Chapter 5 5

As usually, Rylan commanded the room. His presence smothers everything in its path. He moved with the cool assurance of a man used to get exactly what he wanted, when he wanted. His keen eye flicked amongst the attendees, making deliberate observations free from mistake.

Amaya's thoughts strayed, her eye tracking his every motion. She had discovered fast that she had to join his world if she was to stay in it. Still, something about Rylan unsettled her despite her position, despite the control she was progressively recovering over the business. His chill, his deliberate behavior, made her feel like an alien.

Then, quite suddenly, their eyes locked.

The sounds around them disappeared for the shortest of seconds, and everything else seemed to blur. Time seemed to have halted. Something unspoken, something more than simply business, something neither of them could ignore crackled in the air between them. His eyes were sharp, strong, and for a minute they flicked with something soft behind them. Was it vulnerability? Retraction? She couldn't tell, but it set her heart racing in a way she never would have predicted.

Her breath paused. Though she wanted to turn away, to act as though it didn't matter, the link was indisputable. Between them, a subtle awareness of the part they now performed in each other's life passed.

Rylan broke the moment first, his face returning to its regular opaque mask. With a low, under control voice, "Amaya," he added, "I need you to finalize these documents by the end of the day."

Though his words were a directive, there was something in the way he spoke that made her seen. Her pulse still thumping from the sudden surge of feeling, she nodded fast. What recently happened?

Amaya made effort to resist it. She was not going to be his pawn, another lady under his thumb in his game. She had battled too much to be free to allow Rylan's authoritative presence ruin everything. Still, the draw between them grew more intense daily.

She had always taken great satisfaction in her ability to keep her cool and to separate her personal feelings from her work life. With Rylan, though, it changed. Her pulse would quicken, her thoughts would fly, and she would find herself losing herself every time their paths crossed or every time their eyes locked across the room.

Rylan knew as well. She could see it in his eyes, almost predatory, as he watched her, waiting for her to shatter. She also loathed herself for how much she wanted to offer in response to that look.

Amaya's anxiety was running wild one evening as they strolled down Delacroix Enterprises' hallways following another demanding day of meetings. There was obvious conflict between them. She could feel the heat emanating from his body, the way his presence seemed to surround her, driving her to the brink of something she wasn't sure she wanted to dip into.

"You're not fooling anyone, Amaya," Rylan stated abruptly, his voice low and somewhat amused. "I always win; you can fight it all you want."

She had never revealed anyone the gaps in her armor, never let herself be vulnerable. But tonight something changed. She felt tonight as though she were peering into the abyss from the brink. She also lacked the will to hold herself back, unlike usually.

With papers all over his desk, Rylan was seated with a stiff stance. He was totally engross in his task, his attention unbroken. Amaya, though, couldn't get rid of the sensation he knew every movement she made. Every breathing she did.

At last she spoke, her voice soft and nearly reluctant. Rylan, why are we doing this? Why are we both caught in this game?

Rylan did not react sharply right away, first since their marriage, for once. Rather, he reclined in his chair, his eyes narrowing as he gave her close attention. It was a rare moment of silence, a moment when he lacked control. And for a split second Amaya saw the guy behind the walls, the wounded man who had founded his empire on suffering.

"I didn't choose this life," he remarked gently, his voice unusual for softness. "But occasionally... there is no decision to make. Not for someone like me.

His comments seemed to her like a punch. He was not simply merciless and cold. He too was broken. He was scarred personally and carried demons.

Amaya gazed at him, actually looked at him for the first time since their wedding, and her chest contracted. She momentarily glimpsed past the man who had wrecked her life. Like her, she saw the guy who had suffered.

She also wanted to reach out, to demolish the barriers between them, for the shortest of times. But Rylan's phone rang, cutting across the delicate moment like a dagger as the idea passed through her head.

He answered the call, his mask sliding back in position. "We're not done here, Amaya," he continued, his voice now icy and directive. "NOT yet."

