She rolled her eyes and attempted to move on, but her words made me and the beast stare at her, unable to understand what she meant.

I cocked my brow at her in confusion. “Spare me?” From what, getting hard?

There was no way she knew how much of a temptation she was to me, and the tone of her voice implied something darker.

“Yes. Temptation is the road to Hell, or at least that’s what I hear.”

Shit. She couldn’t have gotten that any more right if she tried. I smirked at her again, my temptress. “You think I’m tempted by you?”

She blinked at me, her neutral expression shifted to anger. “No, but I don’t want to give you the opportunity to be tempted by me.”

“Why so hostile?” I asked, pushing her further. I had to make space between us, take away any interest she might have. Better for the lust pumping through me to be one way. It would dissipate in time, but I didn’t need her teasing me while the high wore off.

She sat back and huffed. “Look, Nathan. I’m here to do a job, not to flaunt my breasts around to catch your eye. I like my job, I like doing my job, and I want to keep it. Plus, I know you are not, and will not be, interested in a woman like me, so why even try? Now, can we get back to your tutorial?”

She was flustered, annoyed with me, but, again, her words took on a darker tone. It made my pulse tick faster as I tried to understand anything she was saying.

“How do you know?” I pressed.

Her jaw ticked before she turned to look directly at me. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I dropped the tone in my voice, allowing my own darkness to leak out. “How. Do. You. Know?”

I wanted to tangle my fingers in her hand and shove her mouth down on my hard cock so she’d see that, yes, my body was definitely interested.

Her eyes bounced between mine, and I saw it again. Her façade slipped, her words little more than a whisper. “Just drop it.”

“How?” I asked, pressing harder.

“Why would anyone?” she snapped, her lip curling up before she abruptly stood and ran out of the room.

I sat there, staring at the computer screen, and ran my hands over my face. What was that? Fuck. She was a strange woman, a mystery that intrigued me even more every minute.

I needed to get a handle on myself. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to come back to work. My whole body vibrated with volatile energy, and it took every ounce of strength in me to not lash out or fuck the shit out of her.

Though fucking the shit out of her was one thing the beast and I could agree that we both wanted.

After a few deep breaths, I worked to pull myself together and to calm the fuck down. Being on all the time, acting, used more energy than I expected, and it would take a while to get used to.

It took Delilah more time to return than I expected, but it was a break I needed. I quirked my brow at her as she entered and watched her as she moved to sit next to me again.

“Email and contact list. Then we can see if you have access to the programs IT was supposed to set up over the weekend.”

She’s just going to ignore it? How odd.

“You’re very peculiar, Delilah.”

She blinked at me for a moment, then turned her attention back to the computer. “I’m just a woman, Nathan. Nothing special.”

Her response stunned me, and the beast, too.

What have I gotten myself into?

CHAPTER 4

I took a long drag from my cigarette as I sat out on the cold balcony of my new condo and looked out onto the downtown streets. The wind was chilly with the threat of snow, but it didn’t bother me. I took one more long drag before I snuffed the cigarette out on the concrete and walked back in through the sliding glass door.

My first day back to work after years, and some woman made me almost blow it in the first few minutes.

The whole situation pissed me off. I didn’t want Delilah, not for more than a quick fuck, but due to our working arrangement, that wasn’t going to happen. All I had to do was concentrate on work and ignore the call to fuck her until it faded away and she was just another woman.

The problem was getting my body to get with the program. My dick was under the beast’s control, wild and uncontrollable. And he wanted her.

I stood in the living room and surveyed the space. My new place was a huge contrast to the tiny studio garage apartment I’d been renting, but a lot was still the same. While the square footage was quadruple or more, the walls were a very similar bare white. No photos, no artwork. No knickknacks.

It was so bare that it made a model home look like a hoarder’s house. Even for a bachelor, it was sparse.

But I didn’t need things. Or people. Or anything.

The goal was one day at a time, so until something changed, my home would remain as empty as I was. The bare necessities to hold life. The walls, floor, and ceiling were like skin, and the inside held what was needed to function, but was otherwise bare.

Just like me.

I stared into the dark family room with no idea of what to do with myself. There weren’t many options, but I felt a beer sounded like the best one along with some mindless television. Like with so many other things, I’d lost any interest in what all the different channels had to offer.

Once again, just me, the silence, and the ghosts that haunted me.

Five days in, I was better acclimated to my new job, but no more adjusted to Delilah.

Fuck.

She had me so fucking worked up that I sometimes didn’t make it home before I was working my cock.

Fucking hate her.

The hatred for everything about her was so fucking much it drove me into a delusional state of lust.

A shudder rolled through me as I pumped my fist up and down my dick. A cold shower did nothing to kick the overwhelming depravity of my mind and body. She’d corrupted my senses, hijacked my body, and she had no fucking clue.

No clue that I envisioned her on her knees in front of me, taking my cock between her lips. I wanted to annihilate her with my dick, tear her apart with the hatred that consumed me.

“Fucking bitch,” I hissed, my muscles tensing and contracting as the pressure built up.

Her perfectly conservative clothes opened up as I watched my cock disappear into her pussy that was stretched to take me.

“Fuck!”

Come all over her, spray her white over and over until she’s covered.