Accidentally Claimed by the Billionaire Devil

I draw a shaky breath in the pitch black.

A blindfold presses tight over my eyes, silk so smooth it feels like a second skin. A thick collar circles my throat, snug enough to remind me of every swallow. I’m on my knees on the bed, completely bare, trembling so hard my thighs quiver. My arms are stretched wide, wrists locked to the bedposts with those soft, treacherous silk cuffs that give nothing when I yank.

He’s right behind me.

I can feel the heat rolling off his body even though he hasn’t touched me yet. His breath ghosts across the nape of my neck, slow and deliberate. I lean forward, straining against the ties, but they hold me exactly where he wants me. The more I pull, the more the silk bites into my skin like a lover’s promise.

Everything is black. The sheets beneath my knees, the blindfold, the heavy air itself black silk and shadow. My eyes are wide open under the fabric and still see nothing. Just the cool kiss of air on my naked breasts, the rapid thud of my own pulse in my ears.

“Chloe, my sweet girl,” he murmurs, voice low and rough right against my ear.

I jolt when his fingers finally settle on my shoulder. They’re long, warm, almost too warm against my chilled skin.

“Are you afraid of the dark?”

I shake my head fast, stubborn. I refuse to give him the words.

Inside, though, my heart is hammering. I’ve never been afraid of the dark. Not when I was little and my brothers dared me to spend the night in the old barn. Not when I broke my arm falling out of the maple tree and just clenched my teeth through the pain. Mom used to brag that I was the toughest kid she’d ever raised.

But right now? I’m not brave. I’m terrified of what he’s about to do. Terrified of how much I might want it.

His hand trails down my spine, slow and sure. The other grips my hip, pulling me back as he shifts closer. The mattress dips under his weight. I bite down hard on my lip.

His palms slide around my waist, possessive, and heat flares low in my belly. I squeeze my thighs together, trying to fight the slick ache building there, but it only makes it worse. My body is already betraying me, softening, opening, begging.

Take me. God, just take me.

No. This isn’t who I am. This can’t be happening.

His mouth finds the side of my neck. I jerk away on instinct, but he follows, lips brushing, then pressing. When he sucks, a broken sound slips out of me before I can stop it.

“Oh, Chloe,” he breathes against my damp skin.

His hands move up, claiming my stomach, then higher, cupping my breasts. Another kiss, deeper this time, his tongue tracing fire along my pulse. My back arches without permission as he rolls my nipples between his fingers, pinching just hard enough to make sparks shoot straight down between my legs.

He presses closer, chest solid and burning hot against my back. I moan, lost in the overload of his scent, his heat, the way his mouth owns my neck while his hands knead and tease. Every nerve feels lit up, raw and alive.

His breath is ragged now. “I can’t hold back anymore.”

“Then don’t,” I rasp, the words torn from somewhere deep and desperate. I don’t want to be careful. I don’t want to be gentle. I want all of him, right now, consequences be damned.

His hands drop to my thighs, strong fingers digging in, spreading me open despite the way my body instinctively tries to resist. He’s already there, kneeling behind me, thick and scorching. I feel the heavy length of his cock slide down, teasing through my wetness, and another moan rips free.

“Fuck, Chloe,” he growls, voice wrecked. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

My fingers twist in the silk restraints, knuckles white. Every muscle is strung tight, humming, waiting.

For one heartbeat, before he pushes inside me, I close my eyes beneath the blindfold. It doesn’t change anything, but it feels like surrender. Like the last choice I get to make.

Take me, I think, the words burning behind my teeth.

Take me into your darkness.

“Chloe, come on. Please?”

“Pretty please.”

“Pretty please with extra cream cheese frosting and a bright red cherry on top?”

Harper stared at me from across the cluttered worktable, her big blue eyes wide and watery like a golden retriever who’d just spotted the last treat. Those reddish-blond lashes were doing overtime, fluttering like crazy, and that cheeky grin of hers was working way too well. I let out a long sigh and swiped a finger along the edge of my half-eaten cupcake, stealing another taste of that sweet, tangy frosting.

“I really wish I could help, Harper,” I said, licking my finger clean. “But I can’t. My second job starts tonight, remember?”

“That dingy little bar gig way over in East Manhattan?”

“Yeah, that dingy little bar gig that’s gonna cover my rent this month,” I shot back. “I just finished a double shift waiting tables. All I wanted was to crash here for a bit, eat some sugar, and breathe.”

“You came for the cupcakes,” she said, smirking.

“Cupcakes are basically therapy!”

“It’ll be quick. Ten blocks, tops. Fifteen minutes round trip if you walk fast.”

“Short blocks or the kind that feel like miles?” I asked, already sensing I was losing this battle.

“Short. Scout’s honor.”

“Why can’t you take it yourself?”

Harper pushed out her bottom lip in that dramatic pout she’d perfected over the years. Even her blond ponytail seemed to droop in solidarity, sliding sideways like it was sulking too.

“I’ve got three cakes in the oven right now that need to come out exactly on time, cool, and get iced before morning. You’re not the only one pulling late nights around here.”

“Send Andy.”

“They specifically asked for a girl to make the delivery. And Andy’s MIA again who knows where that boy wanders off to.”

I gave her my best are you kidding me stare. She answered with a dead-serious this is real life look right back.

“Harper, I’m wiped out ”

“I’ll pay you.”

My ears practically perked up like a dog hearing the treat bag rattle. Rent had crept up again in November, and my tips from waitressing weren’t keeping pace. The bartender gig was new, but that first check was still weeks away. Harper knew exactly how tight things were.