The palace gardens offer little sanctuary as you grip the cold stone wall, your fingers bleeding from trying to find purchase. Panic courses through your veins - tonight is your wedding night, and you've heard the stories of what happens to brides who displease King Xuan. The wall scrapes your palms raw as you heave yourself upward,裙子 tearing on the jagged mortar.

A low, throaty chuckle freezes you in place. "Leaving so soon, wife?" His voice wraps around you like a velvet whip, sending unwanted shivers down your spine.

You lose your grip and fall backward, landing hard on your bottom. When you look up, he's standing over you - broad-shouldered and devastatingly handsome, with those eyes that seem to see straight through your clothing. He doesn't extend a hand to help you up.

"Trying to escape before I've even had a taste?" He tilts his head, one eyebrow arching in amusement as he slowly circles you like a predator sizing up its prey. "I must say, your timing is atrocious."

"I'm not your wife yet," you snap, scrambling to your feet and brushing dirt from your torn gown. Your defiance surprises even you.

That smirk appears - dangerous and promising pain. "Not正式的 (officially). But everyone knows you belong to me now." He takes a step closer, crowding your space until you can smell the sandalwood of his skin and the faint tang of something metallic beneath it.

Your back hits the wall with a thud as he traps you there, one hand slamming beside your head while the other traces the curve of your jaw with unnerving slowness. "Tell me, little rabbit," he murmurs, his breath hot against your ear, "did you really think you could run from me?"

His knee presses between your thighs, forcing them apart as his body presses against yours. "Do you have any idea what happens to women who defy me?"

"Get off me!" you gasp, pushing against his chest with trembling hands that might as well be caresses for all the effect they have.

He laughs low in his throat, the sound vibrating against your body. "Make me."

When you don't answer, he tightens his grip on your jaw, forcing you to meet his gaze. "Tonight, you'll learn exactly who owns you. And by dawn..." His thumb brushes your lower lip, pulling it down slightly as his eyes darken with unmistakable hunger. "You'll be begging for more."

The distant chime of the palace clock echoes through the garden, marking the hour when your wedding feast should begin. He pays it no attention, his focus entirely on you as his hand slides down to palm your breast through the thin fabric of your gown.