Half an hour later after a distracted lunch with Benjin, she floo'd back to the office and immediately started searching for Draco.
After a quick glance around the office and the kitchen without any luck, she walked towards his office and knocked on his door. No answer. So she knocked again. No answer.
"Hermione."
She turned round to face his assistant walking towards her.
"Draco asked me to tell you he's booked out the board room for the rest of the afternoon and for you to meet him there as soon you were back from your lunch."
"Did he? Okay." She stood there confused for a few seconds before she continued. "Thanks Masen." She went to her office, closed the door behind her and went behind her desk to sit on her chair.
She placed her hands and her forehead flat on the desk and took deep breaths This is exactly what he wanted. He booked out the meeting room knowing full well she would be angry. They could argue with no interruptions. If she walked up there now and started having a go at him it would play right into his hands and she really didn't want to give him the satisfaction. To know that he had gotten to her.
Or he did it for another reason. When the board room was booked out it was for serious business only. People knew not to disturb when the board room was in use... so was that his plan? Seduce her in the board room? Do what he did at the restaurant just to mess with her mind again?
She calmed herself down. She was overthinking what would happen but either way she should try to be strong. She would be all business. She would not let anything happen because she wasn't going to the board room. She was going to stay right here. In her office. Where people could hear. Which mean they couldn't do anything else. Here was safer and she could keep her distance.
Decision made she lifted her head off the desk giving it a quick rub then shaking out her hair. She stood up smoothing down her skirt remembering less than an hour ago that it was bunched round her bottom while he was on his knees burying his face in her pussy.
Her stomach lurched and she lent over the desk breathing deeply again. Stop it. Stop being so... stupid. She reached for the Dakin report, took another deep breath and set to work.
.x.
Less than an hour later she had finished the Dakin review and nearly finalised the Bevan report for Thursdays meeting when her office door opened quickly and with such force it knocked against the wall making her jump in her seat.
Draco stormed in and slammed the door shut behind him staring at her.
"Fuck! What do you think you're doing!?" She clutched her hand to her chest and tried to breath out the adrenaline now pumping through her veins.
He leant back against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. The hairs on her arm prickled and her nipples hardened. From the draft he had just bought in with him. Nothing to do with the man staring at her across the room who; less than two hours ago; gave her an orgasm in three minutes. Definitely not.
He didnt move. He didnt say anything. She could see his chest heaving. He had on a pale blue shirt with a navy tie, thin cream lines set into the material. She didnt know why she took so much notice now. Then again she didnt take much notice earlier because he was either pushed up against her or in between her legs. Her mind definitely not on his clothes. But she noted it bought out his eyes. Blue always did. It complemented the grey so well.
Her mind flashed back to his lips on hers for a split second before she blocked it and reminded herself she was angry with him. He couldn't just snap his fingers whenever he wanted. He couldn't just do what he wanted with her. However good it felt there had to be rules.
She had lived by rules all her life. Yes, she had broken a few. Many to do with the man looking down at her now but there had to be a line. Somewhere.
"Are you here to go through the Dakin file? I've just finished. Here." She held up the pack offering it out to him across the desk. "I'll let you review the paperwork first then you can let me know what you think." He didn't move so she dropped the pack on the other side of her desk in front of the empty chair.
"I told Mason to get you to meet me in the board room." He said calmly as he walked over to her desk taking a seat opposite her and picking up the paperwork off her desk. She could tell he wasn't calm. He wouldn't have stormed into her office if he were calm. And his hands wouldn't have that slight shake like they do now.
"Well I wanted to get a head start. No distractions."
Silence resumed in the room. She could hear him breathe. Forceful and slow. She occasionally heard a shuffling of parchment from Draco as he looked over Dakin's information. After a while he cleared his throat. It was a habit of his, before he had to say something he didn't want to, or raise something awkward. It made her smile internally. She was getting to him.
"How was lunch?" He asked casually.
"Fine."
He chuckled and moved his head side to side as if releasing tension. "Fine. Sure." He said sceptically.
Don't rise to it. He's doing it to piss you off.
"Will you be going on another lunch date with him?"
