Courted (How Not To Be Seduced By Billionaires: Book 2) (11 page)

But…
sex sells. And I know that at the end of the day, that matters a lot.
If
Kastein Inc. chooses to adapt smutty
manga
for American television, I only propose one thing: show the consequences of high school sex. If we have to make our own version of its ending, so be it. Parents can say all they want about the sex, but at least they can’t ever blame our company for not taking the opportunity to educate younger viewers about the harsher realities of unprotected and unplanned sex.

When I finished my report, I almost cried.
Sex
was not a word I could so easily say to a roomful of people and for several times, my voice even cracked while I was talking. It was hard because I wasn’t even sure if what I was suggesting was the right thing. All I knew was that it was what I believed in.

But then people started clapping as they got to their feet. When the lights were switched on, I immediately saw Constantijin standing at the back of the room, clapping as well, his eyes warm as he gazed at me.

As Charli took the stage, I could feel Constantijin’s gaze following me, and I became even more flustered and giddy. When I got down, I turned towards his direction – and ended up staring at Arian, whose eyes threw daggers at me.

I quickly turned around and made a detour to George instead. Now was
not
yet the right time to have a face-off with her over Constantijin.

Charli joked about me being the right choice for such a topic. She said that I was a good symbol of America’s "conservative regions" because I couldn’t even utter the word ‘sex’ without cringing.

I blushed on cue and that got the whole crowd laughing even more.

Word quickly got around about the positive outcome of our conference. When George and I walked out of our office, almost everyone we passed by congratulated us.

            Honestly, it made me feel like a superstar.

            A superstar who was walking at snail’s pace because there was this one person who hadn’t congratulated me yet.

            “Yanna?” George called impatiently.

            I paused next to the drinking station. “Umm, I’m thirsty. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” It was a lie, of course. I was waiting for Constantijin. Surely he should be appearing any moment now?

            Bending down, I gulped several mouthfuls of water. By the time I straightened, someone already stood next to me. My heart started beating fast.

            It was---

           
Not
Constantijin.

            Drake’s grin turned wry. “Disappointed it’s me?”

            I was instantly horrified. “Oh, no! No, absolutely!” God, I sucked at lying.

            His grin widened. “It’s all right. I just wanted to congratulate you. I heard you did a really great job this afternoon.”

            “Thanks.” I was doing my best
not
to blush but it was impossible. The way Drake looked at me never failed to make me feel desirable and self-conscious all at the same time. It was just too bad I already felt like I, well, belonged to someone else.

            Drake cleared his throat and I glanced up in surprise because this was the first time he sounded less than his usual confident self.

            “So…this is going to come out of the blue but I’d really love to take you out sometime – celebrate your future promotion maybe?”

            “There’s no promotion,” I protested laughingly.

            “But seriously, how about dinner?”

            “Uhh…” And that was when I noticed Constantijin standing just a short distance away, his gaze shuttered. Oh, shit! Had he heard Drake asking me out?

            Drake turned around curiously, following my gaze and was visibly startled when he saw Constantijin looking at us. “Mr. Kastein,” he murmured in greeting.

            Constantijin gave us a curt nod before walking back to his office.

            Shit.

            This was so not good.

            Turning to Drake, I stammered, “I’m sorry I can’t. I’m…I’m
going out
with someone already.” There. I had said it. Oh my God – I had said I was going out with Constantijin Kastein!

            Disappointment colored Drake’s tone, making me feel guilty as he said graciously, “Ah. My loss then.”

            When he walked away, I glanced at the door to Constantijin’s office expectantly, waiting for him to come out. But minutes passed and he didn’t.

            Oh.

            Head bowed down in dismay, I slowly walked toward where George might still be waiting. Was he mad? Did he think I was---

            The door to Constantijin’s office opened as I almost walked past it. Before I knew it, I had already been hauled inside, the door slamming shut behind me, and Constantijin was scowling at me, a look of fury and jealousy in his face as he pushed me to the wall.         

            “Constantijin!”

