Link wanted to protest, his body tensing as I moved closer to Camille. But there were quite a few perks to being Lindstrom Corp.’s CEO. I stared him down, waiting for his inevitable acquiescence.

“Be my guest.” His tone wasn’t as inviting as his words, but I didn’t care. He could sulk in the corner for the rest of the night, and it would suit me just fine. I had to get closer to Camille, and I wasn’t above using my position as Link’s boss to get my way.

“Thank you.” I dismissed him and focused on his date. “If it’s all right with you, of course.”

She looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes fringed with dark lashes. “Um, sure.”

She’d drawn me in the moment I saw her standing next to him. Her demure attempts to pull her dress down, the heavenly curve of her neck, the raw intelligence that sparkled in her eyes. I had to know who she was, even if it meant breaking out of my cold shell to approach her. It was impulsive, but necessary.

“Shall we?” I held out my hands, well aware of the slight shake in them.

So close to something I wanted, I couldn’t help the surge of adrenaline that pooled in my brain. Take her. The sensation was as strange as it was forceful. What was happening to me? The need to take her, steal her, almost overwhelmed me, but I kept it at bay.

Hiding my true intentions was the most important facet of the personality I showed to the world. If people knew what I truly was, I’d be a pariah. Instead, I was the CEO of a vast forestry company that had been in my family for three generations.

She shot an unsure glance to Link, who gave her a nod of approval. She seemed to stand straighter and moved forward into my arms. The touch of her silky dress beneath my fingers, the slide of her warm palm into mine—I was greedy for all of it. I kept a look of disinterest on my face, the most-used mask in my repertoire, even though every gear and cog inside me turned and clanked as if I were a machine waking up after a long, dark sleep. Her energy was like gasoline in my veins, powering me up for some mysterious purpose.

We moved to the slow song, melding into the other dancers. She tightened in my arms, no longer at ease the way she was with him. She needed to be comfortable with me, to open up so I could see all her inner workings. Her eyes hid from mine as she looked everywhere but at me. I wanted to force her to tell me every thought that flitted through her mind. But that wouldn’t work. My father had worked on my finesse, as he called it, for years, to the point that I was the puppet of perfect manners, a marionette on a genteel string. Pull here, I smiled. Pull there, I offered condolences. No string led to a kidnapping option. But I still had a few tricks of my own.

The song switched to another slow dance, the singer crooning an old Smoky Robinson tune. Though she was in my arms, her silence kept a wide expanse between us, one I intended to cross. I performed a brief calculus, trying to decide what a normal man would say in this situation, which string to pull. It was an equation I’d learned from my earliest days—figuring out what people expected so that no one would notice there was something wrong with me.

She’d mentioned her job and seemed to enjoy it. I started there. “How many students do you have?”

Her eyebrows arched, and she finally met my gaze. “Each class is about ten students, and I have five classes a day.”

“Seems like a small class size?” I didn’t know since I’d been home schooled after the first grade. Apparently, the incident where I’d informed another first grader that I intended to disembowel him the next time he tripped me on my way to class was frowned upon by my parents and my private school.

“It is. Trenton has an entire department devoted to fundraising to keep the educational standards top notch. We have a lot of legacies whose parents are one percenters living in the city. I sit on the financial aid board and make sure that we offer scholarships to children from underachieving areas, even if some of our alumni disagree.”

“So you’re a teacher and a social justice crusader?”

She stiffened. I didn’t like it.

“I just care about every child getting a great education.” Her defensive tone told me I’d made a misstep.

“I didn’t mean any offense.” I tried to solve her puzzle and choose the correct response to keep her talking. “I’m impressed, actually.”

“Oh.” She blushed that delicious shade of pink. “Sorry. I guess I’m just used to blowback from parents on the need-based scholarships.”

“Don’t be sorry.” I leaned closer, pretending I had to speak into her ear to be heard over the music. “What’s your favorite thing about teaching?” Inhaling her scent, citrus and floral, ignited an even stronger buzz inside me. Like bees building a hive in my brain, each of them humming for me to take my queen.

“The students. Some of them are…let’s just say entitled. But there are quite a few who love learning as much as I do, which is saying something. And there are a few who I think could be first-rate scientists one day, or at least real movers and shakers in the STEM professions. They make me proud.” The tension in her body eased a bit more, and she smiled up at me. “What’s your favorite part of your job?”

Her smile worked to unravel the black wire that wrapped around my heart. The sensation of falling and soaring melded into one. How could the slight upturn of her mouth create so much chaos? I wanted more.

“Control.” I tightened my hand at her waist, feeling her move beneath the fabric. Her skin would be even softer, my fingers leaving red marks along the pale flesh. My teeth would bruise her, my marks lasting for days until I made fresh ones. But I was jumping ahead, which was unlike me. And I was thinking about bedding a woman, also unlike me. I’d been with women, taking my pleasure and then moving on, but I’d never sought one out. They always came to me, and if I was interested, I’d let them have a few hours of my time.

