Vice

55: Making Out

"Do you not know how to listen?" His gaze lingers on Natara's mouth. "You're so stubborn, I swear. First it was the night on the bridge and now..."

Her face flushes and she steps backward, the back of her button-up shirt pressing against the cool office door behind her. Natara struggles to summon her words and her bravery to say something - anything - back to Mr. Vice.

"Of course I know how to listen. I've been following your ridiculous work orders for weeks now, haven't I?" She replies, crossing her arms over her chest like a shield between the two of them. 

Mr. Vice lets out a light chuckle. 

The sound catches Natara by surprise. She's not used to hearing him laugh. Why is he laughing? Mr. Vice raises one of his hands to the side of Natara's waist and the other to her crossed arms, easing them back down to her sides.

"I know it. I've been awful." To Natara's surprise, Mr. Vice agrees. Her eyebrows raise. The expression on his face looks genuine. Does he really mean that he's been awful?

Her heart tenses beneath her chest. She wants to forgive him, but there have been so many things. He's antagonized her since she started working here, he killed himself just when she started to think they were growing close, and he had a fiancée all along.

But somehow when he's this close to her...all those things seem to dissolve away.

"I'm very sorry, Natara. How should I make it up to you?" His voice dips low, into the danger zone, and her flush deepens. He leans his face closer to her ear, gently pulling her curls away from the side of her face and bringing his warm lips to suck on her earlobe. Natara trembles. 

"I don't know." She mumbles through shaky breaths. 

She would imagine she's supposed to say "absolutely not" in this kind of situation. She should say "absolutely not." She should tell him to get lost after everything that happened. 

But Mr. Vice is such a weakness to her. His warm breath racing across her eardrum and the tug on her earlobe as he sucks and nibbles weakens her steadfastness. 

And as images from the night at the hotel play through the back of her mind, Natara falters, knowing she really wants to find out how he'd make things better this time.

"You don't know? Do you want to forgive me, Natara?" Mr. Vice whispers, bringing his tongue up her earlobe and tracing it around the outside of her ear, filling her with his hot breath. 

His hand on her waist tightens and he pulls Natara closer, trapping her between his firm body and the hard door behind her. He pulls away from her ear and sucks down her neck, stopping just above the nape of her neck and sucking hard. 

Natara shivers and gasps, raising her hands to his hair and gently tugging on it. He releases her neck from his mouth and looks her dead in the eyes.

"Natara, I'm really fucking sorry. Do you know that? I'm not using you for anything. I don't mean to lead you on. I don't want to marry Laura. I want you to belong to me." No matter how hard Natara tries, she can't keep her heart from trembling inside her chest. She can't hold back the flutters in her stomach. 

Mr. Vice lowers his eyes to her lips and brings his mouth to meet hers, kissing her almost desperately as he trails one hand under her shirt and across her sides and stomach. His touch is so unlike his attitude, his sadness, and his brash words. 

It's warm,  comforting, and easy for her to sink into. It's impossible for her to not enjoy.

"Do you know how much I need you? You're the only thing that keeps me even slightly stable. And I hate that I can smell another man's cologne on you. I hate that you're dating that dick from the lower office. I hate that everyone in the office is talking about it. Just be with me, Natara. It doesn't matter how good he might have made you feel. I can make you feel better." 

The last words he utters drain all of the color from Natara's face. If he does anything to her like he did that night in the hotel, he could easily make her feel better than Jace did. Much better. And that was dangerous. She didn't need to get into more of that, especially not with how complicated things were already. She forces herself to pull away.

"It doesn't mat-" She starts to say, but Mr. Vice's soft lips muffle her. 

All the energy she used pulling herself away dissipates. 

His teeth gently tug against her lower lip, sending waves of heat rushing through her body. Mr. Vice's thumb strokes against her cheek, holding her in place so her lips don't slip away. 

She doubts she'd have the resolve to even pull away now. Before she realizes it, she finds herself grinding her hips against him. Mr. Vice - Cameron Vice - trails his free hand down Natara's back and grips her hips, helping her push even harder against him.

"Don't think too hard about this, Natara. I need you. You need me. Let it just be that simple. Just for a moment." He pulls his lips away, barely slipping them across the surface of Natara's lips, almost teasing her to speak. 

The hand gripping her hips continues pulling her into him while the thumb stroking her cheek slips along her neck to tangle in her hair. Natara opens her mouth to reply but her words lump in her throat. 

She tries to summon up the strength to say no to him but the feeling of their bodies pressed and rubbing against each other makes her head feel fuzzy. 

Why had she wanted to reject him, again? What reason would she have to say no to something that felt this good? 

She pulls back, looking up into his searching green eyes, knowing full well what will happen if she gives in. If she says yes. 

She really shouldn't say yes.