Chapter 5 - The Unlocked Door
The master study was cold.
Dallas sat behind a heavy walnut desk, a glass of single-malt scotch resting untouched beside an encrypted laptop. On the screen, security feeds from five different ports across the Midwest flickered in silent, rhythmic black-and-white.
He was staring at the wall.
Six years of restraint were unraveling inside his chest. He had spent years watching her from across the desk, listening to her soft laugh when she talked to her mother on the phone, watching her scribble notes in the margins of high-stakes contracts. He had built an entire corporate empire as a shield around one woman, and tonight, the shield had cracked.
A faint click echoed through the quiet penthouse.
Dallas’s eyes snapped toward the door of the study.
Cecilia stood in the entryway.
She was wearing a simple, dark silk robe that Mrs. Gable had left in the wardrobe. It was tied loosely around her waist, revealing the soft dip of her collarbone and the full curve of her chest. Her dark hair fell wild around her shoulders, completely untamed from its usual formal knot.
Dallas stood up slowly, the leather chair pushing back with a quiet scrape against the floor.
"Cecilia," he rasped, his voice rough. "You should be sleeping."
"I didn't lock the door," she said softly, taking a step into the room.
Dallas went still. His eyes, silver and sharp in the firelight, swept over her face, her hair, the subtle curve of her waist beneath the black silk.
"You're walking into a fire, Cecilia," he warned, his voice dropping an octave into a low, dangerous rumble. "If you take another step, I won't let you run back to your old life when this is over."
"I don't want my old life," Cecilia said firmly, taking another slow step toward him. "My old life was built on lies. My old life was me hiding in gray clothes, pretending I didn't see the way your hands trembled whenever you handed me a pen."
Dallas’s breath caught. His fist clenched at his side.
"You noticed?" he whispered.
"I notice everything, Dallas," she said, stopping right in front of his desk. "I remembered every look. Every time you stood too close in the elevator. Every time you fired a man for making a comment about me. I thought you were cold. I thought you looked down on me."
"Look down on you?" Dallas let out a harsh, self-deprecating laugh. He walked around the desk until he stood inches from her, his broad shoulders blocking out the rest of the room. "Cecilia... I have spent three years worshipping you from three feet away while pretending I had a heart made of stone."
He reached out, his broad hand coming up to cup the side of her neck, his large thumb tracing the soft line of her jawline.
"Look at you," Dallas whispered, his voice trembling with rare, profound emotion. "You think you needed to hide? You are the most breathtaking thing that has ever entered my life. Every inch of you."
Tears welled in Cecilia’s eyes, but this time they were warm, free of fear. "Dallas..."
"I love your curves, Cecilia," he rasped, his eyes burning into hers with absolute truth. "I love the way your body fills out a room. I love your mind, your fire, your stubbornness. I hated those gray suits because they were a cage you built around yourself out of fear."
He pulled her closer, his hand wrapping around her waist, pulling her soft body against his hard, broad chest.
"You are free now," Dallas promised against her forehead. "No debts. No cages. No hiding."
Cecilia reached up, her small hands wrapping around his neck, pulling his head down. "Then kiss me."
Dallas didn't hesitate.
May you like
His mouth came down on hers with a fierce, possessive hunger that had been contained for six long years. The kiss was deep, hot, and wild, completely consuming her doubts. Cecilia let out a small gasp against his lips, her body melting into his embrace as his hands slid down her back, gripping her broad hips with a fierce, protective weight.
He picked her up effortlessly, her thighs wrapping around his waist as he carried her out of the study and toward the master suite, leaving the cold world of corporate war behind them in the dark.
