Dangerous Proximity
542 Words
The morning light slipped through the penthouse's tall windows, weaving soft golden ribbons across the polished marble floor. Sophia had hardly slept. Each time she closed her eyes, she saw his face-those sharp eyes, that mocking smirk, and the lingering effect of his touch that had set her trembling in spite of herself.
Gazing at the city below, mad and alive within itself, while up here felt silent. Almost as though Adrian had spun a world above everyone else. The sound of footsteps broke her reverie. She swiveled around to find him standing there: Adrian Knight, in a dark suit perfectly tailored for him, his tie loosened so as to suggest that even clothes had bowed to him.
"You didn't sleep," he said, neither asking nor particularly wondering about it.
"It is hard to sleep when someone locks you in their home," Sophia forced herself to say with a steady voice.
Adrian slightly raised his eyebrows, his lips turning to almost-smile. "You were not locked in. You were... kept safe."
"Safe?" A bitter laugh escaped her. "You kidnapped me."
His gaze grew dark, and he walked toward her slowly and deliberately until she was forced to tilt her chin up to hold his stare. "Kidnap does not sit well with you, Sophia. You are here by my interest, being the one to stir in me the appetite for something I shouldn't have."
She caught her breath. The heat from his body seared through her skin, and her heart betrayed her by beating faster. "You don't even know me," she whispered.
Adrian leaned in, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against her ear. "I know enough. I know you're stubborn. I know you're brave enough to talk back when most people wouldn't dare. And I know that every time I touch you..." his fingers brushed lightly over her wrist, making her shiver, "...you don't pull away."
Sophia struggled to swallow. She hated him for being right. She hated the way her body behaved even against her willing mind.
"I should hate you," she barely whispered.
"Then hate me," he murmured. "Hate me all you want. As long as you stay right here."
For a moment, time froze. City noise, the morning sun, even the air came to a pause. Nothing existed but his presence and the treacherous pull that kept dragging her in when the rational part of her mind was screaming for her to run.
But Adrian suddenly stepped back, as if pulling himself from the edge of something even he could not control. His jaw tightened; he turned away with sharp, precise movements while adjusting his tie.
"Get dressed," he said, a command that sounded almost clipped. "We're going out tonight."
Sophia blinked. "Out? As in… public?"
He glanced over his shoulder, expression unreadable. "You'll see. Wear something that will make it hard for me to behave."
Her heart fluttered nervously. She wasn't sure what was more terrifying—the thought of being seen on his arm in public or that she was already fantasizing about the sort of dress that would push him over the edge.
The line was blurred again that morning between danger and desire, and Sophia knew she was already too far gone.
- Writer
