Ruthless Empire: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance (Royal Elite Book 6)

You can run, but you can’t hide.

I didn’t believe in that saying until this moment.

Over the past weeks, I’ve done everything to run away from Cole, avoid him, not look at him. I even went as far as feigning exhaustion to not stay in the same room as him.

But here I am, trapped with him in Papa’s office.

Sure, I can go outside. I can open the door and run again, but that will look cowardly and I’ll never do that.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn around and see Cole for the first time today, like really see him, instead of pretending to while I avert his gaze.

Cole sits on the edge of Papa’s conference table, reading from a book titled The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham.

The dark blue suit pants mould to his muscles and tighten at his strong thighs with his sitting position. He’s only in a white shirt and a black bowtie, the jacket lying neatly on the chair beside him.

His chestnut hair that has darkened over the years is styled back, showcasing his forehead and the sharp lines of his face. His green eyes fall on me as his lean fingers hold the book — fingers that were inside me a few weeks ago. Fingers that brought me to a height I’ve never experienced. Fingers that —

No.

That was a mistake. We’re siblings now. A family. That nonsense will never happen again. It’ll destroy my parents’ careers and even Helen’s.

Cole and I are over.

Completely, utterly over.

And we didn’t even start yet.

“There you are.” He smiles, and it’s flat, bland, almost menacing. “Were you avoiding me or was I imagining it?”

“Imagining it.” I fold my arms, adopting my firmest, most unaffected tone. “Why would I avoid you?”

“I don’t know. It might have something to do with how you ran away from me the last couple of weeks.” He flips a page, even though he’s not reading. It’s like he’s absentmindedly keeping up with his usual pace. “You do realise you can’t avoid me forever.”

“As I said, I wasn’t.”

“You’re such a liar, Butterfly.” He strokes his fingers over the edge of the book. I want to look away, but I can’t. It’s like he’s cast a spell on me and now all I can think about are his fingers and my thighs and —

Focus, Silver.

“Why would I even need to lie to you?” I raise my nose. “You give yourself so much credit, Cole.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I came to search for Aiden. We have pictures to take.”

He remains silent for a beat too long, watching me in that unnerving, quiet way that makes me want to snap out of my skin or hide underneath the carpet.

Cole has always had that effect on me. I’ve denied it, I’ve run away from it, but it doesn’t disappear.

Just because you don’t look under the bed, doesn’t mean the monster isn’t there.

He is. Waiting. Biding his time for the right moment so he can come out and play.

The only way to escape is to never, ever look. I was so close to breaking my own rule that day in my room, but it won’t happen again.

“He’s obviously not here.” I turn to leave.

“You’re running away again.” His calm voice stops me in my tracks.

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Word of advice, never give me your back.” In a second, he’s behind me, his hot breaths tickling my skin. “I’ll take it as an opening to attack.”

His index finger traces down the bare skin of my shoulder all the way to where the top of the zipper rests. Goosebumps cover my flesh. My breathing turns choppy. His touch is so sensual, but I know, I just know it’s only an appetiser to what he’s truly capable of.

“You’re wearing a dress like the one from that day ten years ago.” He grabs the zipper and slowly glides it down my back. “It’s on purpose isn’t it, Butterfly?”

“N-no, don’t flatter yourself.” My voice is weak and sounds wanton, even to my own ears.

He slides his fingers down my exposed back. I close my eyes, my forehead falling against the door. A whimper fights its way out, but I bite my lip against it.

Why does this feel so good? Why are my legs opening of their own volition?

His breaths against the shell of my ear and his presence behind me send bursts of pleasure down my spine and right between my legs.

“C-Cole…” It’s supposed to be a protest, but it comes out as a messy, lustful moan.

“Say it again.” He skims his lean hand over my naked back before he stops at the middle, easily pinning me against the surface. “My name with a moan.”

“N-no.”

“No?” His other hand wraps around my throat. It’s not hard enough to cut off my air supply, but it’s firm, with the intention of keeping me in place.

I gulp, my body sharpening to attention as if I’ve been suddenly driven to the midst of an adrenaline high.

His teeth find the shell of my ear, nibbling slightly. His voice is that deceitful type of calm that gains an edge with every word. “Are you telling me you haven’t been thinking about my fingers inside that tight cunt, Silver? That you haven’t touched yourself to the memory or thought about them every time you saw me and fucking avoided me?”

My lips tremble at the onslaught of everything. His words. His mouth. His fingers around my throat.

Everything is too much.

“Because I have.” He pushes his hips into me and an unmistakable bulge settles against my arse cheeks.

He’s hard.

Cole is hard for me.

“Ever since you fell apart around my fingers, I’ve been fantasising about taking you in every fucking position.”

I can feel myself falling. My walls crumbling and my beliefs scattering around me in shreds. All I’m itching for is a taste, a moment, a second of what happened back in my room.

No.

I can’t.

I elbow him hard enough that he backs up a little. I use the chance to get away from his hold, clutching the front of my chest so the dress doesn’t fall off. It has a built-in bra, so I’m only wearing knickers underneath it.

My breathing is high-pitched and loud like an animal’s as I stand by Papa’s conference table. Papa’s office. This is Papa’s office. What is wrong with me?

Reaching behind me, I zip up my dress and try to regulate my breathing.

Cole is still by the door, staring at me like a predator who can’t decide what to do with his prey. Although he already has.

He’s not the type of person who would start anything before figuring out the entire situation. He’s one of those who knows the ending before hitting Play.

It takes him one second, two…

He stalks towards me, slowly but surely.

“Stop right there, Cole.” I’m so glad my voice doesn’t shake.

“Why? Because you don’t want people to know you have the hots for your stepbrother?”

“I do not.” My words fracture at the end and I hate him.

