by Marian Tee
I lifted myself up, resting on my elbows, my whole body shuddering at the blatant look of desire in Constantijin’s eyes while he licked me.
“I want to see you come as I take you with my mouth.”
That was the only warning I got before his mouth closed over my clit, sucking hard and long.
I cried out as I came, our eyes locked with each other as pleasure caused my body to shake uncontrollably.
Later, Constantijin took control again, cleaning me with a brisk efficiency that made me feel thankful and a little hurt at the same time even though I tried my best not to let him know that.
“You are mine now, understand?”
His English seemed to go to hell whenever he was feeling strongly about something, I realized. He was scowling at me, as if remembering Drake. I scowled back at him, realizing that he was trying to manipulate me through sex.
“I’m not yours.” And I wasn’t – or at least I was 99 percent his, but he didn’t have to know that. The 1 percent would remain mine, protected inside my heart until I could make him fall for me the way I was so obviously falling for him.
The words sounded silly even to my ears, especially after what had just happened between us. When I looked up, he was frowning again.
“Are you playing with me, schat?”
“No!”
Constantijin visibly relaxed at my obviously shocked answer. “I knew you weren’t the type but---I don’t understand why you are so against being mine. I can give you everything – anything you want.” His voice lowered, the look he sent me under his lashes positively sizzling.
“No one can please your body the way I can, Yanna.”
He was so arrogantly convinced of that it should have been a turn off, but my weak body reacted the opposite way. Instead, it found his words a huge turn on, my nipples hardening into pinpoint pricks against my blouse.
“I don’t deny that, Constantijin. But this – all of this, I’m not used to it. I need time.” I needed time to harden my heart, to protect it if he ever did end up using and leaving me, but I didn’t have to tell him that.
“Time.” He repeated the word so distastefully I couldn’t help but smile.
“Fine. I will give you this time you are asking for. But not too long,” he warned darkly. “I am an impatient man and I hunger too much for you already. Only you have forced me to go through cold showers every night.”
My heart blossomed at those words even though I did my best not to let him know how thrilled I was to hear that.
Over my protests, Constantijin walked me out of his office – past his smiling and still-unruffled looking secretary – and all the way to my office. Other employees who caught sight of us gawked, the questions in their eyes dispelled when Constantijin spoke.
“For your next presentation, I hope you can include a potential cast for the series. Include unknown and known actors – whoever you think will be best for the roles,” Constantijin was saying.
I looked up at him suspiciously, unsure if he really meant what he said because that was a big thing he was asking of me. Yet all he did was smile enigmatically. When we reached the door to my office, he said, “I was right in hiring you, Yanna.”
I practically expired with happiness at that point. It felt almost as good as the orgasms he alone could give me. Blushing because I was simply unable to keep myself from doing so, I said, “I’m just really happy to be with you, Mr. Kastein.”
The door opened behind me just as I spoke the words out loud and suddenly I found myself the focus of two surprised stares – George’s and Constantijin’s.
Realizing what I hadn’t meant to say, I stammered, “I meant, with your company.” Oh my God, oh my God, why the hell had I said that?
Constantijin smiled, the brooding darkness in his eyes completely wiped out by my Freudian slip. “Understood.”
He turned away and George and I stared at him silently. Even with his back to me, he still looked immensely sexy – too much so. When Constantijin was safely out of earshot, George said slyly, “Happy to be with you? Is that your subconscious talking?”
“No!” Or so I hoped.
Lesson #6
Don’t play games with your billionaire –
Especially when it’s a game he invented.
Alyx was literally rolling on the floor laughing when I morosely shared with her what happened today. Well, not about the part when I came in his mouth – God, my panties got all wet at the thought alone – but about the freaking Freudian slip that I made in front of George and Constantijin.
“You’re supposed to comfort me,” I wailed.
But that only made Alyx laugh harder, making me wish the living room had a bed of thorns for flooring instead of a soft blue-gray carpet.
“That is just so you!” she gasped.
“Yeah, yeah. Stop laughing!”
Alyx made a visible effort to rein in her laughter. “I’m good now,” she said even as her lips quivered.
I launched into my complaint immediately. "How am I going to face him tomorrow?"
"That's assuming you'll see him tomorrow," she told me.
Good point. He was the CEO, after all. He didn’t have to be in the office every day. But – that was a bad point, too. It meant I wouldn’t be able to see Constantijin and --- wait, did I want to see him? Did I really want this thing between us to continue?
Where was the old Yanna in all this, the one who yearned for true love and not for smoking-hot sex?
I lifted my legs up, hugging them close to my chest in utter misery. “Oh God, Alyx, I think I’m falling for him.”
This was such a fucking cliché it wasn’t funny – not funny at all.
Alyx’s smile faded at my words. “Falling?” she echoed. “Isn’t this just, like, a sexual crush?”
A sexual crush? I didn’t even know such a thing existed! But now that I did – I thought about it real hard and shook my head after a while, even more glumly. “I don’t think it’s that.”
Alyx sat up in the floor, a look of alarm on her face. “Look, Yanna. I’m all for you and your boss doing the dirty, but only if you’re just in it for the sex. But if you think you’re falling for him---” Her lips pursed in disapproval. “Drop it. You’ll just get hurt.”
