Chapter 3.Paper Cuts and Authority Conflicts

The office atmosphere was thick with tension and not the kind of that which HR could fix.

Ace Rotherwell stamps himself against the shaded window of the executive suite,

 his teeth clenched and his stance stiffed, as if he would rather remove Noah than work alongside him. The city skyline stormed in the distance, but his eyes were restless.

"You changed the direction of the campaign without my own permission," he said, his voice was soft and heart taken.

Noah, reclining on the leather sofa as though it was his own, grinned while consuming a grape. "Revised: I improved it." The original suggestion was duller than your dating adventures.

“But that's the truth,” Noah replied softly, his voice shaking with a remix of guilt and shame. "I intended to despise you." I attempted, God. “Yet I felt your absence in each city, each bed, every promotional tour.”

Ace’s lips lingered above his, near enough to savor the recollection. “Then why on earth did you return?”

Noah's fingers wrapped around Ace's chest, above the heart he had once been so familiar with.

“Since I desire to be broken by you once more,” he stated. “This time, take your time.”

Ace kissed him as if it were a punishment.

It didn’t have sweetness. It was not soft. It was unfiltered, intense, years of passion and frustration condensed into one breathless kiss. Noah reciprocated with the same eagerness, their lips colliding, teeth grazing, fabric creasing beneath grasping fingers.

They lurched toward Ace’s desk, toppling a pile of documents, causing papers to swirl like flags of defeat. Ace hoisted Noah with ease, placing him on the desk's edge and parting his thighs with a growl.

"I still detest you," Ace murmured into his neck, gnawing the flesh just beneath his ear.

“Deceiver,” Noah breathed, unfastening Ace’s shirt, exposing silky, sun-kissed skin and the figure he’d recalled under moonlight and remorse. “You despise how deeply you still desire me.”

The assistant's knock went unheard by them.

They were indifferent.

The past was re-emerging, one kiss, one sigh, one tight hold at a time.

Amidst that tempest of desire and rage, a more perilous emotion emerged—sentiments neither was prepared to acknowledge once more.

Ace slowly turned, securing his jacket with deliberate menace. "You repeatedly mistook chaos for charm."

"Noah shot back, 'You keep confusing control with skill.'"

The resulting silence wasn’t empty—it sparked. It hummed with unexpressed thoughts, carrying a history that continued to float in the air between them.

Ace's lips quivered. Hardly a grin. Almost.

"Let me offer my thoughts,

" Noah continued.

 “Are you upset because I made a decision without asking you?” “Or because you still haven't figured out how to hate me properly you're a crazy asshole.”

He muttered,

Ace walked over to him. Each movement deliberate. Evaluated. Dangerous.

"I'm in pain,my heart aches"

 he said, "because you departed three years back without a word." “And now you stand here smiling, as though none of it ever happened.”

Noah's smile faltered.

"And suppose I shared with you," Noah said softly, "I left because loving you while remaining would destroy me?"

The tension snapped.

Ace gripped Noah’s tie tightly, yanking him upward with force. Their faces merely a few inches away. Air transferred. Bang forcefully.

“Ace whispered, ‘That’s not something you can say.’” "Not after everything that."

Ace's expression turned somber. “What’s your true purpose for being here, Noah?”

The grin faded from Noah’s face. He remained standing, confronting Ace with just inches separating them now. "Since I always kept you in my thoughts." And because—oh God—I've longed for the disdain of the only man who ever truly recognized me.”

Ace's breath caught.

“You left without saying a thing,” he remarked. “You abandoned me in that hotel room with just your scent lingering on the pillow.”

"I departed," Noah stated, voice strained, "because being in love with you caused me to lose sight of my identity." "And being near you now... continues to."

Ace's hand slipped out, seizing Noah by the silk tie and yanking him closer to him so he could feel his breath. Their bodies met, breath thundering like surf.

“You got no right to say that,” Ace growled. "Not after all that."

“I must admit it,” Noah exclaimed with a heavy breath, “because I attempted to act like I didn’t care for you, and it was the most isolating deception I’ve ever experienced.”

Ace's lips met his before he could say another word. Coarse. Hopeless. Refraining from inquiring. Grabbing.

Noah breathed heavily against his lips, hands gripping Ace's shirt, tugging at buttons, indifferent as they tumbled to the ground. “Damn,” he murmured. "You continue to remind me of heartbreak."

Ace turned him around, pushing him against the smooth desk, one hand clutching his waist, the other grasping his hair. “And you continue to have the flavor of allure.”

They embraced like rivals and partners simultaneously. Jackets creased, neckties slackened, flesh exposed in eager caresses. Noah’s white shirt slipped off his shoulders, revealing the same chiseled chest Ace had once learned by tasting be

neath Parisian sheets.

"You left a mark," Ace whispered, lips igniting heat along Noah's neck. “Do you want to make it feel better with a kiss now?”

Noah curved beneath him, groaning quietly. "I wish to lessen the pain."

Ace let out a groan against his skin. "You'll cause it to hurt more."

“Then compel me to plead, chief.”

Ace’s hand moved downwards.

"You've always had a taste for it intense," he murmured.

“I enjoy you, intense,” Noah gasped. “I appreciate you disorganized.” I enjoy you breaking.

Ace hesitated—heart racing in his chest.

This was more than just physical intimacy. It always hadn't been.

“You still love me,” he stated.

Noah glanced upward, his eyes glimmering with sensitivity. “Is that an issue?”

Ace remained silent. He kissed him again, more intensely this time, more gradually. As if attempting to recall the sensation of being complete.

Beyond the boardroom, the workplace thrummed with normal activity. Within, two kings battled their history, their emotions, and above all, the irresistible fo

rce drawing them closer.