"You're all dismissed," Nathaniel said casually before walking out the room as if he didn't just drop a bomb on all of us.
The six board members sitting diagonally from me shifted uncomfortably in their seats as they digested the news that was just thrown on them. The other employees were already on their phones, most likely spreading the news around to their friends, and I knew by the end of the day, all 50,000 plus employees working at Creed Industries would know about Nathaniel and me.
I opened my mouth to say something—anything, but nothing came out. Instead, I rushed out of the room without a second thought and kept my head down until I made it to my office. My hands were trembling as I reached for the doorknob, and it wasn't until I was actually inside my haven when the trembling subsided.
I've always hated attention. It most likely stemmed from not getting any from my father growing up, so that just stuck with me as I got older, and everything I've done since then, whether it be a business move or a personal move I've tried to do behind the scenes.
Now, thanks to Nathaniel, by this time tomorrow, every news and social media outlet will be buzzing about the two of us, and just that thought alone was enough to send my heart racing at an uncontrollable speed.
"Breathe amore mio," Nathaniel's low voice whispered from behind me, startling me out of my skin. He wrapped his muscular arms around my chest using the method I showed him to help calm anxiety attacks.
Despite the immense amount of anger I had for him at this moment, I couldn't help but feel safe and comforted in his arms. My breathing instantly evened out, and as soon as I felt well enough to speak, all that rage I felt before came crashing down like a ton of bricks.
"What the fuck was that?" I growled harshly, attempting to free myself from his grip so I could smack the shit out of him, but he tightened his arms around me, making it impossible to escape.
"Calm down."
"Calm down?!" I screeched, wondering where he was finding his audacity. "You want me to calm down after what you just did?"
"Let me explain."
"Let me go first."
"If I let you go will you hit me?" he murmured in my ear, skimming his nose down my cheek
"Is that even a question?"
"Then no."
I let out a frustrated sigh as I tried to escape his death grip one more time but, it was no use; I was stuck until he was ready to let me go.
"Why would you do that?" I finally asked lowly, dropping my head in defeat.
Nathaniel slowly loosened his arms, testing the water to see if I was going to do anything rash and when I didn't, he let go of me entirely and whirled my body around so that we were facing each other. My eyes stayed glued to the floor, afraid that if I looked at him, I'd lose my will to stay angry.
"Anastazi," his voice was low and comforting.
"What?" I snapped through gritted teeth.
"Look at me."
"No."
"Anastazi." My name rolled off his tongue like butter forcing my eyes to meet his, and in an instant, I felt my anger slipping away, but I wasn't going to let it go that easily.
"I specifically told you I wanted—"
"I did it for you," Nathaniel finally answered. His crystal eyes penetrating my soul.
My face scrunched up in confusion, and I could feel my anger slowly coming back due to his absurd answer. "For me? How the hell did that shit benefit me?" I asked harshly. "You weren't there to see the disgust plastered on the board member's faces. I'd be surprised if I still have a job by the end of the day, no thanks to you."
A small smile played on his lips. "They can't touch you, and you know that as well as they do."
"Oh, so you thought that was a good enough reason to go behind my back and do whatever you please without talking to me first?"
My breathing became uneven again, and I wanted nothing more than to punch that smirk off his handsome face.
"Will you let me explain?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he backed up to sit on the edge of my desk.
I crossed my arms against my chest and rolled my eyes. "No one stopping you."
"I didn't want you to hide us just so you could prove yourself to the board or to your father," Nathaniel began, but I was quick to interrupt.
"That wasn't your choice to make—"
A low growl resonated from the back of his throat, a warning to let him continue without interruption, or there was going to be consequences.
"I've been where you are, love," he continued. "It was exactly my choice to make because I refuse to sit around and let you go down this dark path of blindly making decisions solely to please others."
I opened my mouth to speak again, but he narrowed his eyes and motioned for me to come here.
I wanted to say no, but I found my feet moving towards him until I was positioned directly between his legs, his arms automatically wrapping around my waist pulling me closer.
"And the stubborn Anastazi I know couldn't care less about a bunch of stranger's approval no matter who they are," he murmured, gazing up at me, eyes filled with regret. "Don't lose yourself like I did."
As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew he was right. Even before my father died, all I ever wanted to do was make him proud, so he could see that my mother's death wasn't in vain. But, most of all, I wanted to show him that I wasn't a failure. And even though I lost Faye Industries due to his poor money management skills, after he died, my hunger for his approval only intensified. Eventually, I would've dug myself a hole I wouldn't have been able to escape, which is exactly what Nathaniel did when his mother died.
I sighed heavily and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing our foreheads together. "Since when did you get good at pep talks?" I asked jokingly.
Nathaniel chuckled lowly. "I've been practicing."
