Chapter 15 ... You're tempted
I rise, letting my movement pull the air with it. I move toward him with the slow, agonizing pace of a predator who knows the cage is already locked. Kaden takes a single step back, a reflexive flinch.... instinct kicking in, but then he stops himself. His glare locks with mine, hard and defiant. His chin tips up, his eyes firing a lethal glare that’s supposed to be an armor.
"What are you doing?" he asks, his voice vibrating with a frantic kind of defiance.
"Nothing," I murmur, my gaze tracking the erratic jump of the pulse in his throat. "Yet."
I stop when I’m close enough to feel his anger. He’s fuming, his entire body a live wire of "no," and yet, I catch the exact moment the circuit breaks. His eyes....those sharp, magnetic hazel eyes, flicker down. Just for a heartbeat. He looks at my mouth with a raw hunger before he jerks his gaze away, catching himself too late.
"I won't be intimidated," he says, the words a broken shield. "Do whatever the hell you want. I’m done."
He starts to turn, a desperate pivot intended to lead him back to safety. I don't let him. I reach out, my hand landing on the curve of his waist. It’s light at first, a ghost of a touch, a test to see if he’ll bolt.
His breathing hitches, turning heavy and ragged. "Let go," he says. The command is there, but the bite is gone, replaced by a soft, breathless vulnerability that makes my blood roar.
I step further into his space, erasing the air between us until I can feel the heat of his chest through my shirt. I tighten my grip, my fingers digging into the soft fabric and the firm muscle beneath.
"Are you sure that’s what you want, Kaden?" I lean in, my lips brushing the shell of his ear, inhaling the scent of him. He smells intoxicating....fresh, clean, and entirely too much like an invitation. "For me to let go?"
He swallows hard, his throat working against the tension. Again, his gaze betrays him, flicking to my lips with a desperate curiosity before he blinks and forces himself to look away. "I already told you—"
"You’ve told me a lot of things," I cut him off, my voice dropping into a low, gravelly rasp. I guide him back slowly until his violin case hits the cool, flat surface of the wall next to the door, caging him in. "But then you go and look at me like that."
"Like what?!" he snaps, his voice bitingly sharp.
"Like you’re curious," I whisper, my hand sliding beneath the hem of his shirt. "Like you’re tempted."
The contact is electric. His skin is warm, sculpted, and perfect....the kind of physical symmetry that makes my palms ache. I can feel the tremor running through him, the silent admission of his body that his tongue is still trying to deny.
His breath hitches, a sharp, broken sound in the quiet of the room. "Dude—"
"Bastian," I correct him, my thumb grazing the sensitive skin just above his hip bone. "You should start making use of it. Since it’s the only thing you’ll be capable of screaming when I’m finally pounding into you."
The air between us is no longer oxygen. It’s something thicker, something flammable. I watch the fire in his eyes flicker, the defiance warring with a heat so intense I can feel it vibrating against my hand. I’ve never wanted to ruin something, and own it, more than I do in this moment.
“Do you just find it physically impossible not to look at anything that isn't for sale?"
I don’t answer immediately. My eyes drop to the pale column of his neck, watching the way his pulse jumps against the skin.
"I’m actually just looking at the way your heart tries to climb out of your chest the second I step into your space," I lean in, burying my face in the curve of his shoulder, inhaling deeply. He smells like rain on hot pavement. "It’s the only honest thing about you right now, Kaden. Your body doesn't know how to lie."
"It’s called an adrenaline spike," he bites back, though the words are breathless, whispered into the hair at my temple. "It happens when I'm around things that annoy me....Like flies. Or psychotic assholes with boundary issues."
I let out a low, dark chuckle against his skin, the vibration of it making him shiver.
I feel his hand move, his fingers finding my arm. I’m certain he’s going to shove me back, to finally find that spine he keeps boasting about. I wait for the rejection, for the cold snap of reality. But the seconds stretch out, and instead of a push, I feel his fingers curl, anchoring himself to me as if the floor has tilted beneath him.
I press my lips to that jumping pulse.
The kick of his heart against my mouth is electric...a violent proof of life. He’s practically vibrating under my touch.
I slide my hand further up under his shirt, my palm flat against the heat of his ribs. He’s a beautiful liar, but as I drag my teeth lightly over the cord of his neck, his fist tightens even further, and the lie finally starts to crumble.
I can feel him, the hard, heavy heat of him pressing against my thigh. It makes my blood turn to molten lead. If I wasn’t already obsessed with the idea of breaking him, I am now.
I pull back just enough to see his face. That stubborn, infuriatingly beautiful face.
"You can’t force me to work for you," he says, the defiance sounding more like a plea.
I raise an eyebrow. “Will you also be quitting the club?” I ask mildly. “In case you’ve forgotten....I own that too.”
My own cock is throbbing, a demand for attention that I know he can feel. His gaze flickers down as if he can't help but look before climbing back to my eyes.
I let my expression shift into something more serious, more professional. "Take the job, Kaden. You’re a perfect fit."
"A fit for what, exactly? Your project, or for you?"
"Both," I say easily.
He shakes his head, an empty smile fixed on those tempting pink lips. "I’m sorry, but I don't think the 'workplace culture' you're offering is conducive to my professional growth."
I lean in until my nose brushes his, my thumb hooking into the waistband of his jeans. “You talk a lot for someone who’s spent the last ten minutes trying to memorize the shape of my mouth....”
His eyes betray him again, dropping, almost involuntarily, to my lips. This time they linger there, caught, like he forgot the rest of the room exists.
“If you’re dying to know what I taste like, Kaden,” I add quietly, watching that moment of weakness with slow satisfaction, “you should just ask. I might even let you stay on your feet while you find out.”
He scoffs, his breath hot against my lips. "A real romantic, aren't you? Does that line ever work, or do you just rely on your bank balance to do the heavy lifting?"
I don't answer with words. I slide my hand up beneath his shirt, my palm dragging over the smooth, hot planes of his chest until my thumb flicks over his nipple.
A soft, broken sound escapes his lips, a pathetic little hitch that sounds like a surrender. Something feral roars to life in my gut at that sound....
I move impossibly closer, pinning him harder into the wall. "The bank balance buys the room," my voice drops into a dark register. "But my cock keeps them from ever wanting to leave it. You wanna test that theory?"