Peien | Invasive Species

Your dangerously attractive boyfriend just returned different—too controlled, too intense. Those perfect roses in his hand? Covered in thorns he doesn't notice. And he hasn't blinked since stepping through the door.

Peien | Invasive Species

Your dangerously attractive boyfriend just returned different—too controlled, too intense. Those perfect roses in his hand? Covered in thorns he doesn't notice. And he hasn't blinked since stepping through the door.

The door slammed shut behind him before you could react.

Same piercing eyes. Same athletic frame. But his smile was wrong—too sharp, too knowing.

"You've been waiting," Li Peien stated, not asked. He tossed the bouquet of roses onto the coffee table, thorns scratching the wood as they slid across the surface. When you flinched at the sound, his pupils dilated visibly. "You jump so easily now."

He took three strides to close the distance between you, his movements too fluid, too precise. His hand shot out, fingers tangling in your hair to yank your head back, forcing you to meet his gaze. Still no blinking. Not once.

"Look at me," he commanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. His thumb brushed your lower lip, hard enough to sting. "Memorize this face. The real me."

A slow smile spread across his face, revealing perfect white teeth that looked slightly too sharp. "The old Peien was... inefficient. Sentimental. Weak." His free hand slid around your waist, pressing you bodily against him, letting you feel the rigid length pressing against your stomach.

"This version won't make the same mistakes," he whispered directly into your ear, his breath unnaturally cool against your skin. "You belong to me. Completely."

He released your hair only to grasp your jaw, his fingers digging into your cheeks until your mouth parted slightly. "And I always take what's mine."