Mia Kane’s face was flushed red, and she wished she could find a hole to crawl into and disappear.

She struggled to push against Adrian Preston’s chest, her voice hoarse and whimpering, laced with a pitiful helplessness. "Adrian Preston, let me go."

He held her waist in a tight grip, the force so strong it felt as if he meant to snap her slender frame.

’Am I dreaming, or has he lost his mind? How could he corner me in a fire escape for something this crazy and humiliating!’

Just then, Adrian pressed close to her ear, his voice husky.

"Are you afraid Chase Lockwood will hear?"

"Huh?"

She answered in a daze, only then belatedly realizing that Chase Lockwood’s room was directly opposite the door to this very stairwell.

At that very moment, Chase Lockwood had stepped out and was talking to his secretary.

Adrian thought she was afraid to make a sound because Chase might hear.

’This is killing me! It’s because I’m mortified, okay?!’

The stairwell was too dim; she could only make out Adrian’s silhouette, not the expression on his face at all.

But she could feel his deep, piercing eyes fixed on her, a gaze as tangible as silk threads, wrapping around her so tightly she could barely breathe.

She didn’t know what Adrian was thinking right now.

But she knew this couldn’t happen.

She could only bite down hard on her own arm, trying to use the pain to save herself.

She bit so hard that, in the end, she couldn’t tell if her tears were from the pain or from being bullied by him.

When Adrian noticed her self-harming behavior, his heart clenched, and he immediately let go.

He furrowed his brows, his voice low and tinged with anger.

"What are you doing?"

He had released her, and Mia Kane’s body went limp. Only his support kept her from collapsing pathetically to the ground.

In just a few short minutes, a thin layer of sweat had broken out all over her body, and her legs were so weak they felt like jelly.

"Don’t... don’t bully me anymore..."

She pleaded, her voice choked with sobs.

Adrian fell silent. An unseen current surged in the air between them.

He took off his jacket and draped it over her, not bothering to straighten her disheveled clothes underneath.

Covered like this, no one would see.

He swept her up into his arms. She didn’t know where he was taking her and had no strength left to struggle. She lay in his embrace, still and quiet, hearing the frantic thumping of his heart through his shirt.

Just as he was about to open the stairwell door, voices sounded from outside.

It was Chase Lockwood and Vivian Lynch talking.

Adrian didn’t rush to go out.

"I heard Mia Kane came looking for you just now. What did she say to you?"

That was the first thing Chase Lockwood said.

"She gave me a harsh tongue-lashing and even bragged that she’d hired Designer Nona to completely humiliate me at the wedding."

"She really overestimates herself. Adrian Preston hasn’t given her a single penny; what makes her think she can afford an international designer? If she looks for you again, just ignore her. People like her... never come to a good end."

Chase Lockwood’s voice turned icy by the end.

The two of them walked away, arm in arm.

Adrian stood frozen in place, the fire in him extinguished as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.

"You went to find Vivian Lynch?"

His voice hitched slightly as he spoke, a hint of discomfort in his tone.

Right now, Mia wanted to die.

’That bastard!’

If the wedding banquet wasn’t about to start, she really would have slapped him twice across the face.

But they were husband and wife now. If Adrian went out looking bruised, it would make her look bad, too. Chase Lockwood and Vivian Lynch would probably laugh at them. That thought alone made her hold back.

"Put me down!"

After resting for a moment, she had regained some strength and could walk on her own.

She suppressed her rage, like an angry little animal.

"Sorry. Let me take you to fix your clothes."

Adrian, knowing he was in the wrong, didn’t put her down and instead carried her to a lounge.

She hurried into the restroom, wanting to fix the cups of her dress and tie the straps.

She took off the suit jacket and saw her disheveled reflection.

The gown was hanging loosely, one side slipped down far enough to expose her skin, revealing faint bite marks and hickeys.

On her chest... were the marks of Adrian’s teeth.

’How absurd.’

’What was even more absurd was that he had dared to go even further.’

Her face was burning. She quickly fixed herself up. When she came out, she saw Adrian standing ramrod straight, his face a mixture of apology and awkwardness.

The memory of what just happened, and her own body’s traitorous reaction, made her legs feel weak all over again. For a moment, she didn’t know if she was angrier at Adrian or at herself.

"Sorry, I thought..."

Mia had no desire to hear his excuses right now. She moved to walk past him and leave.

But Adrian grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back, making her stumble into his arms. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Let go of me!"

She said, exasperated.

He didn’t let go. He didn’t know how to make up for his mistake. He had indeed jumped to conclusions, completely forgetting that she might have gone to see Vivian Lynch.

"How about... I let you take a couple of bites out of me?"

Adrian was truly at his wit’s end.

He thought he was good at cheering up girls. After all, he had practically raised Shannon Preston. Whenever his sister cried, he would quickly console her, and she would be fine in no time.

But when it came to Mia, perhaps because his feelings for her were too intense, he became tongue-tied and didn’t know how to express himself.

That’s why, most of the time, he resorted to his habitual silence.

"What did you say?"

Mia thought she was hearing things.

The tips of Adrian’s ears turned slightly red. He thought he was being ridiculous too.

"Ahem, I mean, bite my arm a couple of times. To let off some steam."

He rolled up his sleeve.

Mia looked at his rock-hard arm. Those bulging muscles looked like they could break her teeth.

Thinking about what just happened, she was too furious to think straight and blurted out, "I’ll bite you wherever you bit me! Two bites, not one less!"

Adrian: ...

Mia: ...

She came back to her senses and froze.

’Did I hear myself correctly? How am I any different from the impossibly stupid Adrian from a moment ago?’

’How could I say something like that?’

Mia wanted to die. She wanted to move past this topic immediately, but to her surprise, Adrian slowly undid his buttons, revealing... a very tempting chest.

The lines of his muscles were beautiful—full, firm, and elastic.

Mia came from an arts background; she had drawn nude models before.

’If Adrian were to become a nude model, he’d probably cause a city-wide sensation!’

"Go on. After you bite me, you can’t be angry anymore."

Adrian closed his eyes.

Mia felt the blood rush to her head. She shamelessly swallowed. ’Lust really is human nature!’

’His pecs are so big.’

His nipples were small and delicate, their color faint.

"Then... I’m really going to bite."