Page 45 of Texting the CEO's Obsession
I shove up from the bed without thinking, my body moving just todosomething, but he catches me with a single hand around my throat. He doesn’t squeeze, only applying enough pressure to sit me back down and keep me there.
I’m so lightheaded I can’t think straight.
“Calm down,” he says, his voice steady and insistent.
Howdid I not recognize him? It was right there in front of me this whole time. I hear his voice every day at work. He was up on the stage at the gala less than aminuteafter asking for my number. I’ve been looking into those steely blue eyes, imagining my mystery man and Nick were the same person, not knowing I was right all along.
“Oh my God,” I cry, clenching my eyes shut as embarrassment floods me.
I’ve been texting myboss. I’ve beensextingmy boss.At work.
He’s been on the other side of the wall while I’ve complained about Sloane and bragged about my brand-new office. And I fingered myself open on my desk! I’ve been throwing myself at my boss without even knowing it. Sloane’s words from earlier come back in a rush, hitting me like a train, causing my stomach to turn.
Fucking hell, I want to disappear.
Nick’s hand shifts from my throat to my face, his knuckles dragging across my jaw.
“Breathe, Miss Morgan,” he says, rubbing his thumb over the apple of my cheek. “In and out, copy me.”
I drag a lungful of air in before I even register that I’m listening, but it doesn’t make me any less light-headed. My heart races in my chest, but I can’t stop myself from leaning into his gentle touch. After several ragged breaths, I force my eyes open, darting across his features, trying to convince myself that this is real.
“I…”
“I know it’s a lot,” he says when I fail to come up with anything to say, his lips curving into a smile. “Just give yourself a moment.”
Give myself a moment? I’d need a century to process about half of what’s happening right now.
“What—Mr. D’Amico, I?—”
“Nick.” He cuts me off without hesitation, pulling back just enough to meet my eyes, that unwavering steely grey even more intimidating up close. “My name is Nick.”
First name basis… okay then.
“Nick,” I breathe, helpless to do anything but obey the unspoken command.
His grin sharpens at the edges, smug and hungry. “Atta girl,” he praises. “Don’t freak yourself out, Princess. You’re not my employee here, understood?This,” he says, punctuating the word with a slight scrape of his nails at my neck, “is separate from work.”
My thoughts scatter into bits and pieces being this close to him, the woody scent of his cologne almost as overwhelming as the heat of his hands on my skin.
Every time I think I’m starting to calm down, the gravel of his voice scrapes down my spine or his fingers brush against a spot on my shoulder that’s never been so sensitive before. My mind won’t settle for longer than it takes me to blink, but it’s razor-focused on Nick. I feel like I’m buzzing, adrenaline and desire warring against the warning sirens trying desperately to get me to do something other than melt into his touch.
I should argue. Or ask questions, at least.
I shouldn’t tip my head back and allow the control he has over me to take permanent hold, but the hunger in his eyes makes it impossible to do anything but obey.
“I won’t blame you if it’s too much,” he murmurs, his words gentle even as his hands never stop roaming over every inch of bare skin. “If you don’t want this, now that you know the truth, you just have to say the word.”
Everything I’ve fantasized about is being offered to me on a silver platter, and he’s not sure if Iwantthis?
Okay, yes, it’s terrifying. I’m mortified that my boss looked me in the eye after instructing me how to get myself off on multiple occasions. It’s endlessly embarrassing that I made it so easy for him—and that I’m going tocontinuemaking it easy for him.
But for once, the rational part of my brain isn’t louder than my impulses.
I want this. All of this.
All ofhim.
“You’re not surprised.” It’s more of a realization than a statement, the truth evident in the way he hasn’t hesitated for a second tonight. “Did you know it was me this whole time? Since the gala?”
