Corrupted Chaos: An Enemies to Lovers Forced Proximity Romance (Tarnished Empire)

My body jerked, and my heart lurched along with it. Never had the elevators stopped suddenly like this. This was a state-of-the-art building with technology that didn’t falter.

Just as I swore, one large hand shoved me into the door of the elevator by my neck. I felt his grip on me, tight, in control, and strong enough to crush my windpipe if he wanted to. I don’t know if his other arm was around my waist to stop me from falling or if he just wanted full control of me.

I squinted into the dark, trying to see his face. “What the hell, Cade?”

“Now that we have a minute, go on, turn around and let me feel how big your ass really is, Ms. Hardy.”

I’m embarrassed to admit I got wet right then, his voice filled with gravel and edge against my skin, commanding me in a way I wasn’t used to. “What?” I whispered. His tone had already sent sparks through me—so much so I couldn’t focus.

“I’ll show you I’m nothing like that fuckboy who didn’t appreciate what he had in front of him.”

In the dark of that elevator, I almost gave in. Cade had avoided me for a whole year. My hate for him had grown and grown but it was rooted in desire. Hate mixed with passion, tangled up with lust. Every woman was attracted to his mystery, his callousness, his dominance in a room.

Yet, I knew better than to be drawn to it when he’d already inverted my life once. “Nothing like him yet so similar. You took from me just like he did. He took my love for granted, you took my passion for my job.”

He chuckled near my ear. I felt the heat of his breath, the scrape of his five-o’clock shadow brushing against my skin. “I’ll do whatever is needed to keep my team in line.”

“I’m not on your team. Your team is you and no one else. You haven’t seen any of us in a year.”

“I always see you, baby doll.” He grazed his teeth over a sensitive part of my neck, and it was like an electric shock zapped through me. My whole body quivered. “Turn around for me.”

I lifted my chin, and his thumb instantly rubbed the column of my neck where he held me. Cade wanted me to fall to my knees and crumble; I swear I saw the hunger in his eyes for me to give in to my embarrassment.

Instead, I turned. I wanted him to feel what I did, the desire, the want, the tension. There was no way I was the only one feeling this. He must too.

The growl that came from him was low with appreciation as my ass brushed against his hard length. Then he whispered in my ear, “He wanted you to work it off. Can you tell what I want?”

“Probably the same thing every guy wants. A quick hook up in an elevator to check off your list.”

“Nothing about us will ever be quick, Harley Quinn,” he admitted. “I’ve been dealing with your shit for years now, and even having moved you, I’m beginning to think it won’t help. So I intend to terrorize you for a very long time.”

“Good luck, asshole. I’ll quit Stonewood Enterprises.” I breathed fast as his hand crept from my waist to my stomach and started to inch up the skin under my shirt. If he touched me for much longer, I wouldn’t be able to stop what was about to happen.

“Do you like throwing your anger at me yet? Don’t you see I deserve it, and I’ll make you feel good while you do it? Gerald could never do that,” he murmured as his hand traced my lace bra.

“You’re deranged.” I shook my head, not sure I could see past anything but him this close to me now, how the adrenaline was pumping through me, how my body wanted him more than I’d ever wanted Gerald.

Forget butterflies—there was thunder and lightning and a goddamn electrical storm pulsing through me.

“I am. Which means you’d better leash your attitude or know I’ll be coming for it.”

“You show up after a year and expect me to instantly comply with you ordering me around?” I knew I was taunting him, but as I rolled my hips into his hard length, I also knew his cock was so big it’d put most men I’d been with to shame.

It didn’t matter—we couldn’t do this. We were toeing a dangerous, unspoken line. Tonight, I was too far into my own feelings, barreling toward self-destruction in a new way. And he was . . . well, he was Cade.

“Not like you would listen anyway. You never do.”

That pissed me off, because I actually took the team lead’s workload half the time. “I always listen to Juda’s orders. I’m helping him most of the time.”

“Do your job, stop doing other people’s.”

“You have some input all of a sudden? Let’s be candid here. Juda tells us what to do, not you.”

