From the balcony of my tower, I watch the streets below, a maze of light and shadow, chaos and order. It’s a reflection of me, really. Fragile on the surface, but venomous at the core.
I’ve always known the price of power.
I’ve paid it in sleepless nights, ruthless deals, and the slow erosion of my soul. But the cost of meeting him, the man who haunts my every step, is something I can’t even begin to tally.
I shift my weight, the metal grating creaking softly under his imposing form. His presence is a palpable force, filling the space around us with an aura of dark intensity. He leans against the balcony railing, eyes fixed on me with an unnerving focus that makes my skin prickle.
It doesn’t matter how many times I see him, he always pulls the same reaction out of me.
Fear.
And excitement.
He is my enemy. The one I hate the most. But I don’t know why my blood hums when he’s close. Why my skin burns under the weight of his gaze?
I hate him, but I can’t resist him.
His touch,
His breath, the way his voice wraps around me like a dark spell, Everything he does leaves me trembling and raw. I know there’s something wrong with me.
“You shouldn’t be here,”
The moonlight catches the sharp angles of his face, highlighting the predator’s smirk tugging at his lips.
“And yet, here I am.”
His tone is laced with mockery, but beneath it, there’s a simmering heat that makes my stomach clench.
I step closer, my bare feet whispering against the cold marble floor.
“You’ve made it clear enough that you hate me. So why keep coming back, Riven?”
“Hate you?”
His laugh is dark, low, and entirely too intimate. The space between us shrinks to nothing in an instant. His fingers brush a lock of my hair back, his touch deceptively tender.
“I don’t hate you, Mercelline. I want to ruin you. There’s a difference.”
My breath catches as his lips ghost over my ear, the heat of his words melting the resolve I’ve tried so hard to build.
“You’re a dangerous man,” I whisper, but even as the words escape me, my body betrays me, leaning into him.
“And you,”
Pressing me against the cold glass of the window, “Are a dangerous addiction. The one I don’t plan to quit.”

9
I should push him away. I should tell him to leave. Instead, my nails scrape down his chest, pulling him closer as our lips collide, a clash of fury and lust. His hands roam my body with unapologetic possession, claiming what was never his to have.
I gasp between kisses. His growl rumbles against my throat as he bites down lightly, making me moan.
“You’re playing with fire,”
“Then burn with me, little pet.”
From sworn enemies to lovers… it defied all logic and reason. Yet here we were, lost in a web of desire and obsession that neither of us could escape. Riven was my poison, my antidote… the very air I breathed now. And I him – his cruel touch igniting fires within me as surely as his gentle caresses soothed my battered soul.In his arms, I’d found a home – one where love and hate blurred into an intoxicating cocktail that left me craving more with every passing second.This was our story – dark, depraved, and utterly doomed from the start. But for now… for this fleeting instant… we reveled in the twisted beauty of it all