Eat Me Up If You Can

The sound of the man’s pounding pulse seemed to echo throughout the penthouse. Of course, it was an absurd notion—there was no actual sound to be heard—but the way his trembling eyes locked on Dominic more than made up for it.
Dominic poured more liquor into his empty glass and finally spoke.
“I’m just kidding.”

He added in an offhand tone, then brought the glass to his lips. The man wore a dazed expression, just as expected. He seemed unsure whether to laugh because Dominic had said just kidding or not, but in the end, his face contorted in an awkward, indecipherable way—the look of someone stuck between two reactions.
Having resolved the tension in the most unremarkable way, Dominic lightly cleared his throat and spoke with a deceptively sociable smile.
“Is today your day off?”

Dominic replied to the man, who had scrambled to keep the conversation going.
“It’s vacation. The trial wrapped up.”
“Ah, right.”

The man seized the opportunity and rushed ahead now that Dominic had taken his bait.
“I watched that trial too. You’re Miller, after all. I learned a lot.”
Dominic’s lips softened into something like a smile as he watched the man’s long eyes fold with his grin.

“You’re not very good at flattery.”
His tone was light, but enough to make the man uncomfortable. Still, he was more persistent than expected.
“I’m still working on it. I’ll get better eventually.”

Dominic looked at his face over the rim of his half-tilted glass. He smiled—coolly, falsely.
Interesting.
He set the half-empty glass down on the table.

“Shall I make you an offer?”
“Yes, please.”
The man immediately straightened up and looked directly at him. Dominic deliberately took his time, stroking the surface of the glass. The man stared closely as Dominic’s lips began to move. It felt like he could hear the man’s excited heartbeat pounding in his ears. Slowly, deliberately, Dominic spoke.
“Juliet,”

The man froze. It was deeply satisfying to see the corners of his forced smile stiffen. Dominic tasted the man’s middle name as he asked:
“Will you do anything I ask you to?”

The man quickly recovered from his shock and discomfort. As expected from a lawyer, he latched onto the opportunity without hesitation and met Dominic’s gaze with a challenge. Dominic placed both hands on the table and leaned in toward him.
A shallow, nervous breath brushed his lips. It felt like he could taste it if he just stuck his tongue out a little. The plump, soft lips were flushed.
Dominic raised a hand and traced the man’s shirt collar. His finger moved slowly along the line, brushing the skin of his neck. Even with such a blatant gesture, the man didn’t flinch or recoil. Not even a twitch.

How much is he willing to sacrifice to seal this deal?
Dominic noticed his own Pheromone scent had spiked. If this man were an Omega, he’d have gone into heat instantly. If he were a Beta, he’d at least be blushing or flustered.
But still—he didn’t react. He only seemed concerned with how little space now separated them. Completely unaware that Dominic’s Pheromones were flooding his body.

The man’s lashes quivered faintly. They were so close now, even the air displaced by that tiny flutter felt like a storm between them.
“Chess.”
Dominic whispered.

The man looked up, startled. He blinked, clearly unsure if he’d heard right, and finally responded after a few seconds of silence.
“Chess…?”
The word that came from his lips might as well have been sex. Feeling a sudden weight below, Dominic looked at his face again.

“Yes. Chess.”
He repeated it, though the word sex still echoed in his mouth. Sleeping with this man wouldn’t be the worst idea. Juliet probably wouldn’t say no. No—he couldn’t.
But Dominic had no intention of going that far. This man was a Gamma. He wouldn’t get wet in the back like an Omega during sex, and that meant it would take a ridiculous amount of effort just to get into that tight little h**e. Just imagining him sobbing in pain made Dominic feel like he wouldn’t get hard again for the next ten years.

All he wanted now was a little entertainment to stave off the boredom. As long as it amused him more than watching someone cry after losing a trial, the man could transfer law firms all he liked.
“Chess… and, what else do you want?”
The man, having just barely regained his composure, asked. He clearly thought this was just the beginning of a longer list of demands. Of course, that was a reasonable assumption—but he was wrong. Dominic gave a faint smile and replied.

“That’s all.”
The man looked bewildered again. Was he joking? How long was he going to keep making these strange, unfunny jokes? As his confusion played across his face, Dominic slowly straightened his back and continued speaking.
“First to win three games wins. If you beat me, I’ll transfer to your law firm, just like you want. But if you lose, the offer’s off the table.”

The man was visibly thrown off and couldn’t find words. While he silently worked to kick his brain into gear, Dominic downed the rest of his wine. As he poured himself another drink, the man hesitated, then finally moved his lips with effort.
“Um, well… I mean.”
Barely making a sound, he cautiously asked, watching Dominic’s expression.

“All you want is… chess? With me? We—we’ve prepared much more than that… A partner position, a private jet, a villa on A Street…”
Dominic, who had been listening absentmindedly as the man continued listing the offers, slowly opened his mouth once he paused to take a breath.
“All I want is chess. Just with you.”

Seeing him struck speechless, Dominic narrowed his eyes, almost mockingly.
“Let me ask you—do you think your current firm wouldn’t have offered the same things you just mentioned?”
“…No.”

The man replied reluctantly. Dominic brought the glass to his lips and asked,
“What are the odds I wouldn’t get what I want?”
“…Zero.”

He gave the same answer, though this time with a slightly sulky expression.
Dominic drank his whiskey deliberately, as if putting on a show. An uncomfortable silence stretched out until he set the glass down on the table. Juliet, having followed the glass with his eyes, shifted his reluctant gaze back to Dominic’s face. Dominic leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands loosely on his thighs.
“There’s only one condition—playing chess with me. If you’re not interested, it ends here.”

It was hard to believe, but there was no room for doubt. Juliet hesitated, his eyes wandering, then finally opened his mouth carefully.
“You mean… if I just play chess with you, you’ll join our firm? No other conditions?”
“On the premise that you win three games first.”

Just to be sure, he asked Dominic again, who reaffirmed the requirement with calm emphasis.
“Our firm is the best law firm in the United States. And you’re saying that if I just win at chess, you’ll come over? Rejecting the partner position, the other offers, all of it?”
“I don’t need any of that.”

Dominic’s answer hadn’t changed. Juliet, who had kept double-checking out of sheer disbelief, had nothing left to say. He fell into silence, brow furrowed in serious thought, but he couldn’t stay like that for long. No matter what the condition had been, he would’ve had to accept it. He’d braced himself for the worst—and chess? It almost felt too good to be true.
Whether he could win, of course, was another matter.
Dominic could clearly see the process of his thoughts lining up, one by one. The tension left his face, and once he’d made up his mind, he looked up.

“Then… when do we start?”
Dominic poured himself another drink and replied to the cautious question.
“Come in three days. Same time as today.”

“I understand.”
Juliet answered without hesitation this time. There was nothing to object to. From the very beginning, he’d come prepared to accept anything.
“Then… I’ll see you in three days.”

He paused, as if expecting Dominic to say more. But Dominic simply raised his glass in a silent toast. And Juliet turned around, deflated, and left the penthouse.
His entire body still soaked in Dominic’s Pheromones.