"You're hovering," I mutter, glancing up from my computer screen to look at Killian. He's standing right behind me again, watching over my shoulder. He's been doing it all morning. After he introduced me to everyone at the staff meeting, he showed me around. His operation here is honestly impressive.

The fact that he's funding it almost entirely by himself is even more impressive. I found that little tidbit out from Kathy, the receptionist who looks like she'd be more comfortable jumping out of an airplane than manning a desk. Killian may be rough around the edges, but he has a big heart and genuinely seems to care about the men he's trying to help here. It's also pretty clear that he runs a tight ship. Everyone was polite and friendly, but they deferred to him. They all seemed to like and respect him.

He stayed glued to my side all morning, barely letting me out of his sight. He really didn't like when one of the therapists tried to talk to me. He growled at the man, who immediately found somewhere else to be. Killian decided we were going on a solo tour right after that.

Now that we're back in the office, I think he's spent as much time watching me work as he has actually working himself. It's making me nervous. I don't work well under pressure. I need to concentrate, but it's impossible to do that when I feel him standing behind me, watching me. All I can think about is how much I want to lean against him and close my eyes. He smells like the outdoors.

"You know what all that shit says?" he asks.

"Yes."

"It looks like a foreign language."

"It is a foreign language. There are rules and structure to computer languages, just like with any language we speak. This language just doesn't mean a whole lot without the technology behind it," I explain. "If you write it on paper, it does nothing. But if you type it in here, magic happens."

He grunts and then jabs a finger toward the screen. "What does this do?"

I glance at the line of code he's pointing at and smile. "That one autosaves your work so you don't lose it." I've been down that road before. Nothing is quite as devastating as losing several hours' worth of work because you forgot to save it. If the people in his program get frustrated if the app crashes, they might not be willing to expend as much effort into answering the questionnaire the second time around. Autosaving eliminates as much of that risk as possible.

"What about this one?"

"That one determines whether or not I get any work done today," I mutter before I can stop myself. He's covering the line of code with his finger so I don't actually know what it says since I can't see it.

He grunts again and then seems to catch on. "Funny," he says. His gravelly voice says something else. "You like challenging me."

"You're very demanding."

One big hand comes down on my shoulder. "You haven't seen demanding yet, baby girl. I can be a mean son of a bitch when I have to be."

I turn my head and crane my neck to look up at him. His jaw is set, his eyes dark. I think he's trying to warn me, but all he manages to do is turn me on. I think…Lord, help me. I think I like that there's a little bit of the devil in him. It appeals to me on levels I didn't even know existed.

"You aren't mean to me."

"No." He meets my gaze, studying me again. "Doesn't mean I won't be rough when I'm buried nine deep in that cunt, breeding you."

My cheeks heat. So does my body.

"You'd love it."

He might be right about that.

"I wouldn't know," I mumble.

Realization flares in his eyes, followed by satisfaction. "You're a virgin."

I nod, not ashamed of it. I've had more important things to focus on in my life. I haven't held onto my virginity out of some sense of obligation to my future husband or anything like that. I just haven't found anyone who interested me enough to make me want to give it up.

"I'll take it easy on you the first time," he says like the two of us are a done deal. His rough palm cups my cheek, his thumb brushing beneath my eye. "You're beautiful all the time, but I know you're going to be a revelation when you're coming for me."

Tags: Nichole Rose Claimed Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net