Yearning (A short collection of yearning tales)

Jade

“Do you always wear glasses that thick, or is it just for the effect?”

I froze, my fingers tightening on the keyboard as the voice cut through the quiet hum of the office. I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. The presence, the kind that made the air heavier, the world sharper, was unmistakable.

“Excuse me?” My voice betrayed the tremor I didn’t want him to hear.

My boss, He leaned against the doorway, one hand in his pocket, the other casually brushing back dark hair that fell perfectly over a sculpted forehead. Tovi Lane. Billionaire. Public nightmare. Private temptation.

“Jade Sink,” he said slowly, savoring the sound of my name like it was a luxury he could afford. “You’ve been ignoring me all week. I wondered if it was deliberate… or just your nerdy glasses that make you too busy for people like me.”

I swallowed hard, trying to focus on the spreadsheet glowing on my laptop. My heart, however, had its own plans. Every word he spoke felt like fire trailing down my spine.

Tovi Lane didn’t just look expensive, he looked forbidden. Perfectly cut jaw, piercing blue eyes that could read every secret I’d tried to hide, broad shoulders that looked like they belonged in a magazine, not this office. He’s been stealing glances and giving me the green light since my presentation that landed the campany a fifty million dollar deal.

“I… I’m busy,” I mumbled, knowing it was pathetic and weak.

“Busy doesn’t usually come with glasses that magnify vulnerability,” he said, stepping closer, each movement deliberate, powerful, controlled. My breath hitched. He was close now, too close. I could smell his cologne, a mix of men’s Oud and something flowery, something dangerous and it made my chest tighten.

“I—” I started, but he silenced me with a finger brushing my lips. Just for a second. A teasing, dangerous second that made me want to melt into him.

“I’ve watched you all week,” he whispered, and my pulse spiked. “The way you bite your lip when you’re concentrating. The way you hunch over those spreadsheets, pretending you’re invisible. Do you have any idea how… tempting that is?”

I blinked. My glasses slid down my nose, and I had to push them back up, though my hands shook. I was a nerd. Always had been. And yet here was Tovi Lane, the kind of man who walked into rooms like they belonged to him, telling me, me, that I was tempting.

“I… I don’t think—”

“You think too much,” he interrupted, his voice dropping into a velvet growl. He stepped even closer, until the heat radiating from him wrapped around me like a physical weight. “And it’s killing you inside, isn’t it? This… need you’re pretending you don’t feel. I can see it.”

My knees threatened to buckle. I wanted to back away, but some part of me, the part that had been aching for something dangerous and forbidden for years, wanted to lean in. Wanted to give in.

“You’re crazy,” I whispered.

“Crazy enough to know exactly what you’re hiding,” he said, tilting his head, lips dangerously close. “And I’m going to find out, Jade. Every last secret of yours.”

I could feel my skin burning under his gaze, my heart racing like a drum. Every rational thought screamed at me to stop looking at him, stop letting this happen. And yet, I couldn’t.

“Why me?” I asked finally, my voice barely audible. “Why… anyone would even notice someone like me?”

Tovi smirked, a slow, knowing curl of lips that made my stomach flip. “Because you’re smart. Because you’re beautiful in ways that don’t even realize. And because there’s a fire under that meek exterior that’s begging to be set free.”

My mouth went dry. I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him he was imagining it. But the truth? I did feel that fire. And suddenly, his presence made it impossible to think straight.

Before I could respond, he reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered, brushing my jaw, and I shivered violently. The contact was innocent on the surface, intimate in every other way.

“You have no idea what I want to do to you,” he murmured, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. My breath hitched, and I could feel heat pooling between my thighs. “No idea at all.”

I wanted to pull away, and yet every nerve in my body screamed to stay. To feel. To taste. My fingers trembled as I rested them against my desk, grounding myself, trying not to fall into the fantasy he was making feel real.

Tovi’s blue eyes bore into mine, stripping away my defenses layer by layer. He was dangerous. And that danger thrilled me. My glasses fogged with my own heat as I realized just how much I was craving him. Not just the touch, not just the words, but the dominance. The confidence. The raw intensity that surrounded him like armor.

“You’re shaking,” he observed, voice low, teasing.

“I’m not—” I started, but a tremor in my chest betrayed me.

He leaned even closer, so close that I could see the heat in his eyes reflecting in mine. “Yes, you are. And you like it. You like it when someone notices you like this. Like I notice you.”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him I was fine. But I was trembling. My nerdy, controlled facade was crumbling under the weight of his gaze, his words, his presence. And the truth, the terrifying, exhilarating truth, was that I didn’t want it to stop.

“God, Tovi,” I whispered, and the sound of my own voice sent a jolt through me. “You… you can’t—”

“Can’t what?” he asked, lips inches from mine. The heat from his body was impossible to ignore. Every inch of me was alive, every nerve ending screaming for him. “Touch you? Want you? Crave you?”

I swallowed hard, my pulse hammering in my ears. “I… I don’t know—”

“Shh,” he murmured, pressing a finger to my lips. “You don’t need to know. You just need to feel. Let me show you, Jade.”

And then, just like that, he bent forward. His lips brushed mine. Light. Feathered. Electric. I wanted to melt into it, wanted to pull him closer, wanted to lose myself completely, but I stopped. I couldn’t. Not yet. I didn’t know him… not really. And yet every rational thought was drowned by the fire building in my chest.

“Stop teasing me,” I breathed, my hands clutching at the edge of the desk.

He smirked, that maddening, infuriating smirk that made my knees weak. “Teasing?” His lips brushed my ear again, and I shivered violently. “This is just the beginning. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

I wanted to pull away, but my body betrayed me. Every muscle ached for him. My heart screamed, my pulse roared, and my mind was spinning in a dizzying mix of desire and fear.

“Jade,” he murmured, low, throaty, possessive, “I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you. I’ve wanted you like this, like you’re about to combust under my touch. And I’m not leaving until you give in… until I know you feel the same fire.”

My glasses slid down my nose again, and I pushed them up automatically, though I barely registered it. His hands brushed against mine, lingering, sending shivers up my spine. He was every dangerous fantasy I’d ever imagined. Every late-night craving. Every forbidden thought.

“I… I…” My voice faltered, weak against the storm building between us.

“Say it,” he commanded, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made me dizzy. “Say it, Jade. Admit that you want this as much as I do. Admit it before I decide I’m taking what I want anyway.”

I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But fear—stupid, rational, humiliating fear, clamped down on my chest. And yet even as I tried to pull away, the ache in my body betrayed me. The craving was too real, too raw, too damn human.

He leaned in again, slower this time, letting his lips hover just above mine, brushing my skin, letting me feel his heat, his intent. I could feel the press of his body against mine, the undeniable strength in his arms. His scent enveloped me, intoxicating, addictive.

“I’m warning you,” he whispered, his breath hot against my lips, making me shiver, “I don’t do patience very well. And I don’t take no for an answer when it comes to things I want.”

I couldn’t breathe. My body was on fire. My mind was screaming. And yet… my lips trembled, wanting, aching to finally meet his.

Then he pulled back just slightly, giving me one last teasing smirk, and said, “Tomorrow. Same time. Don’t be late, Jade. Or I might start showing up… unannounced.”

My heart stopped. My body ached. My mind spun.

And just like that, he was gone.

I was left trembling at my desk, glasses crooked, heart pounding like a drum. My body, my mind, my soul… all craving him. And I knew…oh, I knew that I would see him tomorrow. And when I did, nothing would ever be the same.