“Sebastian?” Two lines appeared between her eyebrows. Had she been speaking and I’d missed it? Fuck.

“I apologize. What were you saying?”

The creases eased. “I was just saying that you must get quite a bit of control as CEO.”

“Yes. It’s the family business, and my father has entrusted me with running it. I keep an eye on all departments, make sure they are sticking to the plan.” Father had to keep me occupied somehow, to make sure I didn’t end up in an institution. Little did he know that psychopaths made the best CEOs.

“Link’s mentioned how involved you are in every little thing.” She stopped moving and frowned. “Oh, I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

You’re right. You should never speak his name again. “It’s perfectly all right.” I pulled the string that set my lips into a practiced smile. “I’m sure my methods are a common complaint among the VPs. People think I became CEO solely because of my father. But I worked for it, spending time with the roughneck crews who cut trees for us, then at the sawmills, and finally touring retail sites.”

“So you were a lumberjack?” Her eyes twinkled with interest.

“I wore flannel and everything.”

She laughed and began to move again, her body melting against mine as her fears eased. “That would be an interesting sight.”

“I enjoyed it. At first light, I’d grab my chainsaw and head out with the crew. We didn’t talk much, just worked.” I told her the truth, a rarity for me. I was a creature of solitude, one who didn’t need or care for the restrictions of society. Being a CEO was its own sort of prison, but I owed it to my father to keep up appearances. “I think I got more done in those two months than I have in the five years I’ve been CEO.”

Camille didn’t notice we’d moved away from the stage and into the darker area at the side of the ballroom. “I don’t know. Seems like you’ve done a lot. Link tries to tell me all the numbers, how much the company has grown and his ideas for how to make it even more successful on the marketing front.”

I leaned in closer, my lips close to her ear. “I take it all that bores you?”

Her breath hitched for a moment, but then she steadied herself. “I wouldn’t say it’s boring, just not my thing.”

I pressed my lips against the shell of her ear and enjoyed the shiver that shot through her curvy body. “Then what is your thing?”

“Plants.” Her voice trembled, setting the animal inside me alight. I wanted to devour her.

“Ah, the Amazon trip.”

“Yes.” She didn’t pull away as her words grew breathy. “It’s a dream of mine.”

You’re a dream of mine.

She took a deep breath and leaned her head back to catch my gaze. “I think you’ve danced me into a stupor. Heavy-handed in the boardroom, but light on your feet in the ballroom.” That smile again, the warmth blooming in her eyes and transferring to me. Did she even know the power she had?

“Let’s test that theory.” I twirled her around, and she held onto me, her breasts pressing against my chest and her head tucked under my chin. I lifted her with one arm and spun. Her laugh against my throat woke up every nerve ending in my body until all I could feel was her. Euphoria, the closest I’d ever gotten to the sensation of happiness, washed over me. All it took was her, one taste of whatever magic she wielded.

The song slowed to its end, and I reluctantly set her back on her feet. Pink highlighted her cheeks, and I couldn’t miss the sparkle in her eyes. She was exquisite, a treasure hidden in plain sight. One that I wanted for myself.

“Thank you for the dance.” She ran her hand across my bicep and rested her palm on my chest.

“My pleasure.” It was. And I didn’t want it to be over. I kept her small hand in mine and pressed my palm against her lower back.

Her breaths came in shallow flutters as the skin along her chest and neck turned a matching pink to the shade on her cheeks. Arousal. She found me attractive, enjoyed my touch.

“There you are.” Link stepped up to us as a faster song began to play. He’d been watching the entire time. I could feel his possessive tendrils streaking through the crowd and trying to wrap around my Camille. He was foolish enough to think he still had a claim on her. The moment I saw her, his flimsy hold on her began to slip. I intended to sever it completely, by any means necessary. I’d heard about love at first sight, though I couldn’t claim that emotion. The need to possess her was what fired through my veins, not the sentimental nonsense of hearts and flowers.

She dropped her hand. I had to let her go, even though murdering Link and tossing her over my shoulder seemed like the more expedient option. My father and the rest of the attendees would likely frown on my behavior. Camille backed away, the loss of her heat returning my insides to their usual barren state.

Link wrapped an arm around her waist. A growl rose from my throat but got lost in the music. She shifted from one heeled foot to the other, nervous. I made her uncomfortable. She had no idea.

“Great party.” He offered again, then pointed through the crowd to the hor d’oeuvres table. “I think we’ll see what’s on the menu.” He took her elbow and steered her away.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in my chest. Acid reflux, perhaps, or some other form of indigestion.

Link slid his hand to her lower back. My hands balled into fists, and I fought the urge to follow them. Her chestnut brown hair cascaded down her back in loose curls, the sway of her hips magnetic. But she was with him, when she should have been with me.

The ache in my chest intensified. I’d have to stop by the pharmacy on the way home.

Right before I lost sight of her, she turned and smiled at me, as if sending me a spark of hope.

The spark lit an inferno. It blazed up and promised destruction for anything that got between us.

She was mine. Even if I had to steal her.