He hummed low. “You think because I’m not around, I can’t make you bend to my will?”

Could he? I felt the pull to him, felt my body surrendering itself even before his hand slid to my lower stomach and hovered over the button of my shorts. I couldn’t help my whimper as he waited there, like he was silently hoping I would stop him. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t.

“You’re not around enough to do so. We barely know you, Cade. You can’t make someone bend to your will when you don’t know a thing about them.”

“You think I don’t know a thing about you?”

I looked over my shoulder. His eyebrow quirked up a notch. Was I that easy of a study to him? Maybe I’d become boring. Quite frankly, I’d settled for Gerald, and he’d gone and found someone more fun than me.

Maybe I was sick of sitting in my neat little box and not doing what I wanted to. Or maybe tonight, I just lost my mind a little. Because I did the stupidest thing I could imagine next. I let my hand fall from where I’d been bracing myself against the elevator door and unbuttoned my shorts slowly as I tossed a glare over my shoulder, daring him to go there. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

He searched my face, those amber eyes of his staring at my lips, then back to catch my gaze like he was debating something. “Noted, dollface. Guess I’ll have to be around more to figure you out.” With that, he smiled and dipped his hand into my panties. His fingers slid over my clit fast. He didn’t waste time warming me up.

He didn’t have to.

His touch was rough, dominant, and wild like he knew exactly what I needed. He sucked on my neck while he pushed his middle finger inside me, and I gasped, letting him, bearing down on him, wanting to feel him more than I should have. “Guess I’ll have to be close enough for you to feel me near you, on you, and in you, huh?”

I tried to catch my breath as I rode his hand. I’d needed to get laid, sure, but not by him. Not by the man I despised. Yet, he was so different from Gerald; so hard where Gerald was soft, so demanding where Gerald was acquiescent. And so ready to fuck me even though he hated me as much I hated him. We both felt a desire stronger than our hate. Or maybe our hate fueled it.

I wasn’t sure anymore.

But the need to have his fingers bring me to the brink was stronger than most highs I’d ever chased in my life. Maybe Cade had always thought I was weak, that I could be pushed around. I’d taken the job without much of a fight last year. I’d stayed in my lane. I hadn’t directly rebelled or protested.

I wanted to be good. I did, but something in me needed to be bad with him. He pushed me toward an edge that was raw, jagged, and full of unknown parts of me I’d kept locked away.

So I did what I shouldn’t have. I widened my legs, grabbed his wrist, and pushed his fingers farther in me. “I don’t need to feel you anywhere after this. I’d rather you go away.”

“Really?” His voice held humor. “You don’t want me near you but you’re dripping all over my hand while my fingers are in you, huh? Is this how wet you got for your ex, dollface, or is it just me?”

“Go to hell, Cade,” I whimpered, knowing this was wrong, but his fingers inside me felt more than right. I felt more alive than I had in years, like I was waking up from hibernation, like I’d been locked away and his fingers inside my pussy were the keys unlocking something in me.

“Oh, I’m going to hell, baby. But I’m dragging you with me.” He curled his fingers over my G-spot, so fast I heard my pussy purring as I got closer and closer to my climax. He whispered in my ear, “Time to feel the licks of fire and see if you ever want to come back to earth.”

Then his other hand gripped my breast over my shirt, pinching the nipple as he pumped his length against my ass. I couldn’t grab hold of all the sensations and keep my body from reacting. My climax burned through me, singeing my skin, sending what felt like lava over every sensitive part of my body. I screamed out in ecstasy and pain. I felt rage that he’d brought me to one of the most intense orgasms I’d ever experienced and euphoria all at once. I mumbled that I hated him over and over as he nipped at my neck and milked every ounce of my orgasm out of me.

“Ms. Hardy.” He tsked while he brought his fingers to his mouth, sucking them clean. “You can say you hate me all you want but your lies taste so damn sweet.”

I sucked in a breath at his vicious words and glanced away because if I didn’t, I’d probably try to continue what we’d started. It seemed I didn’t have much control when it came to him. Licking me from his fingers, his tongue moving with precision to get every last drop of me, was a turn-on I’d have to forget about.

