Craving My Ruthless Ceo novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A walking, breathing god.

Ana’s POV

The pen was still stuck between my teeth when I realized I hadn’t taken a single note in ten minutes. I blinked down at the open spreadsheet glowing on my laptop, the quarterly report I was supposed to be working on.

Instead, my fingers hovered above the keyboard, frozen midair as my gaze drifted….. to him.

Roman Blackwood.

A walking, breathing god. My boss.

He stood at the head of the boardroom table, the picture of authority and control. Six foot something, tall enough to make everyone else seem smaller.

His face was perfectly handsome, with a sharp jawline and neatly cut hair that fell slightly over his forehead. Every time he raked his hand through it, the women in the room tried not to look, but they always did.

But it was his eyes that did it. God, those eyes. Ocean blue. Calm. Cold. Deep enough to drown in if you stared too long. Which, unfortunately, I did. A lot.

He wasn’t just the CEO of Blackwood Corporation, he was the Roman Blackwood. The man Forbes loved to put on their covers. Ruthless. Brilliant. A legend in every business circle. He built a billion-dollar empire from the ground up. People feared him, respected him, envied him.

And me? I could barely form a coherent sentence when he was in the same room.

I was the definition of a nerd….. big glasses, shy smile, cardigan always slipping off one shoulder.

The kind of girl who’d rather spend Friday nights writing dark romance stories than going out. I’d always dreamed of becoming a bestselling author, the next big name in romance, but apparently, the universe missed that memo.

Every novel I wrote had either been rejected or sat online with barely a single view.

Still, I couldn’t give up….. this was my dream. But dreams didn’t pay the bills, so I took a job to survive.

Three months. That was how long I’d been his assistant. Three months of stolen glances, accidental touches, and sleepless nights replaying the way his voice dipped when he said my name.

Three months of pretending I wasn’t completely, hopelessly obsessed with my CEO.

I told myself it was research, that watching him so closely was just creative observation.

But deep down, I knew better.

He had become my muse.

My addiction.

My gaze lingered on his mouth as he spoke, the way his lips curved around every word. God, I shouldn’t have been watching him that closely. But the more I did, the harder it became to look away.

My breath hitched as I imagined those same lips pressing against mine, tasting me, commanding every breath I took. What would it feel like? How would he kiss, rough and possessive or slow and passionate?

My gaze dropped lower, tracing the lines of his broad shoulders, the way his white shirt clung to his chest, stretched across a body that was all strength and control. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing strong forearms, veins, tan skin, power.

Heat crept up my neck. In my mind, those hands reached for my waist, pulling me close, lifting me onto the boardroom table. Papers scattered, files hit the floor, and gasps echoed as he ordered everyone out of the room with a single look.

Then it was just us.

His body pressed against mine, heat searing through the thin layers of fabric between us. His lips trailed down my neck, rough and desperate, and every touch set fire to my skin. I could almost feel the ache throbbing deep inside me, the way my body would arch for him….. needing more, craving everything.

His hands would spread my thighs, his voice rough against my ear as he whispered my name…..

“…Ana.”

Roman’s voice rumbled somewhere in the distance, but I barely heard it. My fingers kept typing, lost in the fantasy spilling onto my screen.

“Ana.”

Still nothing. My heart raced, not from reality, but from the image of his hands against my thighs.

“Ana.”

This time, his voice cut through the air, deep and firm enough to snap me out of my daze. My head jerked up. He was staring right at me, his expression hard, ocean-blue eyes narrowed in irritation.

Oh no. If he had any idea what I’d just been thinking…..

“Sir,” I stammered, yanking my fingers off the keyboard. “Mr. Blackwood, I…..”

He stared at me, those cold ocean eyes locked on mine, and I could feel the anger rolling off him in controlled waves.

“I don’t want to hear it,” he burst out, his brows furrowing. “Excuses don’t fix incompetence.”

The word incompetence tore through what was left of my self-confidence after embarrassing myself in front of everyone.

I opened my mouth again, desperate to explain, to tell him I’d been buried in his reports, his calls, his endless lists of tasks, but the look he gave me stopped me cold.

He exhaled slowly, his expression darkening as he gestured toward the others with a flick of his hand.

“The meeting is over.”

For a second, no one moved. Confusion spread through the room as the managers and department heads exchanged uncertain glances.

Roman’s eyes narrowed. His voice came again, firmer, colder. “Everyone. Clear the room. Now.”

The fear in their eyes was instant. Chairs scraped the floor. People scrambled to gather their files and laptops, murmuring quietly as they hurried toward the door. Within seconds, the once-busy boardroom was empty, and I was the only one left behind.

I rose from my seat, my hands shaking as I reached for my laptop and gathered my papers, hoping no one would notice me. I was just about to slip out when…..

“Not you, Miss Winters.”

I froze. My heart jumped. I looked up. Roman’s face was hard as he pointed back at my chair.

“Sit.”

My heart dropped. I swallowed hard and lowered myself back into the seat, fingers gripping the edge of the table to keep from shaking. I felt really scared. My throat felt dry, and my chest was tight.

My breath hitched as he walked up to me in powerful strides. The closer he got, the smaller the room seemed to feel. When he stopped in front of me, he tilted my chin up, forcing my eyes to meet his.

“Give me one good reason,” his tone was low and mean, “why I shouldn’t fire you right now, Miss Winters.”