Chapter 236: No boundaries

"I just thought it was vile and despicable to act like this," I said, grinding my teeth and forcing myself not to look away from him, even though I wanted nothing more than to sink straight through the floor.

"Oh, do you pity them, little bird?" A cruel, predatory grin slashed across his handsome face, distorting his perfect features beyond recognition. "No, I will take everything out of you alone. They behaved obediently and returned to their family. You, on the other hand, endangered countless lives and the entire operation with your escape. My men had to protect you and kill those who went to find you right in the middle of the street."

The elevator doors opened smoothly, but I remained standing frozen inside the cabin, completely unable to believe my ears. He must have been lying just to frighten me even more. There was no one behind me. Or was there?

My throat constricted mercilessly with a delayed wave of horror as I realized just how close to death I had been back then. It shook me so violently that breathing began to hurt.

"Let’s go. We’re here." Nodding toward a massive black metal door, Damian opened it, and swallowing the lump in my throat, I hurried along behind him.

A light, echoing resonance drifted through the vast, empty apartment. We stood on the top floor, the massive living room illuminated only by the muffled, sprawling glow of city lights filtering through floor-to-ceiling windows.

From such dizzying heights, the people below were entirely invisible—a solid, yawning abyss pulling everything into its depths. As I stepped closer to the panoramic window, I shrank back in terror, my toes instinctively curling inside my sneakers. It was terrifyingly high. One wrong move, and the empty void would devour you whole.

Suddenly, a wave of scorching, terrifying warmth flared against my tense shoulder blades, followed by a hot, masculine breath brushing against my ear. Sparks raced instantly across my skin, kindling into a destructive, consuming flame. Terror shackled my muscles like heavy steel chains, reminding me that I was completely at his mercy. Trapped in his secluded penthouse, entirely alone... completely cut off from the rest of the world.

"It’s so high up here that if I were to take you right now... no one would ever see your cheeks burn with shame," his low, vibrating voice growled, ruthlessly strumming against my frayed nerve endings and making my knees buckle from sudden weakness.

My strained, ragged breath cut off with a gasp as I flinched away, trying to escape. But his arms banded instantly around my waist, hoisting and pressing me hard against his chest like a helpless rag doll, denying me even a millimeter of movement.

"You’re so flustered that you’re burning up even now, little bird. But don’t worry, the glass is tinted, and the only one who will see you completely naked is me," the demon whispered directly into my ear, finally shattering the last fragile fragments of my sanity.

"Are you a predator, then? Does it give you a thrill to break females against their will?" My head hung low as I bared whatever frantic thoughts came to my terrified mind, desperately trying to buy time and stall the inevitable. "I suppose you just grew bored of she-wolves throwing themselves into your arms..."

"You will give yourself to me willingly." The man let out an arrogant scoff, but beneath his low, velvet rumble lay a raw, cruel edge—so harsh it felt like coarse sandpaper dragging across my soul.

"I will only ever yield to someone I truly love," I whispered, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor as a sharp, prickly surge of defiance swelled in my chest. "You? The only way you can take me is by force, because clearly, that is all a wolf like you is capable of."

"So, if you fell in love with me, you’d spread your legs then? Did I get that right?" He released a dark, heavy breath; his massive shadow completely swallowed me. "And tell me... how many have you loved before?"

His venomous words sent a sickening wave of nausea surging up my throat. A bitter pang of outrage tightened in my chest, starving me of air. For a fleeting second, it felt as though the metallic restriction bracelet around my wrist flashed a glowing warning red, pulsing in rhythm with my erratic heart.

Summoning every remaining drop of courage, I slammed both palms into his hard, muscular chest, desperately trying to shove his towering form away. It was like shoving against solid stone; he didn’t even budge.

"My personal life is none of your business! I don’t care who you sleep with, so keep your claws out of mine!" My breath rasped painfully in my throat from the burst of rage, yet he stood entirely unfazed, looking down at me as if I were nothing more than a frail insect. "You should at least have some concept of personal boundaries!"

Pitch-black darkness swirled within his eyes, concealing the dangerous depths of his inner beast. The hollow abyss of his warped soul staring back at me terrified me to my very fingertips.

"Your life belongs to me now," his voice echoed like an unappealable death sentence. "From this moment on—personal or otherwise—it is all mine."

Raising my chin to meet Damian’s gaze head-on, I felt a searing wave of irritation flush through my veins instead of fear. What an arrogant, overstepping bastard who played god simply because he possessed raw physical dominance and a powerful pack backing his name.

He couldn’t care less about the lives of ordinary mortals like me. Yet, it seemed my defiance had deeply bruised his ego, driving him to exact this twisted form of retribution. And now, until he broke my spirit into absolute submission, he had no intention of loosening his claws from around me.

"My life belongs first to those who gave it to me, and secondly, to myself alone". Crossing my arms defensively across my chest, I pressed my spine hard against the cold panoramic glass of the window. "Tell me, how much do I owe you, and what must I do to make you let me go?"

Though I lacked an ounce of true courage and my knees trembled betrayingly, I had zero intention of bowing beneath his crushing pressure. At the very least, I was not going down without a fight.

"Let’s go". He tossed the command over his broad shoulder, turning his back on me as he strode deeper into the corridor.