            “Did you say ‘yes’?” he snarled, his hands slamming against the wall at each side of my head, effectively imprisoning me in the circle of his arms – and I knew that there was no better place I’d like to be.

            Shaking my head, I said breathlessly, “No.”

            I so badly wanted him to kiss me now. In fact, I expected him to. Whenever he was jealous, that was what he did. But this time, he kept staring at me and I was starting to get nervous.

            Constantijin suddenly stepped away.

            My heart stilled.

            “This isn’t going to work.”

            Shit. Fuck. Damn. What was he saying?

            It was ironic how those words also made me realize I was halfway to falling in love with Constantijin – had been so from the very start.

            But I had my pride. So I pushed myself off the wall and said stiffly, “I see.”

            “It’s useless,” he continued, raking a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Yanna, I know I promised but---"

"It's okay," I told him tonelessly. What else was there to say? I sure as heck wasn’t going to beg him to come back.

Constantijin’s face showed his surprise. "It's okay?"

I forced myself to look nonplussed. "Yes."

He looked at me, eyes narrowed. "Then what's your answer?"

"I---" Wait. What did he say? I cleared my throat. "Well..." What did he mean?

"I don't need you to say you’ll go out with me right away but if you could just give me a goddamn clue about how you feel," he muttered.

Constantijin tossed me an accusing glance. “The whole week had been fucking hard. It was hell not to touch you even though I had you alone with me all those nights. I wanted you to realize that it isn’t just sex between us. I was willing to wait but when I saw that boy hitting on you again---”

            He glanced at me, as if waiting for an answer. When I still didn’t – couldn’t – speak, he growled, “Say something, for fuck’s sake!”

            How could I when he had totally taken me by surprise? When he said things weren’t working between us, my heart had died. And then now, he was saying in not so many words that all that he couldn’t go on without me giving him even the smallest sign that we still had a chance to be together.

            I wanted to laugh hysterically.

            A chance?

            Didn’t he know he had hundreds of them, with how crazy I was about him?

            I looked at him and felt my heart melting even more. He made my heart feel like ice cream fried by a desert sun, all soft and gooey with just one emotion-filled glance from his silvery eyes.

I inhaled deeply several times.

Okay, I'm ready for this.

Not.

I inhaled several times more.

"Yanna?" His tone was alarmed.

I supposed I looked like a ghost right now. I could actually feel the blood leaving my system and I was just
contemplating
what I was about to do. This was such a huge step for me.

            “I…I…” I couldn’t say it!

            So I decided to just do it instead.

            “Yan---” He grunted, his turn to be taken by surprise as I flung myself at him, my lips fortunately landing squarely on his lips. My tongue immediately darted inside his mouth, and I felt him gasp against my lips. That had me smiling and I closed my eyes in utter bliss when Constantijin recovered from his shock and took over, his hands immediately hauling me close as he deepened the kiss, his tongue dancing with mine.

            “Is this for real?” he whispered against my lips.

            “Yes,” I choked out.

            The kiss changed from sweet to hot in an instant. Constantijin had my blouse unbuttoned in seconds, throwing it with my bra to the floor, and then he was staring at my breasts almost worshipfully.

            “
Constantijin
.” I could feel myself blushing all over at his stare.

            “Hold your breasts for me,” he ordered, his voice strongly accented.

            With shaking hands, I followed his command, plumping my breasts up as if waiting for his approval.

            A low sexy growl escaped his mouth, making my toes curl, and then he was sucking my already pointed nipple. I threw back my head and moaned.

            This made him suck harder and of course it made me moan louder. It was a cycle that had us both panting in desire in seconds. He swept me in his arms and mine went around his neck. I was still breathing hard, my breasts crazily sensitive and aching every time I bounced in his arms as he moved.

            Constantijin used his foot to pull his executive chair from behind the desk and into the middle of the room. He lowered me gently to it and I watched in breathless fascination as he pulled my skirt and lacy briefs down, tossing them to the floor as well.

            Then he was staring at my sex.

            I immediately tried to close my thighs, but his harsh-sounding ‘no’ stopped me.