Nara's POV
My eighteenth birthday was just as I planned.
Wild, loud, and completely unfiltered.
I chuckled as my friend, Lotanna poured a glass of champagne on a guy's torso before she leaned in slowly, and used her tongue on him.
I randomly dragged a guy by his collar from the bar, and slammed our lips together.
He raised his hand to push me away, but ended up wrapping them around me when he realized who I was.
I laughed in the kiss, and deepened it.
His hand reached for the hem of my recklessly short skirt. I sensually bit his lower lip, and took his hand off me.
No matter what I've done, I must remain chaste. That was the least but greatest thing I can do for my dad.
I'll get married off in a month's time, to the man with the greatest connection after my dad. Then, I can fulfil every sexual desires I have.
I rolled away from him with a giggle, and threw my arms into the closest man, swaying my hips before him.
I couldn't wait to go to Florida. My dad refuses, so I am to be the widest girl here. The plan was to get so wild, and try every powder I can find.
I'll have my body guard send him videos. If he doesn't send me to Florida tomorrow morning, I'll do more.
I tilted my neck, letting the stranger's mouth trail sloppily over my skin. He kissed harder, with his teeth scraping around that spot.
I whimpered not from pleasure, but pain.
My neck still throbbed from the fall I took two days ago, when I slipped running down the staircase with my brother's black card. Everyone knows I wasn't allowed to cry, so I didn't.
Even now, with a stranger's tongue on a bruise I pretended didn't exist, I kept my grin wide and careless.
I reached back, fisting his hair, and urging him closer. The wilder I looked, the faster Dad would give in.
Lotanna stumbled toward me, her lipstick smeared and her eyes glassy.
"Nara! You're insane," she laughed, slinging an arm around my shoulders. "Your dad will kill him if he sees any of this."
"That's the point," I whispered into her ear.
But then, something shifted. I felt a ripple. A prickle ran across my spine.
Someone was watching me.
Not like the boys, hungry and stupid gaze, not even like the guards, bored and distant gaze. This gaze was sharp enough to cut through the music, and sharp enough to make me turn.
And that was when I saw him.
A stranger was in the corner of the club. He didn't look familiar. I have the profile of all my guests. My dad had made sure of that, to avoid anything bad from happening to me.
Unmoving.
His eyes locked on mine like he could see straight through the glitter, the recklessness, and the pretend.
He didn't belong here.
My smile immediately flattered.
Something about him clawed at the back of my neck. His gaze didn't waver, it was intense. He didn't blink. He didn't even shift like the others who only saw my body, my name, my father's power.
This one looked like he saw me, and that was far more dangerous. I have been kidnapped once, and I know this look.
I tore my eyes away and pretended nothing happened. I tossed my hair, turned back into the music, and grabbed another guy.
Anything to drown out the strange chill crawling up my spine. However, the feeling didn't go away.
Rather, it grew.
Every second, it intensified. I was being traced from the inside out.
I tried to laugh, I tried to kiss another, I tried to be louder, and wilder… but my pulse betrayed me.
Lotanna tugged on my arm. "Nara, you okay? You look—"
"Bathroom," I muttered, pulling away.
I forced my steps into a sway so no one would notice I was practically running. My heels clicked anxiously against the marble floor as I pushed through the crowd and ducked into the hallway lined with golden lights.
I didn't look back yet I felt him. That sharp gaze followed me like a shadow in the dark with teeth.
By the time I reached the bathroom, my chest was tight. I slipped inside, locking the door behind me.
The music faded instantly.
I gripped the sink, breathing too fast. "What the hell is wrong with me?" I whispered, becoming sober.
I splashed water on my face. My makeup smudged, shimmering under the light, but I didn't care. I just needed one moment of….
Knock.
It was a soft one. The knock was too soft yet my stomach turned to ice. I stared at the door, with my heartbeat drumming against my bruised neck.
Another knock came, low and patient.
"Occupied," I said, my voice steady enough.
There was no response.
I swallowed. My fingers trembled as I reached into my purse, searching for my phone. I needed to call my guard, tell him something felt off, tell him I needed help. Or even, call my dad.
My hand froze.
Apparently, the purse was empty.
I didn't remember dropping anything.
Then I heard a faint, metallic click.
The lock turned from the outside.
I stumbled backward, a whisper scraping out of me. "No… no, no—"
The door opened slowly, and then he stepped in. The same stranger from the corner stepped in.
He was tall, and composed, with eyes like glass and storm.
He closed the door gently behind him.
"You shouldn't have left the crowd," he said, his voice low, cold, and almost bored.
Every nerve in me screamed.
I darted toward the opposite wall, but he didn't chase me. He rolled his eyes like he didn't need to.
He moved the way a blade moved. Clean, sure, and unforgiving.
"Don't come any closer," I demanded, lifting a hand that shook far too visibly. I studied my voice, and said coldly. "My dad would pay you handsomely if you let me go. However, he'd kill you if you touch me."
He tilted his head, studying me as if he was counting my breaths.
"You're smaller up close," he murmured. "Easier."
"Easier for what?" I snapped.
His eyes flicked to my neck, and to the faint bruise already forming.
"For this."
He moved so fast I didn't even see his hand until it covered my mouth. I tried to fight. I scratched, kicked, and twisted, but his strength was monstrous. My body slammed into his chest, and the scent of something chemical hit my nose, sharp and dizzying.
A cloth. A cloth was pressed over my mouth and nose.
"Breathe," he whispered. "It'll hurt less."
I screamed into his palm, but it came out smothered. My vision blurred. My legs buckled.
He caught me before I hit the floor.
The room spun violently, sinking and rising all at once. His voice was the last thing I heard as consciousness slipped away like water through my fingers.
"Happy birthday, Nara." he whispered into my ears, and darkness swallowed everything.