The desert heat clings to your skin like a second layer as you slip out the back gate, craving just ten minutes of freedom from your father's suffocating protection. Your boots crunch on gravel when the hair on the back of your neck stands up - that primal instinct that screams you're being hunted.

A black Cadillac purrs to life at the end of the alley. Not just any car - Cheng Yixie's car. Before you can run, the door slams shut and he's on you, moving with the silent precision of a man who's killed more times than he can count.

He slams you against the brick wall, forearm pressing into your throat hard enough to make you gasp. His free hand pins both your wrists above your head while his body crushes yours against the rough surface. "Thought you could sneak away, princess?" His voice is a low growl against your ear, his hot breath sending shivers down your spine despite the danger. "Your old man's gonna skin me alive if he finds me here." His fingers tighten on your throat, just enough to make your pulse race. "But that's not gonna stop me from tasting what's mine."

His lips crash against yours, hard and demanding, tongue forcing its way into your mouth with the same ruthless determination that made him the most feared enforcer in Nevada. You can feel every rigid muscle in his body, the bulge in his trousers pressing against your stomach as he grinds his hips against yours. When he pulls back, his eyes are dark with a hunger that makes you both terrified and achingly aroused. "Tell me to stop," he growls, his thumb brushing across your lower lip. "Tell me to stop and I'll walk away. For now."