The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 402

As Riley walked past the triage desk, the nurse offered a bright smile. "Heading out for lunch with your friend, Dr. Vance?"

Riley gave a polite nod. "Yes." She instinctively cast a sideways glance at Sebastian. Not a friend. My boyfriend.

From the shadows down the hall, Pierce watched them walking side by side. The cold fury in his eyes churned violently. His blood boiled over when they reached the elevator and he saw Sebastian gently block the doors with his hand, offering Riley a tender, gentlemanly gesture to let her step in first.

Sebastian St. John was famously aloof, arrogant, and ruthless. He was a man accustomed to the world catering to his every whim. Since when did he ever serve anyone else?

There was absolutely nothing innocent about his relationship with Riley!

The elevator doors slowly glided shut.

Pierce immediately darted toward the elevators and took a different car down to the underground parking garage. The moment the doors opened on the lower level, he lowered his head and ducked behind the nearest parked car, scanning the massive garage for any sign of Riley and Sebastian.

Sebastian's usual ride was far too flashy, so Riley had suggested they take hers. They both climbed in. Riley settled into the driver's seat, pulled her seatbelt across her chest, and was just about to start the engine when a low, husky voice drifted from the passenger side.

"Wait."

Riley looked over, confused. "What's wrong?"

Sebastian's dark, bottomless eyes were locked onto hers. "I haven't put my seatbelt on yet."

Riley sat perfectly still, expecting him to do it. But the man just kept staring at her, making absolutely no move to secure the belt. "So why aren't you buckling it?"

"I'm waiting for you to do it for me."

Riley stared at him in disbelief.

She was quickly realizing that this terrifyingly powerful man could actually be quite childish sometimes. But honestly, she didn't mind indulging him. She wanted to treat him well.

She unclicked her own seatbelt and leaned across the center console. Pressing one hand against the side of his seat for balance, she stretched her other arm toward the belt near his door. But it was a far reach, and she couldn't quite grab it.

She looked up at him, intending to ask him to pass it to her, only to realize exactly how close they were. Most of her body was draped directly across his chest. Their faces were barely two inches apart.

Her cheeks erupted into flames. Instinctively, she tried to pull back, but before she could, a large hand clamped firmly onto her waist. With a singular, effortless pull, he hauled her entirely out of the driver's seat and directly onto his lap.

Riley gasped in panic, her wide, doe-like eyes darting nervously toward the car windows before snapping back to Sebastian. "Someone might see us!"

Sebastian's thumb began tracing slow, agonizing circles along the curve of her waist. "Who is going to wander around a parking garage staring into your car?"

Riley had no counter-argument for that.

"I want to kiss you again," Sebastian murmured, his gaze searing hot.

The pure heat in his eyes made her entire body flush. "Didn't we just kiss?"

But the tiny shred of rational thought left in his brain screamed at him to stop. It was obvious they were still keeping their relationship a secret. If he marched over there and publicly shattered their little bubble, they might just decide to go public and officially be together.

Where would that leave him?

In terms of both power and status, he didn't even come close to Sebastian.

Never in his life had Pierce so intensely hated his own inadequacy. In Riverport, his word was absolute law. He was a god. But standing in Sebastian's shadow, he didn't even qualify as an obstacle.

Rivals were supposed to be evenly matched. The gap between them was an unbridgeable canyon.

The sheer, suffocating weight of his own powerlessness was driving him insane.

Inside the car, Riley was practically suffocating from the intensity of the kiss. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave a gentle push.

Sebastian finally released her. He looked down at the woman in his arms—her face flushed beautifully, her eyes glassy and alluring. The dark, greedy desires he had buried deep within himself for years roared to life, screaming at him to pin her down and claim every inch of her as his own.

But he knew the timing was wrong. He rested his forehead against hers, taking harsh, ragged breaths as he forced the primal urge back into a cage.

A moment later, Riley tried to slip back into the driver's seat, only to realize her entire body was completely limp. She didn't have an ounce of strength left. She shot a highly resentful glare at the instigator of her current predicament.

Sebastian arched a handsome brow. "What's wrong?"