24

Noah swallowed hard at what he heard, and his eyes burned even more intensely.

"You know, if we’re going to do this right now, I won’t be able to stop. I want to f*ck you every chance I get, Ingrid. This desire could compromise our work."

"I know." She grabbed the collar of his long-sleeved shirt. "I’m willing to be compromised. Are you?"

She had never felt such an overwhelming desire before. She wanted to be scared of what she was getting into, but more than that, she feared what it would mean to deny herself. How many women out there were ever given this chance? Noah Alfonso wasn’t just any man. He could fulfill both her body and soul.

"Well…" A strange smile crept onto Noah’s face—a wicked, sneaky kind of grin. "Nobody needs to know about us.”

"Right." Ingrid grinned back. "I know how to keep a secret," she said as she suddenly pulled open his shirt, sending three buttons flying because of her boldness.

He chuckled and lifted her skirt. “Wildcat,” he groaned before dipping his fingers into her womanhood. “Ah, I see,” he teased, discovering she was already wet.

"That's how much I want you," she said breathlessly, kissing his neck as she began unbuttoning her blouse. “Are you finally convinced?”

Noah cursed under his breath when she bit him on the chest. She was still wearing her skirt and underwear when he pushed her onto a single chair, positioning her on her knees, holding onto the backrest while he put on a c*ndom.

"I should start taking contraceptive pills."

“Ingrid, you don’t have to do that,” Noah said, positioning himself behind her and lifting her skirt at her waist. “I can always use rubbers.”

"I want to. I want to feel you bare inside me."

He kissed her shoulders and back while rubbing his c*ck against her b*ttcrack, her panties still on. “Okay. But if the pills don’t sit well with you, stop immediately. Clear?” He moved aside the part of her underwear covering her entrance.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good girl,” he said with satisfaction, then entered her with one forceful thrust.

“Urgh! How I missed your c*ck,” Ingrid said breathlessly when her partner's length was fully inside her.

His fullness, his firm length... It was like every space in her was filled to the brim.

“And I missed you talking dirty, princess.”

He ground against her several times, his hands playing with her br*asts before he began to move in and out. Noah also held her neck, rather tightly. It felt… possessive? Perhaps it was even perceived as territorial. Or he might have missed f*cking her so much that he didn’t want to let her go.

"I like it when you hold me like that," Ingrid murmured.

Noah loosened his grip on her neck. "It’s not too tight, is it?"

"No, no," she said, holding his hand tighter against her neck. “Don’t go easy on me. I can take your roughness.”

"Are you sure?"

“Get dirty, get savage on me. I don’t care, Noah. I know I’ll enjoy everything you do to me.”

"Good." He bit her earlobe. "Ah… You always feel incredible, Ingrid," he grunted as he fiercely rammed her harder; the chair started to rattle with her.

Ingrid slammed her fist on the backrest, overwhelmed by the pleasure and ecstasy flooding through her. She really wanted this—needed this. And only Noah could give it to her, no one else. D*mn it all to h*ll if she'd let go of this one-in-a-million chance.

“Oooh… Noah, oh!”

His hand on her neck moved up to her chin, turning her head to face him. "You won’t regret this. I’ll give your body everything it needs," he promised, sealing that vow with a hot, deep kiss that left her gasping for air when he finally pulled away.

“M-more…” she begged as he quickened his thrusts. “More, oooh, please. More!” she cried out.

It didn’t take long for them to surrender to ecstasy. God, how she had missed reaching org*sm with his c*ck. Ingrid c*me first, and just seconds later, Noah climaxed too. He kept thrusting into her as she gave in to the erotic frenzy, wanting to stay in that blissful place—with him.

“Do we really need to cuddle like this?” Ingrid asked with a laugh, resting her head on Noah’s arm in bed.

After they had quick s*x in the living room earlier, Noah carried Ingrid to the bedroom. There, they took their sweet time, f*cking slowly.

Noah didn’t miss a single part of her body. Every inch was kissed and caressed. So yeah, he had marked every part of her with his lips and hands. It felt like his way of telling her that no one else could make her burn like that but him. Only him. And she silently agreed.

Ingrid couldn’t even remember how long they had been having s*x or how many positions they had tried before they brought each other to the peak of pleasure.

Noah responded to her question with one of his own. “You don’t like this? We can change that.”

“I do,” she quickly admitted, even though she felt shy.

“A-actually, I appreciate you doing this. It feels like this makes our setup completely comfortable, you know? I know it sounds cheesy, since our arrangement is just about s*x, but this makes me feel special.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Noah said, clearly pleased.

“Did you intend to make me feel that way? Is that why you’re cuddling me?”

“Yes… and no,” Noah answered, as if he was wondering himself.

