His eyes laughed at me, as if daring me to be the first to acknowledge what was happening between us.
Constantijin said solemnly, “So it says in your resume you used to work for your father’s pharmaceutical company. Why did you leave?”
Still painstakingly aware of the heat from his body and the way my knees tingled with every instance he moves and his knees bump into me, I said haltingly, “It wasn’t for me.”
“But if I take you…”
My eyes widened. Take me? Like, take me, like, now?
He smirked. “Oh, Ms. Everleigh, what are you thinking?”
I turned red, realizing he knew exactly what I had been thinking.
He said smoothly, “I’m just wondering how I can be sure that if I take you in my company you won’t feel the same in the end?”
It took me a few seconds to answer. “I worked for my father’s company out of family loyalty – I gave it a fair shot but I just wasn’t a good fit. But the job your company is offering – I want it for no other reason than I know I’m going to love it and work hard to be the best for it.”
He looked at me, as if waiting for me to say more.
I looked back at him steadily since I knew there was nothing else I could say.
Finally, he spoke again. “Well put, Ms. Everleigh.”
The whole interview took about half an hour, and he ended it with the usual, “Thank you for your time, Ms. Everleigh, and we’ll be calling you about the results soon.”
He sounded so businesslike I started thinking uneasily maybe I had just misread the situation, and he hadn’t been really hitting on me. When he stood up, I did so, too. I opened my mouth to thank him, but he beat me to speaking. “Now that’s over with…”
In the act of taking my bag from the seat, I froze at the strange tone of his words. Had interviewing me been that much of a bore?
“We can start talking about us then.”
Shock made my fingers go limp, and my bag fell back onto the seat soundlessly.
“Look at me, Yanna.”
My heart raced faster at how different my name sounded when he said it with his Dutch accent so pronounced.
“Yanna,” he said again, warningly this time since I still hadn’t looked at him.
The command in his voice was like music my body couldn’t resist dancing to and I found myself slowly lifting my head up to look at him.
God, he was really too beautiful for words. It hurt to look at him and not touch him, and it hurt even more to force myself to stay still when his words were so blatantly raw with his need.
“I want to f**k you, Yanna.”
My lips parted in shock at what he was saying even as the rest of my body melted. Every nerve in my body was screaming, undress now, undress now!
When had I become such a shameless hussy?
He walked towards me, and I could only stand there, a slave waiting to be claimed by her master. The thought made me cringe. Where did that come from again?
“Mr. Kastein.” I could barely hear myself over the racket my heart was making. I started backing away from him when I realized he really was determined to close the distance between us.
Looking over my shoulder to make sure I was backing my way to the door, I glanced back at him.
“Call me by my name,” he commanded.
I gulped at the smoldering look in his gaze but said stubbornly, “Mr. Kas-tein!” I ended up shrieking the last syllable when his hand suddenly shot out, taking me by surprise as he grabbed hold of me.
Suddenly I was locked in the circle of his arms, his breath fanning my face, and Constantijin staring down at me in satisfaction.
“You’re the only woman I know who’s not dying to obey me,” he whispered.
“Then I think you must have been dating dogs, not women.”
He chuckled, but his tone was dead serious when he murmured, “I’m going to kiss you now.”
My eyes widened in panic. I knew without a single doubt that my life would change completely if he did. “No---”
Constantijin had already bent his head down, his lips conquering mine.
I slapped his face without thinking.
He released me with a muttered curse, something in Dutch but the way he said it made a literal translation unnecessary.
“Why the f**k did you slap me?”
“You kissed me!” My voice was shaking as hard as my body was. I couldn’t believe how just that soft ephemeral touch of his lips had made me so incredibly wet.
He raised a brow. “So? We both want it.”
His mocking gaze moved down to my chest. I gasped, crossing my arms over it right away when I realized how my ni**les had once again betrayed me.
Constantijin drawled, “In fact, I think I can go as far as saying you want more than my kiss. You want me to touch you, too.” His voice lowered. “You want me to f**k you right this very moment.”
“I don’t,” I lied even as my body yearned even more for skin-to-skin contact with his. The maelstrom of emotions erupting inside of me made me want to weep. All of them boiled down to one thing. I did want him to f**k me, right this very moment.
He hauled me back to his arms. “Let me prove to you what a delectable liar you are,” he murmured just before his lips were back where I so desperately wanted and feared them to be.
This time, he didn’t let go even as I struggled as hard as I could. When I tried to twist away, he retaliated by forcing me back, his brute strength easily winning over mine. He pushed me back until my h*ps hit something from behind.
I suddenly found myself half sprawled on the conference table, Constantijin kicking the chair blocking in his way. It hit the wall with a loud thud as he pushed me down, deepening the kiss, lips pushing harder into mine until I finally gasped out my surrender.
His tongue snaked in without hesitation, tasting me like my mouth was the sweetest and rarest candy. His lips and tongue moved with a mix of gentleness and possessiveness, seducing me further away from all the sexual inhibitions I had grown up with. His hardness bore down on me heavily, but it was a weight I was eager to feel, and I couldn’t stop my legs from wrapping around his. We groaned at the same time, the new position of our bodies allowing his erection to press against mine, a force of seduction that blew away every bit of common sense remaining inside my brain.
When he pulled away slightly, I could only gaze back at him in a daze. “Say my name,” he demanded, his voice even more guttural.
Unable to resist him now, I whispered, “Constantijin.”
He groaned, kissing me again, this time letting my wrists go so he could cup both my br**sts, his hands completely covering them.