Page 19 of Hunted Temptation (Alpha Nights: Unlikely Heroes #4)

Chapter Eighteen

ELODIE

Three gorgeous knockout women and five absolutely stunning men stare at me from around a long conference table. All eight of these people should be on the cover of some security business owners magazine or something, maybe even in a calendar. They’re absolutely breathtaking.

It’s almost as if they’re airbrushed, and they’re sitting here right in front of me, breathing the same air as I am.

I want to reach out and touch them, check to see if they’re real.

But as I’m introduced to them one by one, I realize that they are indeed real.

I am so dumbfounded and overwhelmed that I don’t remember any of their names.

It’s almost as if I’m awestruck, but mostly it’s because I’m not used to being in a room with this many people, on top of the fact that it’s this many gorgeous people.

“Should we order some lunch?” one of the women calls out as she stands from her seat. I think her name is Lucille, but I can’t quite remember.

“Yeah, that sounds great,” one of the guys replies. Again, I have no clue who it is that’s just spoken.

Vaughn smiles, reaching out to wrap his fingers around mine, then squeezes them gently before he guides me over to an empty chair.

Sinking down in the seat, I place my hands in my lap as I shift my gaze down to them, watching as my fingers twist together.

I focus on breathing, in and out, in and out, and that is about all I can handle.

The conversation begins to flow around me, and I let out a sigh of relief that I’m no longer the focal point. I continue to make breathing my priority.

In and out.

In and out.

I didn’t think this would be so nerve-racking, meeting his friends, his coworkers… his family. But I’m ready to go back to his office—alone. He can lock me inside, and I would at least be able to relax a little bit. But this? I’m having a hard time even breathing, let alone relaxing.

“How are you liking Vaughn’s place?” a soft voice asks next to me.

Turning my head, I look up at her. She’s got dark hair and a kind smile as she sits beside me. I didn’t even know she was there. But she’s quietly slipped into the chair beside me, and for a moment, I let out a sigh because she’s so quiet.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I watch her for a moment, then give her a small smile before I force myself to answer.

“I like it a lot. It’s really nice.”

“It is, right?” she agrees.

My heart slams against my chest. She knows what his place looks like. Why? I open my mouth to ask her that question, but before I can get the words out, she answers the unasked question.

“I was staying in the attached condo below his when I was having some troubles. Vaughn was a godsend for me.”

“He was?” I force the words out.

I hold my breath for a moment before I let it out slowly. I am trying not to be jealous or petty, but I really don’t like that this gorgeous specimen is sitting beside me, telling me just how much she loved living below Vaughn and how much of a godsend he was for her.

“I’m Nadine. I work for Theron, but I’m with Grayson,” she announces.

“With Grayson?” I ask.

She gives me a wink before she answers. “We’re not married, but we’re very much together. We’re partners.”

Oh.

“I’ve never been with Vaughn. None of us has. Lucille is with Theron, and Colette is with Merrick. We work with the guys, but we’re not single. I mean, I used to be, but Grayson and I are very committed to one another.”

Her words comfort me. I don’t know if they should, because honestly, I had no reason to be jealous, but at the same time, I very much was and still am.

As much as I want to pretend to be some kind of mature woman, I am not that. At least not on the inside. I want to claw her eyes out for even having had any kind of relationship with Vaughn, strictly friendship or otherwise.

“Oh,” I breathe.

“I just thought you should know,” she says with a smile. “I’m from Nights. My brother lives on the outskirts of town, too. What about you?”

I can’t imagine that she doesn’t know exactly who and what I am. I want to be snarky and say just that, but decide against it.

“I’m from California,” I say. Although if they all work together, I can’t imagine she doesn’t already know that.

Thankfully, I’m saved by the sound of a phone ringing and one of the guys announcing that lunch is here. Nadine excuses herself, along with one of the gorgeous guys, who I assume is her man, since he places his hand on her ass as they walk out of the room.

A few moments later, they are back with food, and we all eat.

I can’t deny that I let out a sigh of relief when Nadine sits next to her man, away from me, and I’m able to ignore everything around me as I concentrate on my food.

Or rather, concentrate on not being part of the conversation happening around me.

The men begin excusing themselves, blaming work, and I’m grateful for it. The women do the same, though I can feel their questioning gazes on me, and then we’re finally left alone in the room, just me and Vaughn.

“Too many people?” he asks.

He’s a seat down from me. Turning my head, I lift my eyes up to meet his. He is watching me with an expression of concern on his face. I bite the inside of my cheek, rolling the skin back and forth there for a moment before I answer.

“Was I rude?” I ask, my voice coming out much softer than I anticipated.

“No, but I could tell that you were uncomfortable.”

“I was,” I exhale. “I’m so sorry.”

Vaughn’s lips twitch into a smirk. “Don’t be sorry. It’s me who should be. That was a lot of people, and I didn’t think about it.”

VAUGHN

Standing up from my chair, I walk toward her. She stays where she is, her eyes focused on mine, her lips pressed together, and her eyes wide. I close the distance between us and stop when I’m directly in front of her.

Reaching out, I extend my index finger, touching beneath her chin and gently guiding her head back slightly. She smiles up at me. The sweetness of her expression goes straight to my fucking dick.

