14: The Art of Submission

14: The Art of Submission

Ellie’s POV

I knew I was walking into a trap.

Lady Blake’s gaze was like a blade, sharp and poised to strike. She stood beside Adrien, her manicured nails tracing slow, possessive circles over his shoulder, her ruby-red lips curved into a smirk.

And Adrien? He let her.

My stomach twisted, but I kept my face impassive, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

“So, Ellie,” Lady Blake mused, tilting her head as she studied me. “You must be quite… special.”

I crossed my arms. “Why do you say that?”

She laughed, a light, cruel sound. “Well, Adrien doesn’t usually keep his toys for this long.”

My spine stiffened.

Toys?

Adrien, however, didn’t deny it. He simply leaned back, swirling the glass of whiskey in his hand, watching the tension unfold like it was a game.

I wanted to slap that smirk off his face.

Lady Blake stepped closer, her perfume suffocating. “Tell me, darling, does he make you beg?”

I clenched my fists.

This woman was testing me—baiting me—and Adrien was just sitting there.

I turned to him, my voice calm but firm. “Are you going to say something, or do you enjoy letting people assume I’m one of your playthings?”

Adrien’s gaze flickered with amusement. “Does it bother you?”

“Answer the damn question.”

A slow smirk stretched across his lips. “You’re not a plaything, Ellie.”

Lady Blake scoffed. “Please. If she wasn’t, you wouldn’t be parading her around like this.”

Adrien leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

His voice dipped lower, smoother, dangerously alluring.

“She’s not here for my pleasure,” he continued, his eyes locking onto mine. “She’s here for hers.”

My breath hitched.

Lady Blake arched a brow, unimpressed. “Is that so?”

Adrien didn’t look away from me. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

The challenge hung between us, unspoken but heavy.

And I realized, with a jolt, that he was pushing me again. Testing. Controlling.

I refused to let him win.

I straightened my spine. “If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be.”

Lady Blake’s smirk faltered just slightly, her eyes narrowing.

Adrien, however, looked pleased.

His hand reached for mine under the table, fingers skimming over my skin—slow, deliberate.

I should have pulled away.

I didn’t.

Adrien’s POV

She held her ground.

Good girl.

I watched as Lady Blake assessed Ellie, her lips pursing slightly in irritation. She thought she could shake her, rattle her confidence.

She was wrong.

Ellie was stronger than she realized.

And fuck if that didn’t make me want her even more.

I leaned back, fingers drumming against the table. “Satisfied?”

Lady Blake exhaled sharply, her eyes cutting toward me. “You always did have a thing for challenges.”

A slow smirk tugged at my lips. “I do.”

Ellie shifted beside me, her body tense, her energy charged.

I loved watching her squirm.

Loved knowing she was fighting the pull, fighting me.

I decided to push a little further.

Reaching for my drink, I took a slow sip before murmuring, “But you’re wrong about one thing, Blake.”

She raised a brow. “Oh?”

I let my gaze settle on Ellie, watching the way her chest rose and fell a little too quickly, the way her fingers curled against her lap.

“She’s not just a challenge.” My voice dipped lower. “She’s a fucking addiction.”

Ellie’s breath hitched.

Lady Blake rolled her eyes. “How poetic.”

I ignored her, focusing solely on the woman beside me.

Ellie was trying so hard to keep herself together.

To pretend like my words hadn’t just set her entire body on fire.

I smirked.

We both knew the truth.

Ellie’s POV

I needed air.

The room was too hot, too charged.

Adrien’s words still echoed in my mind, wrapping around me like a trap I didn’t know how to escape.

I wasn’t supposed to be an addiction.

I wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

“Excuse me,” I murmured, pushing up from my seat.

Adrien let me go, but I could feel his gaze trailing after me.

I stepped into the hallway, pressing a hand against the cool marble wall, trying to catch my breath.

“You shouldn’t be here, you know.”

I flinched at the voice, turning sharply.

Liam.

He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his green eyes sharp and filled with something close to irritation.

I swallowed. “I—”

He shook his head. “You don’t belong in Adrien’s world.”

A bitter laugh slipped out. “I think it’s a little late for that.”

Liam’s jaw clenched. “Ellie—”

“Why do you care?” I cut in, my voice tired, frustrated. “Why do you keep warning me about him?”

His eyes darkened. “Because I know what he does to women like you.”

I stiffened. “Women like me?”

He took a step closer, his voice low. “The ones who think they can handle him.”

The air between us grew thick, charged.

He was close enough now that I could smell the faint scent of his cologne, the heat radiating off his body.

I hated how familiar it felt.

Hated how much I wanted to lean into him.

Liam’s fingers brushed against my wrist, a fleeting touch. “Ellie… don’t let him ruin you.”

I should have pulled away.

I didn’t.

I looked up at him, my breath caught in my throat.

And that’s when I felt it—Adrien’s presence.

A slow, dangerous smirk curled at the edges of his lips as he leaned against the doorway, arms crossed.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Liam stiffened & my pulse pounded.

Adrien’s gaze flickered between us, dark amusement in his eyes.

And then, with a voice laced with pure dominance, he said—

“Ellie, come here.”