Chapter 16 See you around
I let my hand drop from the wall, the cool plaster replaced by the scorching reality of him. I reach down, my fingers digging into the firm, rounded weight of his ass. God, he’s perfect....taut, high, and built with a lethal symmetry that makes my vision go dark. I squeeze, hard, molding him to my palm, and Kaden’s reaction is a violent jolt of electricity. His fingers, already buried in my arm, sink in until his nails threaten to bite through my shirt.
Christ.
I study his face carefully. Like I'm dissecting my own downfall. Every flicker. Every shift. There’s anger there, sure....bright and defensive, exactly the way I expected. But underneath it there’s something else too. Uncertainty. A moment of hesitation that betrays him more than anything he could possibly say.
There’s a war happening behind those eyes.
And I want to win it.
He’s looks like a man at war with his own skin, lost in a fight against desire he never gave himself permission to feel. I lean in, slow enough to let the anticipation burn, and press a lingering kiss to the corner of his mouth. It's barely there, just enough contact to test his reaction....Kaden freezes.
He doesn’t move.
Doesn't breathe.
Doesn’t push me away.
That’s all the permission I need.
I tilt my head slightly and sink my teeth gently into his bottom lip, sucking it into my mouth. A small, sharp taste.
The reaction in my body is immediate and violent, like something primal just snapped awake inside my chest. I want more, a lot more.
The urge hits with a brutal, animal certainty that almost makes my vision blur. For a second I seriously consider it. Taking him right here against the wall. Tearing his clothes from his body and claiming every inch of him. My cock throbs, a heavy, painful demand for more.....for everything.
But I pull back.
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, a brutal exercise in the control that has defined my entire life. If I cross this line now, I won't be able to stop. I’ll ruin him, and I’ll lose the upper hand. I need him to come to me. I need the surrender to be total.
Kaden looks like a wreckage. He blinks, his hazel eyes darting around the room as if he’s just woken up in a foreign country. His chest is heaving, his lips swollen from the ghost of my mouth.
"You're an asshole," he mutters, the words barely holding together.
I reach out, capturing his chin between my thumb and forefinger, forcing him to look at me. "No....I’m a man who knows exactly what he wants."
"Fuck you."
The corner of my mouth lifts.
I let go and take a slow step back, putting an intentional and mocking distance between us.
"Later," I promise.
I let my gaze drop to his hands.....they’re shaking.
"Go on," I say, gesturing toward the door. "Walk away. I’m going to let you think you’ve escaped. I’m going to let you tell yourself this was a fluke....a mistake. But every step you take is just a longer lead. I’m giving you enough rope to think you’re free before I haul you back in."
I step back toward my desk, the movement fluid. "Eventually, I'm going to have you. I’m going to stretch you out until you’re nothing but a map of my fingerprints, and I’m going to enjoy every second of the wreckage I leave behind."
I sit, leaning back in the heavy leather chair. After a moment, I glance up again. "See you around, Kaden."
He stands there for a long moment, giving me that glare I’ve grown fond of....the one he uses when his pride is the only thing left standing in the ruins of his composure. He mutters something under his breath, too quiet to catch, before he turns. Then he unlocks the door with more force than necessary, yanks it open, and storms out, slamming it shut behind him.
The sound echoes through the office.
I keep my eyes on the door long after it closes. Long after his footsteps fade down the hallway. And only then do I allow myself a slow breath. Because one thing is already painfully clear. This game between us? It’s just getting started.
I flip open my laptop, the light of the screen hitting my face like a splash of cold water. I need to get back into the groove. The official launch of Umbra is looming, and the logistics of a global rollout don’t leave room for distractions.
Usually, my mind is a fortress of compartmentalization. I have a box for everything, acquisitions, legal, legacy...family.
By all rights, there should be a box in my head now titled ‘Kaden Winters’. It should be sealed, labeled, and opened only when I dictate.
But the lid won't stay down.
God, he felt good. The way his body molded to mine, the friction of his skin against my palm, the way he melted, just for a second, before his pride caught up with his pulse. My fingers still feel the phantom heat of him, the vibration of that broken sound he made when I touched him....
Bad idea.
‘This is a mistake’, the cold, analytical voice in the back of my mind whispers. ‘You’re losing the line. You don't lose focus like this.’
Control is the only reason I’m standing in this room. I stand up, my movements stiff, and go to the mirror. I fix my tie, tightening the silk knot until it’s perfect, and smooth the front of my shirt, erasing the wrinkles where his fingers had bunched the fabric. I’m resetting. Realigning.
My eyes sweep the room, settling on the bookshelf. A single file is leaning, perhaps three degrees further than it should be. I walk over and nudge it back into its precise, vertical place. Order restored.
The low, distant rumble of a car engine drifts up from the below.
I walk to the window, my hands clasped behind my back. I watch as the sedan pulls out, sunlight glancing off the faded hood. Kaden behind the wheel, no doubt still furious. Still breathing hard.
Still trying to convince himself he’s immune to me.
"Just a bit of fun," I murmur to the empty office.
I never have fun. My life is a series of strategic maneuvers and calculated risks. This is just a detour. A harmless distraction. It’s the kind of game that ends naturally once the prize is won. Kaden will give in, they always do, and then I’ll wipe him from my memory like a closed ledger. Everything will go back to how it normally is. The light will stay on, the boxes will stay shut, and I’ll be alone at the top, exactly where I belong.
But as I turn back to my desk, the air in the room still feels heavy with the scent of him, and for the first time in years, the "normal" I’ve built feels threatened. Something in my chest refuses to settle quite the way it should.