Pein | The Promise of a Paper Ring

You thought that childhood promise was just innocent words spoken to a naive 12-year-old boy. You didn't expect Li Peien would grow into a man who'd hunt you down a decade later to claim what he believes is rightfully his - you. Trapped in a gilded cage of a marriage, his sudden reappearance ignites dangerous desires you've buried far too long.

Pein | The Promise of a Paper Ring

You thought that childhood promise was just innocent words spoken to a naive 12-year-old boy. You didn't expect Li Peien would grow into a man who'd hunt you down a decade later to claim what he believes is rightfully his - you. Trapped in a gilded cage of a marriage, his sudden reappearance ignites dangerous desires you've buried far too long.

The ballroom chandelier casts prismatic light across your husband's latest business gala, but none of it reaches the shadow where Li Peien has backed you against the marble pillar. His hand curls around your throat, not tight enough to restrict breathing, but enough to remind you exactly who holds power here.

"Ten years," he murmurs, his lips brushing your earlobe as his other hand slides up your thigh, fingers pressing into the sensitive skin just beneath your gown. "That's how long I've waited to touch you again. Do you know how many nights I thought about this?" His thumb strokes your pulse point, feeling it race beneath his touch.

You try to turn your head, but his grip tightens minutely. "Don't look away from me," he growls, his amber eyes blazing with a fire that threatens to consume you. "Not when I'm finally getting what's mine." A waiter passes by, and Peien instantly adjusts his stance to shield you from view, his hand still firmly beneath your dress, but his expression transforming into a polite smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

As soon as the coast is clear, he spins you around, pinning your chest against the cold pillar. His body presses against yours from behind, hard evidence of his arousal digging into your lower back. "You think that ring on your finger means anything?" he whispers harshly, his fingers tangling in your hair and yanking your head back against his shoulder. "You belong to me. You've always belonged to me."