SULTRY INFERNO: His Command, Her Temptation

Seraphina stirred her hot chocolate absently, eyes glued to her book, while she literally escaped from the world around her.

She’s petite, with soft curves and her dark long curls fell loosely around her face, giving her an innocent look.

At nineteen, she still had a touch of youthful shyness in her behavior.

Her reserved attitude was a quality that made her enjoy the cozy but upscale café that late afternoon.

She was barely aware of the other people around but as she reached for her cup, a deep voice startled her out of her daydream.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Looking up, her heart skipped a beat when her eyes landed on the man standing beside her table.

He was tall— so tall— well over six feet, with a muscular but not overly bulky build and tattoos peeking out from under the sleeve of his dark shirt.

“Oh... um... sure,” she stammered, suddenly feeling ‘very’ small.

He pulled out the chair in front of her and sat down, without taking his eyes off her for a second.

Then she realised, with an uncomfortable flutter of whatnot in her stomach, that he was handsome.

“You come here often,” he stated, saying it like it was a fact he was sure of, while he studied her.

Seraphina blinked, tightening her small hands around her book.

“I... I do, actually. It’s a nice, quiet place.”

He chuckled; a low sound that sounded sweet to her ears.

“Not many people notice quiet spaces these days. They’re too busy... existing. But you’re different, aren’t you?”

Her face heats up.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

He leaned back, one arm draped casually over the back of his chair.

“I think you do.”

They both fell silent for a moment but in that quiet while, as she pretended to have gone back to her reading, she felt his gaze on her.

Finally, she gathered some courage to say something, looking up from her open book.

“So... Do you come here often?”

“From time to time,” he answered.

“But today, I came here for you.”

That confused her, “For... for me?”

He replied, giving her a slow smile.

¿_- Oh it's beautiful, that smile. -_¿ She thinks.

“I noticed you the last few times I was here. You stand out, Seraphina.”

Hearing her name from his lips made her jolt; she hadn’t mentioned her name to him and she was sure of it.

“How do you know my name?”

"Knowing things is how I stay ahead."

Worried and confused, her eyes drift down to her mug of hot chocolate and she then; her name was written on it with a paper tag.

“Who are you?” She decided to ask, afterall, he had just scared the hell out of her.

Letting go of the back of the chair he sat on, he leaned forward, close enough that she could feel his body heat roll off him.

… And his scent—leather and a cologne she couldn't name —