Chapter 226: Devil’s Unresistable Touch

?Damian didn’t break stride. He loomed over the corridor, radiating a chilling, predatory aura that made the anxious executives instinctively step back.

?"The contingency plan," Damian rumbled, his baritone slicing through the room with absolute, merciless authority, "is that Sterling Global does not bleed for socialites or speculative games. Not even Dante Sullivan’s."

?Beside him, Ana didn’t shrink. She stepped forward, her posture rigid, elegant, and entirely unbroken, her hazel eyes sweeping over the jittery board members with cool disdain.

?"If any of you genuinely believe a disgraced heir with a purchased dismissal and a third-party fund can shake the foundation of this company," Ana stated, her voice clear and resonant, "then you belong in retirement, not in this boardroom. Start reviewing the fourth-quarter logistics reserves. We do not panic in public."

?A stunned, reverent hush fell over the executive suite. The board members exchanged wide-eyed glances, visibly chastised by her icy resolve.

?Damian’s obsidian gaze flicked to Ana, a flare of fierce, quiet pride burning in his eyes before he turned back to the trembling directors.

?"You heard her," Damian commanded, pointing toward the boardroom doors. "Inside. Every single one of you. Now."

*************

The heavy glass doors of the boardroom corridor had barely shut behind the retreating directors before Damian gripped Ana’s wrist, hauling her past the executive lobby and straight into his private, biometric elevator.

?The brushed-steel doors sealed shut with a muffled vacuum hiss, cutting off the world outside.

?Before Ana could catch her breath, Damian spun her around. His large palm slammed against the polished mirrored wall beside her ear, the sudden momentum pinning her back against the cool surface. His broad frame loomed over her, broad shoulders blocking out the overhead LED light, caging her entirely within his heat.

?"Damian..." she started, her chest heaving.

?"You handled Caldwell out there," Damian rumbled, his deep baritone rough, low, and vibrating straight into her bones. His dark, obsidian eyes tracked the pulse fluttering frantically at the hollow of her throat. "Commanding. Ruthless. Unbroken." A slow, dangerous smirk curved his lips, dark hunger bleeding into his gaze. "I’m impressed. And now... I want to consume that fire inside you."

?"Let me go," Ana commanded, though the breath caught in her throat. She planted both hands against the hard expanse of his chest, pushing with all the strength she had left. "We are in the corporate elevator, Damian. The board is waiting downstairs..."

?Damian didn’t budge an inch. His free hand snaked around her waist, dropping lower until his large fingers firmly squeezed the curve of her bottom through her tailored trousers, pulling her hips flush against his iron thighs.

?A sharp, helpless gasp tore from Ana’s lips.

?Damian didn’t give her room to recover. His mouth crashed down onto hers with predatory precision, swallowing her breathless protest whole.

?His kiss was dark, demanding, and utterly possessive. His tongue swept inside, drinking in her shallow whimpers, tasting the lingering bitterness of the morning coffee mixed with the sweet heat of her skin.

?Ana’s hands curled into the fabric of his shirt. Every ounce of her rational mind screamed at her to shove him away, to rebuild the walls he so ruthlessly demolished day after day. But as his fingers gripped her tightly, anchoring her to him, a searing tingle sparked low in her abdomen and shot through her veins like liquid fire.

?A soft, muffled moan escaped into his mouth.

?Her resistance shattered. The crushing weight of Vivian’s release, the suffocating fear, the cold exhaustion of the past weeks... it all burned away under the scorching, undeniable reality of his touch. This was the only place she felt entirely awake. The only way she could feel the terrifying, consuming passion he harbored for her, raw and unvarnished.

?She didn’t care if it made sense. She didn’t want to think about pride, boundaries, or self-respect.

?Ana tilted her head back, her fingers tangling into the thick, dark hair at the nape of his neck, arching her spine and pressing herself harder against his unrelenting warmth, letting him take whatever he wanted in the sealed cage of the lift.

?Damian let out a dark, guttural growl against her lips. He tore his mouth away, trailing scorching, wet kisses along the delicate line of her jaw down to the exposed sweep of her throat.

?His teeth grazed the soft hollow beneath her ear before his lips clamped down on her most sensitive pulse point, sucking hard, bruising the pale skin with shameless, deliberate ferocity. He wasn’t just touching her... he was branding her, carving a visible mark against her throat for every director, investor, and predator in Manhattan to see.

?A ragged shiver ripped through Ana’s body, her hands tightening in his hair, her breath hitching on a broken sigh.

?Ding.

?The chime signaled the arrival at her private executive floor. The elevator slowed, the hydraulic cables humming softly as it locked into place.

?Damian pulled his mouth away.

?His chest heaved against hers, his lips damp and swollen, his dark hair disheveled. Yet, even as the elevator chimed, his heavy arm remained locked around her waist, pinning her hips against his, refusing to let her step back.

?Ana leaned against the mirrored glass, her hazel eyes clouded with dazed heat, her lips parted as she pulled in ragged breaths of cool air. Her blouse was wrinkled, her neck burning with the hot, crimson mark he had just carved into her skin.

?Damian leaned in close, his obsidian eyes burning down into hers with dark, suffocating triumph.

?"A reminder," Damian whispered, his gravelly voice brushing against her bruised collarbone like crushed velvet. "You are still mine, Anastasia. You can fight it in front of the board. You can deny it all you want. But your body... always submits to me."

?He released her waist in one slow, deliberate slide, stepping back to straighten the lapels of his suit jacket just as the steel doors slid open onto the quiet, sunlit expanse of her floor.

Ana scrambled to smooth down the front of her wrinkled silk blouse, her fingers trembling against the buttons. Her pulse was still hammering erratically against her ribs, the skin at the hollow of her throat burning hot and raw where Damian’s mouth had claimed her.

?Damian stood beside her, the picture of cold, untouchable perfection once more. He adjusted his platinum cufflinks with deliberate calm, his obsidian eyes lingering on the faint crimson mark visible just above her collar.

?"Two hours, Anastasia," Damian rumbled, his voice low and uncompromising. "Review the Q4 logistics reports. My detail is outside your door. You do not leave this floor."

?Without waiting for her reply, he stepped back into the private car, the doors sealing shut before the lift shot upward toward the executive boardroom.

?Ana took a ragged breath, pressing the back of her cold hand against her heated cheek, trying desperately to piece together her shattered composure. She forced her chin up, squared her shoulders, and walked briskly down the polished corridor toward the creative wing of the marketing department.

?The moment she turned the corner into the open-plan floor, the usual hum of keyboards, ringing lines, and rapid-fire banter was eerily absent.

?An unnatural, suffocating silence hung over the entire department.

?Marcus, along with three senior brand managers and her lead designer, were clustered tightly by the entrance of the central glass break room. Their faces were drawn, pale, and tight with visible anxiety, whispers cutting off the second Ana’s heels clicked against the floor.

Why are they looking at me like that? Did something happen again?