His Until Dawn (Kissing the Boss Book 3) Read online

  "Don't be stupid," he said curtly, coming around the table to stand next to me. "Turn around."

  I held out my hand, getting a sneaky suspicion that I already knew what he had in mind. "It's okay. Thank you so much for the ice. I can take it from here."

  "I hate telling a woman to shut up, as I consider myself somewhat a feminist," he said, his lips thinned. "So don't make me say it."

  My gaze flicked to the main office door, the door that was never closed. "What if someone sees?"

  "See what?" he asked and swiveled my seat around.

  He dropped to one knee, his shoulder brushing my knee. "We're doing nothing wrong."

  "Um…" I mumbled, trying to stay calm and focused. But with him this close, not just my cheek but my entire body went hot. I could already feel myself start to sweat.

  Even though we had sex before, this was different. We were in the office and if anyone happened to walk in…

  His brows flickered down as he pressed the small bag of ice gently against my left cheek. "Does it hurt?"

  I shook my head wordlessly, my gaze wandering everywhere but on him.

  He laughed. The low, raspy sound made my toes curl in delight. "Don't tell me you're embarrassed about this? After everything we've done?"

  "This is different," I insisted. "We're not alone. What if someone walks in? What are they going to think?"

  "I'll tell them that I'm helping my shell-shocked executive assistant after she was attacked."

  The wall around my heart crumbled at his unexpected kindness. "I'm so sorry this happened. I should have called, but I didn't want to bother you."

  His gaze slid away. "I don't know why you'd think a call wouldn't have been warranted. You've had no problems calling me in the past."

  My cheek was starting to go numb from the ice, but I couldn't move away, not for all the money in the world.

  Besides, Nobuki was never going to get down on his knees before me again.

  I tugged on my earlobe and looked him in the eyes, knowing that I couldn't keep skirting around the truth any more. "I wasn't sure what your relationship was with Yue Kinou."

  His brow quirked. "Interesting. I don't think I've told you her name, and she wouldn't have divulged her name easily. She would've given you a false name." A corner of his lips twisted up. "Ah, that's right. The illustrious Tadashi Murai from Editorial. Of course he would. You have some very interesting friends, Miss Hasegawa."

  I didn't know what to say. "Well, I…"

  "Did he tell you our history?" he asked.

  Trying to keep his gaze was harder than I imagined. Talking to my lover about his past lovers was new territory for me and not a place I wanted to traverse. "I've heard some things."

  He nodded. "Don't you want to ask me about them?"

  Curiosity burned in my gut like spicy food, but I tamped it down. "It's none of my business."

  "No," he agreed. "It's no one's business except for Yue and myself."

  After a few minutes of sitting in a stifling, uncomfortable silence thick enough to chew on, I shifted in my chair, making the joints squeak. "My cheek feels better now."

  Actually, I couldn't feel the whole left side of my face anymore, but if it put some distance between us…

  He pulled the half-melted pack of ice from my cheek. "Seriously, does it hurt?"

  I shook my head.

  Like I said, it was numb, so I couldn't feel anything. "Thank you, Mr. Miyano. Once again, I apologize for causing so much trouble. She left Shota there, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to take him some place fun."

  He grimaced, a very human expression that almost never crossed his face. "I'm afraid Yue never cared much for anyone but herself."

  Even though the left side of my face was numb from the ice, I still felt his touch as he turned my face to one side, his eyes narrowed. "It's red, but I can't tell if it's from the ice or her hand."

  "It'll go away," I forced out through a tight throat, almost melting from his touch. It had been a few weeks since he had touched me and it didn't occur to me how much I missed it, craved it.

  It was terrifying.

  Our deal was just sex, no feelings whatsoever.

  "Please, stop," I whispered, unable to meet his dark eyes.

  "Stop what?"

  His fingers drifted down to my chin, gently forcing it around so I could no longer avoid his gaze. "You don't have to be so nice."

  He tilted his head to one side. "Am I?"

  "I don't understand you," I said. "Sometimes I think you're a cruel monster, and I want you to get hit by a bus."

