Page 16 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Sunday

I was not going to show Theo illicit pictures to get a job I didn’t need. “Houses and furniture don’t have feelings. So I don’t need to be one with them to capture them properly. And all the photos I take show plenty of passion.”

“So you don’t mind if I take a closer look then?” He reached for the touchpad on my computer without permission. He hit the back button and slowly started scrolling through the folders.

I grabbed his hand to stop him before he reached the photo album he’d helped create. The one titled A Night with Callum Walsh . “Stop.”

He looked down at our joined hands. “You know, Emma, you resisting really makes it seem like I’ve almost reached something pretty great.”

“No…it’s…there’s nothing there.”

“Oh, I don’t know. If I recall correctly, when we ran into each other in the maze, you said that some guy that looked like me took pictures of you. That you stripped for the photos.”

Crap, I had told him that. It didn’t prove anything about his past that he knew there were illicit pictures on my laptop. I could feel my face turning red. I never should have told him that.

“If you’re embarrassed about it, maybe you shouldn’t have done it. ”

Screw you. I glared at him. As much of a mistake that night had been, I didn’t regret it. Because he’d completely captivated me. And I hadn’t felt that way since. “And maybe you should get a manual on sexual harassment in the workplace.”

“Last time I checked, you’re not my employee. Yet.” His tone was clipped. “I’m just curious about the photos because we’re at a standstill, you and I. You’re still convinced I’m someone else and I swear I’m not. But maybe if you show me the pictures I can prove I wasn’t there.…”

“No. I deleted them.” I hadn’t. I would never. And he didn’t need to see the pictures to know he wasn’t in them. He’d deleted anything with him or his old portrait in it.

“What a shame.” He folded his arms and leaned against the desk.

I just stared back at him. It did feel like we were in a standstill. And I didn’t know what to say. I cleared my throat, but still nothing came to mind.

For just a second his eyes fell to my neck. He immediately met my gaze again. “Is this job really all you want from me, Emma?”

“That’s the only reason I’m here.” Actually, I didn’t know why I was here. I didn’t even want this stupid job.

“Is it the only reason? I thought maybe you came to snoop around. To look for clues about my secret identity .” There was humor in eyes. His fake brown eyes.

Honestly I had planned on doing some snooping if given the chance.

But that wasn’t proving to be a possibility tonight.

Since he was literally towering over me.

If I wanted to look around, I needed to be left on my own.

And even though he’d been happy to do that for ten years, he wasn’t letting me out of his sight now. “I was also promised dinner.”

“Ah, yes. You were. What would you prefer to eat?”

“Whatever you’re having is fine.”

“Unlike your boyfriend, I’m not one for sharing.” His eyes trailed down my body.

That didn’t even make any sense. I abruptly stood up. “Why do you keep saying that? Bennett isn’t sharing me with anyone.”

“You don’t know him as well as you think. Now take off your jacket.”

What? That was not a segue to remove my clothes! I’d stripped for him once. And I had no intention of ever doing it again.

But my body froze as he reached out and slowly pushed my jacket off my shoulders.

“I don’t like asking for things more than once. Something you should know if you’re going to work for me.” He tossed my jacket on the chair and looked at my skimpy outfit. “Is this something you’d normally wear to work?”

I waited for my heart to stop racing, but it didn’t. Just being in the same room as him made my body go haywire. “Yes.” His eyes raking over my body was inappropriate too. But somehow less inappropriate than the questions about Bennett.

His eyes travelled along my exposed midriff. “Turn for me,” he said.

Yeah, this was definitely not a normal interview. But I still turned. Because I liked the way his eyes felt on me.

He lightly touched the exposed skin on my lower back. I shivered from his touch .

“You’re scared of me,” he said quietly. “But he’s the one that hurt you.”

I turned to see him staring at my lower back. I put my hand on my exposed skin to cover the bruise. I hadn’t thought to look in the mirror to see if it was visible.

Theo took a step forward, caging me between him and the desk.

My throat made a squeaking noise.

“I would have already hurt you if I was going to, Emma. So there’s really no reason to be frightened.”

I was pretty sure that’s what a vampire would say before killing his next victim. Luring someone into a false sense of security before striking.

“And I’m not the one that you should be worried about. You should be scared of your boyfriend.”

“Bennett didn’t hurt me.”

“The bruise on your back says differently.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I couldn’t think straight when Theo was so close to me. All I could think about was what it would finally feel like to kiss him after all these years.

“So here’s how this is going to go,” he said, keeping me caged against his desk. “I’m going to hire you. And then you’re going to stay far away from him.”

“Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“Actually, they are. And this isn’t up for negotiation. He’s dangerous, Emma.”

“Funny, he said the same thing about you.”

He lowered his eyebrows. “I’m trying to protect you. Besides, I take you for the type that prefers a real man instead of a boy. ”

Theo and Bennett looked about the same age to me.

Unless he was referring to how I’d slept with him ten years ago instead of one of the college students.

But I hadn’t known he was the coach. I didn’t make a habit of dating older men.

Or maybe he was saying he was older because he was a vampire that had been alive for hundreds of years.

He reached out and touched my knee. “Say yes.” His fingers slowly trailed up my thigh.

I didn’t even remember what he was asking. “I don’t date liars.”

“Then you shouldn’t be dating your boyfriend.”

“Bennett hasn’t…”

“I think we’ve talked enough about your ex for one night.”

My ex? I couldn’t break up with Bennett, I wasn’t even technically dating him.

But Theo Gold was a cocky asshole. A cocky asshole that was making my heart race.

I’d forgotten how it felt to be alone with him.

How all-consuming his presence was. All I wanted to do was grab both sides of his face and kiss him.

“Say yes,” he said again, his fingers trailing higher. “Work for me and ditch the boyfriend.”

I shook my head.

“Don’t play games with me, Emma. I know exactly what you want. So we don’t have to play cat and mouse.”

“And what do you think I want?”

“I bet you want to climb up onto my desk. And spread your legs for me.”

God, yes. “Definitely not, Theo.”

“Your pupils are dilated. And your hips shifted slightly forward at my words. Like your pussy is just begging to be touched.” He trailed his fingers even higher, slipping under my skirt. Higher and higher.

I was panting by the time his fingers paused right beneath my aching pussy.

“Don’t you want me to touch you?” he whispered against my lips. His thumb brushed against the front of my thong. “You’re fucking soaked.”

I stifled a moan.

“Tell me I’m not the only one who’s dreamt about what would have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted in the maze. I’ve dreamt a lot about you, Emma.”

I’d dreamt a lot about him too. For ten freaking years.

I stared up at him. And I definitely saw the faint line around his irises.

I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that he was wearing contacts.

I hadn’t just been dreaming about what we’d done ten years ago though.

I’d been dreaming of what his lips would taste like.

I’d been dreaming of being in this exact scenario with him again.

And I had no control when my body acted on its own accord.

I couldn’t resist him. I didn’t want to.

I stood up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his.

They were as cold as the rest of him. I waited for him to kiss me back.

To open his mouth and let my tongue in. Instead he pulled my hair to tilt my head away, at the same time he shoved my thong to the side and slid two fingers inside of me.

Oh God.

“Now say yes,” he whispered in my ear.

“Yes,” I moaned. I didn’t even know what I was saying yes to. All I could think about was his fingers inside of me and his fist in my hair. The combination of pain and pleasure .

He kissed the side of my neck and I trembled. He had his hand in my hair so he had full access to my neck. I wanted to scream, but I wanted him to suck on my skin more. Like last time. I’d been thinking about his mouth on my skin endlessly.

“I knew you were thinking about me when he was touching you,” Theo whispered in my ear.

Shit! Bennett! I pushed on Theo’s chest.

He pulled back enough to look at me, but his fingers kept pulsing inside my pussy. “Don’t pretend you didn’t wish it was me deep inside of you on that Ferris wheel.” His thumb brushed against my clit.

Oh God. I spread my legs wider for him.

“This pussy is mine. You’re mine. Do you understand me?”

I came embarrassingly fast. The combination of the memories of Callum and the present with Theo was too much. But as soon as I was done, my mind cleared. What the fuck had I just done? I liked Bennett. Bennett, the guy that was kind and funny and not at all a jerk.

I shifted back on Theo’s desk to get away from him.

He smiled and started to climb on the desk after me.

I ducked under his arm and jumped onto the floor. “No. I’m not yours. I’m dating Bennett. And I don’t want this job.” I slammed my laptop closed.

He grabbed my wrist. “Too bad, you start tomorrow morning.”

“I can’t. I’m hanging out with Bennett at the bank tomorrow.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am!” I tugged out of his grip and shoved my laptop into its case. “Just pretend this never happened,” I said without looking at him. “You should be good at that.” I turned and opened the door to his office.

“You said you don’t date liars,” he said as he followed me out into the hall.

“I don’t.”

“Then you better ask Bennett what he’s hiding in the bank’s vaults tomorrow.”

A chill ran down my spine as I threw open his front door. And for the first time it wasn’t because of his stare or his touch. It was because of his words.