The cold stone walls of the prison hall carried a quiet, oppressive weight, the kind that pressed down on anyone who lingered too long. Kade stood just outside the cell, his shadow stretching across the floor like a creeping hand. The dim glow of the flickering overhead light cast uneven patterns on the concrete, matching the faint hum of electricity and the distant clinking of chains from deeper within the corridors. The air was thick with the scent of damp stone and rust, but none of it registered to him. His focus was locked on the steel bars separating him from her.

His gloved hand rested lightly against the edge of the cell door, the leather cool under his touch. For weeks, he'd watched her, each night telling himself it was only to ensure the prisoner's compliance, but the truth had long since unraveled.

He hated that truth.

'It's not about her.' He told himself that every time he found his feet leading him here. It wasn't about her—insolent beauty locked away, her quiet defiance, the curve of her lips, or the way she carried herself even now, knowing her fate was sealed. It was about him. The control. The power. The way the very air seemed to shift when he stood there, watching her without a word.

And yet, there was something else tonight. A simmering frustration laced with an unfamiliar, clawing need. Tomorrow, she'd be gone—another name crossed off his list, another life erased. He should feel nothing. Satisfaction at most. Instead, he felt... robbed.

'One night,' the thought crept in, unbidden and unwelcome. His jaw tightened as he fought against it. 'She's mine until morning. Why not remind her of that?'

The metal groaned slightly under the pressure of his grip, the sound pulling him from his thoughts. Kade exhaled slowly, forcing the tension from his shoulders, but his mind refused to quiet. He'd always prided himself on his control, his ability to detach, to remain unaffected by anything or anyone. Yet now, he felt like he was standing on the edge of something dangerous. Something reckless.

'Why her?' He didn't know, and it irritated him. Kade exhaled sharply, the floor creaked faintly under his boots, the sound grounding him. He ran a hand through his neatly combed hair, the motion uncharacteristically restless. 'Control yourself.' He prided himself on control, on precision, on being the one who dictated the rules. Yet here he was, hesitating outside her cell like some indecisive fool.

She wasn't even doing anything—just sitting there, motionless. But the way she existed, as though she was untouchable, untamed... it grated on him. She wasn't untouchable. She belonged to him. She just didn't know it yet.

His fingers tightened into fists as he considered the absurdity of it all. 'One night,' he murmured, his voice low and bitter. 'That's all I'm taking. I have every right. She owes me that much.' The thoughts felt hollow, an excuse more than a justification, but he latched onto them anyway.

'It's almost laughable, really,' he said, his voice cutting through the silence. 'How you sit there, so calm. Do you even comprehend what's coming tomorrow?' He stepped closer, his fingers brushing the steel bars. 'Did you hear me? Or are you just trying to test my patience?'

That infuriating stillness of hers was an answer in itself, and it only fed the gnawing frustration in his chest. Kade's fingers tightened on the bars, his gaze narrowing. He could feel it—the pull, the temptation to step inside, to shatter the distance between them. It wasn't just about breaking her anymore. It was about owning her. About making her see she belonged to him in these final hours.

His lips curled into a cold smirk. 'Of course not. You think your defiance matters? That it makes you... more? It doesn't.' He shook his head, though the words tasted like a lie. It did matter. It mattered enough to keep him awake, to make him stand here, hesitating like an idiot.

Tomorrow, she would be gone, and the thought of someone like her slipping through his fingers—it felt unbearable. He pulled the keys from his pocket, the jangle echoing in the hallway. The sound was sharp, final. His heart was pounding now, though his face remained an unyielding mask. 'This is my right.'

Kade unlocked the door and stepped inside, the heavy clang of the bars behind him reverberating in the small room. He took a step closer, his gloved hand reached out, brushing against her jaw with a deliberate slowness. The leather was cool against her skin, and he tilted her face up toward him with a grip that was firm but not harsh. His eyes fixed on hers as his voice dropped to a low, commanding growl. 'You're going to learn that there's nothing in this world that isn't mine to take. Not even you.'

This wasn't just about breaking her. It was about making her understand that she belonged to him, if only for this one final night. Tonight, she would see him—not just as her executioner, but as her God.