Billionaire's Possessive Love

Chapter 6

I took in the cold, letting it seep in through my heated skin and pass through my very being. A sigh of relief left me, my eyes closed tightly as I tried to get rid of the image in my mind.

What the hell happened?

The question rang, echoing through the deepest parts of my brain. The heat I felt in that single moment made my insides melt, leaving me hanging and wondering what that gleam in his eyes meant. I was burning inside and out, the butterflies in my stomach reappearing every time his eyes and his expression turned up in my mind. I simply couldn’t get rid of that fire from that peculiar moment. I took a deep breath in, trying to calm my nerves from the inside, aware that the very source of my flushed cheeks and glossy eyes was standing calmly behind me. He was observing, no doubt, taking in every piece of my reaction.

"We should go."

I stated as calmly as I was able to and turned towards him, finding the impassiveness that I had expected from the beginning. Hiding his feelings wasn’t a problem, it seemed, but he was definitely amused by how I felt, how I proceeded further with what he offered me by that stage in his office.

"Yes, we should."

His voice tickled my ears and I couldn’t help but scream at myself how sensitive I was to his each and every move. I made my way towards his car, not daring to steal another glance at him, but his eyes were boring into the back of my skull, provoking my very being.

And so we went off, the ride being quiet and the tension unbearable, suffocating the both of us to no end. Everything felt as though it was awkward, as if we were back to being strangers like yesterday. The thought that not more than a single day has passed and I was already in some sort of trouble brought me down even more. I kept my confused emotions to myself, appreciating when the car pulled up into the parking lot at the back of the house. I waited no longer than needed and exited the car, going straight for the door as fast as I could. I realized that it seemed as though I was running away from him, and in truth, I was. I needed a bit of peace without his steel eyes glaring at my smaller form.

In lesser than a minute, I was in my room and stripping off my clothes. The need for a very calming bath was welcomed and I entered the bathroom with the intention to rid myself of these thoughts. Once I was in and relaxing, the water soothed my tense muscles and nerves and all the confounding emotions seeped out into nothingness. Still, I could not control where my thoughts went. I remembered the day in the office so perfectly, his every demand and every single second of his angered face over a silly thing. It was almost cute, that I couldn’t help the small, ghosting smile spreading on my lips. At that stage, I only thought of him as a simple attraction, but now I knew how much of a man he was and the effect his simple touch had on me. Another sigh of exasperation left me as I exited the bath. I didn’t keep a track on time, probably spending too long in the bath as now my fingers became crony from the water.

How could one be so cunning?

Once more, a question without an answer. A tedious thing it is, my subconsciousness, always lingering and sticking to things I would rather forget and leave be. My complaint seemed to have been answered when a knock on the door reached my ears.

"Miss Anna?"

A gentle, quiet voice called as I unlocked the door to let the intruding culprit in. A girl, possibly my age, entered the room with a nervous smile. I reckoned that she was not one of the hateful maids from this morning, rather a more reserved one.

"Yes?"

She looked up at me seemingly innocent and offered me kind, yet gracious smile.

"Hello, I'm Jamie. I will be your maid from now on."

"Oh."

I don't think I need a maid.

"Okay."

"Master says that you should come down for dinner, Miss. He and Young Master are waiting for you. "

Not all things last forever and it appeared that the welcome feeling of her intrusion didn’t either. The news made me swallow hard. I dreaded the fact that I had to face the cause of my blundered emotions, that I would have to look into those piercing eyes once again.

" I'll be there in a minute. And call me Anna. "

I replied in a slightly hoarse voice, trying to hide my solemn expression from her view. My eyes caught a glimpse of the surprised expression and the smile coming in right after.

"Okay, Anna."

A small giggle escaped her as she said my name, my eyes once again falling onto the ball of sunshine that she seemed to be. I couldn’t help but smile myself, knowing that with her friendly appearance the two of us would get along well. But now I have to get back to the world of tension.

My clothing choice for the night was a dress that you would wear for a dinner evening. It was black and it hugged my curves perfectly, keeping the comfortable feeling against my skin and the mobility to the maximum. Somehow I wanted to look at least decent in front of the men who appeared had it all in their life. With that thought, I exited my room with my feet dragging across the floor. The longer I tried to prolong my arrival, the harder it got to cope with my mind. I reached the dining room after several minutes and before I entered through the door I took a deep breath.

Here we go.

I entered and my eyes landed on the gentlemen sitting at the table.

Alexander was in his suit, but Elijah was dressed in simple black shirt that hugged his abdomen perfectly, and dark pants. He looked even better than in a dress shirt and to put it very simply, he took my breath away. I was impudently staring at him, my cheeks heating up even though he didn’t even look at me. When he did, on the other hand, my eyes immediately left his form and I stared at Alexander instead.

"Anna, you look great. Come have a seat."

The older male greeted me kindly, standing up and pulling out a chair opposite of Elijah. I had to fight my urge to look at him as I sat down, but he was making it almost impossible with his prodding eyes.

"How was your first day?"

The man spoke up and I immediately bit my tongue. I couldn’t possibly even tell a single detail about the event at the end of the workday. I have to stay as composed as possible, as reserved as possible otherwise more occurrences of the sort will keep happening.

"It went well. I hope I made a good impression on Elijah."

My only choice was to play along. As I spoke those words, I finally gazed at Elijah and his eyes narrowed at my forced smile.

"You did great."

Was his only reply, voice gruff and suspecting.

"Well, it seems to me you already became great friends."

My attention was taken away from him with the last two words of his father’s sentence. Confusion played on my face as my eyebrows furrowed in wonder.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, only Eva and I call him by his first name. He doesn't just let people call him whatever they want. "

Alexander proclaimed, his eyes striding to Elijah as if he was giving him a knowing stare.