  Instead of getting offended, my words seemed to amuse him. "Am I really so bad?"

  I chewed on my lower lip. "But there are times when you show me so much kindness that it hurts."

  "Do I?"

  I nodded, my hands tightening around the arm rest, resisting the urge to touch him. "The medicine when I told you I wasn't feeling well. In LA, after Heather attacked me. Now this."

  He looked away. "You must think I'm a real monster if those small things have such an effect on you. I'm sorry, Rika. I didn't want to cause you so much trouble. Not that Heather was ever my ex, but the women in my life seem crazy, don't they? I wonder what it says about me."

  His words made my chest clench. "No! You're fine! It's me. I shouldn't make such a big deal out of this, but when you show me small acts of kindness like this, I get so confused. I wish I didn't, but then I remember our deal and I try to adhere to it. On the other hand, I just—"

  Then his mouth was over mine, and I forgot how to breathe.

  Something was different about this kiss. Soft, undemanding, it was the kind of kiss that I wished could go on forever. Even though I knew it was wrong, even though I knew I should've pulled away, I found myself leaning forward, my hands tightening into his crisp white shirt.

  This was wrong.

  No.

  This was right.

  Wait, what was I doing?

  Lurid images of Aimi's skinny legs wrapped around Mr. Abe's fat, hairy torso flashed in my mind and jolted me out of the sweetness of Nobuki's kiss.

  I pulled back, hands clenched tightly in my lap. "We shouldn't."

  He sat back on his haunches, an unreadable expression on his handsome face. "You're right. We shouldn't."

  I bit my lip hard. And yet, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, I couldn't stop my fingertips pulsing with the want of him, couldn't stop tasting him on my lips, couldn't stop remembering how it felt to have his naked skin against mine.

  "I don't want to be them," I whispered.

  "Who?"

  I squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to dispel the images of the past secretary and boss, trying to ignore their passionate cries ringing in my head. "You know. Mr. Abe. Aimi. The people before us."

  A look I recognized as tenderness shone in his dark eyes as he brushed a lock of my hair behind one ear. His fingertips skimmed my earlobe, and I couldn't stop the tremor going through my body.

  That one touch made me lean forward, almost brought me off the seat.

  I missed his touch.

  Missed his kisses.

  Just…missed him.

  And I didn't like it.

  Why did he affect me so badly?

  Why couldn't I take this for what it was and ignore everything else?

  Why was I falling for him?

  He tapped the tip of my nose, a corner of his lips tweaking up in a beguiling manner.

  I didn't know he could look like that.

  "Remember what we said?" His voice was like a brush of velvet against my skin. "No emotions. No entanglements."

  My voice was hoarse. "No sex in the office."

  He nodded.

  "So, tell me," he said, his voice a raspy whisper against my heightened senses. "Tell me to leave you alone. Tell me you don't want this."

  He curved a hand around my cheek and I closed my eyes, leaning into his soft touch, almost forgetting where we were.

  God, b
ut how I wanted to forget!

  "If I do?" My eyes were still closed, because I knew that once I opened them, I'd know exactly where we were, and my better half, or rather my stupid half, would make me draw back. "What happens if I tell you to leave me alone?"

  "Then I will. I'll leave you alone, and it'll be like the last ten minutes didn't happen."

  But that wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to erase the last ten minutes. I wanted to keep it, treasure it, look back on it on cold winter nights in an empty, equally cold bed.

  Aimi.

  Mr. Abe.

  Granted, now that I thought about it, there wasn't necessarily anything in our contract that forbade office sex, but still…

  I didn't want to be another Aimi or Mr. Abe.

  This had to be something more.

  It had to be.

  "So? What's it to be?"

  Limbs heavy, moving slowly as though covered in honey, I put a hand over my sluggishly beating heart, telling myself there'd be no regrets.

  No regrets.

  No looking back.

  "Don't." I licked my dry lips and opened my eyes, fully acknowledging where we were, what I was about to ask him to do.

