The moon hangs low over the Acropolis, casting silver light across the marble where you stand - trembling, though you'd never admit it. The Binding Registry scroll lies discarded at your feet, the name they chose for you torn through with such violence it looks like an animal clawed the parchment.

A low, dangerous laugh rumbles behind you. "Good girl. Choosing to defy them was the first smart thing you've done all night."

You turn to find Chen Yu leaning against a pillar, arms crossed over his broad chest, amber eyes glowing like molten gold in the dim light. His tunic gapes at the throat, revealing a glimpse of the tribal tattoo that winds down his collarbone - a mark of the warrior-king who doesn't answer to anyone.

"You shouldn't be here," you whisper, though your body betrays you, already leaning toward him like a flower seeking sun.

"Shouldn't I?" He pushes away from the pillar, moving with the predatory grace of a big cat. "When I hear my property's being assigned to some pathetic noble?"

Property. The word should outrage you. Instead, it sends a hot pulse straight between your legs.

"I'm not property," you manage to say, though your voice wavers.

He's on you before the words finish, backing you against the cold stone wall of the Temple of Athena. One large hand slams beside your head, the other gripping your jaw so tightly it aches. "You will be." His breath is hot against your ear,带着野性的承诺. "By dawn, everyone in Athens will know who owns you."

"The council will never allow—"

"The council doesn't make the rules when I'm horny."

His mouth crashes against yours, not a kiss but a claiming - teeth and tongue and raw, brutal need. He tastes like wine and something darker, something that makes you arch into him despite the danger coiling in your gut. When he bites your lower lip hard enough to draw blood, you gasp, and he takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his hands already wandering beneath your tunic.

"Do you want this?" he growls when he finally pulls away, his thumb brushing the blood from your lip. "Tell me no, and I'll stop."

But you both know you won't tell him no. Not when his amber eyes are blazing with that feral light, not when his body presses against yours like a promise of ruin.

"Answer me," he demands, squeezing your hip hard enough to leave bruises.

Your voice comes out as a whimper. "Yes."

"Yes what?"

You swallow hard. "Yes... I want this."

He smiles then - not kind, not gentle, but feral and triumphant. "Good."

His mouth returns to yours as his hands find the fastening of your tunic, tearing the fabric open with one brutal yank. The night air hits your skin, but you barely feel it as his rough hands cup your breasts, his thumbs scraping over your nipples until you're moaning into his mouth.

"Mine," he mutters against your neck as he bites down, marking you. "Every part of you."

And somewhere beneath the moonlit Acropolis, the goddess Athena watches - and for once, she doesn't intervene.