I hate him so much.

“I have Aiden,” I challenge and then immediately regret it when the green of his eyes darkens to a frightening bottomless colour.

“Fuck him.”

“I-I hate you.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t fuck you.”

“You hate me.”

“I still don’t find the reason why that should get in the way.”

“Our parents are married.”

“So what?”

“We’re siblings to everyone!” I cry out, no idea if it’s at myself or him, because the closer he gets, the more I’m frozen in place.

One, I don’t want to run away like a coward, but also, I don’t want to move.

Ever.

He stops a small distance away and stares down at me. “So fucking what?”

My vision blurs as I peek up at him with the last pleading look I can manage. “W-we can’t do this.”

“And yet, you want to.”

“W-what?”

His voice drops. “I can smell your arousal, Butterfly.”

Before I can protest, he flips me over so my cheek and front are glued to the smooth surface of the table. His hand wraps around my nape, caging me in place.

“Cole, we can’t.”

“And yet, we will.” The finality of his words hit me.

We will.

The fact he’s taking it from me gives me some sort of peace.

I didn’t choose this.

I’m not ruining my principles.

He is.

He’s the one destroying every belief I had. It’s all his fault, not mine.

My heart skyrockets as he yanks up the tulle of my dress and bunches it around my waist. Cold air bathes my skin as he pulls down my underwear, letting it pool at my feet.

“Look at your cunt all soaked and ready for me,” he rasps as I hear the sound of his belt.

“It’s not.” I breathe against the wood, forming condensation on it.

“Do you think if you deny it, you’ll get away with wanting it? Is that it, Butterfly?”

Yes. But I won’t say that.

I won’t.

He slaps my arse cheek. Hard. The slap reverberates in the silence of the office and I gasp as the sting registers. But it’s not because of the pain. It’s because of the clenching of my thighs that came with the pain.

What in the actual hell? There’s definitely something wrong with me.

“Your habit of not answering my questions will have to change.” His cock meets my entrance and my hands grip the table.

This is happening.

This is happening.

I close my eyes, trying to think of important things like birth control. Okay, I’m on the pill. Phew.

No. I shouldn’t be happy that I’m on the pill. I should think of why this can’t happen and that I need to stop it.

Nothing comes to mind. Absolute desert.

“Anyone could walk in on us. Did you know that?” he murmurs in a sadistic tone.

My gaze snaps to the door. It’s not locked. Papa or Frederic or one of their friends could come in here to use the phone any second. They’ll see us like this.

Why doesn’t that terrify me as much as it should?

Cole tightens his hand around my nape. “Maybe that will ruin the wedding.”

“No, I don’t want that.”

“Oh, but you do. You’ve been wishing for it for weeks, Butterfly. You’re not as good a girl as you make everyone believe you are.”

“Shut up.”

“You’re fake, but not with me. Never with me.”

“Shut the fuck up, Cole.”

“Uh-oh, Miss Prim and Proper is cursing.”

“I hate you. I hate you so much.”

“You know, I was going to wait until they broke up to make you mine, but they made this decision.” He leans over so that he covers my back, then wraps his hand around my hair and fists it tightly. “And I made mine.”

He thrusts into me in one ruthless go.

I cry out, my eyes screwing shut as the pain stabs me.

Oh, God.

It doesn’t matter how wet I am. He’s big and I’m too tight. It hurts.

“Fuck.” He stops before I feel his warm breaths on my skin. “This is your first time?”

“Obviously, dickhead,” I strain, my voice trembling.

“Open your eyes.”

“No.”

“Silver, open your fucking eyes.”

“Just get it over with.”

“Silver,” he warns.

I know he doesn’t use that tone a lot, if ever, so I slowly peel my lids open. My breathing cracks when I find him staring down at me.

If I expected pity, there’s none. Instead, there’s a hint of concern, but most of all, his eyes shine with a possessiveness so tangible, I can taste it on my tongue.

“I’m your first,” he says with what seems like awe.

I nod, even though he didn’t ask a question.

“Why am I your first?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Liar.” He starts moving inside me and I grip the edge of the table tighter as he rocks his hips gently.

He’s letting me get used to his size and to his rhythm. Oh, wow. I never thought there would be this side to Cole.

Soon enough, the initial sensation goes away and it’s almost…pleasurable.

A whimper falls from my lips when Cole releases my hair, then massages my clit. The pain vanishes, and a wave pulls me under.

His pace picks up with every stroke of his fingers. A loud sob tears through the air, and I realise it’s mine as I fall apart.

I didn’t even last a minute.

My orgasm engulfs me until all I can recognise is him at my back, in me, all around me.

Cole holds my nape to the table and fucks me hard and wild. He fucks me like he’s taking all the previous years out on me with each of his ruthless thrusts.

I fall again, or maybe it’s the first fall bleeding into the second one. I can’t see straight, let alone think right now.

All I can do is feel him — his power, his presence, his need for more that mirrors mine.

He doesn’t stop.

Not when I’m moaning or whimpering or sobbing my orgasm. It’s not until I can’t stand and am nearly ready to collapse that he pulls out of me. A hot liquid drips between my legs, and I close my eyes, soaking in the sensation.

Still holding me by the neck, Cole gathers the cum that’s dripped from me and fucks it inside me with two surprisingly gentle fingers until I’m nearly begging for another orgasm.

I’m sore and feel used, but at the same time, I still want more.

So much more.

The realisation of what I’ve done hits me right there with my head against Papa’s conference table.

I betrayed my own principles. My beliefs. My parents.

And it’s all because of him.

Cole.

He used me and ruined me beyond repair.

And I know, I just know, that from now on, nothing will ever be the same.

“Happy birthday, Butterfly,” he whispers against my ear. “You’re now mine.”