4. Alexis
Alexis
I spent most of the day avoiding this moment. I had hyped myself up all weekend to confront Derek, and the longer I thought about it, the more I hesitated at the thought.
It was late afternoon by the time I dragged my ass downtown, and I kept trying to convince myself that I no longer needed the laptop. That I could abandon what was on it and start from scratch.
So, why in the fuck was I currently walking to the CIA office to get it?
Eli left me to help a friend move into their new home over the weekend, so I took advantage of his absence and worked on his computer since I didn’t have my laptop. He said I could stay as long as needed and that he would be crashing elsewhere.
At least Derek wouldn’t be able to find me here. He knew where Madison lived, so hiding out at her townhouse was no longer an option. I had gone there a handful of times several months back, and he kept showing up and pissing her off.
The first three hours in Eli’s apartment were spent cleaning up the shit hole he had left behind.
I couldn’t work with the smells and utter chaos that was him.
I wasn’t a clean freak in the least, but I still had some standards as to what makes a place livable, and Eli’s wasn’t it.
Opening the windows was a welcome relief to the stuffy and stale air I had been breathing since arriving early that morning.
When Sunday came, I was out of his apartment by the early afternoon. Eli had still not returned before I left, which was fine by me. I didn’t want to have another heated interaction with him; playing his maid was more than enough for me.
I looked forward to showering and snuggling up in my own bed after spending so much time in his. I wasn’t even going to attempt to take a shower at Eli’s, knowing he probably had a camera set up in his bathroom to spy on any woman he had over— fucking pervert .
Walking up the stairs to the fifth floor, I wanted to put as much time between seeing Derek as possible. Not to mention, I needed to think about what I would even say to him once we were face-to-face.
My mind was a wreck, torn between wanting him to bend me over his desk and finish what he started in that alley and stabbing him in the dick with a knife. I know—extreme, but that’s how I felt towards him .
I was at war with my feelings surrounding Derek and his uncompromising, hard-ass attitude. Physically, I wanted him and every inch of what he was offering, but emotionally, he was poison—dangerous—and I would be stupid to let him in.
I opened the door from the stairwell and noticed that the fifth floor was dead quiet, and the lights were dimmed. Where was everyone? I peered around the receptionist’s desk and wandered down the center of the empty cubicles.
It was a ghost town; everyone must have left the office early today. If I was lucky, Derek might have gone, too, and I could just grab my laptop and leave—anything to avoid being in his presence.
“Hey, pretty viper.” A smooth, sultry voice floated from behind me.
Ffffuuuccckkkk. I clenched my jaw so tightly it hurt and turned to see the handsome as fuck asshole standing in the doorway to what I could only assume was his private office.
Derek rested his arm against the doorframe and gave me a devilish smile. Why did I even consider that this would be easy? That I could just come in here, grab my laptop, and run for the hills without even being noticed.
I’m not naive; I know I’m attracted to him; how could you not be? His dark hair begged for my hands to tangle in their soft strands. The stubble that caressed his sharp jawline gave him the look of a hot villain, and his body in general… fuck me.
Derek was cut from fucking granite. A masterpiece of a man. Every inch of him was carved to perfection, and I wanted to drag my tongue along every single dip and curve .
“Derek.” I hissed through my teeth, turning to face him.
I crossed my arms over my chest and planted myself firmly where I stood—a show of dominance. I wasn’t about to make the first move in our little game of cat and mouse.
“Tell me, do you get off on stalking me?” Sarcasm being one of my favorite flavors this week.
A dark chuckle came from him as he dragged a thumb across his lower lip. I wondered what those lips tasted like if they were as delicious as I had imagined.
No, stop, we hate him. We don’t fantasize about the men we hate.
“You came to me; I wouldn’t call that stalking, Lex. But do you really want to know what gets me off?” Derek’s eyes roved my body from head to toe, and I straightened, making myself feel taller.
He towered over me with his six-foot-one height, but I wouldn’t let that stop me from working my own intimidation tactics. I could make a man feel small if I wanted to; Derek was nothing but another pawn on the chessboard of my life, and I was the goddamn queen.
“Ugh, whatever. Just give me my laptop, and I’ll be out of your way.” I ordered, gesturing my hand out as if my laptop would fit in my tiny palm.
I’d puff up my chest if it wouldn’t cause my breasts to push out and turn him on at the same time. The last thing I was here to do was get him all horned up over me. No thanks.
Why was my mind so far in the gutter today? I seriously needed to get my shit together.
