Page 4 of The Don's Proposal

Would I cave and look the other way?

She avoids answering my question, her body subtly shifting, as if she’s trying to conceal something. Maybe she’s got a pistol attached to her thigh. Hell,mylife could be in danger. Yet, I don’t feel the desperation to protect myself. Even more when her palms touch my desk.

No, this woman didn’t come prepared. She’s an amateur. I’m almost disappointed.

Can’t she realize there’s no use doing anything but giving up? I’ve exposed her, and now I hold the power over her punishment.

The options are vast. The more I think about it, the more ideas form in my head.

Fuck torturing her. I bet I can make her open up, and tell me everything I need to know in more enjoyable ways.

Her hands push off the desk, leaving only her fingertips barely grazing the surface. I know well enough what it looks like when someone is about to run.

I’ve had men stumble, and fall before begging me for their life. They all share the same look of fear. Even this woman has it, though she tries to hide it with each blink. The look of an approaching death swims beneath those long eyelashes.

A suffocating silence envelops the room, thick enough to choke on. Every delicate flutter of her breath reverberates in the stillness like a distant drumbeat, amplifying the tension. Suddenly, without warning, she bolts, shattering the quiet with a frantic surge of energy.

I expect her to sprint, to show up a bit of a challenge here. Make me give a bit of a chase, even. Instead, she’s slow. Like she’s never had to run for her life before. Not even adrenaline is on her side.

It takes an instant to close the distance. With a swift motion, I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against me. Her warmth radiates into my chest, and I can feel the quickening of her breath, a desperate sign of her waning freedom—even if she never truly had a chance to escape this moment.

She has the enchanting scent of wildflowers. Up close, it’s more effective than I could’ve imagined. Instead of wearing an expensive perfume, it smells as though she tumbled down a sunlit hill, with the delightful, natural fragrance lingering on every inch of her skin.

Her legs kick, and the heels of her bare feet crash against my knees. Weighing nothing, I have no issue holding her in the air. Not even the pain she brings from dragging her nails against the back of my neck can stop me from filling my lungs full enough to make my head spin.

For whatever reason, I don’t immediately want to kill this little bird. Rather, I’d prefer to have a taste, and see if she’s as delicious as she smells.

I’m willing to bet my entire fortune she does.

As much as I would love to stand around breathing her in, she continues to fight. Grunting as her foot slams right next to my hardening cock, I make the smart decision to move.

Taking her right back to the crime scene, I drop her onto my desk. Her dress is thin and loose, giving no fight as I part her thighs wide enough to make enough room for my hips. Only touching her, and in an instant, the damage is done.

The dress needs to go. I can question her without it. I’m sure I can.

My fingers itch to move, but something about her wobbling bottom lip and large doe eyes helps sober me up a bit. She’s gotinnocencewritten all over her. A part of her act, I’m sure. It helps remind me that this woman was just trying to steal things with my name on them.

She came to my party intending to hurt me. And now, she looks like a simple ‘I’m sorry’can fix everything.

If she had snuck into my bedroom, things would be different. Now that’s an invasion I wouldn’t mind.

No, this is a personal attack I need to take seriously.

She flinches when I lean in, but I can’t help but breathe in such an intoxicating scent. It’s my new favorite. Fuck.Focus.

“You–” I nudge a little closer, eliminating the remaining space between us as I trap her with my hands on the desk. My cock aches as I grind it against the edge of the desk. “–do not belong here.”

Lowering my gaze, I can count the number of goosebumps pimpling up against her throat. I can graze my mouth against her warm skin if I lean in close enough.

There are pens scattered across my desk; my cup is nowhere in sight. It must’ve been that thump I heard. She’d grab one if she had the sense and try to take my eye.

This woman looks soft to the touch, and more than breakable. She’s not someone who should be here. Not in my office, and definitely not at this event. There’s an absence of urgency about her, as if she doesn’t know how to fight for her life. Those kicks and scratches hardly count, doing minor damage.

If any man caught a whiff of her, they’d want to devour her in one bite. Hell, it’s taking all of my strength to hold back. Even now, my mouth is watering, my cock is weeping and my brain isn’t functioning like it should.

Shifting through my belongings, hunting down my secrets, it’s a crime I cannot forgive. No one has the balls to go behind my back like this. Not when they know what I’ll do to them if I catch them.

I’ve sliced off a man’s finger with a rusty blade for touching my desk without my permission. She’s scattered papers against my carpet, leaving one hell of a mess. Who does she expect to clean this all up?

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