Page 12 of Savage Temptation

That rage shot me up from my seat. I didn’t intend to go after her until I saw her in the elevator, shrunk into the back wall, almost lost between the small crowd that swamped the space.

I lost it. I needed to know what the fuck was happening. No way Dad would hire someone for such an important project just to ‘keep me grounded.’

“OUT!” I growled, “NOW!” Every single person in that elevator hustled to leave as they took in the danger coating my tone. “Not you.” I pointed to Jamie, making her slowly retreat to her previous spot.

I hit the button to close the doors with such force I was amazed it didn’t get stuck, isolating us from the prying eyes of every employee who witnessed my outburst.

Jamie raised her eyes to meet mine before quickly deflecting as she nervously gripped the metal bar behind her. I couldn’t blame her, though. I knew what I looked like when I was flaring in rage. I cornered her against the wall, slowly closing the space between us until I was invading her personal space.

Fuck boundaries. She had obliterated them as soon as she stepped into my life.

My eyes were permanently set on her face which had been drained of all color into a caspery white. I tried to read her reaction, searching for the answers her words couldn’t give me.

I placed my hands on either side of her body, barely touching her hands that still grasped that metal bar as if her life depended on it. I felt her slightly shaking, my overbearing closeness knocking down whatever brave wall she could have tried to put up. She lifted her eyes to face me again, but they quickly returned to admiring the floor.

She was right where I wanted her to be – stripped down to a primal instinct of survival.

“Look at me,” I ordered roughly.

Jamie flinched at my harsh tone but didn’t move otherwise. I needed to look into her eyes. Only they could tell me the truth I searched for.

“I said look at me,” I grunted, capturing her chin between my fingers and forcing her to face me. I towered over her, leaning in and looking straight into her eyes, coming only inches apart from her face. I breathed what she expelled and inhaled her sweet scent once again.

Damn, she was pure trouble.

Without trying, she had yet again clouded my vision, making me doubt my own resolution. I couldn’t keep my eyes from dropping to her plump, parted lips.

Fuck, they drew me in like a moth to a fucking flame.

But I couldn’t waiver. I came for answers, and I wouldn’t leave without them.

Focus, Liam.

“If I were you, I’d think about my answers before I give them. Do you understand?” The threat was clear, both in my tone and my unwavering stare. I could feel the message was received as Jamie timidly nodded, but it still wasn’t enough. “Use words, Miss Harden.”

“I… I understand.” She couldn’t help the stutter that shook her tiny voice.

“Who put you up to this?” I asked, moving my hand from her chin to her throat. Her heart was pulsing harshly under my palm but kept a steady rhythm. “This cannot be a coincidence.”

“No one. I… I don’t know you or your father. I don’t even understand what you mean.” I watched her eyes intently as she spoke, noticing no dilation. She was being truthful, from what I could tell.

“How did you find me this morning?” I pressed further, tightening my grip on her throat, feeling her veins pulse furiously, but still, there were no changes in their pace. She was scared but not lying. Under the new pressure of my palm, Jamie released a breathy, almost undetectable moan that spoke straight to my cock. In a heartbeat, my intentions shifted under that heavenly sound. I wanted more of them. Louder and preferably laced with the sound of my name.

“I didn’t. I swear. It was a coincidence. Can you please step away now?” She said with all the courage she had left in her, in a small voice that lacked confidence.

“You’re shaking, Miss Harden. How should I take that?” I asked, keeping my gravelly tone laced with the anger I was feeling. Her deep brown eyes shut as tight as they could, making me question my tactics. “Are you scared of me?”

“What? No!” She snapped her eyes open, looking straight into mine. Her tone was firm for the first time since I stepped into the elevator.

The hand I had wrapped around her neck slid up, my thumb slowly caressing her bottom lip. “Then tell me, are you shaking because you’re lying?” Jamie released the rail with her right hand, gripping my wrist instead. She wasn’t pulling me away, she was steadying herself and keeping me in place.

I leaned further towards her, placing my lips on her ear, “Or is this the effect I have on you?” I finished. My lips grazing her ear lobe as I spoke.

“Liam,” she exhaled. A softly moaned plea that escaped her mouth without permission.

Self fucking preservation just flew out the window at that sound. It was like water in a desert. The flood I didn’t know I needed.

Jamie’s head fell back, exposing her juicy neck to my eager lips. She shook her head in response. To what question, I didn’t know.

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