The Dark Under Light (Book #2 Masters of the Dark Series)

THE CHASTE

There was always the possibility of losing oneself in the infinity of nothingness while the soul detached itself from the body that it placidly inhabited. A body could not survive without the necessary organs, the organs could not survive without the body, and the person could not continue to exist if both were missing. But what about our soul? Our soul could have the luxury of leaving without suffering consequences and returning when it pleased. That happened with Emily every time she went on a date. She was completely detached from her body and there was nothing left but an empty shell, nothing more than an automaton without feelings or thoughts. But there was something that terrified her, something about Richard Thorn's proposition that gave her the creeps and forced her to stay within her mold. He had suggested for her to accept his proposal for her own good. Was it a threat? It was crazy to even think about the possibility that a man as powerful as he would go to the trouble of hurting her if it was a threat. She should have said no, she should have flatly refused and kicked him out of the building two days ago, but she had not been able to do so for fear of the consequences. Who was Richard Thorn? What kind of human was he really? She was on the cusp of her career and at the top of the mountain was he, ready to push her into the void and watch her break into a thousand pieces from the top.

Richard told her the day before that he would not be able to attend at the previously agreed time today so he suggested stopping by later and taking her to a quiet place so that the two could talk. For some reason that terrified Emily, as she didn't know if she should fear for her safety or fear Richard as such. What if he hurt her like that banker had hurt her? What if he just wanted to take advantage of her? Was Emily so in need of affection and attention that she was falling at the feet of a man like Richard Thorn? She didn't know him; he didn't know her either. Emily sat on Sidney's freshly cleaned desk and weighed her options, which weren't many. She could wait for him to arrive and tell him that she had changed her mind and preferred to go home, she could also call him and tell him to go to hell or she could just flee the country. Well, the last one was actually mostly a drastic and rather outrageous measure. The only thing that contradicted those choices and line of reasoning was the outfit she had put on after the last client left. Emily changed her clothes, leaving her formal clothes on the floor in her bathroom to wear a beautiful black dress that hugged her curves snugly, strapless and a small V that exposed the upper part of her neckline. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, which revealed a tattoo of a small turtle on the nape of her neck.

She didn't hear the glass door swing wide, but she did notice the strong, intoxicating scent of his lotion, which grew stronger each time he got closer to her. Soon Richard Thorn, dressed in freshly pressed dark blue jeans and a black shirt that hugged his chest so delightfully, landed between Emily Vargas's legs. "Hello doctor." He gave her a seductive smile, full of promises and secrets that she longed to absorb.

“You’re awfully close and it isn’t quite professional, I’m afraid.” She tried to stay relaxed even though inside she melted like ice in the palm of her hand. “But, hello anyway.”

“That’s funny.”

She scowled at him. “What is?”

“I plan to do nothing professional with you from now on. You might as well accept this now instead of feeling like the world is ending later.”

“I haven’t agreed to anything and I thought we were going to talk today… in some place quiet.”

He laughed a throaty laugh that shouldn’t have but did things to her in unexpected places. “Then you should have worn another dress, Emily.” When he put his hands on her exposed knees, Emily stopped breathing, as his fingers began a slow journey over her freshly shaved legs and stopped right on the elastic of her thong and he pulled more than anything to get a reaction from her - to shock her, she gasped and rushed to push against his chest. She soon realized she didn’t mean to shove him off her but to feel him under her palm. The heat of him traveled from his chest to her splayed fingers and shot through her veins until she felt consumed by something unknown. “We might as well talk here, don’t you think?”

“About?” She breathed, eying nervously to the glass door. The only souls remaining in the building were a couple of security guards. “What? Your plan was to get in my pants all along?”

And then she felt the material tear and snap under her dress from one forceful tug but still, she remained in place. “You’re not wearing any.” Slowly he stretched out what was left of her thong and laid it on the desk, right next to her hip. "You don't need this tonight." When she began to tremble, Richard's expression hardened. "I'm not going to hurt you, Emily. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to talk to you tonight."

“Destroying my underwear indicates otherwise!” she napped at him and this time she meant to push him away. “Just do what you’re going to do and be done with it, I’d like to go home and sleep if all you plan is to take advantage of me tonight.”

“Oh, so I must assume that you are not opposed to being f****d on your secretary's desk?”

She gasped and shoved him once more. “That’s unacceptable behavior!”

His devious grin was hard to resist. “But tearing off your underwear was not?”

Emily bit her lip as she shrugged. The funny thing about all this was that she really couldn't deny that despite being a scandalous move, she liked it. "Well that was kind of sexy." but then composure threatened to take control of her body. "So, will we only talk tonight?"

Richard shook his head and began to shove the hem of her dress up, before he could get a clear view of her mound she caught on his wrist, then he sighed. “No, I plan on having my way with you afterwards.” Uh oh.

“But, sir, I’m a virgin!”

“Really? His brow quirked up.

“No…?”

When he leaned in to peck her lips she froze. “Then this is the chastest kiss you will get from me.”