Chapter 38

His fingers tightened around the phone.

The business partner on the other end was still going over the key figures, one after another.

Richard couldn't afford to lose his composure at a moment like this.

Without turning around, he said, “…I understand. Send the proposal to my email.”

Seeing that he wasn't reacting, Elena's courage immediately grew.

She quietly moved around to his side, her eyes settling on the small patch of skin exposed along his neck where his shirt collar didn't quite cover it.

Elena leaned forward, puffed out her cheeks, and blew gently against his skin.

Richard's fingers tightened around the phone.

He immediately turned his head.

Those deep black eyes, dark as a bottomless pool, locked dangerously onto the audacious little cat standing in front of him.

Elena shivered under his gaze.

She immediately recoiled as if she'd been burned, taking two quick steps backward as she prepared to make her escape.

A dangerous fire ignited in Richard's eyes.

The person on the other end was still talking.

“Chairman Sterling, regarding the profit-sharing arrangement, our side—”

Richard took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the restless heat threatening to break through his composure.

“Fifty-fifty. If they don't accept it, find another partner. I'm hanging up.”

Click.

The call ended cleanly.

Elena had already turned around and was preparing to make a run for the stairs.

But she'd barely taken two steps when a large, hot hand firmly caught her wrist.

“Ah—!”

Elena was yanked backward and crashed into a warm, solid chest.

The next second, her back was pressed against Richard's broad, heated chest, the hard muscle beneath his thin shirt firm against her spine.

Richard still had one hand securely around her wrist.

He lowered his head and looked down at her, his dark eyes filled with an intensity that seemed impossible to escape.

“Mr.—Mr. Sterling,” Elena said, pretending nothing had happened. “I just noticed there was a mosquito near you!”

“Is that so?”

Richard raised an eyebrow.

“Then should I be thanking you?”

“Well, you don't have to be so formal about it.”

Elena rolled her eyes.

“After all, you already bought me a car…”

The man behind her lowered his head and leaned closer, his warm breath brushing across her cheek.

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“But I still want to thank you properly.”

He deliberately emphasized the last few words.

Elena pressed her lips together, her beautiful eyes widening.

“…And how exactly are you planning to do that?”

Richard stared at her for several seconds.

Then he let out a low chuckle and turned her around to face him.

“You really are bold.”

His gaze made Elena's throat tighten.

“I—I learned it from you.”

Richard paused.

Elena: “…”

She wasn't even sure what she'd meant by that herself.

“You learned it from me?”

Richard repeated her words slowly.

Elena felt her scalp prickle under his gaze.

She instinctively tried to step backward, but he still had a firm hold on her, leaving her nowhere to go.

Richard took the opportunity to move closer.

His tall frame almost completely surrounded her.

Elena cautiously shifted backward, trying to put even a little distance between them.

But every inch she retreated, Richard followed.

Finally, he lowered his head until the tip of his nose was almost touching hers.

“Don't move.”

His voice was so low it seemed to come from deep within his throat, carrying a dangerous authority that left no room for refusal.

Elena froze.

She barely dared to breathe.

Richard didn't move.

He simply looked at her.

His deep black eyes held emotions she couldn't quite decipher—teasing, amusement, a dark spark that had clearly been ignited, but above all, an unmistakable sense of possession.

The tips of Elena's ears turned crimson.

Her heart pounded against her chest like a drum, each beat coming faster and harder, making her chest rise and fall ever so slightly.

“I—”

She had just begun to speak when Richard lifted his other hand.

His fingertips traced gently along her jaw.

The touch was so light, like a feather skimming across the surface of water.

Yet the tingling sensation it left behind shot from her jaw all the way behind her ear like an electric current.

Richard's fingertip came to rest against the edge of her ear.

With his thumb, he slowly rubbed the spot he'd bitten earlier, neither too hard nor too lightly.

The amusement in his eyes deepened.

“Why are you so red?”

Elena's cheeks instantly became hot enough to fry an egg.

She opened her mouth, ready to argue, but the hand playing with her ear suddenly slipped down another inch, settling against the sensitive skin along the side of her neck.

“…”

Elena's entire body went rigid.

The thin layer of calluses on his fingertips brushed against her delicate skin, sending tiny shivers through her.

She instinctively drew her neck back.

Richard's hand followed, settling against the back of her neck, his broad palm covering it completely.

Heat spread from his hand along her neck and spine.

The feeling of being completely surrounded, completely under his control, made Elena's body soften.

“Are you feeling hot?”

Richard's low voice sounded above her head.

“Hot or not…”

Elena forced herself to answer.

“If I say I am, are you planning to make me take something off?”

Richard let out a low laugh.

He didn't answer.

Instead, he lowered his head and gently rested his chin against the top of her hair.

Elena stood perfectly still.

He was more than a head taller than her.

She could feel the faint stubble along his jaw brushing against the ends of her hair, and the steady warmth of his breath falling against her forehead.

The large hand around the back of her neck continued to slowly stroke her delicate skin with his thumb.

Elena's thoughts drifted for a moment.

She had never been held like this before.

His body felt like a dangerous yet strangely safe cage, shutting out everything around her while completely surrounding her at the same time.

Elena's fingers curled slightly.

She caught the hem of his shirt.

Then she slipped her index finger through the gap between the buttons and lightly traced the skin beneath.

Richard drew in a sharp breath.

Her slightly cool fingertip moved across the hard muscle of his abdomen, sending a spark of tingling sensation through him.

The reaction was immediate.

Richard lowered his head.

His deep black eyes were suddenly cold and intense, like icy water breaking through a frozen surface.

Snap.

The man caught her slender finger without hesitation.

He took Elena's hand—the same hand that had just been teasing him—and pressed it firmly against his burning chest.

Through the thin fabric of his shirt, Elena could clearly feel how hard and fast his heart was beating.

Every beat struck against his chest like the pounding of a war drum.

“What are you doing?”

Elena looked up and met his dangerous black eyes.

Her own heartbeat accelerated.

“I was worried you'd have trouble digesting your dinner, so I thought I'd rub your stomach for you?”

Richard: “…”

“Elena.”

Richard's lips brushed close to her ear.

His hoarse voice sounded as though it had been dragged up from the deepest part of his throat.

“Are you planning on staying up all night?”

Elena's pupils contracted.

She instinctively ran her tongue over her dry lips.

“Actually, I—”

Richard's gaze dropped to the tip of her flushed tongue.

Whatever patience he had left seemed to disappear completely.

Before Elena could react, the hand around her wrist suddenly pulled upward, dragging her firmly into his broad, heated embrace.

At the same time, his other hand slid from the back of her neck to her jaw.

His defined fingers closed around her chin, forcing her face upward.

“…”

Richard's lips suddenly descended on hers.