Two weeks passed and I still hadn't been able to convince the guys to stop treating me like a broken piece of china. Jungkook barely left my side, even when Jin lost his shit with him over disobeying his orders and Taehyung spent so much time looking at me like a forlorn lover that even I started to get sick of it.

Jimin wouldn't come near me for the first two days after my accident and when he eventually did he had a brace on his nose.

Apparently, after they'd got my heart going for good, I'd freaked out and slipped into that dark place and broken his nose in the process. Anytime I'd tried to touch him, he muttered something about "eyes" and backed away. At some point Jin had a talk with him and he stopped looking at me like a monster. Yoongi never came around and I had the sneaking suspicion that he was blaming himself for what happened. He wouldn't let me, or Jimin, near his lab.

Finally, I'd had enough and went to Joon for help.

"Can I go to work with you today?"

Joon looked up from the papers on his desk in the office he kept at the house. He pulled his glasses down from his nose and regarded me carefully. Like he was studying a piece of art he wasn't quite sure if he liked or not.

"Why," he finally asked.

I sat down on the arm of the chair across from him and propped my head on my hands. "Because the guys are treating me like I'm broken and I can't stand it anymore. I need to do something productive. To feel like I'm still part of the team. Jin said my heart was perfectly fine anyway."

Namjoon scoffed and dropped his glasses on the desk. "Jin likes to think he's a doctor, but he's not."

"I'm fine, Joon."

I got lost in the power of his stare for a minute, but didn't dare back down. Finally, he sighed and leaned back. "I guess it's fine. It's not like I'm doing anything but paperwork today anyway."

I squealed and ran around to throw my arms around his neck. He leaned back in his chair to give me enough room so that I didn't hit his heavy wooden desk, but I suddenly had the feeling he was pulling away for other reasons as well. I just didn't know what they were. He patted me weakly on the back and gave me the tight-lipped smile he always had when he was being shy or hiding something. I stood up straight, smoothed out my pajamas and cleared my throat.

"Um, I guess I should get changed, then."

Joon just nodded his head and tapped his fingers on the desk. I bowed and backed out the door, but once I heard it slide shut, I bolted up the stairs to mine and Jungkook's room.

I loved that Jungkook was so protective, but having him constantly underfoot had gotten old. Luckily for me, Jin had threatened him that morning with severe bodily harm if he didn't get out of the house and get something done for the team. I didn't know what his job was that day, but it was apparently serious enough that both Jin and Yoongi had to leave early that morning to deal with it as well. Once alone in the room, I threw open the closet doors to see which of Taehyung's choices I could wear that day. I found a loose black top and decided to throw it over a cute lace bralette and some moto street leggings. I even grabbed a pair of black heels. They were growing on me and I liked the feeling of sexuality and power they allowed after weeks spent looking like an overcooked potato in sweats and t-shirts.

By the time I heard Namjoon moving around in the kitchen, I'd washed up and put on enough makeup to hide the dark circles and pale skin from too much time spent indoors and come out looking like a whole person again. I'd used lots of burgundy eyeshadow and black cateye eyeliner to complete the badass look I was going for that day. I felt masculine and feminine at the same time and was loving it. I felt like I could take on the world.

All my effort was not wasted on Joon, either. As soon as I stepped into the kitchen to grab a snack to bring with me, Joon turned around and stopped dead in his tracks. His lower lip hung fuller than normal from his parted mouth as his eyes moved over my body, taking everything in. Since it had been so long since anyone had looked at me like I was something worthy of their menu, I decided to play it up a little.

I held my hands out to my sides a little and did a slow twirl. "You like?"

Namjoon rolled that pouty lower lip between his teeth and held his breath for just a second as his gaze walked over me one more time. "You're almost perfect."

I pouted out my lip, genuinely shocked by what he said. My shoulders fell as I deflated a little, but Joon didn't seem to notice as he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hallway towards his room. I walked over and grabbed an apple, leaning against the kitchen island as I waited for him to get back. When his expensive leather shoes tapped over the tile behind me, I turned to see him carrying a holster, a gun, and a devilish grin. That time I rolled my lip between my teeth and held on for dear life. It was hard to seduce someone who was so seductive, themselves. My breath quivered with a bite of apple still in my mouth as he stepped forward and looked down his sculpture-like nose at me with that damn dimpled smirk on his lips.

Then he bent down, not taking his eyes away from mine. My breath stilled in my chest and the integrity of my heart's function was put to the ultimate test as he wrapped the holster around my upper right thigh. I was like a moth caught in the flame. I couldn't look away even knowing I was flying toward my own death because I knew my last moments would be spent burning in that exquisite light.

