Who are you? I

"As much as I enjoy this position, unfortunately I cannot act without being at a disadvantage."

I stared at him in shock. "What?"

"You can stay as long as you like," he snarled. "I must say, I'm already enjoying this collaboration."

Stunned, I stared down at this stranger. He was so damn breathtaking! Handsome was an insult, if I had had to describe him as such. In fact, he was totally a sex god.

I was looking at a face of a greek god, as if Michelangelo himself had lent a hand to chisel this masterpiece. A straight nose. High cheekbones and a prominent chin. Eyebrows like night-black lines whose inflection gave him something wild. Sensual lips that invited to kiss. Had I not been asexual, I would have jumped on them. Yes, that toothpaste smile was worth a temptation even for Asexuals.

Wow! I could barely withstand his gaze. "Am I not the one in disadvantage!"

"I wouldn't agree with that," he chuckled boldly.

I blinked at him completely disarmed. "Pardon?"

"That's exactly why." He sounded very pleased as his hand caught my butt. "Even I did not expect such a warm welcome."

Fire rushed into my face as that shrill cry of despair erupted out of my lungs. Immediately I let go, as if I were holding a terribly hot potato in my hands.

What the fuck was happening right now?

"Let go of me!"

He kept clutching my butt, refusing to give me a chance out. His grip grew stronger as he snickered while walking with me in his arms. "Pleased to meet you, too."

"Let me go!" I cried out in a mixture of shock and shame. Tried to free me from his arms.

"I don't wanna..." A dark sparkle came out of his eyes. I felt like I was suffocating on my own breath. "But if you wish so..." Gently he lifted me from his hip. Putting me down in a soft leather armchair. "I would have loved to deepen this, but we can do that later. We'd better have a chat with each other first."

I could not believe my ears. I wanted to ask him - What's wrong with you! But my mouth wouldn't open. I wondered if it was because of his impudence or because I felt like a helpless animal under his gaze. Still I was in this state of complete denial. Of course my alarm system was on a high pressure line. After all, I was not in any situation that I would have considered safe. Here stood a man who knew my true identity and claimed to know about my situation. "How much do you know?"

All my senses were on alert. My heart was up to my neck. I looked around anxiously. There was no way out. Unless it was the door or I jumped off the balcony. I wouldn't die, but at three or four meters some bones would break. Maybe the door, then?

"Lily, you don't have to be afraid." His voice sounded somehow hypnotizing, reminding me of that snake Kaa from the Jungle Book. As he looked down at me. "I just want to help you." He looked cool, calm, and serene.

My heart was beating so hard that I wasn't longer able to separate the single beats. "But I'm scared!"

"Always on guard...", he said rather to himself as his gaze glided to the shattered mass on the floor. "That's pretty clever. Maybe that's why you've survived for so long."

He fell silent, looking at me with that grin that could squeeze icy sweat out of every one of my pores. Okay - I encouraged myself. But actually I knew that I was already far too deep in the shit. He definitely knew too much. Why would he then claim that I had nothing to fear.

And - who the hell was he?

He kept staring down at me, a muscle twitching around the corner of his mouth. "I think we should order something to calm our nerves." I was sure that was meant for me. "We can't toast with that Don Perignon..." His mouth turned back to that grin. Mockingly. And somehow amused.

My gaze glided to the pile of broken glass at the door. I hoped I would not have to pay for it myself.

"Of course not, you are my guest tonight."

I nodded woodenly, before I blinked in surprise. "Pardon?"

"Of course I'll invite you."

I still didn't quite understand. "Did you just read my mind?"

"Your face is like an open book. It's probably the shock." He leaned back with a disinterested expression before calling for one of the barmaids through the tablet.

"Then you can definitely read this - What do you want from me!"

As he ordered, he kept glancing over me. His arrogance and confidence dripped from every single pore. And I sat there like on hot coals without getting an answer.

With skillful hand movements he loosened the silver tie, opened the button on the collar of his white shirt and slid elegantly into the armchair opposite me.

He was taller and more attractive than any man I knew. This man in a tailor-made black suit moved smoothly and firmly. Not only did his movement resemble those of a predator, even with his gaze he seemed to devour people alive. Like a hungry black panther.

It took only seconds to caught me with his gaze, enough to let me know what danger meant.

An icy shiver ran down my back. If I would leave this loge alive tonight, I had to activate Escape Plan Cuckoo. With this man I did not want to cross paths a second time!