Chapter 13: The First Kiss
The night was quiet, the city lights stretching beyond the office windows like a constellation of distant stars. Eva Sterling sat at her desk, papers scattered in front of her, but her thoughts were anything but on work. Derek Blackwell had lingered in her mind all day—the power, the allure, the subtle pull of his dominance that had been impossible to ignore.
Then the door clicked open.
Derek.
He didn't step in casually; he moved with deliberate precision, his presence filling the room, shrinking the space around her, commanding attention without a word. His gray eyes, smoldering and intent, met hers instantly.
"Still here?" he murmured, voice low and measured, a dangerous calm in his tone.
Eva's pulse spiked. "I… I was finishing some work," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady, though her chest tightened and her stomach fluttered with anticipation.
He leaned slightly against the edge of her desk, just within reach, yet deliberately not invading her space entirely. "Of course," he said, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Focused. Determined. But… distracted as well, I notice."
Eva's cheeks warmed. She felt the undeniable heat pooling in her abdomen, her pulse racing at the mere observation of him. The quiet dominance he wielded, the way he drew her attention without touch, made her acutely aware of every nerve in her body.
"I… I'm not distracted," she whispered, though the words lacked conviction.
He smirked, gray eyes darkening, smoldering with intent. "Are you certain?" His gaze lingered on her lips, a subtle, deliberate measure of tension that made her swallow hard.
Eva's breath caught. She wanted to look away, to regain composure, but the pull of his gaze, the magnetic command of his presence, anchored her in place. Her fingers trembled slightly, resting on the papers in front of her, though she barely noticed their touch.
Derek leaned just slightly closer, reducing the space between them in a fraction of a second, the proximity sending shivers down her spine. "Eva," he murmured, voice low, deliberate, and intimate, "I think you're aware of something… about us… that you haven't admitted yet."
Her heart thumped, and she realized she was trembling—not from fear, but from anticipation. "I… I don't know what you mean," she whispered, though her pulse betrayed the lie.
"You do," he countered, gray eyes locking on hers with intensity, smoldering with the quiet promise of something dangerous and exhilarating. "You feel it. The pull. The tension. And you want… more."
Eva's breath hitched. His words, his presence, the subtle dominance in the way he held himself—everything about him ignited a fire in her she could neither resist nor control.
"Derek…" she whispered, voice trembling with desire and apprehension. "I… I don't know if—"
"Shh," he murmured softly, cutting her off not with force but with a calm, deliberate authority. His hand hovered just a fraction from hers on the desk, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his skin without touching. "You don't have to think. Just… feel."
Eva's pulse raced. Every nerve ending was alight with tension, anticipation, and a desire she had barely allowed herself to acknowledge. The quiet dominance, the teasing, the slow burn of their connection—it all came to a head in this moment.
Derek's smirk deepened, approving, almost predatory. "You've been resisting," he murmured softly, leaning closer, "but I can feel it… how badly you want it."
Heat flooded Eva's cheeks, and she swallowed hard. She wanted to pull back, to regain composure, but the pull between them was magnetic, inevitable, and thrilling.
"Derek…" she whispered, breathless, heart hammering, "I… I—"
And then his lips were on hers.
It started tentative, hesitant—both testing the waters, both acutely aware of the intensity of the moment. Eva's eyes fluttered shut, her body reacting instinctively to the press of his mouth. The world around them—the office, the city lights, the quiet hum of computers—faded until there was nothing but the heat of him, the magnetic pull, the thrill of the first kiss.
His hands hovered near her face, careful, deliberate, giving her space yet radiating command. The kiss deepened slightly, deliberate and teasing, igniting a fire low in her stomach, coiling heat in her chest. Eva's pulse surged, and she realized with both thrill and embarrassment how much she had wanted this, even if she had been denying it.
When they broke apart, if only slightly, Eva's breath was shallow, her cheeks flushed, her body humming with electricity. Derek's gray eyes studied her intently, smoldering, teasing, commanding.
"You…" he murmured, voice low, deliberate, "taste… like anticipation and danger."
Eva gasped softly, covering her mouth with a trembling hand. "Derek… we—"
"We what?" he interrupted gently, his lips curling in that faint, teasing smirk. "We can't… feel?"
"No…" she whispered, voice trembling. "It's… it's too much."
He leaned slightly closer again, reducing the space between them, letting the heat of his presence fill every corner of her awareness. "Too much?" he murmured softly, gray eyes dark and intense. "Or just enough to make you crave more?"
Her chest tightened, the heat pooling low, the shiver racing down her spine. "I… I don't know," she admitted softly.
"Good," he murmured approvingly, almost a growl in his voice. "Not knowing… not resisting completely… that's where the fire lives."
Eva's breath caught. Every nerve ending was alive with tension, desire, and exhilaration. She had kissed him—really kissed him—and yet it felt like the beginning, not the culmination. The first kiss had ignited something undeniable, a fire that would not be easily extinguished.
Derek's lips brushed hers again, this time a fraction longer, deliberate, teasing. The kiss lingered just enough to make her knees weak, her thoughts scattered, her pulse racing. When they finally separated, if only slightly, he rested his forehead against hers, eyes half-lidded, smoldering.
"You're flustered," he murmured softly, voice low, deliberate, teasing. "And I love it."
Eva's cheeks burned hotter. "You… you shouldn't," she whispered, voice trembling. "You shouldn't make me feel like this."
"I don't," he replied softly, gray eyes locking on hers. "I merely allow it to happen… and guide it. That's the difference."
Her pulse raced, body humming with residual heat from their kiss. She realized something undeniable: Derek Blackwell wasn't just intoxicating, commanding, or dangerous—he was magnetic, thrilling, and irresistible.
"Eva…" he whispered, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear with deliberate care, gray eyes smoldering. "Do you understand what just happened?"
She swallowed hard, heart pounding. "Yes," she whispered, though her voice trembled. "I… I think I do."
He smirked faintly, approving, predatory. "Good. Because that… that was just the beginning."
Her pulse spiked. The office felt smaller, charged with the aftermath of the kiss, with the simmering fire between them, with the undeniable tension that neither of them could—or wanted to—ignore.
Eva realized, with both thrill and apprehension, that nothing would ever feel ordinary again. Derek had ignited something in her—desire, curiosity, and a fire she had barely begun to understand. And she had no intention of extinguishing it.
As he stepped back, giving her just enough space to regain composure, she realized one thing with absolute certainty: the first kiss had changed everything.
And the pull between them was only growing stronger.