Chapter 5

Seeing Linc's trim, muscled figure in his form-fitting grey suit, his devastatingly handsome, resistant-to-aging face with those dark, piercing onyx eyes has reminded me just how easily my body gives in to him.

His quiet, effective charm has reminded me why I ran. Why that summer really tough for me. Fighting this forbidden attraction to my middle-aged stepfather, who is forty-one while I am just twenty-one.

He is literally old enough to be my father. But yet he pulls me. And I am powerless once he pins me with those eyes. I am weak. My body surrenders without much resistance.

"Drop them on the desk," he says, his dark eyes still trained on me, his back to the woman frozen at the door glaring at me with such venom it scares me. I move further away.

I need to escape him. But I know it is futile. Linc would find me. This attraction between us feels inevitable now. There is a quiet countdown ringing like a third heartbeat between us.

Coming back was a mistake. Linc Tanner is not the kind of man one forgets. Or moves on from. I still feel the same way as I did three years ago, if not stronger. And now there is one less excuse as to why we shouldn't give in to this dark desire.

"Uhm, sir, it needs your signature so I can send it back to..."

"Charlotte, drop them on the damn desk!" Linc raised voice startles me and the woman, who quickly drops the files and hurries out. Linc doesn't turn away from me. He keeps his eyes on me, watching me like a hunter hunting his prey.

I try to swallow, but my mouth is dry. Naked hunger is present in the depth of those shimmery dark eyes, and I have to press my thighs together to gain some control over my senses. This is all shades of wrong. And yet so right. So necessary.

It is official, I have lost my damn mind.

How the hell are we going to sleep in the same house tonight without something forbidden happening between us? I can almost picture it, and it makes my pulse race faster.

I look at him, standing a few feet away from me. My eyes get drawn southwards to the visible bulge in his pants, and I look away quickly, but not before he catches me looking. Heat rises to my face, making me blush harder.

I feel my limbs tingling, and the sensation travels to a concentrated spot in my clit, making it throb and jump. I clench my thighs together tighter, biting on my lower lip as the morning sun splashes across his features, highlighting him like a greek god of vitality and eroticism.

"Um. I should go." I say when I reach the door. Where am I going? I have no idea but I know I have to get away from this office right now before I find myself climbing my stepfather like a tree right here in his office.

I know the naked hunger in his eyes reflects mine. I am just as aroused. Just as willing to be reckless. Caution was thrown to the wind as soon as I agreed to come back.

"Okay." His usually smooth baritone comes out cracked, he pauses and clears his throat, he starts walking towards me and my heart skips a beat, but then he turns to the left, towards his desk and I blink back my disappointment.

"Take a tour of the firm. Choose whatever department you want to intern at. Then we can go to dinner." His mouth is a set line as he settles at his desk like he wasn't just about to kiss me a moment ago.

"Dinner?" I croak, still visibly shaken up by what almost happened between us. I still feel the weight of his strong arm wound tightly around my waist. The possessiveness of his hold. The way his eyes narrowed in on my lips before he leaned in to me for the kiss. It all makes me feel heady.

"Yes. I made a reservation." He says looking up to meet my eyes, I hold his gaze.

"I don't feel up to that." I say, looking away first as his eyes bore into me. One day, I will win our spontaneous silent staring contests.

"What? Let me guess, you are not hungry?" He asks with a small chuckle. It brings flashbacks of that summer three years ago when I used to deny being hungry so I could stay away from him and my mother. Only to sneak back to the kitchen at midnight to raid the fridge for leftovers.

Linc caught me several times and the embarrassment still feels so heavy right now with the way he is watching me. Mischievous amusement shining in his eyes.

"Fuck off." I snap. I can't stand his teasing in moments like this. I hate that he knows me all too well.

"Now, now, Ames darling. I don't appreciate that tone." He says but his voice is still teasing and light. I can't believe we almost kissed just a moment ago and here he is, teasing. He confuses me. And somehow, that seems to be the allure. Other than the fact that he is my fucking stepfather.

"Whatever. I am not going out to dinner with you." I cross my arms over my chest, his eyes follow the motion and heat rises up my cheeks. A moment passes between us. An impasse.

"Okay, we will eat at home. I'll call my private chef." He says at last. I can't argue with that, so I just nod in passive agreement and push the door behind my back so I can escape the office. Escape his impossible charm.

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"So, which department are you going to intern at?" Linc says, wiping his mouth with a triangle shaped napkin. The table is being cleared by the chef's assistants, I nod my appreciation to them for a great home dining experience. Linc doesn't even acknowledge them.

"I don't know yet." I say because I truly don't. His firm is so large. So multifaceted. I have so many options but I have narrowed it down to either the creative designing or engineering departments since I have majored in both at college.

"Okay. Take your time." He says. I refuse to allow myself feel the impact of his smooth baritone as it washes over me across the dining table.

"Yeah." I should probably add my thanks but I don't. The staff finishes clearing out the table and they leave immediately, leaving us alone to our awkwardness. I swallow.

The soft light of the overhead chandelier is cast directly on my face and I feel like he is watching me closely. His eyes, those dreamy but predatory eyes watches my every move.

I could literally feel like he was looking at me to expose me, to expose my deepest secrets, secrets I would kill to have them concealed, but with Linc, just one move from him, his mouth on me and his hand in-between my legs, my entire being will open up to him on it's own accord, and when his fire burns me, my secrets will be revealed.