Chapter 5 TENSION AND DESIRE

Adrian

I arrived at the office promptly at 9 AM. The bustling city faded behind me as I stepped into the sleek high-rise building that housed the other operations. The air was thick with anticipation as I made my way to the meeting room. All the employed applicants from yesterday's interviews were present, seated in a semi-circle and buzzing quietly among themselves while they awaited my arrival. Well, almost everyone was there-she was missing.

As I entered, the room fell silent. Lucy, my right hand and a relentless strategist, began the briefings while I took a moment to scan the faces in the room. My gaze lingered on her empty seat, the anticipation roiling like a storm inside me. It was an unusual feeling for me, something that I wasn't accustomed to experiencing, especially in this line of work where emotion often turned into a liability.

Halfway through the meeting, she finally arrived. My body tensed as I caught her entering the room, the door swinging shut behind her with just the right amount of drama. "Why are you late?" was the question my eyes posed, although I kept my expression neutral. The way she held herself, with that air of confidence and vulnerability blended into one, was intoxicating.

Throughout the meeting, my eyes were drawn to her as if she had some gravitational pull on me. I felt her gaze flicker in my direction, and the charge hung thickly between us. I recalled on Michael's presentation. The results of Michael's investigation-the findings that circled back to her-were unsettling.

Her name was Maya, and every detail about her life was etched sharply in my mind. The report had troubled me. She had lost both her parents in a fire, an incident that seemed almost too tragic to be real. It wasn't just that she had become an orphan overnight; it was also the fact that she now had no home, no anchor in this chaotic world. The whispers of the neighbors played back in my mind-they mentioned that she had moved out just two days prior to our interview, which screamed of something more than mere circumstantial coincidence. It was alarming, all too neatly packaged to neglect.

I strained to remember the specifics about her background. It was unblemished-a clean slate, which in this business often spelled trouble-yet her demeanor was anything but innocent. She exuded an allure that was almost predatory, and as unsettling as that thought was, it only fanned the flames of my attraction to her. The way her eyes darted to the bulge between my thighs didn't help either. Shifting awkwardly in my seat, I tried to regain control over my thoughts.

Lucy continued with the briefing, laying out where each of them would be placed within the organization. It was a standard practice; every potential recruit needed to understand what they were signing up for. I reminded them that once the contracts were signed, they would no longer have the freedom to back out. They were entering a world where loyalty was purchased, and life was cheap. They would be committed to us completely. There was no going back. I noticed that Maya seemed distracted, her thoughts elsewhere as the others read through the paperwork. She looked almost dazed, and I couldn't decide if it was due to the weight of the decision or the tension lingering between us.

As they were leaving the room, I felt a nagging urge to call her.

"Stay," I said, breaking the post-signing silence, while the others shuffled out of the room. Maya hesitated but stepped forward, curiosity flickering in her eyes. As the door clicked shut behind her, I tried to feign being on my phone but my attention was on her.

I noticed how Maya reacted to my slightest movements. Every brush of my fingers against her seemed to electrify the air between us. I was losing myself to dark thoughts, thoughts that had very little to do with my duties. Letting out an annoyed sigh, I tried to force the primal instinct from my mind. I wasn't the type of man to let lust interfere with my work, but here I was, torn between responsibility and desire.

The notorious Adrian Alejandro was not meant to engage in 'sex shit'. My life had revolved around darker pleasures-blood, power, fear. These were the currencies of my existence, and sex had always been an afterthought, an occasional release that didn't require attachments. Yet the more I fought against it, the more I found myself yearning for her. I had barely known Maya for a full day, but already, she haunted my thoughts. Maya was different. Since I first laid eyes on her, I felt a strong desire that was too hard to ignore.

"Get here," I instructed Lucy over the phone as i reached my office , my mind racing faster than my heart. It wasn't long before she appeared, door swinging open and slamming shut behind her. Dressed provocatively as always, Lucy knew exactly what my call meant. But as she crossed the room, my thoughts remained tangled with the alluring woman who had captured my attention.

"Lock the door," I said curtly. As soon as she complied, the atmosphere turned electric. I tried to silence the battle raging in my mind, but the frustration festered. Maya was the one I wanted, but Lucy was here, and she was ready to assuage some of my pent-up tension.

Before I knew it, Lucy had started to strip down, but I remained still, my thoughts drifting away from the moment. "You're not even trying," she observed, pulling me from my reverie with a smirk as she reached into the drawer to retrieve a condom. The gestured seemed too mechanical for my taste. It was mundane, a stark contrast to the wild, chaotic thrill that Maya stirred within me.

She approached, tugging at the zipper of my trousers, and something snapped inside me. "Stop," I said sharply, grabbing her wrist with more force than I intended. "Just give me a hand job," I demanded, tearing my eyes away from her.

"You have never been this hard, sir," Lucy teased, her voice dripping with seduction. "You will need sex."

"Just a fucking blow job, Lucy!" I growled, losing my patience.

And with that, she acquiesced, taking me into her mouth with skill. But every thrust, every moan reverberated through me, and my mind continued to picture Maya, her gaze, her curve, her aura. As I let myself go, the tension of the desires I'd been suppressing was about to break free. I imagined what it would be like if it was Maya giving me this pleasure instead of Lucy. I closed my eyes and imagined it was her-her lips, her warmth enveloping me. My mind spun in that direction until I couldn't differentiate between the two women.

"Maya, ohhhh, ohhh," I groaned as I came, the name escaping my lips like a hushed spell. The wave of ecstasy ripped through me, yet it was laced with an unsettling guilt.

"Maya?" Lucy halted, pulling back and wide-eyed in disbelief. "Don't tell me you're that hard for her." She stood up, shaking her head in incredulity. ""You can't be serious!" She pulled back, shock plastered across her face. "Of all the women here, not Valeria, not Martina, but her?" Her voice dripped with disbelief. "Here I was, gagging at your cock just to get rid of what a fucking nerd has caused."

Her reaction stung. I had never had feelings for Lucy. She had thrown herself at me first, making it clear that she was interested in more than just professional work. She wanted to be by my side, and I had taken advantage of that on occasions where I needed relief. Yet, I had never wanted more than what I had taken from her.

"Another word from your mouth, and I'll blow your fucking head off," I said, pulling up my trousers with a galling sense of finality. I was enraged-not at Lucy, but at myself for letting emotions creep in where they didn't belong.

"Just get out," I ordered, my voice granite cold. As she pulled her clothes back on, I could sense the air between us had irrevocably changed. The door clicked shut behind her, leaving me in the quiet aftermath of my own desires, the confrontation with my feelings still echoing against the walls of my mind.

With my head against the cool surface of my desk, thoughts of Maya flooded back. She was a mystery I was desperate to unravel, even as the darkness of my world loomed around us.

But I had made enemies. I had sacrificed relationships for power and security. I had track records filled with beneath-the-surface pleasures that had clouded my judgment. And yet, here I was, besieged by a woman whose traumatic past seemed to reflect the chaos I was immersed in, and suddenly, I was compelled to know her-behind the smoke and mirrors of our jobs, behind the shadows that threatened to engulf us both.

As the day wore on, I resolved to watch from the sidelines, to gather information, to understand the layers of Maya's chaotic life. Perhaps it was my duty to protect her, or maybe it was the onset of another obsession-a reminder that even in our most sinister pursuits, there remained little flickers of humanity.

But then again, at what cost would I pry open her secrets?