I buttoned my shorts and stepped back from him, avoiding his gaze while trying to calm my breathing. That moment would have been a great time for the elevator to start working again.

“Now that we’ve curbed your emotions and given you something to tide you over, let’s stop stepping out of line at work for the time being, huh? I don’t need the cops called on Stonewood Enterprises because you can’t keep your temper in check.”

My eyes bulged. “Excuse me? Are you saying you just did that to—”

“To calm you down. Yes.” He shrugged and pulled his phone out like what we’d done wasn’t an event of epic proportions. “You looked like you were going to walk into that work party blubbering like a miserable Harley Quinn. No one wants to see that.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I lashed out. “Don’t act as if you weren’t enjoying yourself, you dickhead.”

“I assure you, you enjoyed it more.”

“I can’t believe you have the audacity to act as though you’ve done nothing wrong here. You shoved me up against an elevator door the second it stalled. To anyone who watches the tape, you’re not exactly the innocent party handing out favors here.” I flicked my eyes to the cameras.

When my retort was met with silence, I thought I’d won.

Instead, genuine laughter burst from deep in his chest and vibrated through me. “You’re funny sometimes, Izzy. I’ll give you that.”

“I’m not trying to be funny.” I pushed away from the elevator door and pointed to the keypad. “Probably should call elevator maintenance or else HR may receive more evidence to substantiate your screwed-up tendencies toward an employee. I should report you.”

He chuckled but pulled his phone up. “Sure, baby. Check that video before you report me. You were moaning and enjoying yourself about as much as me.”

I was so sick of him thinking he was above me and my team. Maybe I really would report him. “You know, I deserve a boss who doesn’t laugh in my face and act like an asshole every chance he gets. I work hard for this company. Quite frankly, the whole team does.”

“Are you saying that’s what I do?”

I blew a breath in irritation. “That’s definitely what you do.”

“Okay.” He tilted his head as he thought about it. “I guess I do. And yet, you’re going to a damn party because you work for one of the largest corporations in the United States and haven’t had a cyberattack or data breach in a whole year.”

Stonewood Enterprises threw a couple of extravagant annual parties. I’d heard it was because one of the wives felt it was good for morale, but he was right. We were being rewarded for our expertise.

“Because we’re damn good at what we do,” I emphasized.

“Yes, and because your boss runs a tight ship. Or would you like to disagree and go back to working for the government?”

I truly hated him, but I couldn’t continue pushing my limits. At the end of the day, I couldn’t risk losing a job under Cade Armanelli.

His hands were in everything. He controlled the digital world of the United States. If I lost a job here, I’d lose the potential to work anywhere of significance in data security.

That’s what his last name meant.

Control. Prestige. Power. And fear.

“I’m not disagreeing with anything you’re saying, Mr. Armanelli.” I scoffed.

“Glad we got that out of the way.” He waited a beat. “Now, are you ready to go to the party or are you planning another outburst?”

My hand itched to use the spray can again, but I couldn’t let this night get any worse.

Maybe Gerald was right about some things. Dating someone like me couldn’t be easy. Protecting my mental health and sobriety always came first, even when it meant standing up for myself.

I didn’t look good on paper. Yet I was proud of the person I’d become.

I sighed as I leaned into the railing of the elevator and tried not to let Gerald’s words, or this night, get to me. I turned away from Cade and faced a wall of nothing as I took a couple of deep breaths. “Give me a minute.”

Two tears, or maybe three or four, fell before I sniffled softly and wiped them away. I was going to enjoy this damn night, even if these two men had tried their damnedest to ruin it.

Cade didn’t give me any time. Suddenly the elevator was moving. He’d swiped the fob, like he’d had control of the elevator the whole time.

“Did you stop the elevator in the first place?”

He smiled and lowered the mask back onto his face.

Hatred wasn’t strong enough for what I felt for him.

I hurried out of the elevator, then turned to glare at him again.

But he was gone. He’d vanished into the thick of the crowd, nowhere to be seen amid the bright flashing lights, the glitter flying around, and the thumping rave music.