His expression remained the same, and I was beginning to wonder whether he even heard a word I said, until he made a slight nod. Then, without warning, his hand reached up, capturing my chin possessively in his grip, forcing me to look at him as he stared into my eyes. There wasn’t anger there, but there was a curiosity that went layers deep. I gasped, shocked by the warmth in his touch, at the startled warmth in his gaze, at how near he was to my face, as he whispered, “You’re feisty, aren’t you, alley cat?”

I blinked in surprise, utterly speechless.

“You’re a little kitten. You think you’re vicious, but you’re fucking adorable instead.”

Now I glared and he inched even closer, until I felt his body pressing against the front of mine. I tried not to react to the feel of something hard and long against my stomach. Frankly, it was so unexpected, my brain simply could not compute, but my body…well, my skin flushed and my heart paced even harder, and still, he drew nearer.

“Let me go,” I whispered to him, fighting hard against the strange flutters in my belly.

“Why?” he asked quietly, those blue eyes digging into my own. “You’re excited, aren’t you? I can see it on your face. You’re all red and breathless.”

“Let me go,” I repeated.

He was delusional. I wasn’t excited. At least… the logical part of me wasn’t. Yet my body…well, my fucking body was reacting like an animal would, all instinct and without rational thought.

It didn’t mean anything.

“Maybe we can rectify this some other way,” he murmured, his breaths hot on my mouth, his other hand slowly roaming from my hip and up my waist. I tried not to think about how warm and good his hand felt, or how weak a part of me wanted to be in order to accept this. Just as his fingers brushed against my breast, something in me snapped. Angry, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

Hard.

I slapped him really, really hard.

The sound was loud, like a whip, and it made my goddamn ears pop. It was sort of like the aftermath of a bomb exploding. That ringing in the air, the shock of what had happened, the discombobulated feeling of being outside your body instead of within.

And then, sheer terror.

Oh, shit. Shit, shit, fucking shit. What the fuck have I done?

His hands instantly dropped, and he took a step back, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. His cheek went crimson red, and his face was a mixture of downright rage and…something else. Something…delicious and… primitive and…

Without warning, he suddenly wrapped his hand around my neck and harshly pulled me forward, crashing his mouth against mine. I froze at the feeling of his surprisingly soft lips, forcing me to part my own, of his large warm body enveloping mine, of the way my heart thumped excitedly in my chest. He pressed himself against me, that raging hard-on thicker than before, sending more flutters inside my belly, travelling lower and lower, exciting forbidden places. It felt like coals slowly burning hotter inside me, and it was so strangely erotic, I sank into his embrace and parted my lips, welcoming his tongue as it stroked mine. I trembled, breathing hard into his mouth. He tasted good. Unusually good for a monster.

Without reservation, his other hand slid down my back, gripping my ass and keeping me firmly in place against him. Without seeking my permission, he acted like he was entitled to touch me however way he wanted. He was a cocky motherfucker, knowing I’d oblige after reducing me to a puddle of sparks, ready to detonate at his command.

My legs shuddered and my thighs tingled. My sex pulsed suddenly, the ache within me growing every second he prolonged the kiss, his firm hand still wrapped around the back of my neck. Already, my mind fired a thousand different thoughts. I imagined him picking me up and spreading me out on the desk. Thought of how good the emptiness inside of me would feel when he plunged himself into me, filling me up one inch at a time. I was surprisingly okay with the vision, and it was only because I was so bloody turned on.

I was embarrassingly into it, so fiercely out of control, and pleading with my lips for him to keep going. God, keep going! I was groaning against him – actually fucking groaning – like he was pleasuring me to orgasm.

Then, just as abruptly, he pulled away from my mouth and I almost groaned out again in dismay this time. My eyes flickered open, and I watched him stare at me with this puzzled look. His chest was heaving up and down. He dropped his hands from me and took a step back, eyes still focused on mine with that “what the fuck just happened” face. I was sure I returned it.

I didn’t say anything.

I mean, what could be said? Like, hey, why’d you kiss me after I slapped you? Why did I enjoy it too? Wait a minute, a more important question: why did you enjoy it? Please, enlighten me, and maybe we can go back to doing what we were doing, slaps and gropes and tongues and all!

Yeah, no. Horny Emma needed to stay quiet and locked away in her cage. The slutty little thing. Shame on her.

He cleared his throat, composing himself. “Consider us even, now,” he said, his voice dangerously low.

It was his sex voice, I realized. And my god, that was hot.

“But from here on out,” he continued gruffly, his eyes growing harder on mine, “I don’t want anything to come back to me because you opened that pretty little fucking mouth of yours. Or else I’ll have to come back and make use of that pretty little fucking mouth again. Understand?”

He didn’t wait for me to respond. He abruptly turned around and walked out, not bothering to say bye, because what kind of guy like him said good bye, anyway?

Just a kiss them and leave them kind of guy, Emma.

My legs were like jelly as I followed after him slowly. Practically panting, I emerged from the office and watched him leave. He was a steady man, tall and confident in himself, but even I could see he hadn’t been entirely prepared for what had happened. I’d surprised him, and I didn’t know how that made me feel.

Because I’d also surprised myself.

When he was out of sight I brushed my fingers over my lips, and they felt fuller than before. I let out a long breath, and the tension slowly left my body. It still felt like he was touching me everywhere, and I tried hard to disregard the strange pull at the very pit of my stomach. Fuck, his mouth had been on mine. Those lips of fucking doom lived up to that name and he’d been turned on by that slap but…but by why exactly?

Feeling the curious eyes of practically every diner there, I turned around and hurried away. I walked out of the backdoor and stood in the open alleyway, staring idly at the graffiti on the wall, listening to the birds that chirped overhead, waiting for my flushed skin to cool and for my breathing to slow down.