His fingers fluttered across my clothed skin, the fabric doing nothing to stop my body from desiring the burn of his flesh on mine. Never in my life could I have imagined something as simple as strapping a weapon on my body would have me wet in places I shouldn't have been and imagining my hands in his hair pulling his face into mine.

And fuck me if he didn't lick his lip before leaning in a little more as he pressed the Velcro strips together. I had been a fool to think I could seduce this man.

"There," he purred into my ear. His hands lingered on my hip for just a moment before he trailed them up to my waist, his fingertips barely a whisper across my body. "Now you're perfect."

I looked up into his eyes through my eyelashes, feeling a little like a lamb being led to slaughter. "Thank you." My voice came out like a choked whisper.

Joon's eyes flicked down to my lips for a moment before moving back up to my own. "Remember what I said, kitten. Don't start something you aren't prepared to finish."

I took a quivering breath and nodded like a child. "Yes, sir."

Joon's expression darkened for just a moment before he turned and grabbed his wallet and keys from the entry table by the door. I took the chance to take a clarifying breath before grabbing my own handbag and following him out the door.

We took Joon's car service to the club so he could focus on work stuff. I kept my arm propped on the window and bit my thumbnail as I watched the rain trail abstract patterns on the city landscape around us. It had rained nearly every day since my accident and, even though I loved rainy days, they were starting to get a little old. A few minutes before we reached the club, Joon sighed and dropped his head back against the seat. I turned and looked him over for a moment, reading the stress on his body before speaking.

"Everything okay?"

He nodded without looking up. "Same old shit. Just a different day. Sometimes I hate being the leader. I hate being the one that has to be responsible for every damn thing that happens or goes wrong."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

With a mirthless chuckle, he shook his head. "No."

There was so much firmness in that single word that all the confidence I'd built up with my outfit went flying past the window along with the streaks of rain. I narrowed my eyes for a moment before turning away, though Joon never noticed. I just wanted him to see me as something more than a tool to use at their whim. When the car stopped in front of the club, Joon jumped out and jogged to the door without even a parting glance to me. I huffed angrily, then said thank you to the driver before sliding out of the seat and running to the door, myself, with my handbag thrown over my head to keep as much of the rain out of my hair as possible. It was useless.

I stepped over the threshold and glared at Joon's closing office door as water dripped in a puddle at my feet. I stomped to his office and threw the door open, sure that if I could start fires with my thoughts, his desk would be an inferno right that second. But before I could say anything, Joon stepped up to me carrying a clean white towel. I flinched and raised my hands when he swung it around my head, but quickly blushed as he cocked an eyebrow and started to pat my hair dry. He fought a grin as he moved the towel down to dry my clothes while my mouth hung open.

Kneeling before me, he dried my expensive heels before looking up at me with that cocky grin on his face. "You okay, Morgan? You look like you want to say something."

I snapped my mouth shut and glared down at him, hiding my sudden, overwhelming desire for him behind a mask of pure annoyance. "You missed a spot," I snapped, pointing to a wet place on my shoulder.

Joon stood with a chuckle and shake of his head. "How could I have done such a thing?" He carefully rubbed the towel at the spot before leaning over and nearly growling in my ear, "so sorry, my queen." I gasped softly as he nipped my throat, just barely. Like a warning. A dangerous, delectable, warning.

Damn everything if something else didn't get drenched right then. And damn it all even more if he didn't know exactly what he'd done. Namjoon knew how to toy with a woman's desire. I had to give him that.

With a wink of his eye, he dropped the towel in my hands and turned to his desk. "You can get the rest yourself."

I stood there with my mouth hanging open and my tongue making laps in my cheek while he just sat down in his chair like toying with me didn't bother him one damn bit. Like it was nothing more than our discussion the morning before my accident. Finally realizing the game was over, I kicked my shoes over to the side of the room and plopped down in the floor to start going through the box of files he needed sorted. Despite my uncomfortable desire, it was better than sitting at home being babied.

After a little while, I started coming out of the fog Namjoon had put me in and started really paying attention to what I was looking at. None of the papers were ours.

"What is all this, Joon?"

He looked over his glasses at the file I held up. Then, he grinned before returning to his own work. "We're looking into a new company."

"What? For an acquisition?"

"Something like that."

"But it's a pharmaceutical company."

"And?"

His eyes were hard and contained an edge that suggested I back off. Everything in me wanted to press him on it, but I knew he wouldn't respond to that. He wanted to feel in control. And as much as I wanted control for myself, I needed him to believe I was the submissive one he so desired. I was bored and horny and I couldn't get the thought of Namjoon's lips off my mind. So I decided to play a little game.

And this time, I was completely prepared to finish what I started.

                                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You know what's coming next, don't you...?

Or should I say...who...