Page 49 of Obey

“But prey that wants to escape doesn't lean in first.”

“So what now?" I summon the icy glare that withers most associates in board meetings. On him, it just seems like an invitation. "I’m supposed to stand here while you all—what? Judge me? Mock me?”

Jace comes to stand a few feet to Elias's right, close enough to watch without crowding us.

“What are you so afraid we'll say, Sugar? That you're filthy for enjoying yourself? That we'd think less of you?” His voice hardens. “Because if that's what you're expecting, you're going to be disappointed.”

The room spins, and I clutch at Elias's shirt; a shaky exhale slips out as I fight not to rub myself against him like a bitch in heat.

"It felt good, didn't it? To not have to think. To let someone else be in control for once."

I shake my head, desperate. "That's not—"

His body settles against mine, heat and muscle everywhere.

One controlled adjustment and his thigh slips between mine. I shove at his chest, but instead of creating distance, my hips betray me and chase the pressure of his thigh.

“Look at you.” Jace’s grin turns wicked. “I bet you could cum from this alone.”

The bastard is right, but I’m not telling him that.

Elias presses higher, and my head falls back before I can stop it. His fingers trace the hollow of my throat. I catch his wrist, and his gaze drops to my hand.

I don’t push him away.

“I can smell how badly you want this, Doe,” he growls, voice dark velvet. “And it’s making my mouth water.”

Fuck.

“How do you think she would taste, Nate?” Elias murmurs, his breath hot against my throat.

My knees nearly buckle. I clutch at his shirt, torn between shoving him away and pulling him closer. The glass wall behind me feels like the only solid thing left in this room.

Nate answers with the same composure he brings to board meetings. “Precisely as she sounds. Exquisite, and a little feral."

"We're at work," I hiss, as if the invocation of professionalism can conjure a barrier between what's happening to my body and what's happening in my head.

Nate's mouth twitches, but there's nothing amused about the way his gray eyes pin me. “And yet no one else is on this floor right now.”

My pussy clenches on reflex as desire burns through me, hot and unrelenting. Elias's leg shifts harder, rolling cruelly against my clit through my slacks. The points of my nails pierce into his arm, and I grind down helplessly, chasing more.

“You keep reminding us that we're at work, Sloane. But is that really what's stopping you, or are you afraid of what happens when you stop hiding behind it?”

I can’t draw a full breath, and beneath the panic, one truth presses in: I want this. God help me, I want this.

But that thought is immediately pushed out by another: What has wanting cost me before?

I wrench away from Elias. “I'm not one of your toys!” I shout, louder than I intend. Jace's smile disappears, and Nate's jaw locks. “How dare you? You don't get to—”

I swallow the rest. Because I crave the rules, the commands, their hands, but there's no way to say that without surrendering too much of myself, so I fall silent.

Elias observes me closely, his expression changing as he takes in whatever I've failed to hide. His attention drops briefly to my trembling hands before returning to my face. Whatever he sees makes him take a step back.

“Enough.”

“What?!” Jace whirls on him, disbelief sharpening his voice.

“Elias,” Nate growls, but Elias doesn't look away from me.