Page 6

Chapter Six

Luke

I wake from my power nap, determined to enjoy this date even if it kills me. The code has proven difficult to untangle, but I don't have to work on that for at least a few hours.

After a quick shower, I put on a fresh suit and head to Sera's hotel. She was right about people watching me at the CES showroom. I feel it constantly, which is one reason I've enjoyed being just Sera's silver fox and nothing else. On the elevator up to her room, I accept it can't last forever.

But I don't have time to dwell on it. The moment she opens the door, I'm captivated. She's wearing a pale green dress the same shade as her eyes, the fabric flowing gently around her hips but clinging to her curves up top.

Her hair falls in soft waves around her shoulders, with subtle makeup enhancing her natural beauty. She clutches a small handbag.

"Fuck," I whisper.

When she laughs, her whole face lights up. No, her entire being. "Is that a good fuck or a bad fuck ?"

My answer is to place my hands on her hips and pull her against me. She moans as I press my body to hers. I could spend all night holding and appreciating her curves. God damn .

She pushes her hands against my chest. "Haven't we got plans?"

"You're right." I pant. "I don't want to ruin your outfit until after dinner. Have you ever been to the Top of the World? It's got amazing views and great steaks."

She smiles. "Sounds perfect to me."

"Let's go, my lady, before I bend you over and claim you, every damn inch." I watch as a flush spreads across her face. "I love the way you blush when I reference your steamy novels."

She takes my arm, clinging to me tightly. I can practically feel her desire radiating from her. The hired car waits outside our hotel. She raises her eyebrow in that classic Sera way.

"Still haven't Googled me, then?" I say, opening the back door for her.

She brushes her hand along my chest. "Did you forget what I said? I keep my word."

"That means I need to extract a promise from you to reenact some scenes with me..."

I slide into the car beside her, and the driver, separated by a partition, pulls away.

"That wouldn't take much convincing," she murmurs.

I place my hand on her knee, gliding up her thigh, pushing her dress aside to touch her bare, silky skin. She moans softly, glancing up at me, then gesturing toward the driver.

"I use this car for important business meetings," I explain. "The driver can't hear or see us unless we use the intercom. Some people in this business are extremely cautious."

"It's still probably not a good idea to get all excited before dinner," she whispers.

"I understand. But not touching you... it's like starving and finding a juicy burger and somehow resisting taking a bite."

She giggles. "I'm a burger, am I?"

"You're my juicy burger."

I lean down, gently bite her leg, then slowly trail kisses up her thigh. I push the fabric of her dress aside. She moans as I kiss closer to her center, but I stop when I'm mere centimeters away. I sit up, shuddering.

"Are you okay?" she pants, adjusting her dress.

"It's all fun and games until I catch the primal scent of your perfect pussy."

"A scent ?" she says, laughing.

"You heard me, and there's nothing funny about it," I say. "I caught a whiff of your gorgeous essence, and it awakened something within me. It made me want to tear off your clothes and bury myself inside you, take you deep and hard. Damn. I need to stop."

She runs her hand across her heaving chest as if desperate for contact. "Yeah, you really do..."

Soon, we arrive at the restaurant. "Remind me to behave up there."

"I'll try," she mutters quietly, as if unsure which of us needs the reminder more.

We ride the elevator up to the one hundred and sixth floor of the Stratosphere Tower together. Since we're alone, I can't resist wrapping my arms around her and kissing her neck, breathing in her scent.

"Good choice," I say.

She moans as I kiss her again. "Good... choice?"

"The perfume."

"I'm not wearing perfume."

"That's simply your natural scent?" I growl.

She shifts against me. "I guess so..."

When the elevator opens, I walk inside, nodding to the host, gently pressing Sera's lower back when she moves toward the line.

"Don't we have to wait?" she asks.

"Being a billionaire has certain benefits," I tell her.

She gasps. "Did you just say billionaire... with a b ?"

So much for being mysterious. "Forget I said that." I smirk as I pull out her chair.

"Yeah, right," she murmurs.

I sit opposite her, gesturing to the wide windows. "It rotates completely every eighty minutes. If you look closely, you can see it drifting. It offers a view of the entire area. Look at all those lights, Sparkplug."

She gazes out at the sparkling lights of Vegas and beyond, a wide smile spreading across her face.

"Champagne?" I ask. "Or something lighter this time?"

"Something lighter," she says, nodding.

"Then I'll be good too," I reply. "Plus, I need to stay sharp for work."

We order sparkling water, and the waiter leaves us with the food menu. When I take out my phone, Sera looks offended... until she reads the text I've sent.

Luke: I want to dirty talk to you so badly. Tell you how I want to tear down that dress and feast on your perfect body. But I can't risk anybody hearing, because the thought of anyone else thinking of you like that drives me crazy.

She bites her lip as she reads it, then types quickly.

Sera: What if I want to touch you? Rub you? Make you hard like I did on the elevator? What if I want to grind my plump ass against you, huh?

Luke: I'm getting hard just thinking about it. FUCK. You're so hot.

She smiles, rolling her eyes. "So, how was work?"

We're playing a game now: half civilized, half savage.

"You don't want to hear about work," I tell her.

"Something bad must be happening if you worked all night."

I sigh. "Are you sure you want to open this can of worms?" I type out a reply.

Luke: I'd much rather climb under the table, tear off your underwear with my teeth, then push my mouth against you. I'd suck your clit and lick your entrance to taste your sweetness.

I love how easily I can read the desire in her features. "This is better than my novels," she mutters. "But yeah, you better talk to me about work... Because everything else seems to lead there ."

By 'there,' she means the land of pure, hot desire.

"Our self-driving car has gone rogue like HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey ," I say. "Somebody sabotaged the code, waited until we were in Vegas, then activated it, I assume."

