CHAPTER TWENTY #2
I stepped closer, measured and teasing.
By the time I reached him, there was no space left between us.
I leaned in just enough to feel the shift in his breath before letting my hands drift to his chest, dragging them down slowly as his muscles tensed beneath my fingertips.
Then I sank to my knees between his legs, my hands sliding along his thighs as I settled there and instantly the air between us thickened.
I rolled my hips to the beat, slow and controlled, before letting the movement travel upward, my back arching as I leaned back just enough to give him a full view.
My hands braced against the floor behind me as I lowered onto my back, keeping myself centered between his legs, my body moving in time with the music.
Then I lifted, arching off the floor, my hips rising before lowering again in a slow, deliberate rhythm, every movement drawn out, intentional.
I came back up smoothly, bringing myself closer again, close enough to feel his breath, his focus still locked on me.
I climbed onto his lap, my thighs framing his hips, my body pressed to his in a way that was anything but professional.
Nathan inhaled sharply, his fingers twitching at his sides like he was aching to touch me.
I moved. I grinded. I let my hands roam over every place I had no business touching. Nathan’s body was coiled like a live wire, his jaw clenched, his knuckles white where he gripped the chair. And he looked at me like I was art. Like I was worth watching.
I finished the routine with one last contorted move and brought his head towards mine so that our foreheads were touching just as the song came to an end.
The air felt heavier, like something was about to happen.
I stayed where I was, straddling him, trying and failing to ignore the bulge I felt underneath me. My arms looped loosely around his neck, my chest rising and falling with the last few lingering notes. The music faded, but neither of us moved.
I kept my eyes locked on him as I asked, “What did you think?”
Nathan stared at me, his gaze dropping to my mouth, the tension in his hands giving him away.
“I think I’m done watching.” Nathan stated before his lips crashed down on mine.
No hesitation. No warning.
Just full, hungry contact. He kissed me like he was starving and I was the only thing that could satisfy him.
I gasped, hands flying to his chest, not to push him away, but to anchor myself, to confirm this was actually happening. That Nathan Edge, my boss, my constant headache, my walking contradiction was kissing me like he’d been waiting years for the chance.
Maybe he had. Maybe I had too.
Nathan’s hand cupped the side of my face while thumb brushed over my cheek as his mouth claimed mine with a kind of reverence that made me sink into him. His other hand slid to my ass, pulling me flush against him, and suddenly, the ache I’d danced through earlier returned with a vengeance.
But this time, it wasn’t from fear or heartbreak or grief.
It was from want.
From need.
I opened for him on a sigh, and he took full advantage, deepening the kiss in a way that made the whole room tilt.
His tongue stroked against mine, slow and thorough, like he was memorizing the taste of me.
And I let myself get lost in him, in the solid press of his body, in the soft growl that rumbled in his chest when I scraped my nails lightly down his back.
Footsteps echoed just outside the studio door, forcing us to break apart.
Both of us were breathing unevenly, but neither of us made an effort to move.
Nathan’s hand remained at my hip, like letting go wasn’t an option, but his gaze snapped toward the door just as it swung open, revealing Carl, Edge Record’s head of security.
“Boss,” Carl said, his deep voice carrying a note of surprise. His gaze swept over the scene—me in my scandalous outfit straddling Nathan. Nathan wearing an expression of heat and desire. This did not look good.
Nathan exhaled through his nose, as if he were reining himself in. “Carl.”
Carl crossed his arms over his chest, his lips twitching like he was fighting a smirk. “Just doing my rounds. Thought you’d be home by now.”
Nathan’s gaze snapped back to me, and just like that, the moment was gone.
He straightened, rolling his shoulders back, his face once again an unreadable mask.
“I was just about to leave,” he said smoothly.
Then he turned his attention fully on me, his mouth curving in a way that was far too smug for my liking. “And so are you.”
I frowned. “I still have—”
“Security doesn’t leave until I leave,” He teased, reminding me of my words all those nights ago when we had dinner in his office. “And I’m not leaving until you leave.”
Damn him.
Carl let out a low chuckle, shaking his head as he backed out of the room. “I’ll be outside, boss.”
Nathan didn’t respond. He just sat there, watching as I climbed off his lap, grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder.
I could still feel the heat of his stare as I bent to grab my phone from where I’d propped it up earlier.
I didn’t bother checking the preview; it would go into my drafts like the others.
I’d watch the video back later and decide whether to scrap it or post it on my page when I got home; but right now it was going into the safety of my drafts.
My fingers moved on autopilot, my mind still stuck on the feel of Nathan’s hands, the sound of his voice, the way he kissed me like I was the only thing that had ever mattered.
Without really looking, I hit the button and tucked my phone away, accepting the blazer Nathan held out to me like a gentleman as if he hadn’t just kissed me breathless two minutes ago.
I arched a brow at him and his gaze flicked to Carl, then back to me, sharper now.
His voice dropped, low enough that only I could hear.
“For my eyes only.”
The three of us didn't say a word as we took the elevator that would take us to the main lobby of the building, but the silence that followed us was interrupted by the sound of my phone pinging nonstop. I wondered what was going on in the group chat that I was apparently missing out on.
Did Kelsey win an award?
Did Alessia quit her job?
I reached for my phone, not sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn’t the onslaught of comments and likes on one of my videos.
Did one of my old videos go viral?
I clicked on the latest notification of a new like on a video and it instantly took me to my Tiktok page and the video of Nathan and me dancing that I thought uploaded of my drafts.
I didn’t. I posted it all for the world to see.
20k likes and growing.
Oh. My. God.
I’ve gotten 20k likes before but never this quickly and the comments were just as startling. The comments ranged from complimenting my dancing skills to my chemistry with Nathan.
User#1: I would ask what are we.
User #2: It’s looking at me...
User #3: Sis, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but you succeeded.
User #4: Yasss queen. You ate and left no crumbs.
User #5: If I could dance like you, I wouldn’t know how to act.
User#6: The way he’s looking at her… my man ready to risk it all.
Just wait til they find out he’s my boss.
Nathan Edge was a lot of things. Ruthless businessman. Innovative CEO. Occasional insufferable boss. But he was no actor. The stark desire on his face as he watched me dance for him was real and screamed one thing: He wants me.
And after weeks of peeling back layers of Nathan I wasn’t sure existed, I think it was more than safe to say that I wanted him too.
Twenty thousand strangers just watched me grind on my boss, and now I had to figure out what came next.