Page 32 of Dirty Little Secrets

T he building is quiet. Past nine. Only our floor is still lit. I carry in the last of the files, heels clicking softly on the tile. Xaiden’s office glows from within. I pause at the doorframe, unsure. I’m not usually this late but so much has happened so fast. My head is trying to keep up.

“Come here,” he says softly.

He’s leaning back in his chair, sleeves rolled to his elbows, the top two buttons of his shirt undone. The room smells like him. Exotic, expensive ink, and power.

“Yes?”

His eyes find mine. “You’ve been working hard.”

“So do you.”

He stands and walks around his desk His movement fluid and controlled. Each movement fluid and controlled. The air between us shifts as he walks me back to the wall by the door.

My back hits the wall before I even realize I’ve no place to go. He steps in. Hands on either side of me. Not touching. Just... close.

“If I kissed you,” he murmurs, “would you stop me?”

My heart lurches and I can barely breathe. I’m back in the elevator full of adrenaline and bad decisions. He leans in, his forehead brushing mine. The tension is unbearable. My fingers twitch to touch him. But he pulls back with a breathless sigh.

“Go home, Nori. Before I forget why I shouldn’t keep you.”

And just like that, he’s behind the invisible glass wall again and I’m left confused. Filled with want and confusion but most importantly, guilt.

It doesn’t stop me from replying when Bash shows up to take me home., “I’ll make sure I schedule you another lunch date.”

The office is nearly empty. I’m working late again trying to find how the shipments are going missing. I swear if I didn’t know he had a home, I would think Xaiden lives here. Lately, he comes along with Bash to drop me off.

I drop off the updated reports on his desk and try not to stare at the way his shirt hugs his frame.

His sleeves are rolled, forearms taut with tension.

He’s watching the screen, but I can feel his eyes on me in the spaces between seconds.

I turn around trying to push the guilt eating me inside from giving the drive to Brent.

After what happened in Chicago and the kiss.

It’s like my mind has finally caught up.

“Nori.”

I pause and turn slowly.

“Lock the door.”

My pulse skips. The command is velvet wrapped around steel.

I walk to the glass door and flick the lock with a soft click.

When I turn back around, he’s already standing.

He says nothing as he steps forward. I don’t move when he slides his hand behind my neck, not rough, but sure of where they want to go.

His thumb brushes along my throat, and I feel my whole-body tense.

The heat in his gaze is like an uncontrolled wildfire.

“Was it because of me?” he murmurs.

“What?”

“You let him take you to lunch. You smiled like he was the only one in the room looking beautiful in that fucking skirt. Was it because of me?”

I could lie.

But my breath catches, and I nod. His mouth crashes into mine.

All restraint breaks. My fingers thread through his hair as he kisses me like he’s starved.

He lifts me, and I wrap my legs around his waist. My back hits the door with a soft thud.

We don’t stop. His mouth trails fire down my jaw, over my neck.

He bites gently, possessively. He lifts me and sets me on the desk and pulls my blouse open.

Buttons scatter. I gasp, but he covers it with another kiss.

“Tell me to stop.”

I don’t.

He strips me like he’s unwrapping something he’s wanted for too long.

His hands explore every inch of me—hungry, reverent.

I tug his belt, desperate to feel his skin, and when he hisses through his teeth as I wrap my hand around his hard length, I feel like I’ve won a war.

He pushes my legs open, tears my panties in one go.

He enters me in one smooth, deep stroke.

We both freeze. Then breathe each other’s air. Something I’ve been starved of in the club. He thrusts again, slower this time, drawing out the moment. My nails drag down his back as I moan his name.

“Look at me,” he growls.

I do.

The tension. The fury. The possession in his eyes had me coming undone with his name on my lips. He thrusts faster and faster until he follows, groaning against my throat, his body trembling with release.

Silence follows. Our breaths, sharp and unsteady, are the only sound in the room.

He presses his forehead against mine. “This…changes everything.”

I don’t reply. Because I already know does. It changes everything for me too.