Marcus Borden, Emma. This is Marcus fucking Borden. Not some random hot guy.

I was a little shrimp next to him, and it made me feel a little vulnerable. It wasn’t like being in the office where I did all I could to not look at him, and he was certainly never this close to me either. Not unless I was kissing him on his cheek, something I hated to admit I looked forward to doing.

He pulled out that zippo lighter again and circled it in one of his hands.

“So I’m sitting down,” he said, flashing his blue eyes at me. “What now?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’m the male here, should I offer you a drink?”

“No, I’m alright.”

“Oh, right,” he said seriously, “you don’t drink.”

He closely watched me as I nodded and said, “That’s alright.” Honestly, I couldn’t believe he even remembered me saying that. That was months ago!

“Why is that exactly?” he wondered. “Are you some reformed alcoholic or something?”

I laughed, my mood instantly improving. “Um, no. My parents were, though.”

“So they’re the reason?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, and thankfully, he didn’t prod for more information. I was very grateful of that. Talking about it would have been a serious mood killer.

“Where are your friends? You said you were coming with a group.”

“Blythe took off with a guy, and the guy I was sitting with just… left me.” I was still shocked and confused by Jake’s abrupt departure.

“Left you?” Borden raised his brows. “Why the fuck would he do that?”

“I have no idea.”

“Did he not tell you?”

“Uh, well, he did, but it was weird.”

“Hmm.” He looked thoughtful and a little amused. “You look disappointed. Did you like him?”

“No,” I admitted with a shy smile, “but he was company and I’m not good around crowds.”

Why I was telling Borden this, I have no idea. But he was doing that normal thing again by not being an intimidating asshole that flaunted his power around. I really liked this side of him. It made me believe less that he was as mental as I allowed myself to believe. Borden was a mystery, and I was pretty sure he wanted to remain one to everyone around him. He wanted distance and yet he seemed to lose it when he was near me. It didn’t make sense to me why he wouldn’t just push me away, fire me, and let me live my own life if I was bringing out that side of him.

I see colours when I’m around you. Those words shot through me again, like they sometimes often did, and I would gladly beg him to explain it to me. But ever since being in that office, all lustful sides of him had, for the most part, disappeared.

He moved his eyes over every inch of my face and then looked away.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he suddenly said, almost too quietly.

I tried to contain my surprise at his compliment. He’d never complimented me. It was always some kind of criticism. Like how red didn’t suit me, or how my office shirt had been baggy that one time, and just last week he’d said, “What’s up with that feathery clip in your hair? It looks ridiculous. Are you a bird? You’re not a fucking bird. Take it off.” When I took my hair clip off, he tossed it in the bin and shook his head as if I’d lost my mind.

“Nothing wrong for once?” I asked curiously.

“No, this little handkerchief white dress suits you,” he answered, looking down at my dress with way too much concentration.

“Handkerchief?”

“Doesn’t leave much to the imagination, does it?”

I laughed lightly. “No, I suppose not.”

“Got too used to you in your office clothes. I might have to force you to wear dresses like this once a week, doll.”

I bit my bottom lip to stop from smiling like a dumbass. “Why just once a week and not every day if you like it so much?”

God, he was suddenly fucking me with his eyes. “Because I can only handle a little taste of you. You show more and I’m going to demand the whole fucking cake.”

“The whole cake?”

A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. “Fucking, doll. That’s what I meant.”

I nodded. “I know, Borden.”

“And if I fucked you, it’d be forceful, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, that’s what rape is, Borden. Forceful.”

He shrugged. “You can have consensual forceful fucking, right?”

Before I responded, I felt fingers brush against me and I looked down at the side of my bare thigh where his hand was. My heart sped up at this random gesture. Casual Borden was long gone, and he was back on his power trip.

Don’t react. I told myself. Play by his rules.

But it’d been so long since he’d touched me, and I’d thought about it every day, almost yearning for it. The noise around us no longer bothered me. I was too enveloped in the presence of this man to notice anyone besides us, too observant of the fingers tingling across my skin, giving me goose bumps. My heart was going a million miles an hour and I just knew nothing good was going to come of this.

“Do you ever think about our kiss?” His words broke through my thoughts with a crash. “Ever think of how good it felt?”

I hesitated. “I think about it.”

“Ever imagine what would have happened if I’d stayed?”

I pressed my lips down hard, unsure of how much I wanted to admit. “Sometimes.”

“How do you think it would have gone, Emma? When you daydream about it, am I going down on you? Licking your pussy before shoving my cock inside you? Or am I already spreading your legs wide on that nasty desk and plunging inside your wet cunt with your arms around my neck?”

Holy fuck.

I was deprived of oxygen. I stared into his eyes, every inch of me hot as those images flooded my mind when he spoke them.

I murmured almost inaudibly, “Spreading me wide and plunging inside me with my arms around your neck.”

He ran his teeth over his bottom lip slowly. “Straight to the point. I like that, Emma.”

I didn’t respond. I turned away and blinked rapidly, trying to get my heart to stop from bursting inside my chest. Jesus, he had a mouth on him.

“Did you intend on getting fucked tonight?” he then asked. “Is that why you wore this dress?”