"What's it to you?"
"He's twenty. Isn't he a little young for you?"
"He's young but he's very passionate. About a lot of things."
"Well good for you. I hope you have a great time picking out his clothes and wiping his arse for him." Sarcasm. Always sarcasm when he was on the defensive. Another infuriating habit of his that made her want to slap him round the mouth.
"He's four years younger than I am. He's not a baby."
"And that's what you look for in a partner?"
He's picking. Like a bloody woodpecker over and over again. Sarcasm laced with jealousy. Jealousy he found so very hard to admit.
"It was just one date. But who knows. It was... refreshing."
"What if I said I didn't want you seeing him anymore?" She froze. Was this the start of him actually being honest with her? They locked eyes and her heart skipped a beat.
"And why is that?" She asked.
"Because you're my employee and he's a potential client. Call it a conflict of interest." Her heart sunk. It hit the bottom of the deck and floored her. But she could tell he was lying.
"I think you're just finding any reason to tell me not to see him again."
"Are you going to see him again?" There we go. Jealousy. Hermione shook her head and took a breath.
"That's none of your concern." She turned away and back to the Bevan file keeping her mind and her fingers occupied. "Are you happy with the details?" She asked after a few minutes of silence. Back to normal.
"Yes." He said quietly. Standing up and walking over to the window.
"Good. I'll confirm it via owl this afternoon and get him in Friday to sign."
"Perfect. Maybe you can go for dinner after? Take him to Wizard Kiddies for a Brooming Bargain Burger."
Fucking idiot. Sarcastic arsehole. Keep your cool. He's goading you into an argument. "Another joke. Brilliant." She said coolly. "Why are you being like this?"
"Because..." He started then stopped himself suddenly. What was he going to say?
Say it. Say something. Anything.
"Because what?" She helped him along. But he gave nothing. He turned his back to her again.
"Are you ready to look over the Bevan file?" He asked still looking out of the window.
"Sure." She said through gritted teeth. "Are you happy with what I've offered?"
"Remind me again?" He asked.
"Two hundred thousand Galleon investment for seventeen point five percent of the business."
"And what did he initially want?"
"Two hundred thousand Galleons for twelve percent."
"Good." He sat back against the window looking her way. Silence. Always fucking silent. It wasn't endearing. It was infuriating.
"Happy then?" She pressed.
"Yes." He nodded.
"I'm going to offer the full amount for twenty percent first. Then reduce slowly. If we have to I think we can stretch to sixteen percent but hopefully it won't come to that."
"Good."
She scribbled on the parchment their agreed plans.
"What do you do if he doesn't accept?" Draco asked walking to her desk just hovering next to it. Next to her.
She looked up at him. It was annoying how attractive he was. "Close the meeting. Let him sit on it. It's not worth us going any lower. He'll come back to us next week. If he doesn't then it's his loss."
"You're sure?" He smirked.
"Yes. Trust me on this one." She smiled.
"I trust you."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Good." She kept up her smile then turned back to her notes.
"Do you trust me?" He asked quietly as if he didn't want to know the answer.
"As my employer and boss, yes I trust you." She was honest at least.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He pulled a spare chair from the back of the room, next to hers and sat down. They were on the same level now. Bodies turned to face one another.
"It means I trust you." She responded.
"But only within the realms of the working environment." He crossed his arms over his chest and sat back. "What about outside of work?"
She didnt know what he was feeling now. She never really did. Until they were alone and he told her exactly what he felt. "Well to have trust, you first need to establish a relationship and as we haven't established what our relationship is outside of work, then how can there be trust?"
"So we have no relationship outside of work?" He knew how to turn a phrase.
"It's not a relationship as such..."
"What would you categorise it as then?"
"Sex." She said plainly.
"Sex." He mimicked.
"Yes."
"And that's it. Sex and nothing else?" She could hear his voice crack slightly. Was she being too... harsh? She thought about her response. It wasn't just sex for her, it was so much more. But if he wouldn't be honest with her why should she be with him? Don't lie. Don't tell the truth.
"That's what it was supposed to be. That's what we agreed. Meaningless sex." She just reiterated the rules they agreed. The lines they drew in the sand.