  "Don't?" One brow quirked up. "Don't what?"

  A nervous laugh left my lips. He certainly wasn't going to make this easy for me, was he?

  "Don't leave me alone," I said. "Please. Stay with me."

  His dark gaze flitted to the open office door, the one that had never closed except at night, and then he stood up, a hand held out to me.

  "No going back," he warned. "You understand that, right?"

  I nodded, terrified despite myself.

  "You can't come back and cry foul."

  My laughter was shaky. "Same to you."

  I slipped my hand into his and followed him into his office, closing the door behind us with my heel.

  I thought about locking it, just in case, but his arms came around me, his mouth settling over that sensitive spot on my neck, underneath my ear, and I melted.

  My hands tightened around his forearms as his fingers made quick work of the buttons running down my damp blouse, slipping underneath the waistband of my skirt, brushing the hemline of my panties before pulling the skirt zipper down.

  The heavy material of the skirt brushed down my legs and pooled at my feet and I shuddered, drawing in a deep breath as he sucked my flesh deeply.

  "You'll leave a mark," I murmured, putting up a token protest.

  "Do you care?"

  I didn't think about that one for too long. "No."

  He nipped my neck hard enough to make me jump, sucking in a breath that made my insides feel as substantial as fog.

  "Turn around."

  I did as he asked, the back of my thighs pressing into the edge of his desk as he went down in front of me, the light from the blinds turning his dark eyes shades of amber and crimson.

  For a moment, I saw something darker lurking in those depths and my thighs convulsed as he pressed a kiss to my quivering belly.

  A small cry left my lips as I gripped the edge of his desk, my legs almost too weak to stand as he painstakingly, slowly pulled my frilly white panties down, leaving them crumbled in the nest of my skirt.

  He drew in a deep breath, the smell of my sex redolent in the air that smelled faintly of coffee and cigarette smoke.

  "Sit back on the desk."

  I did it willingly because I didn't want to fall on top of him.

  His eyes drifted shut as he kissed a path from my knees, up along the inside of my quivering thigh, and as he licked a long, slow line along the crease of my thigh, I thought I was going to go up in flames.

  My skin felt hot, too hot as his mouth settled over my pulsating, throbbing sex and when his tongue flicked up along my clit, it brought me off the table, my hips jerking against his incessant mouth, the unrelenting lashing of his tongue.

  I couldn't get away.

  I couldn't get close enough.

  Conflicting emotions rose in my chest as I pressed a hand against my mouth, trying to keep the rising cries from slipping out, as he used his mouth and fingers to bring me into an explosive climax. My world turned completely white, all the color sucked out around me as sparks of black danced along the edges of my vision.

  Trembling, covered in a thin sheen of sweat, he pressed his mouth against mine, and I drank in deeply of his mouth, interlaced with my ocean taste that seemed all the more sweet on his tongue.

  "What next?" he asked, his lips moving over mine.

  The cool, air-conditioned air was tantalizing against my nakedness as I pushed my hips against his, painfully aware of his clothed state.

  "I want you," I whispered, forgetting all sense of decorum. "I want to feel you inside me."

  "As you wish."

  With almost angry jerks, his clothes joined mine on the floor. As he slipped the tip of his cock into my liquid warmth, I drew in a breath, teeth gritted at his razor-sharp focus.

  "You are such a sadist," I ground out, wrapping my legs around his hips in a vain attempt to force him in deeper, faster.

  He gave me a feral grin. "You expected otherwise? You ought to know better by now."

  But he obliged me, thrusting in so deep, so abruptly that it stole the breath from my lungs as I rode on waves of pleasure that seemed never-ending.

  "Don't stop," I gasped, pussy clenching around his long, hard length, my hips moving against his. "Please, don't stop."

  He didn't.

  And when he came into me, his hips jerking into mine, it was with my mouth pressed against his, sucking the cry straight from him, my fingers entangled in the silken strands of his dark hair.

  At that moment, I think I would have died happily.

  There was no longer any doubt in my mind.

