Even strands of Erin Xavier’s hair were damp with rain. He casually wiped at them, and water droplets fell.

He took off his shirt, tossing it aside without a care.

But Zoe Pierce felt the aggression radiating from him.

In the next moment, Erin Xavier approached Zoe Pierce.

His skin was still damp. Silently, he lifted her slender fingers and pressed them against his firm abs. "I’m just as good, Zoe Pierce."

’If this is what she liked, he could give it to her anytime.’

From this close, a simple glance downward revealed her cleavage.

So fair.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. His other hand clamped down on Zoe Pierce’s shoulder. "If he can do it, so can I."

The feel of him under her hand made her want to recoil. Zoe Pierce had never seen Erin Xavier like this—so docile, humbling himself so completely.

The dampness in her palm seemed to grow warm, as if infected with his heat. She feigned ignorance, pulling her lips into a smile. "Ah, what do you mean?"

But Erin Xavier wouldn’t let her off the hook. "Why didn’t you open the door just now?"

He knew she had used her spiritual power to hold the door shut, to keep him from coming in.

"Today is our first day," he said, his voice laced with grievance.

That’s why he came over in the middle of the night, braving the rain.

But he hadn’t expected to hear her panicked breaths from within the room, through the crack in the door.

"Erin Xavier..." Zoe Pierce swallowed hard.

Her intuition told her that Erin Xavier was a bit unhinged right now, just like that emotional outburst when he’d fought Sheldon Xavier.

Erin Xavier took another step forward. Zoe Pierce retreated a few steps, nearly forced back onto the sofa.

His breath washed over her face. "I saw it."

’What did he see?’

The muscles in Zoe Pierce’s back were so tight they felt ready to snap.

’From the front door, it would have been impossible for him to see what happened at the dining table.’

She was so nervous she nearly forgot to breathe. Erin Xavier’s eyes swept over her face. He pulled her hand, pressing it to her own chest, and didn’t leave her in suspense. "Right here... there’s a hickey."

Her mind went blank for a moment. Zoe Pierce couldn’t control her expression; she was at a loss, and utterly embarrassed.

He took another step, and her composure finally broke. She stumbled back, collapsing onto the sofa.

Her dark green dress billowed out in a beautiful arc.

The rims of Zoe Pierce’s ears were flushed red. The dim, lingering light from the front of the room illuminated her face with perfect clarity.

But in the next instant, the man lifted her chin, the web of his hand fitting perfectly against her jawline.

"Zoe," he called out tenderly.

But Zoe Pierce couldn’t relax a single muscle.

"May I kiss you?" Erin Xavier asked.

His brown hair and doe-like eyes held none of their usual innocence. Instead, they held a hint of wickedness.

"If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as your consent."

Zoe Pierce opened her mouth to speak, but his face descended, capturing her lower lip. He then tilted her head back, pressing her into the sofa in a wild, unrestrained, deep kiss.

The wet sounds from their mouths were cloying, but the kiss ended quickly.

Erin Xavier wasn’t in a hurry. He was just angry.

He hadn’t originally planned to be this way with Zoe Pierce so soon, but today’s events had pushed him over the edge.

He had endured for two agonizing months, watching Nathan Lockwood’s smug satisfaction and Chase Shaw’s intimacy with her.

’Finally, it’s my turn.’

Only to arrive and hear, during the time that should have been his, the passionate sounds of Zoe Pierce and Chase Shaw inside.

"Erin Xavier... you need to calm down..." Everything tonight had spiraled beyond Zoe Pierce’s control.

But Erin Xavier turned a deaf ear. "I can’t."

"I’m so jealous I could go insane."

His words left Zoe Pierce speechless.

"I saw it, and I heard it." His finger pressed against the mark on her chest.

"Zoe, you can’t bully me like this."

Erin Xavier knelt before the sofa, taking her hand and rubbing it against his cheek.

His light brown eyes stared intently into her own limpid ones. "Are you trying to tell me that he can, but I can’t?"

He was already an expert at wearing the expression that would make her heart soften.

And even using the name that always made her heart go soft.

’A pitiful, rain-drenched puppy.’

’Just begging its owner for a bit of affection.’

’So, was she going to refuse him?’

"Erin Xavier..." The dim light was enough to reveal his calculating nature, and enough for Zoe Pierce to see it clearly.

Her resolve did waver for a moment.

"Zoe." He leaned in closer, closing the distance until they were almost touching. "Do you hate me that much?"

Erin Xavier was already twisting the words she hadn’t yet spoken.

He was already incapable of accepting Zoe Pierce’s refusal.

’He only wanted to hear a clear, affirmative answer from those lips.’

It was difficult to hate a face like his to begin with, especially since Zoe Pierce didn’t normally find Erin Xavier disagreeable at all.

But at this moment, he radiated an aura of pure masculinity.

It was impossible to reconcile with the person he was during the day.

"I don’t," she said.

In the blink of an eye, a jolt of electricity, brilliant as a bursting firework, shot from her fingertips.

The hand he’d been pressing to his cheek was now brought to his lips.

Something slick and nimble coiled around her fingertips, warm and wet.

Goosebumps erupted along Zoe Pierce’s arm.

"Erin Xavier... don’t..."

Everything was spiraling in a direction she could no longer predict.

’What is he licking?’

’Has he gone mad?’

’How could he... suck on my finger like that...’

"Zoe." Erin Xavier looked up. "I like you so, so much."

’He’d loved her even before he realized it.’

His kisses traveled up from her finger, dense as a shower of rain, moving from her fingertips to her arm, then to her collarbone, where they finally stopped.

He didn’t kiss any lower.

Chase Shaw’s marks were still on her body.

But after pausing for only a breath, Erin Xavier knew he couldn’t stop.

He wasn’t the kind of person who knew when to stop. He’d always been the type to seize whatever he wanted, to make it his own.

He needed a breakthrough—a way to break through the final barrier in Zoe Pierce’s heart.

A breakthrough that would make her see him as a true man.

’He couldn’t possibly stop now.’

Even if another man’s marks were still fresh on her skin.

His gaze darkened. His chest pressed fully against her legs as he leaned in, his hands finding the dark green fabric. "Zoe, if you hate me, then give me a hard shove."

With Zoe Pierce’s physical and spiritual power, she could easily push him away.

But when it came to dealing with people, her nature was unbelievably soft.

So...

Through the dark green silk, he successfully bit down on the Vermilion Fruit.

He heard a pained cry from the owner of the orchard.

The dark green fabric was stained an even deeper shade.

Erin Xavier didn’t know what this night meant to Chase Shaw, but he knew he himself had reaped a bountiful harvest.

’Even if it was all by design, what he’d managed to taste was real.’

The obsession he had been nursing was, for a single moment, finally satisfied.

Yes, only for an instant.

How could he possibly be satisfied with a single moment? He wanted more. Like a ravenous beast, he wanted to devour everything.

And only Zoe Pierce could give it to him.

Erin Xavier released the fruit. Then, with a single, effortless motion, he lifted her into his arms. "Zoe, let’s go upstairs."