The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, but neither of them moved.
Lana's breath hitched as Kieran's hand remained braced beside her head, his eyes burning holes into her skin. She couldn't move. Wouldn't. Her heart was a storm inside her chest, thudding against her ribs like it was trying to warn her. But her body had stopped listening a long time ago.
He stepped closer. One deliberate inch at a time.
"You think I regret kissing you?" he asked, voice low, almost cruel with how calm it sounded.
She blinked up at him. "You said—"
"I said it was a mistake because it wasn't enough," Kieran growled. "You want the truth, Miss Hart? I've been thinking about it since the moment your mouth left mine."
Lana tried to speak, but her voice caught in her throat.
"Come with me," he ordered, already placing a hand at the small of her back.
She hesitated. "Kieran…"
He didn't give her the option to say no. They stepped out into the executive floor, polished and dim, everyone gone for the evening. His hand never left her back. He led her straight to his private office, shutting the door behind them with a heavy finality that made her legs tremble.
Her breath stuttered. "We can't—"
"We already did." He leaned closer, voice dark silk. "And I'm going to do a lot more unless you tell me to stop."
Silence.
He stepped into her space again. She backed into the wall, trapped between the cool glass and the heat of his body.
"You kissed me back," he said, gaze flickering down to her lips. "Don't pretend you didn't want it."
She clenched her jaw. "It was heat of the moment. You caught me off guard."
"Then why are you trembling?" he whispered.
His fingers brushed her waist, skating up her ribs slowly, deliberately. Lana swallowed hard. Her hands pressed to his chest, as if trying to hold him off, but her fingers curled into his shirt instead.
His hand moved up. Over her blouse. His palm closed over her breast—firm, possessive, and unashamed.
Lana gasped.
His thumb dragged over her hardened nipple through the thin fabric, and her body jolted. "Don't act shocked," he murmured, lips brushing her ear. "You asked me to be raw."
"I didn't—" Her voice broke as he rolled her nipple between his fingers. Her hips bucked against him involuntarily.
"You don't know how long I've wanted to touch you like this. Every time you walk in with that tight little skirt, pretending you're unaffected." His hand slipped down, gathering her skirt in his fist, dragging it up slowly.
"Kieran…" Her voice was a plea.
He tilted her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his. "You say my name like that again, and I'll ruin you right here."
Her breath hitched.
"I should be professional," he said. "I should let you go. But I won't. Not now."
He kissed her again—this time harder, deeper. She moaned into his mouth, body surrendering as his hands roamed freely, lifting her onto his desk in one smooth move. Papers scattered. The clatter of a pen echoed. He shoved her knees apart and stepped between them.
"You're driving me insane," he whispered against her throat. "You don't get to walk in here and act like you don't know exactly what you're doing."
"I don't," she whispered, voice trembling.
"You do." He sucked at her neck, marking her. "And now I'm going to show you exactly what that does to me."
She should've stopped it. She should've pushed him away. But when his hands dragged her blouse open and his mouth closed over her bare breast, all thought vanished. The heat, the taste, the feel of him—everything blurred into a pulse that beat between her thighs and owned her.
His mouth was hungry. Tongue circling, sucking, teasing her until she writhed under him.
And then he stopped.
His breath was ragged, his eyes wild. "If I keep going, Lana… I won't stop."
She looked at him, lips swollen, skin flushed, her body shaking with need. "Then don't."
He froze.
That single sentence broke him. His mouth crashed into hers again—desperate, starved. And when he dragged her underwear down her thighs, his hands trembled.
But just as he was about to take what he'd been craving for so long…
Her phone rang.
A loud, shrill interruption that sliced through the fog of lust.
They both froze.
Kieran's jaw clenched. "Don't answer that."
But she was already reaching for it, breathless and half-naked on his desk.
She stared at the screen.
"Derek calling…"
She didn't answer.
But the moment had shattered.
Kieran backed away, breathing hard, running a hand through his hair as if trying to cage the monster he'd just let out.
Lana sat up slowly, blouse falling around her shoulders, heart racing.
Neither of them spoke.
Not yet.
But everything had changed.