As Amaya walked away, the brief link between them already lost fell in her heart.

Rlys. He was no more only the cold, calculated billionaire she had been obliged to wed. She had seen a different side of him over the past three weeks, one that although still reserved suggested something more. Something more like human nature. That was the issue, albeit, not quite. She ought not to give a damn. She was meant to only feel bitterness, wrath, and a great longing to flee this golden cage.

But now, with his presence filling the room, the strain between them seemed nearly physical. It was something else, not only the business negotiations or the wedding vows they had traded. Something neither of them had covered but which was hard to overlook.

Amaya could sense him staring at her, his lips fixed in a faint, inexplicable smile, his eyes keen. When she turned to face him at last, his predatory focus captured hers and set her heart pounding. Though she wasn't clear about what she expected of him, it most definitely wasn't this.

Rylan said, "Amaya," his voice like velvet, low and quiet. His eyes strayed from her face to the curvature of her body, lingering in a way that accelerated her pulse. "You have been quiet."

She swallowed, attempting to control her breath and drive the feeling out of her chest. I'm simply thinking right now.

"About what?" he questioned, approaching closely and his presence both fascinating and stifling.

He was so close that Amaya momentarily forgot to breathe. She tried not to look away from his. The distance between them seemed to close, the air swelling with something she wanted not to accept. Though the lightest of touches, his palm stroked hers and felt like a spark lighting her skin.

Rylan leaned forward, his breath stroking her cheek as he whispered, his lips nearly meeting her ear. "You cannot keep passing for Amaya. Between us exists something. And you can reject all you wish, but we both know it exists."

Her body responded before her head could register. Like a tidal wave, the sudden closeness, the tension, the obvious draw between them all came down over her. She had never anticipated this. She had never anticipated to be pulled to him in such an uncontrolled manner or to want him at all.

Her pulse echoed in her ears as Rylan's face drew near and his lips lightly brushed hers in a brief kiss. Her heart surged. At first, it was delicate, hesitant, as if trying the waters. Then it descended, a slow, scorching kiss that seemed to call more.

Amaya's breath was shallow and her chest heaving as she battled to get under control as they at last withdrew. Her body still tingling from the kiss, she stared at him but all she could think was, this is a mistake.

She said, "This is a mistake," her voice quivering with doubt.

Rylan said firmly, his lips curving into a half-smile and eyes shining with something darker. "We'd see."

Her truth struck her like a kick to the gut. She had married to safeguard her family. She had buried her feelings deep inside and never let herself consider the fallout from being linked to him. She was, however, caught in something even more convoluted now. She was no more only the compliant wife. She was experiencing emotions she was not allowed to have, ones that challenged the carefully built barriers surrounding her heart.

Worse, she had let him in. She had let herself be vulnerable for the shortest of times, let the intensity of the attraction between them to guide her. Now, the mere concept of retrenchment looked unworkable.

Her phone buzzed, cutting her off from her ideas. Her gut turned over at the name on the screen.

Rylan here.

Knowing that every chat with him felt like walking a tightrope, she answered warily.

"Amaya," his voice rang cool and under control. See me in the conference room. We really ought to talk about something.

His voice lacked any trace of feeling, no sign of the events of past influencing him. For him, the kiss seemed to be little more than a passing sensation. But Amaya couldn't get rid of the sense that their chemistry had changed in ways she didn't yet comprehend.

Heart thumping in her chest, she got up from her desk. Her feelings seemed intolerable in weight. She owed him to face him. Was she, however, ready for what it may entail?

Her mind flew with contradicting ideas as she headed toward the conference room. She didn't know whether she could really trust Rylan or what he wanted from her. One thing was clear though: this was far from done. And the fallout from all that had transpired would sweep across their lives in ways neither of them could have anticipated.

As Rylan's voice rang in her head she walked into the room: "This game is far from over, Amaya. It is now personal as well.