"Enough, father. Anna is an exception."

He said firmly, leaving no room for arguments. My eyes were darting between the two powerful men that had left me in bewilderment. By his words, I was exceptional and allowed to let his name roll over my tongue freely. That declaration woke up the butterflies I had finally put to sleep, my face once again taking in a shade of gentle red color. I had caught on that Elijah had a rather strange way of letting people know that he liked them, that he wanted to be closer to them. Nonetheless, I was confused as to what exactly made me so exceptional. The thought of me asking lingered, but I didn’t have the chance to speak my mind as Eva entered the room with a cartwheel full of trays and food. A sweet smile danced on her lips as she looked at her Master, pure affection and adoration swarming in them.

No way.

The obvious struck me and I finally caught onto the hidden signs the elderly woman was giving off. Alexander didn't seem to notice, actually, he didn't even acknowledge her presence. A frown once again adorned my face and with the corner of my eye I saw Elijah do the same. He was glaring at his father who seemed unaffected by all the attention. Eva silently placed the treys of food in front of us, folding the napkins into a nice shape and setting everything up for this one eve.

"Is there anything you might need?"

"No, leave us."

Alexander replied, not even sparing a glance for the woman. A sudden urge to slap my boss across his face and force out that arrogance, surged forward through my system. Eva, who seemed to be genuinely used to such treatment, smiled at all of us and with respectful bow excused herself from the room. How could someone ignore such a caring and wonderful woman, I didn’t know.

"So Anna, you said you liked the paintings in my house. Are you familiar with art yourself?"

He asked suddenly, capturing both our heedfulness and bringing us back into this moment

.

"Yes I like them. I might know a bit about painting. My-"

My throat suddenly closed up. It’s as if my sole body knew I wasn’t too fond of discussing the said topic.

"My father was a painter. So he used to make me work with him a lot."

"Used to?"

Elijah's voice boomed through the little distance we shared and my skin immediately prickled from it.

"Yes. He's dead."

The sudden cold and stern color of my voice caught me by surprise. Instead of being repulsed and feeling disrespected by it, Elijah’s eyes significantly softened which also left me in slight turmoil.

"I'm sorry."

Alexander’s voice offered nothing but pity. All have given me nothing but a couple of apologies and condolences, saw me like a small girl who had lost everything. I couldn’t quite blame them either. After my father’s death, my mother was diagnosed and sent to an asylum, leaving me alone to work and take care of myself. I was 18 when that happened, still fresh in college and without a single idea as to what I should do. Things played out, torturous were those years, until a person who had without hesitation decided to help me appeared. But even that didn’t have a sign that said always.

At least now I've got a job.

"Tomorrow, I would like to show you more paintings. If you don't mind."

"Of course not. I would be delighted."

After that small talk, we ate in silence. It was filled with secretive glances at one another, but my eyes refused to wander too much to the man my body seemed to like. Alexander stood up when his phone rang and excused himself politely, leaving me and the intense human before me all alone. Elijah was restlessly staring at my face, the uncomfortable situation almost making me squirm like a small child. When I felt like I couldn’t take any more of it, I decided it was time to leave.

"I'll be going now. Goodnight."

I said in a small voice, standing up and folding my napkin back how it was. I was completely oblivious to the tightening fist on the table, heading for the door that seemed like they were my only escape. How naïve I was, only realizing that when a strong hand blocked me from opening the exit, another spinning me around and pushing me against the wooden doorway.

"I haven't dismissed you yet."

He spouted coldly, my hands immediately running cold at the fear that leisurely struck me. His deep voice made me shudder, his gaze made my insides churn and my lips parted as I averted my gaze to something less intense.

"Look at me."

The fear won over me and I obeyed without protest. My eyes looked up into his, breath being stolen from me once again as I marveled at their beauty. The world stopped for a while, him caging me between his arms and bringing his body closer to mine. I could feel the heat radiating off of him, warming me up to my roots and his breath fanning over my cheek.

"Why did you avoid me?"

"What-"

I replied breathlessly.

Gosh, I can't believe he is affecting me this much.

"You were avoiding me. Why? "

He asked sternly one more time, leaving so little space in between us that my knees almost buckled from the tension that kept rising.

"I wasn't-"

"Was it because of what happened today?"

I didn't know what to reply, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing the affect he has on me. It would mean that I have given up my swords without even trying to fight for my pride.

"Well?"

The impatience in his voice made me too nervous and the conversation with Alexander yesterday floated to the surface of my memory. The fear that he would flip out over my stubbornness caused me to sum up the courage and speak through the bile that rose in my throat.

"Yes."

"You didn't like it?"

His eyes softened at my response

"Me being this close?"

I did, I do.

"I-I don't-"

Know.

I couldn't finish my sentence. I can't screw my job up. His eyes were searching mine as he brought his body even closer to me, the heat rushing through me in pleasant tingles.

"I liked it, and I like it now. So you should too."

His voice was demanding, sounding so strong in my ears that my walls crumbled beneath it slowly. He was almost like a child, asking his mother to like his new friend. I couldn’t refuse and my body, which heated up to the point that I had to hold my knees locked together, couldn’t either. I licked my dry lips and his eyes followed the action, his tongue licking his own in the process.

"So?"

"Yes, yes I liked it."

I answered quickly and right after a sexy smirk adorned his lips.

"Good."

He pulled away suddenly, depriving me of the pleasant heat of his body.

"Goodnight."

He replied to my earlier farewell for the night, exiting through the door and leaving me dumbfounded and flushed all over.

Oh god.