Chapter 35

Elena's whole body shuddered.

The warm sensation came completely out of nowhere.

Richard's teeth caught lightly against the edge of her ear, grazing it just enough to make her tremble.

It felt like a punishment—or perhaps a silent mark being left behind.

A tingling current shot from the tip of her ear and raced down her neck, all the way to her spine.

She almost cried out, but bit down hard on her lower lip to keep herself from making a humiliating sound.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Elena?”

“Are you listening to me?!”

Adrian was still talking frantically on the other end of the phone, his voice growing increasingly irritated.

Elena's mind had gone completely blank. She couldn't care less about what he was saying anymore.

She gripped her phone tightly with one hand. With the other, she instinctively pushed at Richard's face, only for her fingers to brush against the faint stubble along his jaw, making them tingle.

“You—”

She turned her head and stared at the man so close to her, completely stunned.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

On the other end, Adrian could still hear only vague sounds and fragments of conversation.

“Elena?!”

Richard released her ear and leaned back half an inch.

There wasn't the slightest trace of guilt or embarrassment on his handsome face. Instead, he looked completely serious, as if he hadn't just bitten her ear.

He even raised an eyebrow slightly, silently asking what was wrong.

Elena gritted her teeth, then took a breath and forced herself to calm down.

“Adrian,” she said coldly, “as much as I'd enjoy seeing you get what you deserve, I won't take responsibility for something I didn't do.”

Adrian gave a cold laugh.

“What exactly are you doing? And who was that just now?”

Elena scoffed.

“Forget that we're already broken up. Back when we weren't, I asked you the exact same question. How did you answer me back then?”

Adrian was momentarily speechless.

Back then, he'd only thought Elena was annoying, always acting like an overbearing mother checking up on him every five minutes.

Elena hung up.

Then she switched her phone completely to silent mode and put it away.

Only after she'd finished did she suddenly turn around and glare at the culprit behind her.

“Mr. Sterling, may I ask what exactly you were doing just now?”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Nothing.”

Richard looked down at her, his gaze deep and unreadable.

“You weren't sitting steadily, so I was holding you.”

“Holding—”

Elena was so stunned by his completely straight-faced excuse that she couldn't even finish the sentence.

“With your mouth?!”

“I thought you could feel it.”

His voice was low as his hand gave her waist a light squeeze.

“What do you think?”

Elena's body softened again.

She struggled slightly.

“Well, I'm sitting steadily now. Can you let go?”

Richard didn't move an inch.

“You saw how hard the car had to brake just now. If it happens again, you're not wearing a seat belt. It's not safe.”

“I can put it on now—”

“No need.”

He said it with complete seriousness.

“Just sit like this. We're not far away anyway.”

Elena: “…………”

Fine.

Elena secretly gritted her teeth.

She took a deep breath, and the flush on her face gradually faded.

She stopped struggling and instead adjusted her position, settling more securely on Richard's thigh.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned toward the window and watched the city lights rush past.

In a casual tone, she asked, “Mr. Sterling, do you usually get off work this late?”

Richard narrowed his eyes slightly.

Her sudden change in attitude made him somewhat wary, but more than anything, he was curious.

What trick was this little cat trying to pull now that she'd been pushed into a corner?

“Depends.”

He played along.

“These past few days have actually been considered early.”

“Oh.”

Elena answered softly.

She raised her right hand, and her fingertips naturally lowered until they lightly tapped the large hand resting around her waist.

“You work pretty hard, then.”

Her fingers didn't pull away.

Instead, they slowly traced across the back of his hand, moving from the raised knuckles to the veins standing out beneath his skin.

The movement was as light as a feather brushing across water, yet carried a subtle, teasing quality.

The muscles in Richard's arm tightened almost imperceptibly for a moment.

Elena felt it.

She smiled inwardly, but showed nothing on her face.

Her fingertips continued tracing small circles across the back of his hand, sometimes pressing lightly against his knuckles, sometimes more firmly.

“Oh, right. Have you eaten?”

“…No.”

Richard's voice was a few degrees lower than before.

“Then what do you want to eat later?”

Elena smiled sweetly.

Her left foot slowly lifted.

She leaned back in an almost lazy posture, her toes moving casually until they brushed against the inside of Richard's calf.

Through the thin fabric of his expensive tailored trousers, she could clearly feel the firm muscle underneath.

Richard's fingers tightened around her waist.

“Stop moving.”

His voice was very low, carrying a clear warning.

“I didn't move.”

Elena blinked innocently.

But her toes became even more deliberate, brushing against his calf again and again as though she were keeping time to a beat.

From the inside to the outside, then slipping just a centimeter beneath the edge of his trouser cuff until they touched his slightly raised Achilles tendon.

“…The car is just moving.”

Elena said it innocently.

Richard fell silent.

The atmosphere inside the car suddenly grew thick.

He lowered his gaze to her.

The girl tilted her face up at him, looking completely innocent.

Her beautiful eyes seemed even brighter in the dim cabin, clear and luminous like two pools of spring water.

But the mischievous tip of her foot was still lazily tracing circles against his calf.

One circle.

Two.

Three.

She was teasing him without the slightest restraint.

And she knew exactly what she was doing.

Richard felt his heartbeat skip.

He had been flirted with plenty of times.

Some women dressed provocatively. Some pretended to be drunk and threw themselves into his arms. Others deliberately spilled red wine over his suit.

He had either avoided them or rejected them. On more than one occasion, he'd even had someone escort them out.

But—

This was the first time someone had looked up at him with such an innocent, delicate face while shamelessly rubbing against his leg, watching him with that utterly fearless expression.

…Right.

He often thought of her as a little cat.

Perhaps this was why.

After all, cats were predators too.

Heat traveled upward from his calf, burning past his knee and waist before spreading through his entire body, quickly becoming a raging fire.

Richard raised a hand and tugged at the already loosened collar of his shirt, suddenly feeling as though the air conditioning in the car had stopped working.

“Elena.”

He called her name.

“Hmm?”

She was still smiling sweetly.

Her toes withdrew from his calf and came to rest casually on the expensive leather of his shoe.

The pressure was so light it was almost nonexistent, yet its presence was impossible to ignore.

Richard leaned slightly forward.

His other hand reached out, using the advantage of his long arm to catch her slender ankle.

His palm was broad and burning hot.

His fingers closed around her ankle, easily encircling it.

There was a thin layer of calluses across his knuckles.

As they brushed against her delicate skin, a fine shiver ran through her.