Chapter 3 WHERE YOUR BODY BREAKS, MINE BEGINS

I wasn't sure what startled me more-the quiet knock on my apartment door or the way my heart leapt at the thought of it being him.

I hadn't invited him. I didn't think I needed to. Not after the way I looked at him when I left the office, not after how long I held his gaze, long enough to let my silence say: come find me.

I opened the door, not caring that I was barefoot, hair wet from a long shower, wearing nothing but a robe that barely clung to my shoulders. My skin was still flushed from the heat, but his eyes did something different. They made me ache.

He stepped in without a word, closing the door behind him like it meant something. Like walking into my space was him surrendering something too.

I didn't ask why he came. I didn't have to. His silence had weight, and I felt it push into me before his hands even reached my skin.

"Take it off," I whispered, voice almost foreign to me. But it was me-it was what I needed.

He reached for the tie at my waist slowly, his fingers unsure, reverent almost. As if he still wasn't sure if this was real. As if he still saw me as someone unreachable, a woman on the thirty-sixth floor with glass walls and a diamond spine.

But I wasn't her here.

And he knew it.

The robe fell soundlessly, a puddle of silk at my feet.

He didn't speak. He just stepped closer, chest rising and falling like he'd just run here, like the sight of me had winded him.

"I don't want to think," I said, stepping into him.

"You won't."

His mouth met mine with a hunger that stunned me. I wasn't used to being wanted like this. I wasn't used to feeling like this-like I was something worth trembling over. His lips were soft but urgent, tasting, taking, pressing into mine like he had to prove he was real.

I gasped when his tongue brushed mine. That gasp turned into a moan when his hands slid down my back, over the curve of my hips, pulling me against him. His body was so firm, so warm. He kissed like he studied me in his dreams. Like he knew just where to press, just how hard to hold.

When his mouth left mine, it traveled downward, grazing my jaw, my neck, and I tipped my head back, offering it all. His hands steadied me, guiding me backward until the backs of my knees hit the edge of the couch.

I sat, legs open, robe gone, hair dripping down my back like dark silk. I should've felt exposed. I should've felt like prey. But I felt powerful. I felt like Eun-mi, not the CEO, not the perfectionist, not the untouchable. Just me.

He knelt in front of me.

Without asking.

Without speaking.

I saw the reverence in his eyes before he kissed the inside of my thigh. And then again, higher. My breath caught, chest rising and falling like I couldn't get enough air. He parted me with his hands, and I was already shaking.

The first stroke of his tongue made me cry out, legs trembling. He didn't stop. He didn't rush. His mouth moved slowly, precisely, tasting every part of me like he needed it to live.

I buried my fingers in his hair, hips arching toward him, but he gripped my thighs tighter, holding me still, forcing me to take it, to feel every slow circle, every teasing flick.

"Please..." I breathed, though I didn't know what I was begging for-release or more of the sweet torture he was giving me.

He growled against me, the sound low and deep, vibrating against my most sensitive spot. I moaned loud, thighs clamping around his head, but he didn't stop. He devoured me. Slowly. Like he'd waited a lifetime.

And then-everything tightened.

I shattered.

He didn't stop until I was trembling and gasping, body spent, toes curled into the couch cushions, heart beating like a war drum. Only then did he look up at me, face wet, lips swollen, pupils blown wide.

"You taste like sin," he murmured. "And I want more."

I pulled him up by the collar, dragging his mouth to mine. I tasted myself on him, and it only made me hungrier. I needed him inside me. Now.

I didn't undress him gently. I didn't take my time. Buttons popped, belt clanged, pants dropped-and then he was naked in front of me, and I nearly fell apart again.

He was hard. Thick. Beautiful. And all mine.

I pushed him onto the couch, climbed onto his lap, straddling him. My wetness slicked against him as I rolled my hips, teasing us both. His hands clutched at my waist, fingers digging in like he couldn't help it.

"You've been driving me insane," he growled. "Every day, watching you walk around like you didn't know what you do to me."

I grinned, but it faltered the moment he lifted me slightly and slid the tip of his cock inside me.

I gasped-no, sobbed-at the stretch.

He went slow. So damn slow.

And when I finally took all of him, he stilled, letting me feel every thick, hard inch of him filling me.

"Fuck, Eun-mi..."

I rocked my hips, grinding down, taking control. His head fell back against the couch, mouth open, a groan escaping him like it had been dragged from his chest.

"You feel like heaven," he said, hands roaming my back, my ass, everywhere.

I moved faster, riding him, using him, chasing the high he gave me like I was addicted. Our skin slapped together, breath mixing, bodies slick with sweat and desperation.

His thumb found my clit and rubbed tight circles, and I fell apart all over again-crying out his name, body convulsing, shuddering, pulsing around him.

He groaned deep and thrust up into me harder, faster, chasing his own release. I held his face in my hands, watching every flicker of pleasure across his features.

And when he came, he roared-arms wrapping around me, burying his face in my neck, body jerking as he spilled inside me.

We didn't move for a long time.

I stayed on top of him, head against his shoulder, our chests heaving in sync.

I had no words.

And I didn't need any.

His hand found mine.

He kissed my shoulder.

And in the silence, in the afterglow, I realized something dangerous-something I'd tried to deny since the first time he smiled at me from across the office.

I was falling.

And there was no turning back.

---

My breath caught as his lips grazed the shell of my ear, hot and trembling. The room still echoed faintly with the sound of our skin meeting-raw, wet, beautiful. My nails dug into his back, the sheets crumpled beneath me, and every inch of my body was thrumming with heat. He hadn't stopped moving inside me, not entirely-but slower now. Deeper.

He pressed his forehead against mine, eyes open, breath unsteady, watching me.

"I try to act like I'm just here for the job," he whispered, voice low and cracked around the edges. "But I can't pretend anymore, Eun-mi. I see you. All of you. And I... I want more than just your body."

His words hit something in me I hadn't let anyone near in years. Not since the last man who swore he loved me right before walking out the door with everything I thought we'd built. And here he was-this younger man I swore I'd never allow past my walls-saying the one thing I'd never let myself want to hear again.

I didn't speak. Couldn't.

My body pulsed around him in answer.

He cupped my face, fingers trembling. "I know I'm just the guy who answers calls and brings your coffee. But you look at me like I'm not invisible. And when you touch me..." His voice broke. "I forget how small I'm supposed to be."

I blinked hard. My hand moved instinctively to the back of his neck, pulling him down until our lips met again-not harshly this time. Not to silence him. Just to let him feel it. That maybe I wasn't as stone-hearted as I pretended to be.

He kissed me back like he didn't believe it was real.

My thighs locked tighter around him as I rocked up to meet him, slow and deliberate. He groaned against my mouth, and I swallowed it greedily.

"Stop saying you're small," I murmured, voice heavy and low. "You're the only thing that's made me feel this alive in years."

His breath stuttered. The tension in his arms shifted. I felt the way he held me change-softer somehow, even as he pressed into me with a need that hadn't lessened. His forehead returned to mine. His eyes closed.

"I've already fallen for you," he said, like it was the last confession he had in him.

I didn't say anything. Not with words. Just the way I tilted my head, the way I moved beneath him, the way my eyes refused to look away.

He understood.

He pushed deeper.

And this time, it wasn't just sex.

It was surrender.