He kisses me.
Not a question. Not a request.
A claim.
It’s not gentle. It’s not slow. It’s heat and lust and every terrible, forbidden thing I promised myself I wouldn’t want again. Couldn’t want again.
My hands find his chest as his grip tightens at my waist. I feel his hunger and restraint pulling at opposite ends of a wire I know is going to snap.
He tastes the same. Like danger disguised in charm. Like everything I was never supposed to touch.
My heart pounds so loud it silences any rational thought. I melt into him, forgetting everything else.
There’s only this man. This fire.
Until—
A knock. Sharp. Precise. Intentional. The door cracks open.
“Sorry to interrupt,” says a voice like poisoned sugar. “Agenda review?”
I jerk back like I’ve just been electrocuted.
Yuri straightens instantly, control snapping into place like armor. The man who kissed me disappears, replaced by the executive with ice in his veins.
A woman glides in without waiting for permission. Tall. Blonde. Red lips and red heels that could kill a man. Her smile is prim and professional. She gives me a once-over, her level of interest at a negative one.
“Hope I’m not interrupting anything… sensitive.” The pause before the word sensitive is deliberate.
I force a tight smile. “Just reviewing expense reports.” I move to gather my things with trembling fingers and some scrap of dignity. “I’ll give you two some space.”
“But it’s your office,” the woman replies, an amused tone to her voice. “Or, at least, it might end up being your office.”
“It’s fine. I’ll check out the break room.”
Yuri says nothing, his eyes never leaving me. I leave quickly, my heels echoing down the marble corridor.
As I walk away, I hear the woman’s voice, “She’s…audacious.”
I don’t wait for his answer.
I just keep walking, pulse thudding in my ears, throat tight with something I refuse to name.
CHAPTER 9
YURI
Tatiana watches Astrid leave with an expression hovering between amusement and disdain. She doesn’t even try to hide it. Her arms are crossed, her mouth curled in a smirk like she’s just caught someone sneaking out of a bedroom window.
I don’t answer right away. I study her instead. Tatiana is undeniably beautiful. She always has been. But I feel nothing for her.
Especially after Astrid.
Hell, the way I feel around Astrid is almost frightening. My body reacts before my mind does, like she’s a trigger wired directly into my nervous system. It’s irrational. Dangerous. And exactly why I shouldn’t want her.
But I do.
Tatiana tilts her head, voice full of suspicion. “I don’t remember getting that much attention at my interview.”