I bite my bottom lip and tug on the skin as I reach out with my free hand and extend my palm toward her. She slips her fingers into my hand before she stands up.

Dipping my chin, I touch my lips to hers. She tastes like her lunch and sunshine all at the same time. I don’t know what the fuck sunshine tastes like, but I can only guess it’s Elodie in this moment.

“I want to taste you and fuck you. I’m not sure how much longer I can wait for you, Goldie.”

“Please,” she whimpers as her body trembles.

I grin at her whimper. I don’t know if I can make it to my office before I taste her, but I am going to try, because I want her on my desk, spread out like the fucking treasure she is.

Taking a step backward, I turn before I tug her behind me and quickly make my way toward my small office. Thankfully, no one is loitering around the hallway to look at my gigantic boner as I move toward the privacy of my office.

I reach for the handle and push the door open, pulling on Elodie’s arm until she’s in the room. Kicking the door closed behind her, I don’t bother locking it as I bring her around to my desk.

I grip her waist, my fingers digging into her skin through her shirt, then pick her up, placing her ass on the hard surface. I don’t bother moving any paperwork on the wooden desktop. I hope her wetness covers everything, soaks my entire fucking desk.

Sinking down onto the cushion of my chair, I reach for her waist and gently tug her pants off. I watch as she curls her fingers around the edge of the desk and lifts her hips, giving me enough room to shimmy her pants and panties down her legs, tossing them to the floor after taking her shoes off.

Encircling her ankles with my fingers, I look up into her eyes. Her chin is dipped, her gaze is on me, and she watches me for a silent moment. Her breathing is coming out in short and heavy pants. It’s sexy as fuck.

“Vaughn,” she exhales shakily.

Again… straight to my dick.

Gently gliding my fingers up the insides of her thighs, I spread them, exposing her sweet center to me. My sweet center. I lean forward and suck on her there. A gasp fills the air around us, as if she didn’t expect me to do that.

I feel her fingers slide through the strands of my hair, then she grips them, pulling my face closer to her pussy. Silently begging me to continue eating her. I want nothing more than to devour every single inch of her cunt.

But before that…

I lift my head and rear back slightly, my eyes finding hers. My lips are wet from her juicy cunt. I don’t bother wiping it away. I want her to see just how fucking much she wants me. And she does. Down to the marrow of her bones, she wants me… craves me.

It’s misplaced, I’m sure.

I saved her from a life where she was sold to the highest bidder, sold so her father could gain access to whatever the fuck he wanted access to. But she wasn’t just sold. She was abused by the one man who was supposed to protect her from the moment she was born to the moment she died.

He failed.

Not only in that, but her, too.

And I won’t fail her, at least not in that way. I will always protect her. She knows this, and that’s what makes her want me, need me, crave me. And I’m just selfish enough, just fucked up enough, to love that shit.

“Put your heels on the desk, Elodie, and scoot your ass to the edge. Bring me that pussy.”

Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t say anything. She does exactly what I demand and places her heels on the top of the desk as she shifts her body toward me, her ass on the edge just like I want.

As much as I want to call her a good girl for following my direction, I decide, given our age difference, that it might sound a little creepy. But I also want her to know that I appreciate her doing what I ask.

So instead of saying that, instead of telling her she’s a good girl, because she is just that, I hum as I lean forward and reward her a different way. Not with words but with my tongue against her pussy, circling her clit.

I show her just how I feel about her with my mouth on her pussy, tasting her and bringing her to the edge right before I make her come against my tongue, listening to the sounds of her whimpering, of her moaning, bounce off my office walls around us.

When she comes, when her wetness floods my taste buds, only then do I shift back from between her legs and rise. Tipping my chin, I look down at her, her legs spread wide for me, her chest rising and falling, her lips parted in awe, her cheeks flushed as she looks up at me from beneath her lashes.

“Vaughn,” she exhales.

“Yeah?”

She shakes her head once, slipping her tongue out of her mouth to slide it across her bottom lip, wetting the flesh there. Unbuckling my pants, I drop them to my ankles, and then my underwear.

Standing in front of her, my cock in my hand, I position myself against her still-pulsing pussy from her recent orgasm. I wait for her to finish her thought. Clearly, she has something on her mind.

“I know I shouldn’t,” she whispers. “But I’m falling in love with you.”

Her words should cause me to pause. But they don’t. Instead, I slam myself inside her with a single thrust, burying myself deep, to the hilt, my eyes never leaving hers. Her own widen at the same time her breath hitches.

Lifting one hand, I cup her cheek. With the other, I grip her waist and hold on to her there, keeping her body still. As I slide my thumb across her bottom lip, my gaze searches hers. My hips stay still even though I want nothing more than to fuck her with every ounce of my strength right now.

Shifting my face closer, I touch my mouth to hers. “Goldie, I’m too old for you. I’m too fucked up for you. I don’t know how to love, but if that’s what this is, then that’s how I feel for you, too.”

And with that, I slam my mouth against hers, guide myself almost completely out of her, then slam back inside her.

I fuck her against my desk just like I said I would.

I make sure she comes again. And when she does, she whispers my name.

It squeezes my heart. If this is love, then it’s what I feel for her.

And at the same time, I feel heartache knowing that I can’t keep her.