Her eyes held his enraptured gaze, her fingers fidgeting as she gently wiped the tears from his face.
Abruptly, he seized her knuckles, pressing his cheek into her palms as his heavy, uneven breathing slowly began to ease.
Lazily, he parted his eyelids, tilting his head in her grasp to look at her.
Then, strengthening her grasp around his face, she leaned down and kissed him.
His body froze, his heartbeat halting as a wave of intense feeling rushed over him. His eyes fluttered shut, his hands reaching for her cheeks to deepen the kiss as his chest tightened with raw emotion.
Her fingernails pressed into his cheeks as she stepped forward, urging him backward until the edge of the mattress hit the back of his knees.
With quivering lips, he looked up at her. She cupped his face, a faint, knowing smirk playing on her lips, before pushing him gently onto the bed.
The mattress felt soft and soul-consuming against his large frame. He surrendered to it immediately, the commanding CEO completely disappearing, replaced by someone utterly yielding to her presence.
"You love me?" she asked, her voice low as her fingers reached for his tie.
A sharp thrill ran down his spine. "Yes," he nodded, his gaze firmly anchored to hers. "Completely."
She untied his necktie, using it to loosely bind his wrists together before placing his hands over his chest. Leaning down, she pressed her forehead against his, staring deep into his eager, unguarded eyes.
"I want you to hold power over me," he whispered desperately, unable to look away. "Please."
She shifted closer, every movement calculated and deliberate. "Have you always had such thoughts about me?" she asked, her eyes tracing every shift in his expression.
"I've loved you from the moment I saw you," he confessed, his voice breathless. "I knew who you were, and I knew what you were capable of."
"And what am I capable of?" she asked softly, pinning his bound wrists above his head.
"Of taking complete control... of putting me in my place."
She smiled, leaning in as the intense wave of emotional surrender swept over them both, binding their minds and hearts together in a quiet, overwhelming crescendo of devotion.
"Who do you think you are to hide all of this from me for so long?" she whispered, her gaze locking onto his.
"I'm sorry," he murmured softly. "I was wrong. I should have confessed so much sooner."
He held her close, his devotion absolute as he whispered, "I'll do whatever you ask. I'll be whatever you need me to be."
Suddenly, the darkness slipped back under his eyelids, and the overwhelming surge in his chest diminished into nothing.
He woke up in his own room—not wrapped in her arms, but tangled in his blanket. Not flushed with warmth, but cold and hollow.
That morning, he forced himself to dress, time feeling frozen in his head. Everything around him was a blur of distant chatter. His jaw remained clenched, his heart burning with an agonizing ache.
Stepping into the corporate office, his assistant trailed behind him listing his daily schedule, when he saw her standing by her desk. She turned and looked at him with a polite, professional expression.
His heartbeat dropped, his skin turning cold as his eyes stayed fixed on her.
"Good morning, boss," she said, offering a cordial smile and a slight bow of her head. So formal. So distant.
"Good morning," he forced the words past his throat, quickly striding into his private office, his chest clenching at the unbearable wall between them.