Heat in the shadows
803 Words
📖 Untamed Secrets
Chapter 15 – Heat in the Shadows
The office buzzed louder than usual. Phones ringing, heels echoing, whispers darting between desks like sparks. Serena walked in, spine straight, every inch of her rehearsed calm hiding the fact that half of the building had seen her leave the executive elevator yesterday with Jeremy’s hand burning against her back.
She felt the stares. The smirks. The silent questions.
Eli leaned casually against the printer when she passed. His grin was slow, taunting.
“Morning, love. Sleep well? Or did Hale keep you too busy?”
Her jaw clenched. “Eli—”
He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Just asking. You’re glowing, you know. Makes a man curious.”
She moved past him, refusing to rise to the bait, but his laughter followed her down the hall.
Inside her office, she sank into her chair, fingers pressed to her temple. This was what she feared — not Jeremy’s touch, not her own weakness around him, but the world watching. The vultures circling.
⸻
Jeremy called her up an hour later.
His office was dim, blinds half-drawn against the morning light. He stood by the window, jacket off, sleeves rolled, his shoulders wound tight like a man about to explode.
“You need to stay away from Eli,” he said without turning.
Serena crossed her arms. “Maybe you should tell Eli that.”
His gaze snapped to hers, sharp, dangerous. “I’m not joking, Serena.”
“Neither am I.” Her voice didn’t shake, even though her pulse hammered. “You can’t keep dictating who I talk to or how I exist at work. People are already whispering because of you.”
“Because I can’t keep my hands off you,” he bit out. “And I don’t regret it.”
She froze, heat rushing through her at his bluntness.
He closed the distance between them, stopping only when the desk pressed into her thighs. His hand braced the wood on either side of her, caging her in. “Do you know what it’s like,” he said, voice low and lethal, “to watch him hover around you? To hear him talk about you like he has a right to?”
Her lips parted. “Jeremy…”
“I’ll destroy him,” he muttered, chest rising and falling hard. “If he lays a hand on you—”
“You’ll destroy yourself first,” she cut in sharply. “And maybe me with you.”
The words hung heavy between them. For a heartbeat, neither moved.
Then Jeremy’s hand slid to her jaw, tilting her face up. His mouth crushed hers — hot, furious, demanding. Serena’s hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer even as her mind screamed this was reckless.
When he lifted her onto the desk, spreading her thighs with his hips, the kiss turned desperate, messy, the kind that blurred lines until nothing mattered but the way his body owned hers.
Her skirt rode high, his hand gripping her bare thigh like a warning and a promise. His mouth trailed fire down her throat, and she gasped, clinging harder.
“Jeremy,” she whispered, breaking the kiss. “We can’t—someone could walk in.”
“Let them,” he growled against her skin. “Let them know you’re mine.”
The words seared through her, equal parts intoxicating and terrifying.
⸻
The knock came later. Too late.
Jeremy straightened, fixing his cuffs, but his eyes stayed locked on her flushed face, her swollen lips. She slid off the desk, tugging her skirt down, heart still racing.
“Come in,” Jeremy said smoothly.
It was Vanessa. She held a folder, her smile polite — too polite. “Mr. Hale. Serena.” Her gaze flicked between them, sharp and knowing.
Serena forced herself to stand tall, her pulse a war drum in her ears.
Vanessa set the folder down. “Something came across my desk this morning. PR flagged it. I thought you should see.”
Jeremy opened the folder. His jaw tightened. His knuckles whitened around the page.
Serena stepped closer, peering at the photo clipped inside.
Her blood turned cold.
It was them.
In the elevator yesterday. His mouth on hers, his hand under her skirt, passion raw and undeniable. The angle was grainy, but there was no mistaking it.
Serena’s breath hitched. “Oh my God…”
Jeremy’s eyes lifted to hers, dark with fury. “Someone’s watching us.”
Vanessa lingered at the door, voice smooth. “The question is… what do you want me to do with it?”
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.
And for the first time, Serena realized this wasn’t just about desire anymore.
It was about survival.
- Writer