I gripped a handful of his hair and tugged his head back so I could look into his sapphire eyes. "But don't do that shit again without talking to me first," I demanded, putting all jokes aside.
"I love when you boss me around," he muttered, a smirk forming on his lips.
"I'm serious, Nathaniel."
"So am I."
I clenched my jaw in annoyance and was getting ready to untangle myself from him so I could leave, but he quickly tightened his arms around me, restricting my movements.
"I'm sorry, love, it won't happen again," he murmured sincerely, trying not to smile, knowing it would piss me off even more. "Forgive me?"
"Whatever."
Nathaniel gripped my chin roughly, his face growing serious. "I'm sorry, amore mio," he repeated in a firm tone, not wanting me to be angry with him.
"It's fine," I mumbled softly, averting his intense gaze.
"It's not, but I'll make it up to you."
My eyebrows raised slightly. "How?"
"Let me worry about that," he smirked. "There's a ball tomorrow night; I want you there with me."
"That doesn't sound like a question to me."
Nathaniel sighed and stood up so that he was towering over me again, his arms still glued to my waist.
"Will you be my date to the ball tomorrow night?" He breathed, brushing his lips against mine.
I shrugged casually and turned my head to avoid our mouths slamming into each other. If he wanted me to go, he was going to have to beg.
A low growl resonated from the back of his throat as he gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "Please?"
I shrugged again with a small smile on my face. "I'll think about it."
Before I could bat an eye, Nathaniel dropped his arms and whipped me around, pinning me against the oak desk with my chest flattened against it. He slid his leg in between mine, so there was no way for me to squeeze my thighs together as he bent me over.
"If you think I'm going to beg, you're sadly mistaken," he growled in my ear as he pressed himself against my body, sending shivers shooting down my spine. "Now, be a good girl and answer my question correctly before I fuck it out of you."
My core throbbed violently, desperately wanting him to fuck me, right here, right now. I sucked in a deep breath, contemplating my options, but before I gave him an answer, he shifted my panties to the side before sliding his thick fingers deep into my soaking cunt, forcing a loud moan to escape my lips.
"You took too long," Nathaniel mumbled as he pumped his fingers inside me and grabbed a handful of my hair, tugging my head back.
His mouth found its way to my fevered skin, sucking my neck gently as he circled his finger around my swollen clit, eliciting yet another loud moan from the back of my throat.
"Nathaniel," I panted heavily, forcing my eyes to stay open. "We said we wouldn't do this here."
He slid his fingers out of my dripping core to flip my body over and lift me onto my desk.
"No, I said I'd try," Nathaniel corrected lowly as he slowly slid the lace thong I was wearing down my legs before tossing them aside. He licked his lips as he raised my dress higher to get a better view of my exposed cunt, my juices already sliding down my thighs.
I knew it was wrong to be doing this here of all places, but I craved his touch like an animal craved meat, and when it boiled down to self-control, I had absolutely none when it came to Nathaniel.
"So beautiful," he murmured, spreading my legs wider and taking a knee, so he was face to face with my area.
My hands instantly knotted in his hair, bringing him closer towards me, and I bit my lip to stifle the moan that threatened to escape when he flicked his tongue over my clit and took it between his lips, sucking it gently. My head tilted backwards as his thick digits slid back into my soaking core, eliciting a low groan from his lips when I clenched around his fingers.
"God, I can't get enough of you," he growled as he gripped my thigh tighter and pumped faster into me.
We stayed there for a few minutes, me trying not to scream out from the immense amount of pressure coursing through my body as he roughly finger fucked me as if this was the last time he'd ever see me.
"We need to stop," I finally panted once his pace slowed down, and I finally started coming back to my senses.
"We're not done yet," Nathaniel mumbled as he slipped his fingers out of me and replaced them with his hot tongue plunging deep into my hole.
It took everything in me not to cry out for the entire floor to hear, but Nathaniel couldn't care less; he was on a mission. My hips began moving on their own, grinding into his face as he fucked me with his mouth, bringing me closer to the edge.
"Nathaniel," I moaned his name, my eyes squeezed shut, preparing for the big release.
"Come for me, baby," he ordered, slipping his fingers back into my dripping cunt and curling them inside in a "come here" motion.
My breathing instantly became ragged as I clenched around his digits and unraveled beneath him, my legs shaking uncontrollably. Nathaniel wasted no time lapping up all my juices, making sure not a single drop went to waste, and once he finished down below, he lifted me upright and smashed his lips against my own.
I could feel his hardened member pressing against the slacks he wore begging to be released, and when my hand slid down to unbuckle his pants and release the monster, a knock coming from outside of my office door interrupted the heated moment causing me to freeze in place.
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A/N: Thank you guys so much for 50k reads! I love you guys so much!! xx