“The door was open.”
I glance at the still-open door. “Oh,” then look back at him. “You came early today.”
He nods, looking toward the bag on my table. “You’re really planning to go.”
I nod. “Wen needs me.”
He stares at me for a minute, that handsome face of his that hates showing emotions. Then, with the same stoic expression, he says, “So do I.”
My heart jumps in my chest, almost coming out of my mouth. I gulp, looking away from him. Once he says things like that, it becomes impossible to look at him without feeling layers of current under my skin.
He holds my jaw. I look up at him, though my eyes are half-lidded, my lashes heavy.
“I can’t let you go, Dove. I need you here with me. Please don’t go.”
He’s standing so tall and strong, yet his words carry the same vulnerability they would have carried if he were kneeling before me.
“But I’m afraid Wen won’t be fine alone.”
“Did she say so?”
I shake my head.
He runs his thumb slowly just below my ear, the touch making my skin prickle. “I’m saying this. I need you. I won’t be fine without you. So stay with me.”
“Since when did you start needing me this much? Last time I checked, you were perfectly fine just watching me from cameras.”
He smiles, the kind of slow smile that makes his eyes look darker. “But then I got a taste of having you in front of me, where I could watch you whenever I wanted and touch you however I wanted.”
I narrow my eyes, though my pulse jumps. “Who says you can touch me however you want?”
His smile widens, a quiet challenge in it. God, I could watch him smile all day without tiring, he looks so damn handsome when he does. “I’m still touching you,” he murmurs.
I hold the hand that’s been tracing my face and neck for what feels like forever, my fingers wrapping around his, heat curling low in my stomach. “What will you do if I refuse to stay?” The question tastes like iron on my tongue, the idea itself giving the same pleasure as walking on nails.
His smile vanishes, and suddenly the nails become sharper.
“Then…” His voice drops lower, rougher. “…can I ask for one night with you?”
My breath catches, coming out hot and shaky. The room feels suddenly smaller, warmer, and the air thick and electric. My head is spinning, and the very place between my legs throbs in answer.
He bends down until his face is level with mine, his eyes holding mine hostage. “And I want to do everything I desire in this one night.”
I’m sweating while staring at ice, his gaze burning me and his eyes lulling me closer with the promise of cooling me down, but I know what a master manipulator this man is.
“I won’t be able to leave you,” I tell him, my voice trembling slightly. I can see right through his little game.
His hand slides around my waist, and in the next second he pulls me up against his chest. I quickly wrap my leg around his waist, circling his neck with my arms. He moves back and sits on my bed with me straddling his lap.The bulge below his pants presses between my thighs, and a hum of pleasure rolls through me from that point.
His hands travel along my back, from my neck down to my ass. My breath quickens.
“I will do whatever it takes to keep you here, Dove,” he murmurs against my neck, leaving wet, heated kisses along the skin.
“And by ‘whatever,’ you mean seducing me,” my tease escapes in a breathy, almost suggestive whisper.
He hums in response, squeezing my ass and guiding me to roll against his hardness. The pulse of pleasure carries a moan from my lips.
“You’re doing a terrible job at that,” I lie, far too obviously. Only an utterly shameless person could say something like that right after moaning.
