Page 37 of All for the Beast

Katy continued to smirk, which only made him want to devour her even more.

“Nice try, you charmer,” she said with a wink, then began to slowly climb the stairs to the terrace.

V grunted, but he wasn’t entirely joking. He watched her ample ass in front of him move side to side like a pendulum, and all he wanted to do was massage it until she gave in to him.

He respected her convictions and set up their workspace on the terrace, complete with tea, a set of snacks, and sauces gathered from one of the servers. They had grown used to chatting and working outside if weather permitted, which only made it easier to resist the temptation of Katy’s delicious skin.

Though, if it really came down to it, he knew that she would make love to him right then and there, out on the balcony for the whole world to see.

V tried to narrow his focus by helping Katy with the files she was holding and spreading them out before he pulled out a chair for her. She sat down, shooting him a sweet little smile before clearing her throat. That was usually the sign that meant they were getting down to business.

“So where are the applicants for my replacement?” she began. “We’re going to need someone as dedicated as me to take over my spot once I’m gone.”

V had walked around to the opposite side of the table and froze on the spot. His eyes widened, and his chest began to feel like someone was caving it in.

“The applicants for what?”

Katy remained still, her hands folded over one another with a strict posture like she was a news anchor. She was wearing sunglasses, so V didn’t know whether she was blinking rapidly or simply staring back with confusion.

“For my position. You know, the one as the cruise line manager that I’ve taken on since I’ve been here?”

V felt like his nightmare was coming to fruition. He fiddled with his fingers before forcing himself to sit, his knees getting weak in the robustness of the silence between them.

“Oh, um,” he said, diverting his eyes from hers. “That wasn’t something I had prioritized within all of this.”

Katy frowned at him.

“What do you mean you haven’t prioritized it? It’s literally someone who is going to take my position, working next to you once everything has launched.”

She was speaking to him as her business partner, not her lover. V wasn’t a stupid man, but with their relationship thus far, he had seen the two being fused together as one. They often spoke about business dealings in bed after he’d just spent half an hour between her legs, going through files and photos utterly naked. He didn’t think it was fair of her to suddenly act like there was a clear and delineated line.

“I know that,” he huffed back at her.

V drummed his fingers on the table, and Katy tilted her head condescendingly at him, awaiting his explanation.

“Honestly, Katy, I thought things with us were going so well that you’d want to stay. And by staying, you would also want to run the cruise liner with me.”

The words shot out of his mouth like a gun, but Katy remained stoic and still. V’s heart was slamming in his chest, anticipating the sorrowful meaning behind her silence.

Finally, she opened her mouth and plunged an arrow directly into the center of his heart.

“I know we’ve been having so much fun, Vharlk,” Katy began, her voice earnest yet stern. “But I didn’t plan on this becoming something long-term. I have a life back on Earth that I have to get back to.”

V had fought a thousand battles on his home planet, defending the lives of the king, his father, and the livelihood of his people. But nothing hurt him more than Katy’s tone, like that of a politician, throwing away all of the magic of their connection like it was some confetti to toss around.

He squeezed his hands into fists under the table, concealing his hurt and rage.

“You must be kidding me, Katy,” he began, his voice controlled for the moment. “You can’t seriously sit there and tell me that you don’t feel something between us, something beyond the amazing sex.”

V noticed her jaw tense and her teeth clenched before she spoke again.

“V, this isn’t personal. I only agreed to stay here for six weeks, and those weeks are almost up.”

“You have to stop talking to me like that,” he hissed at her. “I’m not some fucking underling you worked with on a ship. I mean more to you than that, and you know it.”

The hot seething anger had flooded V’s brain, pushing out a few words that he instantly regretted sharing. He felt himself start to shake as Katy slowly removed her sunglasses, her stunning bright eyes glassed over.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” she said firmly, then looked away.

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