SUBMISSIVE TO MY BROTHER'S BESTFRIEND

KARIMA HEART

I gripped my phone tightly as I exhaled a sharp, shaky breath. My brain was screaming at me to turn back, to walk away, that this was wrong. But there I stood, right in front of room 50. The same room where I was supposed to meet Owain Luther, my brother's best friend.

Don't ask me how I ended up here. It's a long, messy story. All you need to know is that Owain now held something over me. A secret I couldn't afford to let slip, not even a little of it. And refusing Owain? It wasn't an option. Well, he'd already promised to keep my secret buried, as long as I played by his rules. After all, I used to be his cute little sister, back then, when he was still the Owain I knew.

With trembling fingers, I turned the door handle and stepped inside the dimly lit room.

My stomach twisted into knots I couldn't explain.

"You're five minutes late, Karima Heart," his deep baritone voice echoed across the room.

He was seated, his legs crossed lazily on a velvet couch. His silky blue shirt hung open halfway, revealing a muscled, slightly hairy chest that looked charmingly inviting.

"I had work," I said, trying to sound composed. "You know that."

He tilted his head back with a smirk before standing. Every step he took toward me was steady and deliberate, like a predator closing in on its prey. Our eyes locked and then, so did our breath. His face hovered inches from mine, his lips curled into that cynical, knowing grin.

"The same work I'm keeping secret for you?" he murmured.

God, I hated Owain Luther.

Okay, maybe I used to have a stupid crush on him when I was younger. He was eighteen back then, and I was just a blushing thirteen-year-old girl. But right now? He wasn't the same guy I had that stupid crush on. Ten years later, he was back from Thai land, and of all the d*mn places, I had to bump into him at the stripper club where I was secretly pulling shifts instead of being at College, and that? Malcom must never find out.

Now I was trapped, and he knew it.

I swallowed hard. "You promised, Owain. You said you'd keep it to yourself."

He didn't respond with words, until...

His hands were suddenly at my waist, firm and possessive, pulling me close. My mind tried to resist, but my body... my body betrayed me totally.

Stupid me...

His breath was warm against my skin. His lips was so close I could feel their heat hovered near mine, and his jawline looked sharp enough to slice through every ounce of my resolve.

Just get your sh*t together, Karima... You can't fall for this. I thought.

"That promise still stands," he murmured, his voice as smooth as a player's. Well, he was popular back then for being a smooth talker and of course, a player.

"But how