"Be careful with me, hottie… it's my first time."
Those shameless words were the very last thing Sienna remembered saying before everything dissolved into heat and darkness.
Morning sunlight spilled through the curtains in thin golden lines, illuminating the messy disaster the room had become, and Sienna slowly opened her eyes.
The moment consciousness settled in, pain followed. A sharp ache shot through her waist as she tried to move, forcing a soft groan from her throat; her entire body felt sore, as though she had been repeatedly run over, and even breathing felt exhausting. The sheets wrapped around her carried a faint, unfamiliar intoxicating masculine scent.
And then reality struck.
Her eyes widened.
Fragments of last night flashed violently through her mind.
A strong arm, burning skin, and a deep voice in her ear.
The feeling of being completely overwhelmed.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed and immediately sat up, only to regret it the next second as pain throbbed fiercely between her thighs.
The blanket slipped slightly from her body, exposing the bright red marks scattered across her pale skin like sinful evidence. Her shoulders, collarbone, waist… even her thighs.
Her face burned crimson instantly.
"Damn you, Sienna," she muttered in horror, dragging both hands over her face. "How could you be this stupid?"
She had slept with a stranger.
Not just slept with him.…
She had practically thrown herself at him.
And worse…
She couldn't even remember his face clearly.
Her gaze darted around the room. Clothes were scattered everywhere in a way that made her want to faint from embarrassment. Her gown hung halfway off a chair, visibly torn along the side seam.
The stranger himself was nowhere to be seen.
For some reason, that irritated her greatly, not because she wanted him to stay.
Absolutely not.
But because leaving after wrecking someone this badly felt extremely irresponsible.
Pushing the thought away, she forced herself out of bed, wincing the entire time. Her legs nearly gave out beneath her.
"Never drinking coffee from anyone again," she hissed bitterly.
She grabbed her gown and slipped it back on carefully. The tear along the side exposed too much skin, so she removed the decorative brooch attached to the fabric and pinned the ripped section together.
Her fingers combed hurriedly through her messy auburn hair, strategically arranging it to hide the marks littering her neck.
Only after fixing herself did she finally pause in realization.
Her phone was gone and so was her bag.
"God!" She exclaimed.
Last night had truly been catastrophic.
As Dr. Sienna Rivers, an A-class medical genius recognized around the world, she had arrived at the hotel expecting to meet an important patient referred directly by the Prime Minister himself.
She was told he had a rare disease that had been deemed untreatable, exactly the kind of case that excited her.
Which was why she had arrived alone, dismissing even her bodyguard for the night.
And that had been her greatest mistake.
Halfway through the meeting, she realized the supposed patient wasn't sick at all.
The coffee had been drugged.
By the time she noticed, a strange dizziness was creeping through her veins, it was already too late. The man had smiled at her across the table like a predator finally watching its prey weaken.
She immediately asked to use the bathroom and escaped before the drug fully consumed her.
The moment the man realized her intention, he sent his men after her.
And in desperation she had barged into an unlocked room upstairs.
Right into the path of a man stepping out of the shower.
Sienna shut her eyes tightly.
"I really lost my mind…"
Even now, she couldn't understand how she had completely surrendered to instinct like that.
She, Sienna Rivers, had spent her entire life composed and untouchable.
Reduced to shamelessly seducing a stranger.
Her ears turned red again from humiliation.
Without wasting another second, she hurried out of the room into the hallway, and she kept her head lowered the entire time. If anyone recognized her in this state, her carefully maintained reputation would collapse instantly.
Outside the hotel, she quickly flagged down a taxi and slipped inside.
"Drive," she said immediately.
The taxi pulled away.
She never noticed the pair of azure-green eyes silently watching her leave from the window above.
A man stood there motionless.
So beautiful that he seemed unreal. He possessed a head full of messy platinum-blond hair that fell carelessly over his forehead, almost white beneath the morning light. His features were so perfect: a sharp jawline, pale skin, and long lashes framing his eyes so striking they looked carved from gemstones.
He looked less like a human being and more like some celestial god forced into the mortal human world.
He wore a tailored black-and-white outfit, the first few buttons undone carelessly, exposing part of his collarbone. The sleeves were rolled neatly to his elbows.
His gaze followed the taxi until it disappeared entirely.
Only then did he glance back toward the ruined bed behind him.
The faint red stain on the sheets held his attention for several quiet seconds.
"Master."
A tall man dressed completely in black stood respectfully behind him.
"Your orders?"
The blond man remained silent for some seconds before speaking.
"Find a way to arrange another meeting with her."
His voice was low, smooth, and beautiful. The kind of voice capable of making people drunk without drinking.
"Any means necessary?" The subordinate asked because it was almost impossible to see Doctor Rivers without an appointment booked since months ago.
"Yes," the man replied, his calm voice edged with a faint hint of desperation.
"Understood." The subordinate bowed and left immediately.
The room fell quiet again, and Isaac turned back to the window.
Even now, what happened last night still felt unreal to him like a dream.
One he never imagined possible.
They had traveled here specifically to seek out Dr. Sienna Rivers because of his illness, a terrifying condition no doctor in the world had successfully diagnosed.
Every once in a while, he lost control completely without any warning or trigger.
One moment he was normal, and the next he became something monstrous, violent, and unrecognizable.
During those episodes, he could kill fully grown men with his bare hands within minutes and reduce an entire room to bloodshed before he regained awareness.
Because of that, despite his high status in his homeland, Isaac had never truly lived among people.
The outside world knew he existed, but almost nobody had actually seen him.
He had spent most of his life hidden away like a dangerous creature chained in darkness.
Even his own mother feared him.
No…
She detested him.
She had attempted to kill him multiple times throughout his childhood, like she was unable to accept that something so terrifying had come from her womb.
Only his father's protection and Isaac's intelligence kept him alive.
His father needed his intelligence to rule the country, and that was why he was tolerated.
Nothing more.
This trip itself had only happened after months of careful planning just to escape and experience freedom, even briefly.
He wanted to walk through crowded streets.
Eat at random food stalls.
Watch movies in theaters.
Do ordinary things normal people took for granted.
But he didn't dare.
If he lost control in public…
People would die.
So he remained trapped.
Yet somehow…
Last night, for the first time in his life, someone had walked close and touched him without fear, even if it was accidental and she wasn't in her right state of mind.
A strange warmth still lingered in his chest from the memory.
----
Outside the hotel, directly across the street, a black luxury car was parked quietly beneath the shade of a tree.
Inside the backseat sat Leon dressed lazily in expensive dark pajamas, one leg crossed over the other as he watched Sienna's taxi disappear into traffic.
Then his gaze slowly shifted upward.
Toward the hotel window, where Isaac stood, and a grin spread across his face instantly.
Dangerous and playful.
"Well," he murmured softly, resting his chin against his knuckles.
"Seems I stumbled onto a very juicy scandal."
His bright eyes gleamed with excitement.
"And here I thought this mission would be boring."