Aiden Hale
In Cassian Rourke's private penthouse. That was where I spent the night.
I woke up on a soft leather couch, disoriented and overheated. I couldn't help it after a long night.
I looked and the room was quite dim and silent. Which should have been a norm to me. I should be used to this right?
"I should be, shouldn't I?"
I whispered to myself.
The only thing that was thrilling to see was the critical exception of the low hum of the city far below the windows.
My wrists were not restrained, but the sensation of being watched created a strange charged tension.
He was awake, I noticed him sit up as he instantly began staring at me.
I stood across the room, half-shadowed, shirt loosened, gaze fixed on the view outside the window.
With a controlled intensity that blurs the line between interrogation and fascination.
My pulse accelerates under Cassian's scrutiny. As he watched me.
The air felt dense, almost too warm, and I became acutely aware of his own body, the thinness of his shirt, and the memory of being escorted with force into the penthouse earlier.
Cassian's closeness brought a charged awareness that I couldn't seem to bring myself to understand.
"What's going on with me?"
Those were the words that lingered in my head I couldn't help but to go deep into these thoughts.
As Cassian wakes up he studies every move I make, every breath I draw. His expression is unreadable, but the fixation is unmistaken.
He smirks slightly, and comes in closer, touching me.
At that moment the atmosphere thickens with an unspoken tension neither of us acknowledges.
Cassian positions himself deliberately close, leaning against the edge of the table while maintaining a slow, calculated distance that feels more intimate than a touch.
"What are you doing? It's enough. We can't keep doing this? It's too dangerous"
I couldn't let it go further than it had already gone. I didn't want to resist him. But God knows that I couldn't
"You have nothing to be scared of"
Cassian assured me as he pulled in closer and placed his finger on my lips as he leaned close to my ears.
"What are you doing?"
But then the contrast between Cassian's cold exterior and the simmering heat beneath it created a dangerous and strangely compelling tension.
I wouldn't want to admit it, but I loved the way the heat brewed between us.
I didn't want him to stop for any reason at all so I pushed him back, stood up and left him as I strolled into the bathroom.
Looking into the mirror. Looking at my reflection, I couldn't help but start questioning myself.
"Aiden, what have you gotten yourself into?"
I sighed heavily as I opened the tap and cupped the water in my palms and rinsed my face.
Then the memories of how all of this occurred began to unfold.
***
FLASHBACK
I had just made a chilling discovery of a sealed archive file. I was deeply intrigued by what I had seen. So I dug deeper.
It was an unusual data trail that was linked to an old acquisition, and the flagged audit that exposed my access.
Security escorted me from the archives, and that was when Cassian made the abrupt decision to bring me to the penthouse.
Instead of allowing corporate security to question me.
I paused and remembered glimpses of Cassian's stern expression in the elevator, the tension in his jaw, the heat of adrenaline between them.
Back in the present, Cassian demanded to know how I accessed confidential documents.
"How did you do that? And how did you get permission to do that?"
He said pointing his finger to my chest stepping so close that I felt the faint warmth radiating from him.
I blushed because the entire situation was turning me on. But I maintained an ignorant look on my face.
He looked like he was about to explode before screaming at the top of his lungs. If only he knew those moments from that time, he'd be making me scream on top of mine.
"Don't just stand there and keep quiet, answer me If not-"
"Or what?"
I said with cockiness and a sly smile at the edge of my lips.
His presence carried dominance. It was quite obvious it was born from growing up under a ruthless father and the weight of an empire he never chose.
I sensed that Cassian was not just suspicious but unsettled by something about me he couldn't just point out.
"I will, I will, I will"
He began to stutter and that was when I caved in and brought his finger down.
"You can't complete your sentence?"
I said with a wicked grin.
Overwhelmed and intimidated, I tried to regulate his breathing. I quietly observed the way his chest rose and fell.
Then something shifted in his expression, an almost imperceptible unraveling. The moment is charged, heavy, and dangerous.
"Answer me or had the cat caught your tongue"
I said as I grazed my fingers on his face and absorbed his perfume.
I loved how his scent was strong and appealing.
Then I froze and saw the look in his eyes.
It was quite obvious the only thing stopping us now was the fact that we had company in the mirror.
"Don't go anywhere."
He said sternly as he ordered his security details to leave the room.
"I'll monitor him"
He said as they left they left us alone. Making it look like he is about to question me.
We all knew the orders to stay in the penthouse were just a guise and the underlying reason is clear.
Cassian wanted me close, contained, and within reach.
Immediately it was quite obvious that it was just us. Cassian walked to the door.
Leaving me in the center of the room standing alone as he speaks.
"You're so cocky. I hate that about you but instead of making you pay. I'm going to punish you"
Just then I heard the locks turn. I panicked. I wondered if it was better to have run when I had a chance but it was too late for that.
When he was done locking the doors he walked back to me, taking off his jacket and throwing it on the floor.
He loosened his tie and closed in on me, saying:
"You're going to tell me exactly how you got access to those files and I'm going to show you what I'll do if you don't"
He said as he kissed me so roughly. Drowning his lips into my mouth without permission.
Did I like it? Yes. It felt so
wrong but also I couldn't tell him to stop.
"Now, turn around"
Cassian said with a look of dominance I knew I didn't have a choice.