"So what we do means nothing to you?"
"Does it mean something to you?" It came out harder than intended. It was meant to sound like a genuine question rather than an indifferent statement. He had annoyed her. She didnt know what he was doing. Asking the same question in a different way. Was it to trick her? Catch her out? He didnt respond; no surprise there; so she continued her questions. "Earlier at lunch. What was that about?" She turned and rested her arm on the back of her chair and crossed her legs. Her knee pointed towards his thigh.
"What do you mean?" As if he didn't know.
"Why did you do it?"
"It's what we do." He opened his hands and placed one on the table and one on his leg, then shuffled in his seat. Her knee now resting in the middle of his open legs. She was aware of the intimate nature of their postures but ignored it.
"No it isn't. I was on a personal lunch and you interrupted to.." She couldn't find the words.
"Finish that sentence." He leant closer to her.
"...feel me up in a bloody storage cupboard!"
"Don't say you didnt enjoy it. I felt just how much you enjoyed it."
"Don't."
"Don't what! Tell the truth?" He said.
"Don't detract from the question..."
"How about I ask you a question? How about you tell me why you pulled that stunt in my office the other day?" The spanking, the fucking on the desk. She instigated it. She crossed the line at work. Was this why he did what he did today? Even the playing field? "I did it for the same reason you did that. It's a rush. It's a thrill. And we both fucking love it."
She tried to think of a counter argument but couldn't. So she went on the defensive. "Don't assume what you did earlier wasn't just to boost your already over inflated ego."
"And what you did last week didn't boost yours?" He leant in, inches away from her face. So close he could kiss her. Her heart started thumping in her chest as his eyes fell on her lips. His next words were like velvet. Stroking her insides and making her shudder. "Did it not make you feel good when you saw how I reacted when you took off your clothes? Because I certainly got off watching you fall apart under my fingers earlier."
He reached out and wrapped his hand around her wrist that was resting in her lap. He could probably feel her pulse throbbing under her skin. He would be able to tell exactly how quickly he made her heart beat. He moved his thumb lightly over the skin, over her veins and she felt warmth pool in between her thighs. Fuck. How did he do keep doing this to her?
"I got off on how quickly you gave over to me. How quickly I made you excited and how fucking hot you looked when you came." He moved his other hand onto her thigh and shuffled forward so her knee was right against his crotch, legs trapped in between his. His hand travelled up to rest on the outside of her leg close to her bottom. The other hand still holding onto her wrist, gripping it tighter. "It's made me hard thinking about how much I want to do it again right now... Can you feel it?"
She moved her knee slightly and felt a hardness in his trousers, pressing into her. Yes she could feel it. She could feel everything. It was like they were in a bubble. A bubble full of hot and humid energy and she didn't want to pop it because it felt too good. She could see he was struggling to control himself. His fingers on her leg were gripping her thigh, gripping the material of her skirt.
"I want to touch you... Only you. Do you understand that?" Yes. She understood, whether it was a messed up way of saying it or not. He rested his forehead on hers and she breathed in his smell. She nodded against his head.
"I touch you and you touch me. That's it." She nodded again. Exclusive use of their bodies. No one else. That's what she wanted. That's what's she'd wanted for weeks. He pressed his lips to hers lightly and whispered against her mouth. "I'll be over at six, leave the wards open for me. Nothing but your underwear and your heels and be ready by your bedroom door."
He pulled back and let go of her wrist and leg with a loud sigh. "Shit." He whispered. He stood up and adjusted himself, stepping away from the chair and stroking her shoulder with his fingers as he walked to the door making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He walked away but the bubble still surrounded her, warming her insides. She smiled as he reached the door and turned to look at her. He shook his head and smirked.
"I swear to Merlin, if you touch yourself before I get there I'll make your arse raw for a week."
.x.
Aaaah. Debated so much about how this chapter would work. Revised it over and over. Would Hermione go in for the kill, go in guns blazing or would she be more subtle? Shes a smart cookie and is getting what she wants from him. Slowly but surely! Hope you liked it! Please review and let me know!
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