“I don’t think---”
“Try,” she cut me off with a scowl. “Look for other hotties to hook up with.” She paused. “Like Mr. Fix It.”
“But that would be like using Drake, and I can’t do that.”
She grimaced. “You’re too nice, you know that, right?” She said it like being nice was a disease and most times, it meant exactly that in Alyx’s book. Ever since we were young, she had kept on scolding me for letting people take advantage of me because I was – like she said – too nice.
I shook my head. “I’m not. I’m just…” Falling head over heels for my boss, and that was my problem.
George was still throwing me sly looks when I reported to work the next day. I ignored him, of course.
I worked immediately on improving my presentation since the new snowflake on my monitor screen told me that our meeting with the executives was set for tomorrow. Again, my fixation on my work caused me to forget all about lunch. It was already two in the afternoon when my stomach growled, my internal alarm clock for hunger.
The cafeteria was nearly empty when I got there, but my inner senses went haywire immediately, telling me even without seeing that he was here again. Still uncomfortable about how fast and hard I was falling for the Netherlands’ #1 Playboy, I quickly turned around to escape.
But it was too late.
Constantijin was suddenly in front of me, as if sensing my intent to avoid him.
"Yanna."
I firmly repressed the lovesick sigh begging to be let out. Hearing him say my name with his Dutch accent was even more of a turn on now, especially when he looked at me like I was a lollipop he wanted to lick all over.
“Good afternoon, sir.” Just looking at Constant
ijin made me feel restless, my body throbbing for his touch. Today, he wore a pale pink polo together with a pair of well-cut trousers, his blazer nowhere in sight. His clothes made his muscular physique even more apparent, and it was all I could do not to stare hungrily at his body, knowing that every inch of it was wonderfully hard.
Like his cock.
God, what was I thinking?
Constantijin’s eyes shone with amusement, and I knew he had guessed correctly the direction that my thoughts had taken.
“Let’s have lunch together,” he said.
I quickly shook my head. “Oh no, sir, I don’t want to impose---”
He said very gently, “It’s just lunch, Yanna.”
The delicate tone he used confused me. Was he saying I was overreacting? Even more confused and not a little irritated, I nevertheless found myself following him to one of the half-moon-shaped booths.
He snapped his fingers and a waiter appeared by our side on cue, ready to take our orders. This was a self-service cafeteria, but I supposed rules like that didn’t apply to CEOs. I opted for Japanese this time and he followed my lead, both of us ordering bento boxes and separate appetizers.
We sat at opposite ends of the booth. We couldn’t sit next to each other, not when he was my boss and I was his employee. Also, we weren’t a couple – yet.
I colored at my thoughts. Playboy, Yanna, playboy. Playboys like Constantijin didn’t do the couple thing. I had to remember that.
The waiter returned not more than a minute later, our appetizers ready, sashimi for him and kani salad for me. I split my chopsticks just as he reached out for them.
“Oops?” I said with an embarrassed smile. Was I supposed to play damsel in distress with my chopsticks?
He laughed. The sound made my toes curl. Something about Constantijin Kastein enjoying my company – with my clothes on – had butterflies fluttering their wings in my stomach.
“Itadakimasu,” I said, feeling shy all of a sudden.
“Itadakimasu,” he said in return, eyes still gleaming with laughter.
We ate our meal in silence, and I did my best not to look like I was in the middle of another gastronomic orgasm as I enjoyed my bento box, which consisted of yakimeshi rice, chicken teriyaki, and miso soup.
Constantijin broke the silence with a casual question. “Do you eat sashimi?”
I nodded, surprised.
He deftly picked up a slice with his chopsticks. “Here, taste it.” His silver eyes danced with wicked laughter.
“Constantijin.” I glared at him.
But still he kept his chopsticks-held salmon in the air, patiently waiting.
“What if people see us?”
“They won’t,” he said so confidently I looked at him suspiciously.
“Why not?”
“Because I had my bodyguards bar the door.”
He what?
Constantijin murmured, “Now please. Taste it.”
I finally opened my mouth.
As he fed me the piece of salmon, which was delicious with its icy freshness, he said softly, “Next time, I’ll be feeding you my cock.”
Oh, oh, oh, why did this man always know exactly what to say to turn me on?
I drank a mouthful of water after, trying to use the time to calm myself. “Constantijin, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” he asked with such wide-eyed innocence it tempted me to smile.
“I still have a presentation tomorrow so please…no distractions?”
Constantijin said immediately, “I’m sorry. That slipped my mind. Are you nervous about it?”
Relaxing a little, I admitted, “Yes, kind of.”
The rest of the meal – and the day – passed uneventfully, and tomorrow came before I was prepared for it. Megan took us to yet another conference room, also larger than the one we went to before. More and more, I was beginning to realize that Kastein, Inc. was all about presentations, considering the gazillion conference rooms the company seemed to have.
This conference room could comfortably seat forty, but only half of its seats were occupied. Constantijin sat at the very center, in front of his team of executives, looking gorgeous, sexy, and utterly out of my league. It made me feel like I had only dreamt about the times I spent with him.