Ingrid raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, yes, I want you to feel special, Ingrid. But I want you to feel that way about yourself all the time, even without me. I think I just feel the need to cuddle you for no apparent reason—maybe I just want to. And it makes me feel good, too.”

“Hmm… that’s wonderful to hear.” She looked at his face. “So, what exactly is our setup?”

He looked adorably deep in thought. “We’ll have s*x whenever we want—well, except during office hours. We can come here, go to a hotel, or go to my house. But we’ll need to be careful so no one from RTA finds out.”

Ingrid let out a giddy laugh, like a child about to enter a chocolate factory and a toy store. “This will be so exciting!” she exclaimed.

Noah smiled, seemingly pleased that he got the reaction he wanted. “And you can tell me whatever you want, princess. Tell me everything you want to experience in s*x. I’ll give you everything. And more.”

“I don’t even need to say it, because you already know exactly what I want.”

To everyone in the office who saw Noah and Ingrid, no one would suspect anything going on between them other than a typical boss-employee relationship. They acted “normally” with each other. They had already talked about how they should behave in the workplace. So far, their first week has gone without any problems.

“Sir, when is Mariz coming back?” Ingrid asked one day when she brought Noah some coffee. She took the liberty of sitting on the chair in front of his desk. She always enjoyed talking to him.

“I called her yesterday. I told her it’s okay if her leave takes longer. Her mother is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. She needs her daughter’s support.”

“I donated earlier to HR. I was also thinking of baking cookies to sell in the cafeteria, and all proceeds would go to Mariz.”

Noah smiled after taking his first sip of coffee.

“That’s so sweet and generous of you, Ingrid. But you don’t have to do that anymore. I already told Mariz to let me know how much more they need for expenses.”

“You really are a kind boss, Sir,” said Ingrid.

“I owe Mariz a lot. She’s the one who taught me everything about running this office.”

“Mariz has been working here for a long time—since your uncle founded RTA.”

“Yes.”

Noah furrowed his brow when Ingrid let out a quiet, sad sigh. She didn’t continue sipping her coffee and set the cup back down on the saucer.

She gave a faint smile. “Isn’t it weird that good things emerge from adverse situations? I mean, look… If Mariz’s mother didn’t get sick, we wouldn’t be talking right now.” She deliberately avoided mentioning anything about their “arrangement.” It was part of their agreement not to discuss it in the office.

“Life is strange like that, I guess,” he agreed.

“Yeah. For example, if I hadn’t had a bad experience with my ex or if my father hadn’t died, I wouldn’t have ended up at RTA." I wouldn’t have met you.

“Sometimes, we have to be thankful for negative things like that, because they push us forward in life. Like a lotus that grows in dirty water,” Noah said, seeming deep in thought.

“Lotus?”

“I just read it somewhere. That no matter how murky or dirty the water is, the lotus still survives.”

Ingrid’s smile brightened. “Maybe the filth in the water even helps the lotus survive. The dirt keeps it alive and thriving. And still, it blooms.”

“Exactly.”

“Sir, do you think you’d be a different person if your parents didn’t separate?” After a while, she asked.

Noah stared at his coffee before replying. “You know, I’ve thought of the what-ifs about that, but not about being a different person. Maybe a different life.”

Ingrid nodded thoughtfully. “You think a different life can’t change you as a person?”

“Honestly, I’m not so sure. We can’t change who we are; we can’t be something we’re not. We often claim that situations have changed us or that we have turned over a new leaf. But the truth is—that was always part of us. We were always capable of it. Life just pushed us until those hidden parts came out.”

“So you mean, it’s either we have it in us, or we don’t?”

“Yes.” Noah finished his coffee and hurriedly stood up. “I almost forgot—my mom’s meeting me for lunch.” He glanced at his watch and seemed to calculate in his head. “I guess I can make it in an hour.”

Ingrid stood up as well. As they faced each other, she reached out and adjusted the collar of his gray long-sleeved dress shirt.

Noah let out a chuckle.

“What?” she asked.

“I thought you were about to kiss me.”

She laughed. “You’re so assuming, Sir.”

Before she could withdraw her hand from his collar, he held it.

“When are we seeing each other again?” he asked with a smile.

“You decide.”

“Tonight?”

The anticipation made her body tremble, even though they were speaking in such a businesslike tone. “Sounds good to me.”

Ingrid caught her breath when Noah stared at her lips. He wanted to kiss her—she could feel it. But they couldn’t. RTA was off-limits when it came to their carnal desires.

“D*mn it,” Noah muttered under his breath, then kissed the back of her hand. He straightened up. “You'd better wait a while before going back to your desk, Miss Delgado,” he advised.

“H-huh? Why?” She asked, confused, as he turned his back to her.

“You’ve got a s*x flush. Someone might notice.”

“O-oh my!” She quickly touched her burning cheeks and neck.