From His Invisible Wife to the World's Icon novel Chapter 68

The room was pitch black, the air heavy with the sharp scent of nicotine.

Her silhouette was stretched long by the hallway lights, casting a dark shadow over the red carpet near the entrance. In the dim glow, she noticed a few crushed cigarette butts ground into the edges of the carpet.

The foundation's management consisted entirely of wealthy socialites. In this kind of setting, they would never risk ruining their perfume. They absolutely did not smoke.

A violent wave of dizziness hit her. Her vision blurred rapidly, and a fine layer of sweat broke out across her forehead. A boiling heat rushed through her veins, and an intense, overwhelming desire crashed over her like a tidal wave.

She instantly stumbled backward, pivoting on her heel. She ran.

She hadn't even taken two steps before two men lunged out of the suite.

"Grab her! Don't let her get away!"

Pure terror gave her a fleeting spike of adrenaline, but her legs felt like lead. Her vision tilted wildly, the sound of heavy footsteps closing in behind her. The suffocating fear warred with the agonizing, boiling lust tearing through her body. Burning up and incredibly weak, she forced herself around the corner. Through her swimming vision, she saw someone opening a door and threw herself at him without a second thought, clinging to him like a lifeline.

Her feet tangled, and she collapsed into darkness as the door slammed shut.

"Where did she go? She vanished!"

"Keep looking! Ms. Sutton is breathing down our necks!"

The frantic voices of the two men were muffled through the heavy wood.

Inside, the silence was deafening.

The crisp, masculine scent of cedar and mint filled her senses. To her feverish mind, it smelled like absolute heaven, making her blood boil and obliterating the last shreds of her sanity.

The large hands gripping her waist tried to pull away.

Her arms went soft, wrapping stubbornly around the man's chest to keep him from leaving. As her slender fingers brushed against the hard line of his Adam's apple, she felt his breath hitch and hitch hard.

She let out a delirious, breathy laugh.

The man flinched, trying to push her back, but she leaned in desperately, pressing her lips frantically against his throat.

A low groan rumbled from his chest.

"Take me..." she slurred incoherently.

Her gaze drifted over his flawlessly handsome face, his sharp jawline, and the hard cut of his throat. The burning lust clawed higher, completely swallowing the pain in her arm. "I want to push you onto that bed."

And before she even realized it, her body moved completely on its own.

The second she threw her arms around him, a wave of desperate relief washed over her feverish body, giving her a momentary breath of sanity.

Suddenly, her wrists were locked in an iron grip. She was hauled roughly over his hard shoulder, her waist colliding with the solid muscle of his back. Her blurry vision spun violently as the world flipped upside down, and she plummeted into a freezing abyss.

Ice-cold water crashed over her.

"Ah!"

"Cold... it's so cold..."

She curled into a tight, shivering ball. The shock of the water yanked her consciousness back to the surface. Looking up through the splashing water, she saw the man towering over her under the harsh lights, his face as dark as thunder. Memories of what she had just done flooded her brain. Having no time to explain, she grabbed a fistful of his trousers. "Mr. Ford, I was drugged... Please, call the police..."

Seeing that he didn't move, his gaze still laced with heavy suspicion, her pale, trembling fingers tightened, wrinkling the dark fabric of his suit pants. She broke down sobbing. "I'm telling the truth... Please believe me... Please... help me..."

The man suddenly leaned down, his impossibly handsome face filling her vision. Her wide, soaked pupils shrank in shock as his towering shadow entirely consumed her.