AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d never call what he was wearing a costume.
His usually messy hair was artfully slicked back, bringing extra attention to his sculpted cheekbones. His black Cuban-collar shirt was open, exposing a sliver of hard chest underneath a dark-green suit that made his dark-as-coal brown eyes shine as brightly as the silver watch that adorned his wrist, which drew my attention to the ink creeping past the sleeve of his jacket.
It was more than enough to bring me to my knees.
But the vision repeated on every mirror around me?
Pure devastation.
Our gazes clashed in the mirror as the doors shut behind us, sealing out the rest of the world.
Leaving only us.
He reached back and pushed the button to the top floor, only breaking our eye contact once the elevator began its ascent. His eyes trailed down me like a caress as I watched, utterly mesmerized and desperate to know what he was thinking. I shifted my weight off the rail and onto my uninjured foot and spun to face him.
He didn’t miss the careful maneuvering, his eyes fixing on my ankle. “Does it hurt?”
“To look at you? Yes. My ankle? No,” I answered truthfully. I wasn’t sure I could notice anything but him right now. “And I was really wrong, Vinh.”
He closed the gap between us in two strides and lifted me into his arms. “About what?”
“The King couldn’t hold a candle to you.”
He laughed, burying his face in my neck and breathing me in. “I missed you.”
I smiled, a rush of happiness seizing my body as I caught our reflection in the mirror. A perfect collision of fire and earth. I tried my best to memorize the tableau.
“I missed you too,” I rasped, clinging to him hard.
He squeezed back before loosening his grip, the position so similar to the one in his bedroom the day before that my heart skipped a beat in anticipation. I slid down his body until my core met his unmistakable hardness, and we both inhaled sharply. My gaze snapped to his, my heart stopping at the absolute need in his. Before my feet could hit the ground, he tightened his grip and walked us two steps backward to the front of the elevator.
A moment later, the elevator dinged, and the doors began to open. He arched an eyebrow at me. “Buy us some time?”
I nodded in understanding and leaned over to push the “close door” button. Repeatedly. Vinh’s laughter rumbled through me as my assault on the button grew more aggressive until the doors finally closed again.
As soon as they shut, my back was against the mirror. I gasped in surprise at the contrast made by the coolness of the glass and my silk blouse. He seized the moment, his lips taking mine in a blisteringly hot kiss. The material of my skirt proved its flexibility as it shifted up my thighs, allowing me room to anchor my legs around his waist. He groaned in response, pinning me with his hips, our kiss growing messier, more desperate as the clock of our privacy ticked down. The elevator started moving again, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that meant someone had called for it.
I just didn’t care.
I couldn’t care.
Especially when Vinh’s lips wandered, leaving a trail of toe-curling caresses from my jaw to my shoulder. I threw my head back and turned to the side to watch the scene in the mirror. Vinh pressed one last kiss to the center of my chest and another to my jaw before swiping his thumb across my swollen lips and smiling at me softly.
Then the elevator stopped.
I was back on my feet in the next instant, close enough to the rail to grip it for support. Vinh crouched down and righted my skirt, the caress of his warm hands doing nothing to cool down every pore of my body that had been scorched by his touch.
The doors opened, revealing Alexander Juno and his swollen black eye.
That sight did the job.
Vinh took his time rising to his full height, paying the open doors no mind as he fussed with my hair and my top before planting a proprietary kiss on the corner of my mouth. Then his hand traveled slowly down my arm, and he laced our hands together.
“Where have you been?” AJ demanded as Vinh walked us out of the elevator and right past him.
I tugged on Vinh’s hand to stop him, and he obliged, turning toward me with a warm smile, which I returned before turning to AJ.
I said nothing, staring him down with a newfound indifference that wasn’t remotely feigned until he spoke again.
