“I’m going to pray really fast, okay?” And it was fast indeed, the impromptu one-liner prayer being over in a blink of an eye, and then she started eating.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologized between bites. “But I tend to be this hungry when I’m stressed out at work.”
“I’d love to know more about your job.”
“You’re sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because when I usually start talking about work, I rarely shut up.”
“I will never ask that of you.”
“Don’t say you haven’t been warned.” She took a deep breath. “So…have you ever heard about otome games?” And it was as she promised. She never did shut up. Her eyes had started sparkling the moment she spoke about work, her smiles came out more often, and her voice often took on a giddy note whenever she gushed about her game’s “fandom”.
It was, all in all, a completely fascinating sight, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Theo. God. Everything about this woman attracted him, and as he listened to her start talking about the most popular heroes of her game, the urge to touch her proved impossible to resist…
Her voice broke off the moment she felt his fingers re-twine with hers. “Ioniko.” But the breathlessness in it only made his fingers tighten.
“I just need to feel you this way. And…”
His knees bumped into hers under the table, and her breath caught. “I-Ioniko.” But this time, there was the softest little whimper, and he had to close his eyes as he fought back a shudder. Fuck. He let go of her hand and moved back to his seat, knowing that if he didn’t maintain some distance between them, he might forget they were in a wholesome burger place and start touching her the way his already aroused body was demanding him to.
“Ioniko?”
He took one last deep calming breath, and when he opened his eyes he found her staring at him. She looked more than a little wary, but then she wetted her lips…fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Don’t do that, Schuyler mou.” Ioniko’s tone was ragged.
“I’m s-sorry.” To her credit, she didn’t play coy at all. “I wasn’t thinking. I just…” Her voice became small. “It really wasn’t intentional.”
He managed a strained smile. “I know, koukla mou. But it doesn’t change a thing, so…try not to seduce me too much—” A little gasp. “If you don’t intend to see things to the end.”
Schuyler’s face was now a picture of guilt. “I’m sorry,” she repeated in a much smaller voice.
Ioniko grimaced. “It’s fine. You do not need to apologize. I know I should be the one who’s sorry. I am usually more in control than this, but…” His lips twisted. “You’re the hottest little thing I’ve encountered in recent years—” She started shaking her head, but when he mockingly shook his head back at her, she stopped what she was doing and a giggle escaped her.
“Whether you believe me or not, it’s best we play it safe for now, ne?”
“How?”
“Shall I try boring you to death by talking about my work?”
Her eyes lit up. “I’d love that.”
“A man boring you to death?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. But…” She looked hopeful and uncertain at the same time. “You’re really going to tell me about your work?”
“Everything that’s not confidential…” Ioniko blinked when she took out her iPad. “You’re going to start working?”
“I thought I’d take notes while you talk,” she admitted guiltily. “Is that okay?”
“I should’ve seen this coming,” he acknowledged dryly.
“Please say you don’t mind.”
“Only if you say please again.”
“Please.”
“Again.”
“With more feeling.”
“Um…pleeeease?”
He leaned forward, and seeing this, she leaned forward as well. It was obvious that she thought he was about to tell her some huge, exciting secret about the corporate life, but instead…
His voice dropping to a notch, he murmured, “Say it again—”
Her eyes widened.
“But this time, say it like you’re begging me to fuck you.”
A strangled laugh escaped her even as she almost fell out of her chair at the way she so quickly reared back. “Ioniko!”
And because he saw her brows starting to furrow and her face told him she was feeling obliged to protest and scold him off…
Ioniko cleared his throat and pretended not to see her frown. “So, most days, I begin by waking up at…”
He relived the memory of that afternoon over and over when he was back in his hotel suite. The way her eyes sparkled. The way her breath audibly caught every time he tempted the Fates by touching her hand or bumping his knees into hers. And when he started remembering the way he had succumbed to the urge of trapping her legs between his under the table…
Fuck.
The way she looked at him then. The way her tongue slowly slipped out. The way her legs started trembling between his.
Fuck, he thought again as he felt his cock stir under his pants and start poking against the tight fabric in its demand for relief.