Her pale green eyes widen. "I am so dumb."

"Don't say that," I snap. "You're incredibly intelligent."

"You're Luke Cross ."

"That's my name, yeah."

"Luke freaking Cross. As in, NeuroDrive Luke Cross. As in, the owner of the biggest electronic and self-driving car company in the world."

"I'm the CEO, yes," I tell her. "But I work with a large and talented team; everything we do is a group effort."

"My department wrote some of your code," she murmurs. "I work at TechGuard, specializing in AI guardrails. I can't believe I'm only now putting this together. You're giving the keynote speech, aren't you? I'm sure the CEO of NeuroDrive is."

"Yup, I am," I tell her, nodding.

"Woah," she mouths, her eyes wide with surprise

"Don't look at me like that, Sparkplug."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm different now. As if you can't see me the same way after finding out who I really am. I'm just a man. The only person who attempted to repair your laptop. The guy who can't stop obsessing over you."

She nods. "Sure, but this is one heck of a coincidence."

"Yeah, TechGuard did some coding for us, as I recall."

In fact, TechGuard is under suspicion, as is every contractor, but I don't want to ruin our date. I know Sera wouldn't sabotage anyone or anything... but what about someone on her team?

"If you need any help, let me know," she says.

If I didn't trust her already, this might make me cautious. What if she's offering to help so she can further TechGuard's sabotage? But why would they want to ruin my product? If we get to the root of it and expose them, the company will be ruined.

"Thank you," I say. "But honestly, I think I preferred it when you didn't know who I am."

"You're still the same old Luke to me, don't worry," she says with a gentle smile.

The waiter approaches, and both of us order steak. After, I sit back with a smile on my face.

"What?" she asks.

"I could sit here with you all night," I tell her. "Enjoying the view, the conversation... spoken and texted."

She quickly taps on her phone, lighting mine up.

Sera: I can't decide which form of conversation I enjoy more.

"Me neither," I reply. "But having to be civilized has certain benefits. It means I have to ask civilized questions like: what do you plan on doing with your empathetic AI idea?"

She shrugs. "Nothing right now, except developing it further. I enjoy my work at TechGuard... and there's some personal stuff."

"What kind of personal stuff?" I ask. "If that's a rude question, feel free to tell me to go to hell, either via text or with that gorgeous voice of yours."

She studies me closely, as if trying to determine if I'm manipulating her. The expression saddens me. She seems to have never received a genuine compliment before and is suspicious of it.

"Do my compliments seem like tricks?" I ask.

"Have you developed some kind of neurological link already, huh?" she says. "Have you implanted it in my head? Are you reading my mind already, hmm?"

I chuckle. "I was on the money, then?"

Turning to my phone, I quickly type.

Luke: I mean every single word I say. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on. When I first saw you, I thought "I'd sacrifice all my billions for her." And I meant it.

I glance up to see her smiling widely at me, her eyes shining. She turns to look out the window at the stunning view, chewing her lip. "Do we have to talk about... that?"

She's referring to the personal stuff I asked about. I want to tell her yes, we do, because I'm eager to learn everything about her. Her soul needs soothing, and I want to heal her. But that wouldn't be fair.

"No, of course not."

She picks up her phone, the corner of her lip twitching. I love when she gets sparked up like this, living up to her nickname, Sparkplug through and through. My phone buzzes.

Sera: I prefer when you look at me like I'm a prize, like you're imagining all the things you want to do... rather than I'm a real person with issues and baggage and all that crap.

"I want the real person," I tell her.

"Are you always this romantic with your girlfriends?"

"I told you. I don't have girlfriends."

"That was before I learned you were the CEO," she says, giving me a sassy look that says, How na?ve do you think I am? "And even if you weren't... look at you."

I chuckle. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you heard of the phrase 'silver fox'?"

"That's a euphemism for a man past his prime, if I'm not mistaken."

"You are mistaken," she says fiercely. "You're straight out of one of my romance books." She lowers her voice when she glances at the nearby tables, her cheeks flushing.

Her fingers move quickly over her phone.

Sera: It's like you climbed out of the pages of my latest read and now you're here to turn my world upside down.

I smirk and reply.

Luke: That's exactly why I'm here.

Our steaks interrupt our conversation. We thank the waiter, and then Sera's stomach makes a gurgling sound. She looks mortified, placing her hands on her abdomen.

"I'm so sorry," she says bashfully.

I smile. "Sorry for what? For being human? You don't need to be ashamed with me."

"In my books, stomachs don't make noises like horror monsters."

"It's just your curvy body telling me you need more food ."

She laughs, her smile radiant.

"Seriously," I continue. "Don't be shy."

"I still don't believe you don't date."

I shrug. "I'm busy; I've never looked at someone before who makes me think I'd happily sacrifice my entire fortune. Anyway, eat up. I've got a surprise for you after this."

"A surprise?"

I glance at the nearby table, then text her.

Luke: I know how badly you want those steamy books of yours to become a reality.

She bites her lip, which is a dangerously tempting gesture.

Luke: When you bite your lip like that, it takes every ounce of restraint I possess to hold myself back. I want to devour you instead of the steak, to feast on your beautiful body, to kiss and touch you. I want to make you bite your lip as if you can't contain the pleasure building inside you. I want to own you, Sparkplug, every curvy, perfect inch of your body.

As she reads the text, she bites her lip again. She's doing it instinctively at first, but then she notices me watching her. It's intoxicating when she realizes the effect she has on me and bites down more deliberately, widening her eyes in pleasure, deliberately tempting me.

Under the table, my body responds, aching with desire.

She laughs when I cut a huge chunk of steak and stuff it into my mouth.

"In a rush?" she asks with a coy smile.