Chapter 2 Something about her

Chapter Two: Something About Her

Damian Blackthorn didn't believe in accidents.

Everything in his world happened because he planned it. Controlled it. Owned it.

So when Elsie Hart walked in on him f*cking a woman over his desk, it wasn't a mistake.

It was fate.

There was something about her. The way she'd frozen like prey. The way her lips had parted, breath catching, not from fear-but curiosity.

And something deeper. Hunger.

Now, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

Not the model from last night. Not the meeting with international partners. Not the pending acquisition.

Just her.

---

Elsie couldn't concentrate.

Her emails blurred, her fingers trembled over her keyboard, and every step she took echoed too loud.

What had she done?

What had she said?

> What if I do...?

The words kept looping in her head like a song she couldn't stop humming. She'd said it. She wanted it. And he knew it.

Which meant her days at Blackthorn Enterprises were numbered-or worse, just beginning.

When she entered the elevator that afternoon, her stomach dropped.

He was inside.

Alone.

"Miss Hart," he said smoothly.

"Mr. Blackthorn." She tried to sound professional. Failed.

He hit the emergency stop button.

Panic flared in her chest.

But he didn't touch her.

He just turned to face her fully. Looked at her like she was something rare. Something caged.

"You intrigue me."

She blinked.

"I've had the best this city has to offer. Women with pedigrees, runway legs, polished tongues." He tilted his head. "But you... You're so shy it's almost painful. Quiet. Unreadable. And yet, when you said those four words last night... I nearly came."

Elsie felt her whole body flush.

"I didn't mean-"

"Don't lie to me."

He stepped forward.

"I don't want innocence," he said, voice low. "I want surrender. There's a difference."

Her lips parted.

"I want your mind. Your voice. Your silence. All of it."

He reached up and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek.

"But only when you're ready to give it."

The elevator jolted back into motion.

The moment passed like smoke.

He stepped off first. Left her breathless and ruined, standing alone in her heels, pulse still racing.

---

That night, Elsie couldn't sleep.

She tried to focus on her books. Her spreadsheets. Her life before all this. But her mind kept drifting-back to his words, his voice, the weight of his gaze.

She slipped a hand beneath the covers.

Just once, she told herself.

She closed her eyes and imagined the way he looked at her.

Imagined his fingers instead of hers.

Imagined what it would feel like to finally give in.