Adrian:
I can't breathe.
My office door closes behind me with a soft click, and I stand there staring at my hand.
The hand that just touched her.
Fifteen years of not being able to touch a woman without my skin crawling, and then Raven Stone shakes my hand and I feel normal. No. Not normal. I feel alive.
My wolf stirs inside me, restless and agitated in a way I haven't felt since I was seventeen.
Mate. His voice rumbles through my mind, deep and possessive. Our mate.
"That's impossible," I mutter, pressing my palms against my desk. "I rejected my mate eight years ago."
No. He sounds absolutely certain. That wasn't her. THIS is her.
"You're insane."
Touch her again. You'll see.
I look down at my hand, half expecting to see some mark, some evidence of what just happened. But there's nothing. Just my hand. The same hand that recoils from every woman's touch.
Except hers.
I sink into my chair and pull up the security camera feed on my computer. The angle gives me a perfect view of her desk.
She's reviewing something on her tablet, her dark hair falling over one shoulder. Like she didn't just turn my entire world upside down.
"She's my new assistant," I say out loud. "That's all."
My phone buzzes on the desk. I glance down at the screen.
A text from Anastasia.
"Darling, we need to discuss the engagement party plans this afternoon. I'm stopping by your office for lunch around noon. See you soon!"
My stomach turns just reading it.
He's not wrong. Anastasia and I have been engaged for eleven years, and I've never been able to stand her touch. Every time she tries to hold my hand or kiss my cheek, my body revolts.
I thought I was broken and damaged beyond repair.
But Raven Stone touched me, and my wolf purred like he'd been starving his entire life and finally found food.
I delete the text without responding and look back at the camera feed.
I straighten my tie and walk out of my office.
She looks up when I approach her desk, those amber eyes meeting mine, and the pull hits me again. Stronger this time. Like an invisible rope wrapped around my chest, yanking me toward her.
"I'll need you to take notes at the board meeting," I say.
She blinks. "Rachel mentioned that's usually handled by someone from the executive team."
"I want you to do it."
The words come out harder than I intended. More commanding. Alpha tone bleeding through.
Her eyes narrow slightly, but she nods. "Of course."
She stands, gathering her tablet and a portfolio, and we walk to the conference room together.
I'm hyperaware of every inch of space between us. She's close enough that I can smell her. Jasmine and something wild underneath, something that makes my wolf want to roll in her scent and mark her as ours.
The board meeting is a disaster.
Marcus Brennan is talking about quarterly projections, and I can't focus on a single word. Every time Raven shifts in her seat, every time she crosses her legs or tucks her hair behind her ear, my attention fractures.
"Adrian?" Marcus is staring at me. "Did you hear the question?"
I force myself to focus. "The Milan projections. Yes."
"Actually, I was asking about the Bergman merger timeline."
Shit.
I never lose focus. Never.
"Ms. Stone," I say smoothly. "Pull up the Bergman files."
She does, her fingers moving efficiently across the tablet screen, and I manage to bullshit my way through an answer.
But my hands are shaking under the table.
The meeting ends an hour later. I'm the first one out of the conference room, my wolf clawing at my insides with the need to be alone. To process whatever the hell just happened.
Back in my office, I lock the door and lean against it.
We need her, my wolf says simply. Whatever it takes.
"I don't even know her."
We know enough.
"She's been here for like three hours."
And already we can't think about anything else. Can't focus. Can't breathe without wanting her near us. He pauses. What does that tell you?
It tells me I'm losing my mind.
A knock on my door makes me straighten.
"Mr. Lockwood?" Raven's voice, muffled through the wood. "Ms. Harrington is here for lunch."
Of course she is.
I compose my face into something neutral and open the door. "Send her in."
Anastasia glides in wearing a white designer dress, her blonde hair perfect, her smile bright and fake. She moves toward me with her arms extended.
I step back automatically, putting my desk between us.
Her smile falters. "Adrian, I texted you about lunch."
"I didn't confirm."
"You never confirm. But we need to finalize the engagement party details." She settles into the chair across from my desk. "Mother is getting impatient."
Being in the same room with Anastasia makes my skin crawl.
"What details?" I ask flatly.
She starts talking about venues and guest lists and flowers, but I'm not listening. Through the glass wall of my office, I can see Raven at her desk.
Anastasia follows my gaze. Her expression hardens. "Your new secretary is very pretty."
"Is she?"
"Don't play dumb, Adrian. Should I be worried?"
"About what?"
"About you staring at her like she's the only woman in the building."
I force myself to look at Anastasia. "Don't be ridiculous."
She stands and moves around the desk toward me. "Then prove it. Let me touch you. Just once. Just my hand on your face."
My wolf recoils violently.
"Anastasia."
"Please." Her voice cracks, genuine hurt bleeding through. "We're getting married in six months. You can't even let me touch your face."
She reaches out. The moment her fingers brush my cheek, nausea hits me so hard I have to grip the desk to stay upright. My wolf is snarling, thrashing, absolutely revolting against her touch.
I jerk back. "Don't."
"What is wrong with you?" Tears shimmer in her eyes. "I've been patient. I've waited for you to feel something, anything, but you look at me like I disgust you."
"This arrangement is political. You know that."
"I thought maybe over time you'd…" She wraps her arms around herself. "I'm not asking you to love me, Adrian. I'm asking you to let me touch you without looking like you want to vomit."
