just a few sketches,’ I forced out, trying to sound calm and not claw the book from his hands. ‘No big deal.’
The book was open but he didn’t look at it, his dark eyes on mine instead, gauging my reaction.
I couldn’t let on how much that book meant to me. I couldn’t let him see my dream home, all laid out on the pages like the innermost parts of my soul.
But I must have looked too desperate because he snapped it shut suddenly and said, ‘Get into my office. I want you to explain to me why drawing in this book is so much more important than doing the tasks you are paid to do.’
Anger sank its claws into me, sharp and painful.
‘Why are you being such a bastard?’ I burst out, unable to help myself. ‘Like I said, I’ve done most of what you told me to do. And I’ve only been sketching for five minutes.’
His eyes glittered coldly. ‘If you want to see this book again you’ll get your ass into my office now.’
The word ‘now’ was like an electrical current, shocking me, and I could almost feel the pressure of his fingers around my throat again, pressing lightly against my skin. Stealing my breath.
I found myself getting to my feet and heading towards his office without a single protest, barely even aware of what I was doing until I was stepping inside.
God, why was I obeying him?
My anger gathered tighter, not so much claws now as a hot ember burning a hole right through me and I turned, only to find him standing right behind me, the look on his face fierce, intent.
He began to walk forward, making me stumble back, my heart beating fast and getting faster at the gathering darkness in his eyes.
Energy was crackling off him, an electricity I could feel pushing against my skin, heating me up from the inside and making me burn.
‘Do you know what you’ve done, Poppy Valentine?’ His voice was soft and cold and dark as he stalked towards me. ‘Do you have any idea at all?’
‘What?’ I always seemed to be retreating before him and I didn’t want to. Yet something inside me wouldn’t let me stand my ground and I found myself continuing to back away. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Give me my book, dammit.’
‘No.’ He kept on coming. ‘Not until you understand exactly what game you’ve been playing.’
‘I haven’t been playing any damn game.’ The edge of his desk pressed hard against the backs of my thighs, stopping me from going any further. ‘Stop being a tool, Xander.’
He closed the distance between us until he was standing right in front of me. Then he slammed my sketchbook down on the desk and put his palms down on either side of my hips, making me lean back to avoid being pressed against his lean, hard body.
I fought for breath, the force of that furious gaze making something inside me go weak.
He wasn’t so cool and stern now. No, now he was staring at me as if nothing else in the entire world existed for him but me. And I hadn’t known how badly I’d wanted him to look at me like that until now.
‘You delicious little bitch.’ Rough heat threaded through his deep, cold voice. ‘Where do you get off kissing me like that? Without even asking? Do you know how long I’ve spent fighting the urge to do just that? How long I’ve spent fighting the urge to simply push you against the nearest wall and fuck you till we both can’t breathe?’ He leaned in a bit more, his obsidian eyes inches away, his beautiful mouth nearly brushing mine. ‘I’ve wanted you for years,’ he breathed. ‘Fucking years.’
There was a roaring in my ears. He’d wanted to...fuck me?
But I didn’t get a chance to process what he was saying because he kept on going.
‘I tried to do the right thing, to be good and not touch you, because you were my stepsister and I knew you hated me. But that didn’t stop me from wanting you.’ His gaze searched mine, not cold any longer but hot with anger and something else... Desire. ‘I held out against it. Avoided you when I could. Ignored you when I couldn’t avoid you. And it worked. It fucking worked. Until you waltzed in with your perky little tits in a see-through blouse and you grabbed my tie, and you kissed me. You kissed me.’ The look on his face burned with intensity, with fury. ‘That’s not how it’s supposed to go. That’s not how it’s supposed to go at all. You destroyed years of self-control, and for what? To get one over on me? To make a point?’
My brain reeled. I still couldn’t make sense of what he was saying. He’d wanted me for years? But he hated me... Didn’t he?
‘You crossed the line.’ He leaned forward even more, his body mere millimetres from mine. ‘You did, not me. Remember that, Poppy. Because now you have some consequences to face.’
My heartbeat was loud in my head, my brain struggling to keep up with all the stuff he was throwing at me. But thinking was difficult with him being so close and so hot, his mouth within kissing distance.
I knew I should try to shove him back, but I couldn’t look away from him. He held me mesmerised and when he gripped my hips and lifted me onto the desktop I didn’t make a sound. Not even when his hands settled on my thighs and he pushed my skirt up and spread my knees, forcing his lean hips between them.
I was shaking all of a sudden, my heart in my throat, achingly conscious of his hands on my thighs, his fingers resting on the hem of my skirt while his thumbs brushed against my bare skin.
It burned where he touched, like being brushed with a naked flame.
He said nothing, did nothing. Simply stood there and looked at me, his midnight eyes full of fire. Demanding something from me that I wasn’t sure how to give.
My breathing became ragged and embarrassingly loud in the silence of the office, and I felt like I was falling somehow. Like the world was spinning out of control and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
‘Well?’ he demanded at last. ‘What do you have to say for yourself?’
‘I don’t... I mean, I c-can’t...’
‘You kissed me.’ His thumbs had begun to trace small circles on the sensitive skin of my inner thighs, sending goosebumps everywhere, making me break out into a sweat. ‘Did you really think I was going to do nothing about it? That it didn’t matter to me?’
‘I didn’t know. It was just a s-stupid kiss.’
Those flames in his eyes leapt high. ‘No,’ he murmured, a harsh note of warning in his voice. ‘It wasn’t just a stupid kiss. You took what wasn’t yours and you thought you could get away with it, but you can’t. I’m not going to let you.’ He slid one hand higher, his fingers trailing along my inner thigh, watching me all the while. ‘You’ve been a bad girl and I’ve spent years wanting to teach you a lesson. Now I’m going to. Are you ready?’
I should have told him no and shoved him away, but I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
I was trembling, my breathing getting faster and faster, unable to