  God help me, but I was in love with my boss and there was no more going back.

  The remainder of the day passed in a strange, almost dream-like blur.

  Even if someone held a gun to my head, I don't think I could have explained what happened after Nobuki made love to me on his office desk.

  We made love.

  That's what it was.

  It wasn't sex anymore, not for me.

  And if there was something in the look in his eyes…

  Nobuki had to leave at noon to meet with one of our more famous authors, renowned for his reclusive nature, and with a quick, almost apologetic glance, told me that he wouldn't be coming back that day.

  I'm not sure what I said, but the next thing I knew, the clock read four thirty and I had done nothing productive since he'd left. Only thirty more minutes…but I decided enough was enough. Switching on the voice mail, I grabbed my bag and got the hell out of there.

  Somehow, I got home without getting hit by a car or a runaway bicycle and took a long, hot bath. Reality slowly came back to me as I sprawled in the tub, the water all the way up to my nose.

  I sent a text to Ayaka, and she replied a few minutes later, agreeing to meet me at one of our old haunts, a fairly well-known outdoor pub near the station with ice-cold beer and the best grilled chicken sticks in town.

  There by six, I ordered in advance and Ayaka showed up ten minutes later, still in her work clothes, a heavy messenger bag over one slim shoulder.

  "Hi, you." She slid onto the stool next to mine and nodded thanks to the old man manning the counter when he placed a glass of beer in front of her. "What's up? You usually never go out for dinner. Don't your parents expect you to eat at home with them?"

  Crap. I had forgotten all about that. "Give me a second."

  This time, I texted my mother, apologizing for the late notice and that I was going to have dinner with a friend of mine.

  Ayaka looked at me over the top of her frosty glass, thoughtful. "Seriously, though. Your message was super weird. Usually, I'm the one who needs advice."

  I concentrated on separating my chopsticks. If I looked at Ayaka, she'd be able to read the entire scenario on my face.

&n
bsp; "It's about this guy," I started cautiously.

  Her eyes widened and she set down her glass hurriedly. "You're dating someone?"

  I grimaced. "Not…exactly."

  My face was as red as a tomato, and I took a quick swig of beer, hoping she'd chalk up my hot face to the alcohol.

  "I see." She accepted a plate of yakitori from the proprietor who looked at least a hundred years old. "So, you're kind of seeing someone, but not. It's just sex, then. I've been in those kinds of relationships before. After a while, it gets weird. Someone always lets emotions get involved. Let me warn you, it never ends well. Get out before things get too complicated."

  I eyed the steaming skewers of grilled chicken, but I wasn't hungry. "Too late."

  She sighed, shaking her head. "Should've figured. You're not the kind of girl who'd get into a relationship like that anyways." She took a bite of the teriyaki-basted skewer. "So? Who is this bastard?"

  Like hell I was going to tell her. "Can't say."

  "Is that so?" she mused and topped off both our glasses with one of those giant Asahi bottles that could've been used as a club. "Do I know the guy?"

  I let out a shrill, nervous sounding laugh. "No way."

  She went still for a moment, giving me the hairy eyeball. "It's your boss."

  I choked on a mouthful of beer. "What? What are you talking about?"

  She handed me some tissues, giving me a pitying look. "You can't lie to save your life, Rika. It's written all over your face."

  Was she fishing for information? Was it possible she suspected but didn't know for sure? "As if he would have me," I mumbled. "I'm too ugly for him."

  She snorted and tossed her hair over one shoulder. "Oh, please. Don't even try that with me. I'm right, aren't you? You are sleeping with Nobuki Miyano, aren't you?"

  I flicked a glance at the proprietor humming under his breath while preparing something, but I had the sneaking suspicion he was enjoying the conversation unfolding before him. "Why don't you just yell that out loud for everyone to hear?"

  "Wow, I was right," she whispered, staring at me with growing horror in her eyes. "Jeez, Haru is going to murder you, if she ever finds out. She's pissed she still hasn't gotten her claws in him."

  "Don't remind me," I replied glumly.