The room is dimly lit, casting soft moonlight over his features as I let my eyes trace over him. His jaw is strong and sharp, his brow heavy, and his dark eyes are warm. A tendril of black hair slips down from his bun, framing his broad, masculine face, and as he draws my body closer to his and mirrors my smile with a soft tip of his own lips, I reach my fingers up and touch his mouth.

“Before we go any further,” I repeat his words from earlier, watching his face as I run my finger across his bottom lip before gently exploring one of his tusks. It sort of feels like a horn, bony and smooth beneath my curious fingers, and he allows me without any sign of discomfort. “I want you to do something for me.”

“Anything,” he rumbles quietly, and I let my fingers drop to his lightly stubbled chin.

My smile stretches playfully. “I demand a kiss.”

He huffs in amusement and lifts his dark brows. “Demand, do you? Hmm…” One of his hands slides up to the base of my neck, fingers curling into a fist in my hair as he gently takes control of the angle of my head. “I’ll allow it. This time.”

A cold flutter passes through me at his words, as I’m reminded of his request for my number. I can’t… I can’t be in a relationship right now. After the divorce I swore off all men, and once he learns the truth, he wouldn’t want me anyway and—

But his lips descend before my thoughts can get the better of me, and my mind goes quiet. There’s a strangely pleasant tug at my heart, stilling my insecurities, and a moment later I melt into him.

He kisses me softly, mindful of the two tusks that jut from his bottom lip, and my eyes slip shut. He’s gentle and careful as we explore one another. Before I know it, I’m parting my lips and feeling his tongue curl against mine. Heat builds through me as he skillfully takes charge of the kiss, and when he pulls away, I find myself making a little whimpering noise and trying to chase his lips with my own. But he’s too tall, and I pout as he moves out of my reach.

“Come back here,” I mutter, trying to pull him down by his shirt.

He just smirks down at me. “Not yet.”

Those words trigger something in me, something defiant. Did he just deny me another kiss? I’ve been climbing the corporate ladder my entire career, managing projects filled with men and fae alike who think a little human woman couldn’t possibly know what she’s doing, and I’ve had to bring them all in line in order to get the job complete. If I say I want something done, then I want something done—I’m not used to being challenged and it’s thrilling.

So before he can continue what he’s saying, I press my hand directly over the zip of his suit pants, trailing up and down with a firm, suggestive pressure. “I said, come back here.”

His brows lift, and then his eyes darken and his gaze becomes more intense as I feel him stiffen beneath my palm. I bite my lip, heat zipping straight through me at the suggestion of what’s beneath. He feels…big.

“Kiss me,” I demand, and he growls as he leans down, finally capturing my lips in another searing kiss. This time it’s a collision of passion and dominance, and I respond with equal fervor, my body kicking into overdrive at the feel of him. I try to take control of the kiss, but he overpowers me with skill, allowing me no respite as he tugs sharply at my hair, which sends a frisson of pleasure straight through me. I moan as he tangles his tongue roughly against mine and begins to walk me backwards. His fingers tug at my hair, while the hand at my waist tightens possessively. Before I know it, I’m pressed roughly into the side of the bed, and I revel in the feel of his hard body against mine. My world narrows to the heat of his lips, the roughness of his stubble against my skin. When he tears away from me once more, we’re both panting.

“On the bed,” he growls, pushing his hips into mine and drawing a pleasured gasp from me.

But I only lift my chin, and one haughty brow. “I—”

“Now.” The way his voice rumbles out of him, deep and dark and commanding, does something to me. My insides clench, and my quick retort dies away.

He closes the distance between us, only to leave a searing nip at my lip that zings straight down to my core.

“Now, Ella.”

Something in me clicks into place at the command of his voice and his large, muscled body so near me, threatening and enticing all at once just from his sheer, physical power.

When I don’t immediately obey, struggling with myself at the desire to do as he says when I’ve never listened so thoroughly to a man before in my life—he suddenly clamps his fingers around my waist, lifting me effortlessly, and throws meonto the bed as if I weigh nothing more than a pillow. My words leave me entirely, and my core floods with heat. He strides towards the bed while unbuttoning his shirt, and when we come together it’s all tongue and tusk and hot, hard, demanding passion. He takes control of my body, only to take care of me over and over, flooding me with pleasure and gentle touches and deep, husky commands. I come three times before he finally allows me to touch him back, and the sounds he makes when I put my hands and mouth to him will forever ring in my memories.

When we come together, it’s overwhelming in its passion and pleasure, sending me to spiraling heights like nothing else ever has.

And when he falls asleep at my side, my heart continues to beat in a frantic tattoo against my chest, refusing to slow and let me sleep.

My traitorous thoughts circle back through me.

He asked for my number. He wants to see me again. And somewhere deep, deep inside, a part of me calls out with longing at the offer, tugging me towards him, begging me to take him up on it.

Which does nothing but send pure fear coursing through my heart.

***

Six Weeks Later

My sister is sitting on her couch staring at me, hair in a messy golden-brown bun, blue eyes wide, and a forgotten mug of coffee in one hand as she finally snaps her mouth shut.

“And then?” Grace says into the silence of the room, as my story stutters to a stop. “Wait, so a huge, gorgeous orc in a business suit flirted with you all night, expressed his eager desire for you, sniffed you in an alley…and then? What happened next!”