All Chapters of Forbidden Touch : Stories of Desires: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

I woke to the feel of Rhys’s mouth on my neck.It was still dark. Rain tapped steadily against the window. His body was warm and solid behind me, one heavy arm locked around my waist, the other hand already sliding under the hem of the oversized T-shirt I’d fallen asleep in. His fingers traced slow, deliberate circles on the bare skin of my stomach, then lower.“You’re awake,” he murmured against my ear, voice rough with sleep.“Yes.”“Good.”He rolled me onto my back and kissed me, deep, hungry, no hesitation. I opened for him immediately. The kiss turned filthy fast. His tongue swept into my mouth while his hand shoved the T-shirt up and off me in one motion. Cool air hit my skin. He pulled back just long enough to look at me, bare breasts, tight nipples, the way my chest rose and fell too fast, then closed his mouth over one peak and sucked hard.A broken sound left my throat.“That’s it,” he muttered against my skin. “Let me hear you.”He switched to the other breast, teeth grazin

Chapter 4I spent the afternoon trying not to spiral.I showered. Ordered food I barely ate. Opened my laptop and closed it again. The anonymous message sat in my inbox like a live wire. I almost texted Rhys three separate times and deleted every attempt.At 6:40 the door unlocked.He walked in still wearing the same dark shirt from the morning, sleeves rolled, expression unreadable. The second he saw my face he stopped.“What happened?”I held up the phone. He read the message once, jaw tightening.“Who sent this?”“I don’t know. It came right after you left.”Rhys set the phone down and rubbed a hand over his mouth. “The acquisition is real. My family company is buying a smaller firm. It’s public knowledge if you know where to look. The woman from last month was a colleague. Nothing more.”“Why would someone send me that?”“Because someone wants leverage. Or wants to scare you off.” He stepped closer. “I should have told you my full name last night. That was on me.”Tension thickene

I saw him the second I stepped out of the elevator.Noah Brooks stood near the glass wall of the open office, sleeves rolled to his elbows, talking to one of the junior analysts. Dark hair messy from running his hands through it. White shirt that had probably been neat this morning. He laughed at something the analyst said, and the sound carried just far enough to reach me.“Brooks.”My voice cut across the floor. Conversations dipped. A few heads turned. Noah looked up, and when his eyes met mine the easy smile faded into something more careful.I walked toward him without hurry, heels clicking against the polished floor. People moved out of my way. “In my office. Now.”He followed. I left the door open on purpose. Let the floor hear. Let them remember who signed the paychecks. Noah closed it behind him anyway and stood in front of my desk with his hands in his pockets, waiting.I sat, crossed my legs, and looked him over slowly.“You were late to the ten o’clock,” I said.“The cli

He left the room.I heard the door click shut and the quiet sound of his footsteps fading down the hall. The absence of him settled over the bed like a weight. I turned my face into the pillow that still smelled like him and let the alcohol pull me under.Morning arrived slowly.I woke with a dry mouth and a dull throb behind my eyes. The first clear thought that cut through the fog was the memory of my mouth on his. The way he had kissed me back. The way he had looked at me before walking out. I tried to push it aside but the memory refused to leave.Hours slipped past while I stayed in bed, nursing the hangover with water and silence. By early afternoon the worst of it had faded. I sat up, still wearing last night’s clothes, and decided I needed something cleaner.His closet was organized and sparse. I pulled on one of his white shirts, It hung soft and loose on me, the sleeves too long, the hem brushing mid-thigh. The fabric carried the same clean scent I had noticed on him for mon

We woke to daylight and the kind of quiet that made every small sound feel too loud.Noah lay on his back, one arm still under my head. I kept my eyes on the ceiling. Last night had been easy in the dark. Morning asked questions neither of us had answered yet.“We should talk,” he said.“I know.”He turned his head. “About work, about how we walk in there today.”I sat up, pulling the sheet with me. “We don’t walk in together. Different times, different elevators. No one sees us leave the same building.”“And after that?”“We act normal, you do your job and I do mine. We don’t sit next to each other in meetings unless the seating chart already puts us there.”He was quiet for a moment. “You’re already planning the cover.”“I’m planning not to make this a rumor before we decide what it is.”Noah sat up too. “So what is it?”I looked at him. The question sat between us, heavier than the night before. “I don’t know yet. I know I don’t want to pretend last night didn’t happen. I also know