“By all means, come and get it. I’m not going to stop you.” He smirked, stepping back into his room and gesturing me inside.
I didn’t move from where I stood. I wasn’t ignorant; I knew what he was trying to do. The man was predictable; in a sense, all men were. Luring their victims into small enclosed spaces with only one exit, blocked by their hard bodies.
My eyes inadvertently dropped to his jeans. Hard … he was so hard… Knock it the fuck off.
I don’t sleep with my enemy—unlike some women I know, but fuck if it wasn’t the most tempting thing right now.
“Why don’t you act the gentleman you aren’t and just bring it to me instead.” A sweet smile graced my lips, and I moved to lean back against one of the cubicle panels behind me.
I could wait all evening and night for him to come to me. Better yet, if he just left right now, he would be doing us both a favor.
“I love it when you play games with me, Lex. Don’t ever forget that. The harder you fight me… well… I’ll assume you know where I’m going with this. Now, get over here because if I have to come to you, you won’t be walking out of here tonight.”
I huffed, trying to hold back my smile. Was that a threat?
Derek licked his lips with a charming smirk, and I narrowed my eyes at him in silent challenge.
“Fucking try me, pretty boy. I don’t have the patience for your empty threats and crap flirting techniques today. Give me my laptop and leave me the fuck alone .” I spat my words with enough venom that even I felt their sting .
I meant what I said, didn’t I? I do want him to leave me alone… right? Fuck sake Alexis you and your indecisiveness.
Complicated didn’t even scratch the bare surface of my feelings towards Derek.
Yes, he was hot and had my body burning with desire for him.
But once I met with Anathema and agreed to their offer, we would never work—we couldn’t.
Enemies through and through. Our careers would prevent us from even getting remotely close to one another.
There would be no room for any kind of relationship with him—or anyone, for that matter.
I had been so caught up in my rambling thoughts that I didn’t even notice Derek had started making his way towards me. He was only a few short strides away before my eyes met his, and he stepped into me, pressing my body firmly against the wall.
My breath caught as his scent wrapped around me, and my cunt tightened with intense need.
“Derek, enough with this shit.” I barked, pushing my hands against his chest, fighting to put space between us. I couldn’t breathe. He was suffocating, all-consuming.
Derek gripped my wrists and pinned them up on either side of my head. I hated when he disarmed me like this, making me feel weak and helpless. I growled at him like the feral animal I was.
“Why don’t you stop lying to yourself and give in to me for once?
I know you want me just as badly as I want you…
I can make you feel so fucking good, Lex.
” His lips grazed the shell of my ear. “I won’t stop until you are mine, so you can either give me what I want or continue to fight me, but this…
this isn’t going away an ytime soon, pretty viper.
” He murmured, pressing his hips into mine.
I could feel his rock-hard length growing through his jeans, and if that motion alone didn’t just set me on fire… I was ready to burst into flames.
He was right; I was lying to myself, but that’s what I always did—call it self-sabotage. I knew he wasn’t good for me, and I wasn’t good for him. We were oil and vinegar. But that didn’t mean that a small toxic part of me didn’t want to claim him for herself.
“I’ll give in to you when you finally realize that you can’t get what you want when it comes to me, Derek. I decide who owns me, and right now, it’s not you. Now get the fuck off me before I make you.” I growled with a low hiss.
If he was going to call me a viper, I would act like one, and my venom was deadly.
Consider this practice for my new career path. I won’t let men like him walk all over me, not anymore.
I’m the badass, and I fucking own it.
I could see Derek’s jaw tick out of the corner of my eye. He was fuming, but he knew he lost this round with me. I may have given him what he wanted in that back alley, that smug satisfaction of getting me off, but I wasn’t going to give him any more pieces of me.
Not until I was ready—if I ever would be.
He pushed off the wall and took a step back. Good.
I glared at him as I headed towards his office, removing my laptop from his desk and staring at him from the doorway .
I sighed deeply, finally having the space to breathe and relax without him looming over me. I hugged my broken laptop tightly in my arms.
“We won’t work, Derek. You know that as well as I do. The sooner you accept that as the truth, the sooner you will get over—” I gestured my hand between us. “Whatever this is.”
He didn’t move from where I had left him. Instead, Derek just crossed his arms and gave me a smug smile.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Lex. And I’m going to prove it to you.” Firm determination burned behind his warm brown eyes.
Derek could chase me all he wanted.
In fact… I welcomed the challenge.