Isabel
I tuck the garment bag over my arm and grab the bag containing my shoes and makeup. Originally, I planned on arriving early and dressing in the hotel’s lobby bathroom. That was until the words came out of my mouth. Now I’m walking up Viktor’s salted sidewalk to use his bathroom.
Looking around, I smile at the shoveled driveway and steps. The big grump was cared for, and it brought a lightness to my chest. I inhale the cold air, hoping to chase away the unprofessional feelings that keep trying to rise to the surface. With as many cold breaths as I find myself taking, I might have to bring our sessions outside.
“He’s your patient.” I chastise myself before turning the knob and stepping inside. “You still good over there?” I call out as I step out of my snow boots.
I chuckle when he pretends to snore loud enough for me to hear. I slip my gloves into my jacket and hang it on the hook by the door. “Holler if you need me,” I call out and walk down the hall, pausing briefly to note the unmade bed in his room.
My mind wanders off on its own. Images of me lying on that bed. Viktor between my legs, eyes like pools of desire looking down on me. Our bodies rising and falling as they tumble into wave after wave of pleasure.
A small moan slips from my lips, drawing my attention back to the now.What is wrong with me?I wonder with a shake of my head. As I enter the bathroom, I remind myself for the millionth time this week that Viktor Prinz is mypatient. Maybe if I tell myself this a few more hundred times it will finally stick?
It didn’t matter that he’s sex on a stick, funny, loyal, and kind behind his gruffness. None of that matters because ethically I shouldn’t be entertaining any thoughts of his mouth on mine or anywhere else on my body.
I splash cold water on my face in an attempt to cool my fevered skin. It doesn’t work. Nothing seems to work to drive that man from my thoughts.
I undress and slip into my long-sleeved sweater dress. The material is like a second skin and reaches just below my knees. At the bottom of the garment bag, I find my pair of rolled-up tights and slip them on. I throw my discarded clothes into the bag and grab my high-heeled black boots from the bottom.
With a check of the time, I realize I’m going to be late. I opt for only doing my eyes and putting on some lipstick before slipping a long gold chain over my head.
I couldn’t seem to let Viktor believe I was going out with another man when I saw the sadness flash in his eyes. It was a working dinner with my boss. Normally, I wouldn’t go through the trouble of dressing up for one of these, but Toby set it up at a fancy restaurant in the hotel.
Turning around, I make sure I grabbed everything and step out of the bathroom. Will Viktor like how I look? “Stop it, Isabel!” I hiss at myself. With a deep breath, I walk down the hall and push my inappropriate thoughts aside.
I pause at his door again. Only this time something on his dresser pulls me in. Silence from where I’ve left him leaves me daring a peek. I don’t belong in here. I haven’t been invited in, but it doesn’t stop my progression to his dresser.
On a laced handkerchief I find a single red rose. Or at least what is left of it. The edges around the petals have darkened as it is beginning to wilt and dry. This rose doesn’t fit in with the image of the masculine man in the living room.
My unsteady hand raises on its own. I hold my breath as the pad of my finger inches closer to the rose, but I can’t stop the pull.
“What thefuckare you doing?” Viktor roars.
I jump, guilty at being caught in his room without his permission. The thunderous expression on his face distorts his handsome features. For the first time ever, I fear him. I freeze in place. I tell my feet to move farther into the room, but I’m stuck.
His face contorts with emotion as he looks from me to the rose. Viktor looks like a warrior out for blood. It would be beautiful, if not for the fact that he’s set on havingmyhead on a spike. I’ve never seen him look at me with murderous intent. Holy hell, I’ll be okay to never experience this expression ever again in my life.
It doesn’t matter that this man is on crutches. His presence is larger than anything I’ve experienced on a normal day. Right now? It’s suffocating. Anger rolls off of him in waves, and I’m trying to understand what the hell just happened.
Viktor makes it to the dresser in a few strides. I tip my head and look up at him as his muscles bunch. He looks next to us, and only then do I notice the mirror. Our eyes meet in the cracked reflection, our faces spliced with the fractures, and unlike all of the other times there are no sparks of desire.
No, his energy is pulsating with so much pain that I step forward. “I’m so—”
“Getout!” he roars.
Those two words break the invisible barrier that has frozen me in place. I move around him quickly and stop at the door. “I really am sorry,” I stutter and force myself to leave. Normally, I would stand up to such behavior, but I can’t. I trespassed into his private quarters. I wasn’t invited in there. I had snuck in like a thief, and now I’m running out of that house like the hounds of hell are chasing me.
Embarrassment and shame cause tears to pool in my eyes. Moving quickly over the sidewalk, my heels hit a patch of ice and I stumble. The cold temperatures sting my skin as snowflakes fall all around me.
I realize I’ve left my boots and jacket inside the house. There is no way I’ll make my way back in there. At least not today. I throw my things in the back seat and get behind the wheel. I cover my face with my hands and let the tears fall.
A few minutes later, I examine my blotchy skin and the eye liner that has smudged below my eyes. I repair the damage as best as I can and point my car toward the hotel, hoping that two days apart is long enough to calm the beast inside of Viktor Prinz.
My fingers drum a random beat on the steering wheel as I stare up at the house. Two days. Two days without Viktor’s humor, sexiness, or gruffness, and I’m going crazy. I want to run into his house and see that handsome face so bad it hurts.
Only, what if two days hasn’t been enough to calm him down?
My heart and my mind are in a battle of wills at this point. My mind reminds me that anything with Viktor would cross a line I’ve never crossed before in my career, potentially ruining my good name and reputation.
