Page 47 of The Heart of Winter

Which meant I needed to stay the hell away from him. He was a fucking alpha. And my boss’s son. My employee.

Alphas were nothing but trouble. Always had been, at least for me.

I watched as he stepped into the building. Maybe he’d just gotten back from lunch.

And then, without thinking, I was already moving.

I left my office, heading toward the elevators. He’d be coming up any second now. The doors would open, and for a brief moment, we’d see each other. I could play it off, act like I just happened to be there, going about my day.

Why the hell not? A little treat of inappropriate excitement, and a little spike in my daily irritation level.

The numbers ticked up.

The elevator chimed. The doors slid open.

He wasn’t alone, there were other employees inside, but I ignored them completely.

My eyes locked onto Sariel’s. And his locked onto mine.

It was jarring. So intense that I ended up staring at him a little longer than I should’ve. His eyebrows lifted slightly, then he took a step forward, ready to exit the elevator. The rest of the people squeezed past me, but he walked straight ahead, like he expected me to be the one to step back! Insolence…

And I don’t know why, but I did.

I moved back, and Sariel came out of the elevator.

"Good day, Director," he said. His smiling lips were pink and—pink? Why did I even notice that?

He actually seemed happy to see me, which was downright bizarre, considering how I’d been treating him. There was something… innocent about him. A kind of openness that made you want to explore it.

Andprotectit.

"Hey," I muttered, stepping aside to let him pass.

But he didn’t. He just stood there, looking at me, weirdly entranced. His lips parted, like he wanted to ask me something. I kinda froze, and right then, the elevator doors slammed shut.

I swore under my breath and tried to stop it, but to do that, I had to lean past Sariel—and in that split second, the back of my hand brushed against his bare, tattooed forearm.

And that’s when it happened.

I jolted like I’d been electrocuted, my breath catching, my head spinning. He must have felt the same thing, because his body jerked slightly, and he stumbled.

"What the fuck," he muttered, blinking rapidly as if he were recovering from a shock.

I swallowed hard, at a complete loss for words. My body was unresponsive, locked in that strange paralysis. The elevator had already left, but I was still standing there, caught in whatever the hell that had been.

"The air’s really dry," I choked out through clenched teeth. No idea why I said that. Like it was some kind of explanation for what just happened, the electric shock.

Why the hell couldn’t I move? I kept standing in this weird half-lean, my arm still outstretched and not responding.

My hand hovered just half an inch from his forearm, where I could see fine lines of delicate fern tattoos intertwined with the sexy, raised lines of veins. His chest, so damn close to me, had the words The ‘Elven Prince’s Slave’ printed on it and above two figures—ones I could recognize easily—naked Sariel, drawn in a manga style, lying on the ground, and me, in a long robe, sitting on a high throne.

I stared at the scene in a trance-like state. Strange.

And then Sariel did something I never would’ve expected, not after everything, not after the way I’d made it abundantly clear I couldn’t stand him.

He took my hand. And gave it a slight squeeze. Another wave rolled through me, not as sharp, but deep and sweet enough that my… dick twitched. I was a breath away from making a sound—

And then clarity hit. I yanked my hand out of his grip so fast it was almost violent.

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