The order of the presentation was the same. When it was my turn, I virtually used the same spiel, only this time, my presentation lasted a bit longer because of the video and additional data I had included. Constantijin never took his gaze off me, but I could also see in his face that he was listening intently – even proudly. That gave me such a huge dose of confidence I became even more enthusiastic with my presentation, cracking jokes, and getting my roomful of executives to interact.
Afterwards, Charli took over and led the round of applause our audience gave us.
Then --- and this was really a surprise --- Charli had us come back on stage. Before I knew it, we had an impromptu panel interview about our series recommendations.
"The characters are kind of young," a male executive said. "How do you propose to attract adults, parents, and so forth, to watch it?"
That was a tough one. From the corner of my eye, I saw a tiny smirk on Arian's face. Grrr. That witch! "Well, I could have the advertisement for the teaser start with a line like 'Remember how it felt when you first fell in love'? Because no matter how old we get, we never forget our first love, first kiss, even our first heartbreak, no matter how much we try to forget it."
The crowd thankfully laughed at my quip.
I continued, "And that's what Hana Kimi is all about. Everybody likes to reminisce about those lovely firsts, and this series gives them that opportunity. Even better, it gives people with bad memories something better to replace them with."
The executive smiled. "Good point."
I wanted to look at Constantijin and see if he approved, too, but I dared not. Instead, I thanked the executive shyly and looked at Charli for confirmation. She gave me a thumbs-up sign.
Charli took over the stage again when the panel interview ended half an hour later. "Now, didn't I tell you I hired a great marketing team for us?" she boasted, and everyone laughingly agreed.
George and I happily hugged each other when Charli officially ended our presentation. Both of us looked for Arian to congratulate her, but we need not have bothered, not when she was already getting the best congratulatory message from none other than Constantijin himself.
Arian drew close to Constantijin as she spoke, her breasts heaving with every deep-throated laugh she released.
“Oh my God, the bitch,” George muttered.
I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, they're both single."
He looked at me like I was insane. "But you like him!"
I struggled with that. If George could so easily see through me, could others do so as well? Finally, I mumbled, “It’s just a dumb crush.”
Or at least I hoped so.
Tuesday to Thursday were peaceful and utterly boring, with Constantijin nowhere in sight. Through the office grapevine, I learned that he had to fly back to his home country for a get-together with his family.
On Friday, I took advantage of the no-office-attire rule to dress up in a black knee-length dress, made distinct by its high collar, bell-shaped sleeves, and scooped back. I felt like I had been neglecting myself lately – or at least ever since I saw Arian flirting with Constantijin and him not doing a thing to stop her.
Should he have stopped her? Did I have the right to care? I hated how I constantly thought about these questions and hated the fact even more that I didn’t know the answers to them.
Allan, a guy from Production, actually wolf-whistled when I walked past him. “Looking good, Yanna,” he said, leering.
I stuck out my tongue, wishing I hadn’t been reared in a conservative ladies’ academy so I could flash him the finger – especially when his exceptionally loud voice had everyone turning towards me.
Drake was there, too, and I slowed down
when he turned to me with a smile. “You look beautiful, Yanna.” Again, his eyes made no secret of his admiration.
Again, it had me blushing. “Umm, thanks.”
“Hot date tonight?”
I quickly shook my head. “Oh no. Just a night out with friends.” I tried to think of something else to say but the way Drake kept staring made me want to hide under a rock. “Umm, I have to go.”
Eyes twinkling as if he knew – and enjoyed seeing – how uneasy I felt, Drake stepped aside with a polite smile. “Have fun later.”
“Uhh, yes, thanks.” God, I was so socially awkward. I wish I could think of something wittier – nicer – to say to Drake.
Head down, still mulling over my social ineptitude, a pair of expensive handmade men’s shoes suddenly blocked my path. My heart galloped, my nerves prickling in awareness because I knew who it was even before I lifted my gaze and met Constantijin’s blazing golden eyes.
He was furious – and jealous.
My heart sang, but I quickly nipped that in the bud, telling myself it didn’t mean anything. “Good morning, sir.”
“Do you have a date tonight?”
This time, I totally lied. “Yes.”
Before he could answer, I walked past him, heart beating even faster. When I got to my office, George took one look at my outfit and grinned. "Va-va-voom, baby!"
Arian just stuck up her nose.
Yeah, well, what-e-ver.
I grinned back at George as I went to my cubicle. "Alyx and I have a bridal shower to attend tonight." Then I giggled. "Or bachelorette party rather. Since I have a feeling it's not going to be a wholesome affair."
"Ooooh. You'll have strippers?"
“Yeah, probably.”
Voice lowering, George whispered, “Won’t Mr. Kastein have something to say about that?”
I slowly shook my head. “It’s not his business.”
Lunchtime, I actually managed to remember to leave at exactly noon. George and I walked inside the cafeteria arm in arm, which was a good thing since I almost lost my balance when I saw Constantijin with Arian – again. My chest squeezed painfully when she actually took the seat next to him.