Because she's not our mate, my wolf says coldly. She'll never be our mate.
"I can't give you what you want," I say quietly.
She stares at me for a long moment, her composure crumbling. Then she straightens, wipes her eyes, and walks to the door.
She stops at Raven's desk on her way out. Leans down and says something I can't hear. Raven's expression remains perfectly neutral, but I see her hands tighten on her tablet.
Then Anastasia walks to the elevator and disappears.
The moment she's gone, I'm moving. I open my office door. "Ms. Stone. In here. Now."
She stands and follows me inside. I close the door behind her.
We're alone.
"What did she say to you?" I ask.
Raven raises an eyebrow. "Ms. Harrington? She mentioned I should be careful not to get too comfortable in my position."
Something dark and possessive surges through me — through my wolf.
She threatened what's ours, he snarls.
"The Bergman dinner tonight," I hear myself say. "You're accompanying me."
She blinks. "I'm sorry?"
"Anastasia was supposed to come. But I need someone competent instead. Someone who won't be a distraction."
That's a lie. She's the most distracting thing that's ever walked into my life.
But I need her there. I need to figure out what she's doing to me.
"That's not really in my job description," she says carefully.
"I'm expanding your job description." I step closer. "Unless you have a problem with that?"
She holds my gaze. "No. No problem."
"Good. The dinner starts at seven. I'll pick you up at six thirty. Text me your address."
She studies me for a long moment, and I swear I see something calculating in her eyes. Then she nods. "I'll send it to you."
She turns to leave, and I should let her go. Should give her space.
"Actually," I say, "I need you to grab those files from the storage room on the fortieth floor. The Bergman contract originals."
She pauses. "Now?"
"Yes. I'll come with you. I need to verify something."
It's a flimsy excuse, and I think she knows it. But she nods.
We take the private executive elevator together. The doors close, sealing us into the small space.
Her scent surrounds me again something uniquely her.
The elevator descends smoothly. Forty floors to go. I should make small talk. Ask her about her background.
Instead, I just stand there, drowning in her scent, trying not to stare.
The elevator jerks suddenly. The lights flicker.
Then everything stops.
We're suspended somewhere between floors, the emergency lighting casting everything in a dim glow.
"What…" Raven reaches for the control panel, pressing buttons but nothing happens.
"The backup generators should kick in any second," I say, but my voice sounds strained.
Because we're trapped. In a small space.
The woman who somehow, impossibly, is the only person I can touch.
She turns to face me, and we're closer than I realized. Close enough that I can see the pulse fluttering in her neck. Close enough that I could reach out and—
"Have we met before?" The question comes out before I can stop it.
She goes very still. "I don't think so, sir."
"You seem familiar."
"I have one of those faces." Her voice is carefully neutral.
"No." I step closer. "That's not it."
"Why can I touch you?"
She blinks. "I'm sorry?"
"I haven't been able to touch a woman without getting sick for fifteen years." The words pour out, desperate and raw. "But you shook my hand this morning and I felt normal. Why?"
"I don't know what you want me to say, sir."
"Tell me the truth."
"The truth is I don't know, Mr. Lockwood." She meets my eyes steadily, not flinching, not retreating. "And you should step back."
I do. One step. Because the space won't allow more than that, and because something in her voice stops me cold.
She holds my gaze. "I'm just your assistant."
I move closer again, placing one hand against the wall above her head. Not trapping her. Just unable to stop myself.
"You're lying," I say softly. "You know something."
"I don't know anything."
I'm so close now I can feel her body heat. Can see the way her breathing has quickened. The way her pupils have dilated.
She's affected too, my wolf murmurs.
"Have you felt this before?" I'm barely in control now. "This pull?"
Her eyes search mine. "I don't know what you're talking about."
I lean in, my face inches from hers. Close enough to kiss her. Close enough to claim her right here in this elevator.
"I think you do," I whisper.
Her hands come up, pressing against my chest. Not pushing me away. Just resting there. Feeling my heartbeat.
"The elevator could start any second," she says softly.
"I don't care."
I'm leaning in, my control fracturing, when…..
The elevator jerks violently.
The lights come back on.
We're moving again.
I force myself to step back, putting distance between us. My heart is racing and my hands are shaking.
What the hell was I about to do?
Raven straightens her clothes, her face flushed, her breathing uneven.
The elevator dings and we're finally on the fortieth floor.
The doors open and we stand there for a moment, neither of us moving. The tension is so thick I could cut it with a knife.
"The files," she says quietly. "You needed files."
Right. Files. That's why we're here.
Except I don't need any files. That was an excuse to be alone with her.
And I nearly kissed my assistant in an elevator like some kind of crazy lunatic.
"Never mind the files," I say roughly. "We'll get them later."
I step out of the elevator. She follows, keeping careful distance between us now.
We ride back up in silence, but I can feel her eyes on me. Can feel the weight of unasked questions.
When we reach the sixty-eighth floor, I pause before the doors open.
"Tonight," I say. "Six thirty. Don't be late."
She nods slowly.
The doors open.
She walks back to her desk without another word.
I return to my office and close the door.
Then I lean against the wall.
What's happening to me?
My wolf is quiet for once. He doesn't need to answer.
I look down at my hand. The one that touched her waist. That felt her warmth and her softness.
I'm not letting her go.
I can't.
Even if it destroys everything.