shaking. My fingers touched the top of his desk, and I slid them across the wood as I walked around and parked my ass in his lap. “You’re already doing it.”
“What am I doing, exactly?”
I brought his fingertips to my lips and kissed them. “Looking fine as hell.” I kissed his fingers again before I held them in my lap.
That intense gaze returned to his face, his mocha-colored eyes warm like freshly brewed coffee. “I would take you on this desk, but I have a meeting in ten minutes.”
“Then take me after the meeting.”
His hands gripped my ass, and he pulled me closer to him. “Consider it a date.”
“Ooh…the best date I’ve ever been on.”
When he smiled, he looked like an entirely new man. It was the first time I saw a boyish charm, a playfulness in his eyes that made him cute in a way he never was before. He used to be dark and foreboding, downing scotch left and right and snapping when he was in one of his foul moods.
But now he was happy.
Was that all because of me?
He lifted me onto the desk and kissed me. “Wait right here. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“An hour?” I asked incredulously. “You’re lucky you’re worth the wait.”
He smiled and kissed me again. “You know I’m good for it.” He stepped away, his shoulders broad and powerful. He was about to walk out and leave me there to wait for him.
I came down here for a reason, so I stuck to my plan. “Actually, I wanted to ask for a favor. Since I have time to kill…”
He stopped and placed his hands in his pockets, but he didn’t walk back to me. He stood still and tall like a mountain, his strength underneath the surface of that crisp suit. “You know you can ask me for anything, Lovely.”
My heart skipped a beat again. My palms were clammy, and my breathing was uneven. He said heartfelt things when I least expected them. The fact that I knew he meant them made it even more meaningful. “I was wondering if I could call my brother…haven’t talked to him in a while.” I was deliberately playing him for a fool, and now the guilt was growing inside my gut. I shouldn’t feel any compassion, but I did. I didn’t feel good about what I was doing—at all.
He stared me down for a few more seconds before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up the number on his screen. He walked to the desk and set it on the surface. “Ten minutes. Dimitri will check on you.”
All the guilt disappeared instantly when I heard those words. I had a chaperone to make sure I did what I was told, that I got off the phone with my brother within the ten-minute time frame. The second I asked for a little freedom, he shot it down with an insult.
I forced myself not to speak my mind and stir the pot. He was giving me what I wanted, so there was no point in sabotaging myself. My chance would come. I would get what I deserved all in due time. “Thank you.” I had to force myself to spit out the words even though they felt like acid up my throat.
Crewe snaked his hand up my arm until he reached my shoulder. He looked down at me with his handsome face before he pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “I’ll be back in an hour. I want you naked on my desk when I come back.”
Within the snap of a finger, I was back to being infatuated all over again. Excitement ran through my body in waves, and a tingling sensation formed in my fingertips. I wanted to be naked on that desk right this instant. “Yes, sir.”
His eyes narrowed in satisfaction before he walked away. He moved to the door on the other side of the room, ruling me and the entire castle in his silence. With broad shoulders and a powerful physique, he could command anyone that crossed his path. His power was innate and true, stemming from the invisible crown on his head.
When he was finally gone, I grabbed the phone and hit the call button.
It only rang once before Joseph answered. “Yes?” He spoke with his guard up, unsure if it was me or Crewe.
“It’s me.” I sat in the leather armchair and wondered what it was like for Crewe to sit there every