The executive floor hummed with a new, uneasy tension by mid-morning. Whispers slithered through glass-walled offices like smoke—some laced with envy, others with calculated caution. Lin Xia felt every stare as she moved through the open-plan area beside Gu Jingchen's private suite. The emerald silk dress clung to her curves with subtle elegance, its modest neckline and knee-length hem doing nothing to hide the glow that now clung to her skin like moonlight on still water.
Gu Jingchen had insisted she sit in on the 10 a.m. strategy meeting. Not as a secretary. As his equal.
The long mahogany table gleamed under recessed lighting. Department heads and vice presidents occupied their usual seats, but the atmosphere had shifted. No one dared occupy the chair immediately to Gu Jingchen's right. That space belonged to her now.
Lin Xia took it with quiet grace, crossing her legs so the silk whispered against her thighs. Gu Jingchen settled beside her, his posture relaxed yet commanding, one arm draped casually along the back of her chair. His fingers occasionally brushed the nape of her neck—light, possessive touches that sent tiny sparks racing down her spine.
The meeting opened with quarterly projections. Numbers flowed across the projected screen, but Lin Xia's attention drifted to the man at the head of the table. He listened with predatory focus, occasionally interjecting with razor-sharp questions that left executives sweating. Yet every few minutes his gaze would slide to her, dark and heated, as if the boardroom itself was merely a stage for whatever he planned to do to her later.
Halfway through the discussion, the doors opened.
Li Minghao entered—tall, impeccably tailored, with the polished smile of a rival who had clawed his way up through mergers and quiet betrayals. He was the CEO of Horizon Dynamics, a rising competitor Gu Corporation had been circling for months. Today he carried himself like a man who smelled blood in the water.
"Jingchen," Li Minghao greeted, voice smooth as aged whiskey. "I heard rumors. Thought I'd stop by unannounced to see if they were true." His eyes flicked to Lin Xia, lingering a fraction too long on the elegant line of her throat, the subtle swell of her breasts beneath silk. "And they are. Quite the upgrade from your usual… disposable staff."
The room temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.
Gu Jingchen's expression remained glacial, but Lin Xia felt the shift in his body—the subtle tightening of muscles, the way his fingers stilled against her neck before resuming their slow caress. Jealousy, raw and unfiltered, flickered in the depths of his phoenix eyes.
"Li Minghao," Gu Jingchen replied, tone deceptively mild. "If you're here to waste my time with petty provocations, the door is behind you."
Li Minghao chuckled, pulling out a chair uninvited. "Come now. We're all adults. Beautiful women have a way of… complicating business. Especially when they appear overnight looking like they stepped out of a fever dream." He leaned forward, gaze locking on Lin Xia with blatant appraisal. "Miss Lin, was it? I'd love to discuss a potential collaboration. Horizon could offer you opportunities Gu Corporation might… overlook."
The implication hung heavy—seduction wrapped in corporate speak.
Lin Xia felt the Mary Sue Halo pulse warmly beneath her skin, amplifying the moment. Instead of shrinking, she met Li Minghao's stare with cool poise, lips curving into a smile that was equal parts innocent and razor-edged.
"I appreciate the interest," she said, voice soft yet carrying that husky timbre that made men lean in despite themselves. "But I find Gu Corporation's… assets more than sufficient for my needs."
A few executives hid smiles behind notepads. Gu Jingchen's hand slid from her neck down to rest on her thigh beneath the table, fingers pressing firmly into the silk as if marking territory.
Li Minghao's smile faltered for a split second. "Bold. I like that. Perhaps dinner sometime? Away from… certain influences."
Gu Jingchen's voice cut through like a blade. "She dines with me. Exclusively." He rose slowly, towering over the table. "This meeting is adjourned. Li Minghao, if you wish to discuss actual business, schedule through proper channels. Attempt to approach her again, and Horizon Dynamics will find itself buried under regulatory audits by noon tomorrow."
The rival's face tightened, but he stood with forced elegance. "Threats don't suit you, Jingchen. Especially over a woman."
"She's not just a woman," Gu Jingchen replied, each word carved from ice and possession. "She's mine."
The room emptied in record time. The moment the last executive fled, Gu Jingchen locked the door with a decisive click.
He turned to her, eyes burning with barely contained fire. The jealousy had ignited something primal—dark, consuming, exquisite.
"On the table," he ordered, voice low and rough.
Lin Xia's pulse quickened. She rose, heart hammering, and perched on the edge of the polished mahogany. Papers scattered as he stepped between her knees, hands gripping her thighs to spread them wide.
He didn't rush.
Instead, he sank to his knees right there on the boardroom carpet—powerful CEO reduced to supplicant before her. His fingers hooked under the hem of her dress, sliding it upward with agonizing slowness until the silk pooled at her hips. No panties. He had forbidden them that morning.
"Already glistening for me," he murmured, voice thick with reverence and hunger. "Just from a few words and my hand on your thigh."
He leaned in, breath ghosting over her exposed folds. The first touch was feather-light—a slow, flat lick from entrance to clit that made her hips jerk. He hummed in approval, the vibration sending sparks through her core.
Then he truly began.
His tongue explored her with deliberate artistry—tracing every delicate fold, circling her swollen clit with lazy precision, then dipping lower to push inside her slick heat. He fucked her with slow, curling strokes of his tongue while his thumbs held her open, thumbs stroking the sensitive skin just beside her entrance.
Lin Xia gripped the edge of the table, knuckles white. Soft, broken sounds escaped her—whimpers that echoed in the empty boardroom. He varied his rhythm masterfully: long, languid licks that built tension like a symphony, then sudden flicks against her clit that made her thighs tremble violently.
When her breathing turned ragged, he slid two long fingers deep inside her, curling them upward to stroke that hidden spot while his mouth sealed over her clit and sucked with gentle, pulsing pressure.
The orgasm crashed over her in rolling waves rather than a violent peak—deep, shuddering pleasure that left her gasping his name like a prayer. He didn't stop until every tremor faded, licking her clean with tender thoroughness, savoring every drop as if it were the finest vintage.
Only then did he rise, lips shiny, eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction.
He pulled her into a deep kiss, letting her taste herself on his tongue.
"Next time he looks at you like that," he whispered against her mouth, "I'll bend you over this table and fuck you while he watches from the hallway—reminding him exactly who you belong to."
Lin Xia shivered, core clenching at the raw promise.
The jealousy was deepening.
His obsession was sharpening into something far more dangerous.
And she welcomed every shadowed edge.