Don't Tempt The Boss

CHAPTER SIX

BASTIEN.

Lena’s gaze widened, first in shock, and narrowed in suspicion. “What kind of game are you playing at, Mr. Vale?”

“Calm down,” I muttered, rolling my eyes, “I don’t expect you to work in this condition. So you’ll come up to my penthouse, rest for a bit. I’m taking my work up with me as well.”

“I don’t need you to baby me.” She hissed, folding her arms across her chest. “And, you can’t just take me up to your home without informing me first.”

“You’re the one who fought to remain my personal assistant.” I drawled, turning to face her head-on. “You’re lucky I’m not making you do my dry-cleaning and coffee runs yet.”

“Dry-cleaning?!” she scoffed, rearing back in shock. “I’m a medical student. Top of my class, for that matter. How dare you reduce me to dry-cleaning?”

Somehow, we’d managed to drift closer in the small space, our toes touching, with hardly a breath of space between us.

In the dim light, her scent washed over me, lilac and spring, and beneath that, the rich spice of her lifeblood flowing in her veins. Just below her pale skin, it practically begged me to dip down for a taste.

“I’ll reduce you to whatever I damn well please.” I growled low, staring down my nose at her. My voice echoed in the small box, a dark, dangerous promise that had her shivering with desire.

Her lips parted in shock as she stared up at me with eyes that were chocolate pools of lust. I drew closer, and her breath hitched as she leaned up on the tips of her toes.

Like this, I could lean down and finally get a taste. It would be so easy to close the scant space between us and—

The elevator dinged loudly as it slid open. Lena jumped away like she’d been burnt. She shifted to the far corner of the lift, staring stubbornly at her feet.

“Right.” I cleared my throat, “We’re here.”

She stepped off first, and I followed.

“Would you like something to drink?” I asked, keeping my gaze on her as she moved through my living room, taking everything in with wide eyes.

I knew how luxurious the entire space looked. And I was proud of it. If I lived as long as I have and didn’t amass as much wealth as I could, then I might as well just walk into the sun.

“I could use a glass of water.” She muttered, glancing at me over her shoulder.

Her lashes fluttered, and I cleared my throat to stop the heat stirring in my groin.

“There’s water in the fridge,” I grumbled, “Help yourself to whatever else you find there. If you want to take a shower, just pick a room. I’ll be in my study.”

She gaped in shock at my brash words, but I didn’t stay to hear whatever she had in mind to say.

As I turned and left, I heard her mutter, ‘rude bastard’ under her breath. I smirked, only because she couldn’t see me.

In my study, I waited until I heard the shower come on in one of the guest rooms before crossing to the desk and pulling out the picture I kept there.

Familiar brown eyes stared up at me, a small knowing smile graced soft lips I knew the taste of all too well.

Elara sat in the frame, as beautiful as the day I lost her, forever young.

I thought I’d managed to finally bury her ghost, but it seemed fate was bound to punish me, in the form of a stubborn, hard-headed woman, far too young to be stirring the feelings she was stirring inside me.

I heaved out a sigh and dropped the picture, reaching instead for the secret compartment under the desk. I could already smell the stench of blood. I was hungrier than I’d thought.

I reached for a blood bag, and my study door slammed open.

"Hey, um..." She appeared in the doorway, wet from her shower. "This is going to sound weird, but why don't you have any mirrors? I thought maybe the guest room just didn't have one, but I checked and—"

She caught herself and wrinkled her nose. "I wasn't snooping, I just..."

I slammed the secret compartment closed as discreetly as I could, trying to regain my composure. But the moment I glanced up and saw her, all that composure flew out the window. My mouth ran instantly dry.

She was in a long button-down shirt, white and crisp. It was one of mine, and so it reached down to her mid-thighs; her legs were bare all the way down, pale, creamy, smooth thighs, just right there, tempting me.

The shirt material clung to her wet skin, highlighting the swell of her breasts and the small, hardened peaks of her n*****s.

The last of my self-control snapped.

I pushed to my feet and stepped forward, taking the hem of the shirt in my hand. “Where did you get this?”

She blinked up at me, surprised. “It was in the guest room’s closet.” she gasped, “I couldn’t find anything else to wear.”

“So,” I growled, stepping closer until she was backed up against the door. “You mean to tell me, that you’re not wearing anything under this?”

She shuddered against me, inhaling sharply. “You’re being inappropriate again, Sébastien.” Her voice had gone high and breathy. I could smell the sweet musk of her arousal. “I thought we agreed to keep things professional?”

“But you’re in my home,” I groaned, running a palm over the wet skin of her thighs. “Wearing nothing but my clothes, and smelling like me. I am not a very strong man, Lena.”

I ran my teeth over her neck, and she moaned, arching softly. “If you tempt me, pet, I will bite.”

She pulled back slightly to look me in the eye. Her pupils dilated, and her skin flushed. “Tempt you?” she asked, biting down on her lower lip, “I would never do that.”

But her legs parted beneath my touch, and her arms wrapped around my neck. “You’re practically offering yourself up for me on a platter of gold.”

“Hmm…” she tilted her head slightly, “But you’re too much of a coward to do anything about it.”

Something in me snapped at those words, and before I knew it, I was slamming her hard against the wall and capturing the noise she made with my mouth.

She tasted like salt, and musk, and vanilla. And I knew, as her fingers wrapped in my hair, and she moaned wantonly beneath my lips, that I was going to ruin her.