Mia needed air. Space. Anything that wasn't the weight of Noah Reed's stare still burning holes through her blouse.
She strode out first heels clicking like gunfire down the marble corridor straight for the bank of elevators. Her pulse was a war drum in her ears, her nipples still traitorously peaked, her panties uncomfortably damp. She hated how her body kept responding to him like he'd already won.
The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime.
Empty. Thank fuck.
She stepped inside, jabbed the button for the lobby like it had personally offended her, then leaned against the mirrored wall and closed her eyes for one blessed second.
The doors started to close.
A hand shot out long fingers, inked knuckles stopping them cold.
Noah stepped in.
The doors sealed behind him with a quiet snick.
Mia's eyes snapped open.
He didn't press a button. Didn't speak at first. Just turned, faced her, and let the silence stretch until it felt like a physical thing pressing between them.
Then he stepped closer.
Too close.
His scent hit her first cedar, clean sweat, the faint metallic edge of his watch. He planted one palm on the wall beside her head, caging her without touching. The other hand stayed loose at his side, but she could see the tension in his forearm, the way the veins stood out.
"You ran," he said, voice low and rough. "Scared, Hayes?"
Mia lifted her chin, refusing to shrink.
"I don't run from assholes. I just don't waste oxygen on them."
His laugh was dark, short, dangerous.
"Bullshit. You're soaked right now, aren't you? Bet if I slid my hand up that pretty skirt I'd find your cunt dripping for the man you claim to hate."
Her breath hitched audible, humiliating.
She shoved at his chest. Hard.
He didn't budge. Just caught her wrists in one big hand and pinned them above her head against the mirrored wall.
"Careful," he murmured, mouth so close to her ear she felt the heat of every word. "Keep fighting me like that and I'll have to fuck the attitude right out of you. Right here. Right now."
Mia's thighs clenched involuntarily. She could feel the slick slide between them, the ache building to something unbearable.
"Try it," she hissed. "See how fast I knee you in the balls."
Noah's free hand dropped to her hip fingers digging in just hard enough to bruise.
"You'd like that too much," he growled. "You'd come screaming my name while your pussy clenched around nothing, begging for my cock to fill it up."
She jerked against his hold, breasts brushing his chest with every ragged breath.
"Fuck you, Reed."
"Yeah," he said, voice dropping to gravel. "That's the plan. Bend you over, yank those trousers down, spread you wide, and fuck you so deep you forget how to hate me. Just for a minute. Just long enough to feel how good it is when you stop pretending."
The elevator dinged—passing the 18th floor.
Neither of them moved.
Mia's heart was slamming so hard she could feel it in her clit.
"You're disgusting," she whispered.
"And you're wet for it." His thumb brushed the edge of her hip bone, dipping just under the waistband. "Admit it. Say it. Tell me how much you hate that your tight little cunt is throbbing for my dick right now."
She turned her face away, teeth gritted.
He leaned in, lips grazing the shell of her ear.
"Say it, Mia. Or I'll make you scream it when I'm balls-deep inside you."
The elevator slowed 15th floor.
Mia wrenched one wrist free and slapped her palm against his chest, shoving with everything she had.
Noah let her go just enough to step back half a pace.
But his eyes stayed locked on hers, dark and molten.
The doors opened on 12.
Empty hallway.
He didn't move to leave.
Neither did she.
Mia's chest rose and fell like she'd run a mile.
"Get out," she said, voice shaking with fury and something far more dangerous.
Noah smiled slow, filthy, victorious.
"Not yet."
He reached past her, hit the close button.
The doors slid shut again.
Just the two of them.
Rising.
And the war had officially left the boardroom.
Mia stared at him, pulse roaring, thighs trembling.
Noah stared back.
And neither of them looked away.
Not even when the elevator started climbing again.
Not even when her breath came in short, needy pants.
Not even when his hand flexed at his side like he was seconds from reaching for her again.
The numbers ticked higher.
And the air between them burned.
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