“You’re thinking too hard. Have you forgotten the one thing I told you?”

“No.” My voice cracks.

“I told you to feel. Don’t think, just feel.” I try to maintain my calm. To hold on to any type of control, if only for my own sanity’s sake, but I can’t. This is all too overwhelming, too much to handle. I need time. I need to think. I haven’t been able to think straight for days. I don’t even know who the hell I really am anymore.

Maybe I’ve never known.

My lips begin to quiver and a whimper escapes from my mouth. I’m not sure if he takes it as a sign of weakness or a sign that I’m interested. I have no idea what he’s thinking or have time to think about it. His mouth descends upon mine almost the same moment the sound falls from my lips. His mouth is familiar in more ways than I ever thought possible. How can this feel so right yet be so very wrong?

When you move like lightning, you crash like thunder, and this is what happens when he wraps his arms around me and pulls me toward him, lifting me to the top of my desk. Papers fly all over the floor, as I scurry my body across the top of the glossy hard wood, tugging onto his tie, drawing him into me. On my knees, our mouths fuse together.

My sense of feeling erupts at his tender touch. The way he owns my tongue, twining it with his.

My sense of hearing awakens when our moans try to outdo one another’s.

My sense of taste comes deliciously alive, as he sexually lures me inside of his mouth when he sucks on my tongue.

My sense of touch explodes when he threads his big hands through my hair, cupping the back of my head.

And oh god, my sense of sight is the one that combines them all, because when I open my eyes to look at the man before me, Camden Steel is looking back at me. His eyes are speaking everything I feel, hear, taste, and touch. He wants me. He means what he says. Kissing is such an intimate act, one I have done so many times without a second thought, but this kiss is so much more.

“You are so beautiful, Luca. Don’t deny us this. Come away with me. Stay here in Chicago with me. I really don’t care. Just don’t turn me away.” Silence falls between us and his deep blue eyes hold mine in place.

“Alright.” My answer finally comes, startling myself even more than I think it does him.

“I have to fly someone to New York tonight, but I’ll be back to take you to dinner tomorrow,” he huffs out through a ragged breath.

“Let me cook for you.” What the hell is that? I never cook. I never stay in.

“Then I’ll be there at seven.” Camden takes an enquiring look around us. Papers are scattered all over the floor. His papers. His marketing portfolio. Releasing me from the hold he has me in, he presses one last kiss to my lips. I watch him in awe as he picks up every single piece off of the floor.

“I’m here for all of you, Luca. That includes your firm. I’ve done my research on every aspect of your life.”

I sink into myself as he walks out the door, leaving me to wonder where in hell I go from here. My thoughts are all cluster-fucked together, I jump when I hear Annie call my name through the open door.

“Are you alright?” She’s looking at me as if seeing a stranger.

“Yes, no,” I answer, completely unsure. I’m not ready to share any of this with her.

“Are you going to tell me who he is to you or do I have to guess?” She crosses her arms over her plump chest. Jesus Christ, enough already.

“He’s an old friend,” I say with a wave of my hand.

“An old friend who placed you on top of your desk? A leaving you with your face all flush like you’ve just been thoroughly fucked kind of friend?”

“I didn’t fuck him. God, Annie. I may have had my mind elsewhere these past few days, but give me some credit here.” Sliding down off of my desk, I straighten myself out the best I can.

“I’m sorry,” she says contritely.

“It’s ok. I would definitely think the same thing if I walked in on you with someone like that.”

“Well, I can tell you’re not into sharing any information, so I’m going to take off. I only wanted to tell you that Heath Landon has called three times in the past hour. That man sure is persistent. I mean, I kept telling him you were in a meeting with Mr. Steel and you would call him back,” she huffs, handing me a piece of paper with his number on it. God, how I wanted this number in a bad way the other day, and now that I have it, staring back at me, I don’t want it anymore.

NINE

My god, what have I done? How could I have given into Camden so easily? A few days ago, my life was perfectly fine and now, well now, I’m slipping into a pile of quicksand full of despair and desperation. I agreed to scale back my life for him, come to a grinding halt. I’ve worked too hard for all of this. I love my life and now I’m walking blindfolded on a very thin tightrope.

I immediately chastise myself even more than I already had been, when my hands pick up my phone, before setting it back down again; with this faceless new feeling of fear like I’ve never known before staring back at me. Heath, I have to call him. What do I say? Oh hey, by the way, I had a great time this past weekend, but I’m giving it all up for your partner. Would you like your anklet back?

“Lucia.” I immediately jump at the sound of hearing my name, my other name. A name coming out of the very same man’s mouth who, just days before, had it all over my body. The same man who gave me pleasure like no man before him did. Except for one. His business partner.

“Heath, how did you get in here?” I’m trying to pull my wits together, find myself. Even though I’m in my office, I’m not sure if I’m Luca or Lucia right now. With the way Heath is looking at me, it gives me the answer I need. He’s holding me in his gaze like he wants to spread me across my desk, whip out his glorious cock, and fuck me. No, I cannot let this happen. Even though every part of my body comes alive in his presence, craving nothing more than a release, if only from the tension my body holds.

“I never left. I’ve been with Mitch and Leo this whole time, while you’ve been hiding out in here with Camden. Care to explain how you know my partner? Was he one of your many conquests? It’s quite ironic, don’t you think?” He slams the door behind him, stalking my way. In an instant, his features change from lust to anger.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I respond sarcastically.

“Don’t I? Because watching you run away and lock yourself up in this office did not come from just seeing me. No, it came from seeing the both of us together. What the fuck are you hiding?”

I retreat back into my chair, seeking safety. This isn’t the same sweet man from the weekend who worshipped me. This man speaks danger. My heart stutters and it becomes difficult to breathe, the air in the room turning ice cold.

“I don’t owe you anything, Heath.”

He comes closer to me. I try and observe his face, examining the death glare penetrating through me. Jesus, he looks like he wants to kill me. Suddenly, I am not so excited about this man the way I was earlier. No, he looks like a ravage animal waiting to fuck with his lunch. When I was with him, I thought he was the nicest and sweetest man I’d ever met, but obviously I can’t trust anything I think anymore. This whole situation is a twisted up game of “see Luca run” and “I need to get the hell out of here now”. Two Alpha males are in my professional world trying to dictate who I am.

It is true that things can switch without any notice. I am living proof.

“You need to leave or I’m calling security,” I demand.

“You won’t call anyone or I’ll expose you for who you really are. Nothing but a god damned whore.” I’m horrified as he locks his arms around me, caging me in like a trapped animal, but beyond furious that he called me a whore.