Page 21 of More Than Words

But the ache I was feeling right now was not in my head. My entire perception of Adrian had been demolished with one brief presentation. I’d expected him to get up there and low-key brag about the accolades his authors had piled up, but he didn’t. He didn’t mention the words ‘best seller’ or ‘awards of excellence.’

Instead, he’d gotten up in a room of semi-elitist professionals and implied that some of their precious authors wrote glittery turds. It was so charmingly him and simultaneously the hottest words I’d ever heard come out of his mouth. Because it meant that despite being crass and judgmental, he respected his authors. He saw them as creative professionals with value, which was sometimes rare in our profession.

“I don’t know what to say right now.” I didn’t trust myself not to turn and climb him like a tree. Devour his mouth in a way I’d only imagined fleetingly before now.

“Are you sure you’re o…”

I cut him off with my hand over his mouth as he stopped in front of his room.

“Open the door,” I demanded, trying not to focus on how soft his lips felt beneath my fingertips.

“But…” he mumbled against my hand, but I grabbed the plastic key card from him and swiped it over the electric lock, yanking him through the door after me and pushing him against it.

“Don’t say anything. Just…” I panted as I stared at how his chest heaved, finally inhaling and getting a full mind-altering whiff of his expensive cologne. My fingers dug into his chest, enjoying the flex of the firm muscles beneath his clothing.

“Look, Is, I’m sor—.”

I glanced up at him, noticing his wide eyes, watching to see what I was doing. He didn’t have the usual arrogant smirk I was used to seeing, just adding to the fire in my veins.

“Don’t say another fucking word,” I warned, before my hands traced down his powerful chest and stopped at his belt. “I don’t think I’ll survive it if you keep talking.”

“Was what I said that bad?” he asked, suddenly sounding unsure. The vulnerability in his eyes should have stopped me, but it only drew me to him more. Made my impression of him dissolve as he revealed the layers of who he really was.

“No. That’s the problem,” I whispered, looking up at him. “It was the exact opposite of bad.”

“Then why are you so upset with me?”

Shaking my head, my fingers tightened on his belt buckle, slipping the end loose from the clasp. “I’m not upset with you, Adrian. I’m upset with myself that I let you convince me you were such a terrible guy, when you’re…” My voice trailed off, but I could feel his eyes scanning my face as my gaze drifted to his broad shoulders.

“I’m…?”

“You might be everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Running on pure instinct, I pulled his belt loose, quickly unbuttoning his suit pants and yanking down the zipper before he could respond to my confession.

A dull thud caught my attention, and I glanced up as I began pushing his pants down his thighs. Adrian’s head was pressed tightly against the door; his eyes clenched shut and his neck flexing with every heavy swallow. His fists were balled at his sides, his knuckles white as they pressed into the door behind him.

“Oh fuck,” I practically moaned when his boxer briefs came into view, the outline of his hard cock throbbing beneath the dark material. “And I thought the office gossip had been overly generous all these years.”

“Told you it wasn’t tiny.”

As my fingers pulled down the waistband of his briefs, he grasped my wrist, my eyes flying to his.

“Fucking Christ, Isobel. I at least wanted to take yah to dinner first,” he gritted out, his voice strained. “We’ve spent days avoiding each other.”

“It was you avoiding me, but you can feed me later. I told you to stop talking.” Shaking off his hold on my wrist, I slowly revealed what he’d been hiding from me all these years. “Or maybe you have something to feed me now. I was right when I called you a big boy.”

A deep chuckle came from his mouth, his fingertips sliding along my cheek and plunging into my loose hair. “I don’t know what has gotten into you today, but whatever it was I said, I’m not sorry.”

“Shut up.”

“You could shut me up with your lips,” he murmured, and I momentarily considered kissing him before I touched his cock, but that might be too far. This was attraction, not affection.

“They’re going to be occupied, and I told you to shut it.”

“You got it,” he chuckled, his thumb caressing the edge of my jaw as I returned my attention to revealing the surprise he’d been hiding in his expensive suits.

“Is this okay? I mean…” I faltered, staring at his very aroused cock down the front of his boxer briefs.

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