Page 25 of Ivory Ashes

I’m over the moon about it. Super fucking thrilled. Couldn’t be happier if I tried.

“I can see it written all over your face. The lies. The fear.” He dips his head low, his breath hot on my cheek. “I can fucking smell it on you, Viviana.”

I swallow and stare at some point just past his ear. I can’t bring myself to look at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He hooks a finger under my chin and lifts my face to his. “Look at me.”

Hell no. Looking at you is how I got into this mess in the first place.

“No.”

“Why not?” he grits out.

“Because you keep calling me by someone else’s name! And because you’re my boss. It’s inappropriate for us to?—”

Mikhail’s hand bands around my neck and he’s kissing me.

Between one second and the next, I’m transported. Back to that bridal suite. To the night Mikhail saved me from a lifetime of being someone else’s pawn.

To the night he gave me the greatest gift I’ve ever received.

I should push him away, but six years’ worth of unspoken gratitude and pent-up sexual frustration pour out of me instead.

Between fight, flight, or fuck, I’ve made my choice.

I hook my hands over his shoulders and hold him close.

Everything about Mikhail is hard, but his lips are soft. His tongue slips confidently between my teeth. He tilts my jaw and claims my mouth in hot strokes. I moan when his hand slips around my thigh, hooking my knee over his hip.

Holy hell, it’s been a long time. Too long.

When Mikhail pulls away, I chase after him, my lips parted.

He presses his forehead to mine, breathing heavily. “I’d never forget that taste. I know it’s you, Viviana.”

His words are the equivalent of an ice-cold shower. They snap me out of my lust-filled delirium and I slam my palms against his chest.

He doesn’t even flinch, so I slide away from him, edging around the office towards the door. “Don’t touch me.”

“Is that what the moan meant?”

My legs are trembling. I really would have let him take me on Mr. Fredrickson’s desk.

What in the hell is wrong with me?

“Stay away from me,” I warn again, a little redundantly.

Then I yank the office door open and run.

9

MIKHAIL

Anatoly and Raoul pop their heads into the doorway Viviana just sprinted through. “Nice reunion?” Anatoly smirks, glancing down at my painfully obvious erection.

I scowl at him and adjust my pants.

Raoul at least has the decency to hide his amusement and focus on the task at hand. “Should I follow her?”

---