A pair of hands closed around her own, and Kyara’s dazed tear-filled eyes flew open in panic.
No!
She was already struggling without even trying to see who it was holding her. All she knew was that she was frightened beyond her wits, and that if this was her worst nightmare come true—if this was Cyrus coming back to—
“Kyara, look at me. It’s me.”
That voice.
That...that voice washis.
It took a while to make her realizewhosevoice it was that was trying to calm her down, and her vision slowly cleared, and she realized it truly was Lyrius Havington, kneeling on the carpet in front of her. He was as handsome as ever, but at the same time, he also didn’t seem as...as impeccable as he usually did, with his silky black hair looking as if he had run a hand through it more than once, and his tie unusually crooked, and...oh.
Oh no.
She forgot everything else the moment she looked into his sky-blue eyes—
Oh God, no.
And what she saw in there made her start crying again.
Why now?
She found herself crying harder as the truth became undeniable...and undeniably too late.
He loved her.
Lyrius Havington...loved her.
Just like how she...loved him.
And that was why when he pulled Kyara to her feet and into his arms, she couldn’t even think of resisting, her arms wrapping around his neck, her tears falling even as her lips parted under his.
Finally, oh finally.
The words formed in her mind and his, both of them hearing the same thought and knowing that it was also why both their hearts were aching.
Three years Lyrius had waited. Patiently and not-so-patiently. But he had waited and respected her boundaries...all the while unable to keep himself from fantasizing how it would feel, if he were to have the right to call her his own.
So many times he had imagined this. But all of it paled in comparison to what was happening now. All of it was no match for the reality of how her lips were moving against his, and how her mouth tasted under his. Nothing he imagined came even close to how his whole body burned as the kiss deepened, his need for her so desperate and fierce that he couldn’t stop himself from lifting her until Kyara was sitting on her desk, the keyboard pushed aside with the back of his hand without him looking.
He wanted to take it slow, but he couldn’t. His other hand was bracketed against the desk beside her hip while the kiss had Kyara leaning back and back and back into the careful cradle of his hands until the back of her head bumped against the side of her monitor—
No!
The little bump jarred Kyara out of the sensual haze that had blanketed her thoughts the moment her boss started kissing her, and when she realized what was happening, and how getting caught could put Lyrius in danger—
No, no, no!
Kyara somehow found the strength to wrench her mouth away from his and press her hands against his chest. She tried to push him away even as her tears fell faster, but he didn’t budge at all, and instead his hand came up and cupped her chin, and he made her look into his eyes...
Oh, those eyes.
Oh, if only.
“Come back to me,” he said hoarsely.
She could only cry harder as heartbreak threatened to swallow her alive. “I c-can’t.”
