Jayden didn't sleep.
Roman's message burned behind his eyes all night.
*Come tomorrow. My house.*
No please. No reason. Just expectation.
And Jay had typed back one word: *Okay.*
Now the iron gates parted like jaws, swallowing his car.
The mansion loomed under the evening sky cold marble, sharp angles, lights bleeding gold through tall windows. Jay parked, stepped out, and felt the weight of it all press down. This wasn't a professor's home. This was a king's fortress.
He climbed the steps. The door opened before he could knock.
Roman stood framed in the doorway.
No jacket. Dark shirt unbuttoned at the throat, sleeves rolled to reveal corded forearms. Hair slightly tousled, like he'd run impatient fingers through it.
His eyes locked on Jay predatory, unblinking.
"You came."
Jay stepped inside without invitation. "You commanded."
The door clicked shut behind him, heavy and final.
Roman didn't speak at first. He simply looked taking in Jay's tense shoulders, the way his pulse beat visibly at his throat.
Then he moved.
Past Jay, toward the shadowed living room with its city-view wall of glass.
"Follow."
Jay did.
The room smelled of leather, cedar, and something darker Roman's cologne, sharp and expensive. Low lights cast long shadows. A single lamp glowed beside a wide leather sofa.
Roman stopped at the window, back to Jay, hands in pockets.
"You know why you're here."
Jay stayed near the doorway. "Enlighten me."
Roman turned slowly. "You asked what I want."
He crossed the room in measured steps until he stood inches away. Close enough that Jay felt the heat rolling off him.
Jay didn't retreat.
Roman's voice dropped. "I want to see how far your ambition goes."
Jay's breath hitched, but he held Roman's gaze. "Show me the price tag first."
Roman's lips curved slow, dangerous. "The price is you. Right now."
Before Jay could answer, Roman's hand shot out fingers curling around Jay's jaw, firm, tilting his face up.
Not gentle.
Not violent.
Deliberate.
Jay's heart slammed against his ribs.
Roman leaned in until their mouths were a whisper apart. "You said loyalty. Intelligence. Ambition. Success."
His thumb dragged slowly along Jay's lower lip, parting it slightly.
"I want to taste all of it."
Jay's voice came rough. "Then take it."
Roman's eyes darkened to black.
He closed the distance.
The kiss wasn't soft. It was claiming hard, demanding, teeth grazing, tongue pushing past Jay's lips like he owned the space. Jay groaned into it, hands fisting Roman's shirt, pulling him closer even as his mind screamed warning.
Roman broke away just long enough to rasp against Jay's mouth, "Bedroom. Now."
Jay didn't argue.
Roman led him down a dark hallway, hand tight around Jay's wrist like a cuff. The master suite door opened to low lighting, a massive bed, city lights glittering beyond floor-to-ceiling glass.
Roman shoved Jay back against the wall beside the door chest to chest, hips grinding forward so Jay felt every hard inch of him.
"Strip."
Jay's fingers shook slightly as he pulled his shirt over his head. Roman watched, hungry, unblinking.
Shirt. Belt. Pants. Until Jay stood in nothing but black briefs, chest rising fast.
Roman stepped in again, palm flat against Jay's stomach, sliding down, cupping him through the fabric.
Jay hissed, head falling back against the wall.
"So hard already," Roman murmured, squeezing just enough to make Jay buck. "You've been thinking about this."
Jay's laugh was breathless. "You've been planning it."
Roman's free hand pinned Jay's wrist above his head. "Guilty."
He kissed him again deeper, dirtier while his hand worked Jay's briefs down, freeing him. Fingers wrapped around Jay's length, stroking slow, deliberate, thumb circling the tip until Jay was leaking, thighs trembling.
Roman pulled back, eyes burning. "On the bed. On your knees."
Jay obeyed crawling onto the silk sheets, knees spread, ass up, face turned to watch Roman undress.
Shirt gone. Pants gone. Roman's body was carved lean muscle, scars in places that spoke of fights won. His cock stood thick and heavy, already glistening.
He climbed behind Jay, one hand pressing between his shoulder blades, forcing Jay's chest down to the mattress. The other hand spread him open.
Jay's breath stuttered. "Roman "
"Quiet." Roman's voice was gravel. "You wanted power. This is how you earn it."
A finger wet with lube from the nightstand circled Jay's entrance, teasing, then pushing in slow.
Jay moaned, low and broken.
Roman worked him open one finger, then two curling, stroking that spot until Jay was shaking, begging without words.
When Roman finally lined himself up, thick head nudging, Jay arched back instinctively.
Roman gripped his hips. "Say it."
Jay's voice cracked. "Fuck me."
Roman thrust in one long, relentless slide filling him completely.
Jay cried out, fists clenching sheets.
Roman didn't pause. He set a brutal rhythm deep, punishing, hips snapping forward while one hand wrapped around Jay's throat from behind, not choking, just holding.
"You're mine now," Roman growled against his ear. "Every moan. Every inch."
Jay pushed back to meet every thrust, body burning, pleasure coiling tight.
Roman's hand slid around to stroke Jay in time fast, rough until Jay was gasping, close, so close
Roman pulled out suddenly.
Jay whined in protest.
Roman flipped him onto his back, hooked Jay's legs over his shoulders, and drove back in deeper angle, hitting that spot relentlessly.
"Look at me," Roman ordered.
Jay's eyes locked on his wild, desperate.
Roman fucked him harder, faster, hand working Jay's cock until Jay shatteredcoming hard across his stomach with a choked cry.
Roman followed seconds later burying deep, pulsing inside him with a low groan.
They stayed like that sweat-slick, breathing ragged until Roman pulled out slowly, watching his release leak from Jay.
He leaned down, kissed Jay once slow, almost tender.
Then his phone buzzed on the nightstand.
Roman glanced at it.
His entire body went rigid.
Jay felt the shift instantly. "What?"
Roman read the screen. Face hardening into something lethal.
He looked down at Jay still flushed, marked, vulnerable.
Voice ice-cold now.
"Someone just leaked your name to the board. They're calling an emergency meeting tomorrow."
Jay's stomach dropped.
Roman's hand tightened on Jay's thigh possessive, warning.
"They want you gone."
He leaned close, lips brushing Jay's ear.
"But they'll have to go through me first."
Jay stared up at him, heart pounding again for entirely different reasons.
Roman's eyes glittered dangerously.
"Welcome to my world, Jayden."
"Now the real war begins."