“I can feel your need, Marina,” he murmured as his mouth hovered near her ear. “It matches my own. Let me show you pleasure like you’ve never known. Let me worship you the way you deserve.” His lips brushed the edge of her ear as he spoke. “All you have to do is say yes.”

Marina stood frozen, clearly caught between desire and doubt. Leo could see the war being waged behind her eyes.

“The moment you get what you want, you’ll discard me,” she finally whispered. “That’s what you do, isn’t it? Take your pleasure and move on to the next willing body. I’ve heard how you operate, husband. It’s all about conquest for you. You’re entirely self-serving.”

Leo pulled back slightly and looked deep into her eyes. Something sparked within him at her accusation—not anger but determination.

“You think I’m self-serving?” A slow smile spread across his face. “Then let me prove otherwise. Tonight will be about your pleasure, not mine. Only yours.”

“I don’t believe you,” Marina replied though the slight tremor in her voice betrayed her uncertainty.

“I’m not asking you to believe me,” Leo countered. “I’m asking you to experience it for yourself. One night, Marina. Give me one night to show you how wrong you are.”

“And tomorrow? What then?” she challenged.

“Tomorrow, we decide what comes next,” he promised. “But tonight is only about your pleasure. Your desires. I swear it.”

Marina hesitated, indecision clear in her eyes. “I… I don’t know.”

“Your body knows,” Leo murmured, his fingers tracing the line of her jaw without quite touching her skin. “I can see it in your eyes, in the way you respond when I’m near. Let yourself feel, Marina. Just for tonight.”

“It might change everything between us,” she whispered.

“Perhaps it needs to change,” he replied. “This distance we’ve maintained isn’t working for either of us, is it?”

Marina’s eyes searched his face. She drew a shaky breath. “If I agree, it would be only for tonight. An experiment.”

“An experiment,” Leo agreed, hope and desire surging through him in equal measure. “Nothing more unless you decide otherwise.”

“And you promise it will be focused on my…” her voice faltered, embarrassment coloring her cheeks again.

“Your pleasure,” Leo finished for her. He kept his voice gentle despite the desire coursing through his veins. “Yes, I promise.”

Another long moment of hesitation, and then, almost imperceptibly, Marina nodded.

“Yes,” she whispered, the single word hanging between them.

That was all Leo needed. He turned and quickly locked the door behind them, ensuring no wandering guests could interrupt.

When he faced Marina again, the sight of her left him breathless—her lips parted, cheeks flushed, eyes wide with anticipation and uncertainty.

Desire hit him hard and fast.

He closed the distance between them in two swift steps and lifted her into his arms. She felt perfectly right against him, as though she belonged there.

“Leo!” Marina gasped, gripping his shoulders to steady herself.

Hearing his name from her lips, stripped of the usual formal title, stirred something deep inside him.

“I want to see you properly,” he said softly, carrying her toward the desk near the window.

Moonlight washed over them as he gently set her down on the smooth wooden surface.

Before she could speak, Leo kissed her.

This wasn’t like their hesitant encounter in the library. This kiss was confident, intense, an explicit statement of his intentions. A thrill ran through him when Marina responded immediately, her fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him closer.

“You have no idea how often I’ve imagined this,” Leo whispered against her mouth, the confession spilling out without thought. “How I’ve imagined kissing you, feeling you give in to me.”