Page 24 of Emperor of Corruption
The idea is so tempting and compelling, I instantly shut it down. I’m not generally in the business of denying myself, but these are special circumstances, and I don’t usually crave anything as much as I crave her.
While Idislikedenying myself, I do prize self-control. Even Lyra isn’t tempting enough to make me lose it.
Isn’t she? Youjustlost control…
Again, I shut that voice down and visualize shooting it in the head.
Christ, this girl is making me lose my mind. Maybe I should look more seriously at having her killed. It would simplify things and remove the temptation.
Only, the thought of her cold, lifeless cadaver makes a ripple of disgust flip my stomach.No,she’s too beautiful, toovaluableto take out of this world. Out of all of the people I’ve met, she’s ranked in the top 10 who deserve to live.
Lyra slowly bends down to retrieve her jeans. A whimper escapes her lips, and the sound goes straight to my cock. It’s rock-hard,achingto be inside her, but I gave her a choice and she chose. EvenIhave a code.
“Not those,” I say, shaking my head. She looks up at me, brows furrowed.
Icouldhave her suck my cock again… but I promised myself that the next time I was inside her I’d claim her pussy, and I don’t intend to break that promise.
“Here.” I offer my hand. Even in her current state, she musters the guts to ignore it and rise on her own, wincing all the while.
Silly girl.
I round my desk and pick up the shopping bag I had one of my people collect earlier today. I’d assumed that myinterviewwith Lyra today could result in some torn clothes should she resist, so I prepared.
My secretary didn’t comment when he delivered it, but he isn’t stupid. He knows something unsavory is going on here—he just has no idea how illicit it is.
I slide the bag across the desk. Watch as Lyra opens it, carefully searching her expression for any hints of a reaction.
When she withdraws a thong and lacy bra from the bag, her brows furrow, but she doesn’t comment or look at me. She slowly pulls the undergarments on, wincing and biting her lip.
I imagine she’s in a great deal of pain. The knowledge that I’ll linger in her thoughts and on her skin long after she leaves is satisfying, but not as satisfying as it would’ve been if I’d fucked her and wrenched an orgasm or two out of her.
Fucking her now would be downright cruel. Tempting, but too far, even for me. I have no issue using force with Lyra, because whether or not she realizes it, shedoesget off on it… and I’ve never seen that in a partner before.
I’ve never had the same urges with another woman as I do with her. I enjoyed hearing them beg when I was inside them, occasionally enjoyed delivering pain, but nothing like this.
Lyra is unknowingly opening my eyes to a whole new world of sexual proclivities. If she knew that she’s almost causing a second sexual awakening in me, I wonder if she’d be more or less afraid.
I refocus on the current object of my interest as she withdraws a tasteful, dark blue dress from the bag. It’s a sheath cut with a low neckline, meant to emphasize her lovely figure, with a row of golden buttons running down the front of it.
She pulls it on without comment. I’m almost disappointed it doesn’t have a zipper; I’d enjoy touching her right now, brushing her hair over her shoulder, maybe kissing her neck.
“Do you like it?” I’m not sure why I ask. Her opinion is irrelevant; it only matters whetherIlike it, and I do, very much. It emphasizes the curve of her slight breasts, dip of her minuscule waist, and her toned legs.
“I’d like to leave now,” she says, picking up her bag.
I nod. “I enjoyed our afternoon together. I’m looking forward to the next interview.” It’s scheduled for Wednesday, four days from now.
Suddenly, the idea of going that long without seeing her feels preposterous. I want to see her much sooner than that.
“Dinner tomorrow?” I ask her impulsively.
She doesn’t respond, and it rankles me as much as it has every other time. Women and men alike go out of their way to earn an hour of my time, laboring ceaselessly to be worthy of me. I’mofferingit freely to Lyra, and she pretends not to hear me.
I inhale a long breath. She doesn’t fawn over me the way everyone else in my vicinity does, which is frustrating and… admirable. She doesn’t want or need anything from me.
The fact that I’m more drawn to her than she is to me could present a problem… but I remind myself that she doesn’t matter. I’m simply going to fuck her out of my system. If she doesn’t want to reap the benefits of my time, that’s her loss, not mine.
When she pulls on the door, it opens. I engaged the locking mechanism with a single press of a button beneath my desk.
