CHAPTER 22 – FROM DARKNESS
Mackenzie was frozen still from that voice. It was still ringing in her head. It’s warm texture, it’s masculine timbre. It’s confident accent that could only belong to one person. And she was strongly hoping, that she was wrong.
The projector went off all of a sudden, leaving the room pitch dark.
Her heart stopped. In the next split second, the lights came on, fully illuminating the person in front of her. Her eyes focused on the figure of the CEO, with her stomach twisting in dread.
Chase Axford.
It was unmistakable. Those sea blue eyes gazed at her with the intensity of stormy oceans. His jet black hair was perfectly tousled, silky and soft like it was made to be grabbed. A tiny tremor shook her shoulders as her eyes raked down that handsome face of his.
That face she thought she would never see again.
Like an Adonis of the night, his tall, big and manly body was encased in a jet black suit. Those dark clothes accentuated the ripped perfection that lay beneath, reminding her of it’s strength and hot-blooded virility.
She remembered how his body was a weapon he wielded in bed, sending her to Havana, over and over again. Sinful and heavenly all at once. It was something to be forgotten at all costs, else, there would be danger.
Combined with his dark hair, and the dark look on his gorgeous face, it looked like he was cut from darkness.
The delicious, sinful and erotic kind of darkness.
It evoked all of the forbidden thoughts and desires she had tried so hard to keep buried. All this time they had been apart, she was constantly fighting the mere thought of him.
It was wrong to think of him.
Whatever had happened between them was just one of those things meant to be buried and kept a secret. Indulging in her fantasies was dangerous game.
What was Chase Axford doing here? Never in her wildest expectations did she believe she would ever run into him here. She could not believe it.
Unless….
The assistant’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind saying, “that is our CEO”. Mackenzie glanced down at the documents in her shaky hands and saw the name boldly written across the front page.
AXFORD LUXURY HOTEL & SUITES.
Her face drained.
How much bad luck could she get? Of all the hotels in Greensville, it was the exact one owned by the family she wanted nothing to do with, that reached out to her.
How did she not see the name before?
Instantly, Mackenzie realized that the Axford name had not even been mentioned once. Uncle Maverick had only gotten an address. And even so, a car came to pick her up and took her through the back entrance, preventing her from knowing where she was.
Then, Nora, the assistant, had opened the documents for her, completely bypassing the front page which held the name. And their CEO had somehow stayed out of her line of sight, until she had signed the contract.
It was staged.
It was all a trap.
She couldn’t even looked up at him with how scared, angry and helpless she felt. So she whirled around and hurried over to the door, trying to pull it open. But it was locked.
How?
Mackenzie began to panic, struggling with the door handle. “What am I even doing here?” She whispered to herself in a quivering voice, nothing but escape on her mind.
Her heart was pounding a thousand miles per second, and her legs could barely keep her upright. Her skin felt so cold, a testament of her nightmares coming to fruition. That name Axford was like an omen. She had to get away from here.
Opening the door was all that was in her mind, for her to realize that Chase was striding towards her. His hand grabbed her arm, fully enveloping her soft flesh, and he whirled her around, pulling her into his chest while his lips crashed against hers in a deep, hard kiss.
Mackenzie’s mind, thoughts and orientation were completely numb the moment those heavenly lips met hers.
His arm moved around her waist, crushing her closer against his broad chest, while his other hand held her face in place, leaving her no room for escape from his passionate assault of his tongue in her mouth, stroking, devouring, taking all she had to give and all she was not willing to give.
The shock Mackenzie initially felt melted off into womanly surrender, powerless against the sensations his touch triggered from deep inside her. Her hands pressed against his firm, strong chest, his entire body enveloping hers like a towering wall of muscle and testosterone.
His body felt so good under her touch.
So hot, so needy… so wanton… so starved.
Her hand travelled up to grab his collar, melding her soft breasts against his firmness, but then a tiny part of her mind broke free of his spell and burst red signals through the rest of her mind.
What in the world was she doing?!
She quickly pushed back from him, stumbling back with her breath coming out in pants. Her lips tingled from the memory of being devoured by his. Her face was blazing hot, and she felt absolutely tongue-tied and disoriented by that scorching kiss.
She met his eyes, and an electric shiver tore through her when she saw the hard defiance in that sea blue gaze. His tongue briefly licked his pink bottom lip, as if reminding her that he could easily kiss her again.Content © NôvelDrama.Org.
He took a step closer to her, saying in a hard tone. “Did you think you can run away from me, Mackenzie? For four damn years, you never bothered to-”
“-Bothered to do what, Chase?” Mackenzie cut in the moment she regained her voice. “We were married, this is wrong!”
“You’re not married anymore.”
Mackenzie paused, staring at him with a furrow between her eyebrows. She muttered, “You know about the divorce.”
He looked her down, exerting his power and dominance over her in just a few words. “The hell I know about everything. Hiding from or fighting me is futile.”
Mackenzie felt threatened by his powerful disposition, so in a bid to strengthen herself against his masculine intensity, she took some steps back and raised her chin.
She met his gaze head on, making sure to not be looking up at him due to how small she was compared to him, but looking down the bridge of her nose on him. It was her way of gaining some stance against him.
How dare he trap her using her own passions against her? Knowing fully well that she was trying to make a career out of her talent and skills, he staged this entire meeting!
Just to lure her back to him!
Righteous anger erupted in Mackenzie. This did not even make any sense. One moment she was on top of the world with happiness for getting an amazing job, the next moment, Chase Axford was right in her face.
She was done with everyone in the Axford family. She hated them, and would rather never have anything to do with them for life. She raised the contract papers, and bit out, “This is not valid. I was deceived into signing this and I would never have anything to do with Axford!”
Her eyes narrowed. “I know you think I need the money, that’s you came at me like this!” She motioned between them. “What the hell do you take me for Chase?!”
She ripped the papers over and over again till they were mere scraps in her hands. And she threw them to the floor, brushing her hair out of her face as she straightened back up to give him a pointed glare.
“I don’t want your money, your job or have anything to do with you and your family! Don’t you ever contact me again!”
Chase barely even blinked the whole time, watching her with the same leveled expression on his face. And it infuriated Mackenzie. She was so worked up, but he was perfectly emotionless.
“I knew you would be exactly like this, Mackenzie. I didn’t expect this to go down easily. ” He said monotonously. “That is why, as soon as you signed the contract, there were instant copies of it. My assistant collected them immediately. You didn’t read the termination of contract, did you?”
He fixed her with the stare of a predator that knew all the moves it’s prey would make. Mackenzie swallowed, fists clenching in dread and anger.
He continued, “There were a couple of exceptions listed in there, where the contract can be terminated by either party without fine. But that is not the case now. You will have to pay five times, your paycheck to be able to terminate the contract after you have signed it.” His tone was ruthless. “Your claims are invalid, Mackenzie. You cannot terminate this contract.”