Page 14 of Beguiled

In her pencil skirts and high-necked silk blouses, her usual uniform of choice, she had no idea that every day she tested both my patience and my resolve as a man.

There was no uniform or costume that could hide the good fortune she’d been given at birth. She was a masterpiece of femininity, an hourglass figure screaming to be caressed. Every day she tried to hide the passionate woman inside, refusing to acknowledge the attraction between us.

Completely understandable and becoming impossible to navigate.

What she didn’t know was that after she’d walked away that night, I’d looked for her later. She’d disappeared. Imagine my surprise when she’d walked into my office a few weeks later. Oh, the irony.

There were days remaining professional myself was a clusterfuck of difficulties. When she bent over her desk, simply keeping my eyes off her rounded ass or preventing my hands from grabbing a handful was difficult at best.

With her ballsy personality, I hadn’t expected to be so attracted. But with her perky nose and light freckles leaving soft kisses across the bridge of her nose, I’d lost count of the number of times I’d wanted to rip out the hairpiece she always wore, fisting a handful of her luxurious dark hair.

What pushed me into an even more pronounced need were the pointed looks she’d given me since the beginning. Even though she attempted to mask her emotions, I could read one every time she stood in my presence. Anger. Frustration.

Desire.

She sinfully encompassed every one and usually on any given day.

But she was also the master of hiding her emotions, using her conservative attire as an accomplice. But being the master of observation that I’d learned to use to my advantage long ago, the first day she’d walked into my office I’d sensed her hidden pain.

How I longed to peel away her layers of clothing and at the same time her emotional fragility that held her in place. Perhaps my filthy desires were the very reason I’d locked down my emotions years before.

Long before my structured, nonconsequential, and impoverished world had shattered. Long before I’d finally accepted the identity of my birth father, his regime what nightmares were made of. And certainly years, decades before I’d accepted both a position of importance and wealth.

But I was getting ahead of myself.

My assistant was a treasure box, a puzzle to decipher piece by piece. As with every child’s game played or experienced, I preferred taking my time, savoring every moment so that when the prize was finally revealed, I wasn’t disappointed but excited to the point of reaching what some might call nirvana.

I called it necessary fuel.

She’d experienced the extreme heat of my silence and instead of running, she’d reveled in the flames. Where most people, both enemies and acquaintances, flinched under my gaze if not running far away, she was the opposite.

She’d rushed toward me at full speed with eager and open arms.

Time had offered her more confidence.

Soon it would be time to break down her defenses.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, completely aware of what her presence did to me. My dick was straining at the seams, the rush of adrenaline more powerful than almost anything else.

My usual silence or what some would call lack of communication skills was becoming increasingly useful as a weapon. By remaining quiet and using simple yet effective mental techniques, I’d prevented several potentially dangerous situations from occurring.

No one needed to learn anything about me other than what had been told to them. I was an anomaly to some, a violent, unpredictable freak to others.

The labels suited me just fine.

The truth was somewhere in between. I wasn’t a people person and had never been.

When accepting this job, I’d been made aware I’d be forced to deal with people, overseeing several employees in various aspects of business. Assistants were both easy to come by and completely expendable. I’d gone through several.

Her attitude at the party, her keen wit and obvious skills had landed her the position. Now she wanted to move up. Little did she know tempting me was dangerous. For her. I’d needed help with the rapid expansion given the company’s recent diversification into the oil and gas industry. With her flair for numbers and an enjoyment of the hospitality industry, she’d seemed perfect.

Even though from minute one, she’d questioned everything. Every method of operation. Every decision made. I’d normally be pissed. Not with her.

Within days, I’d realized there was much more behind her haunted eyes and tight-lipped smile.

I’d suspected from the beginning that she’d heard all the rumors about me and my family. We were supposed to be monsters lurking in the shadows. Like Saige had mentioned in her email that hadn’t been intended for my eyes, we enjoyed eating the young.

What she didn’t understand was that it was not our young but our enemies.