

The second the footsteps vanished, the tension in Augustus's body snapped. His massive weight went entirely dead, crushing down onto Dorene's chest. He didn't move an inch.

Dorene couldn't breathe. Anger and lingering terror exploded in her chest. She planted both hands on his solid shoulders and shoved him with all her might.

Augustus rolled off her and hit the carpet with a heavy thud, letting out a low grunt of agony.

Dorene scrambled backward across the sofa, yanking the towel up to her chin. She reached out and grabbed the heavy brass ashtray from the coffee table, gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white. She stared down at the intruder, her chest heaving.

In the faint neon light bleeding through the window, she finally saw his face. It was a face carved with sharp, aggressive angles, but right now, it was as pale as a corpse.

Augustus forced himself up onto his elbows. His dark, bottomless eyes swept over her defensive posture with zero interest. He looked down at his own abdomen, where dark blood was rapidly soaking through his torn shirt.

Dorene's stomach churned at the sight of the mangled flesh. She forced herself to swallow the bile. Her eyes darted toward the nightstand where her phone lay, calculating the distance to call the police.

She took half a step.

Augustus's long arm shot out like a whip. His large hand clamped around her ankle like a steel vice. He yanked hard. Dorene lost her balance and crashed hard onto her knees on the carpet.

"Don't do anything stupid," Augustus commanded. His voice was weak, but the absolute authority in his tone was terrifying. "I don't mind taking you with me if I have to."

Real, unfiltered murder flashed in his eyes.

Dorene clamped her jaw shut. She knew screaming in a locked room with a desperate, bleeding man was a death sentence.

Augustus released her ankle. He pointed a bloody finger toward the bathroom. "First aid kit. Get it."

He spoke as if he owned the room.

Dorene stared at the heavy ashtray in her hand. She weighed her options for three agonizing seconds. Finally, under the crushing weight of his stare, she let out a shaky breath, dropped the ashtray, and marched toward the bathroom.

She pulled open the cabinet under the sink and grabbed the white plastic box. She caught her own reflection in the mirror-pale, messy, terrified. She dug her fingernails into her palms to stop the shaking.

She walked back into the living room and dropped the first aid kit onto the carpet right in front of him. It hit the floor with a loud smack.

Augustus flipped the latches open with one hand. He pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a roll of gauze. He didn't even blink. He unscrewed the cap and poured the clear liquid directly into his open wound. The flesh sizzled faintly.

Dorene turned her head away, her stomach doing flips at the brutal self-mutilation. But when she glanced back, she found his dark, piercing eyes locked dead onto her through the dim light, studying her like a predator assessing a trapped prey.