“Unless you don’t want me to,” I say, offering him an out.
He cups my face, his lips curving into an apologetic smile. “Believe me, Stevie. There’snothingI want more.”
“Yet you’re still fighting it.”
“Because it’s dangerous. This attraction between us—”
“Is not just attraction. We’ve already established that. On more than one occasion, I think.”
“Regardless, this… this connection… It’s dangerous.”
Okay, now I’m just getting annoyed. “Just because you’re scared of something doesn’t mean it’s dangerous.”
“Just because you’re reckless doesn’t mean itisn’t.”
“Reckless?” I scoff and rise from the desk to face him, frustration competing with annoyance now. “Look, Dr. Control Freak, I amnotreckless. Not when it comes to stuff like this. So maybe the most obvious explanation is the right one here.”
“What explanation?”
“You’ve gotissues!”
“You havenoidea,” he says, his eyes blazing, his jaw tense.
The air between us is crackling with possibility, with heat, every second conspiring to push us together no matter how much we fight.
But then, I let it go. I don’twantto fight with him. Not tonight. Not ever again.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, lowering my eyes. “I shouldn’t have said—”
He’s off the desk in a flash, pushing me backward so fast I lose my breath.
In a heartbeat he’s got me against the wall, one hand wrapped around my throat, the other gripping my hip, his mouth hovering no more than a hair’s breadth from my lips.
Sliding his thumb down my throat, he presses closer to me, his cock stiffening against my belly.
“I’mconsumedwith you, Starla Milan,” he says, voice low and sexy as his gaze sweeps down my face. “My dreams, my waking thoughts… You’vethoroughlyinvaded them. No matter how hard I try to fight it, to pretend this thing between us is just a minor infatuation…” He closes his eyes, the barest brush of his lips against mine a painful tease of everything he’s holding back. “Yours is a pull I can’t resist.”
A deep and endless ache blooms in my core, and I swallow hard, afraid to move, afraid to blink, afraid that even a single breath will shatter this moment between us…
A swift knock on the door does it for me.
“Dr. Devane?” a soft voice asks. “Stevie? It’s Isla. Nat’s here too.”
“We brought bacon-wrapped brie!” Nat says excitedly, which—let’s be honest—who can blame her? “Are you guys coming?”
“Apparently not tonight,” I mutter.
Doc closes his eyes and curses under his breath.
“Be right out,” he calls. His hand is still wrapped around my throat, his eyes blazing with desire that not even Isla’s ill-timed interruption can cool. “Stevie and I were just discussing some… mental magick… theories.”
“Big ones,” I add, glancing down at the situation below his belt, which is only getting worse. “Just give us five minutes!”
Doc arches an eyebrow, and I arch one back, both of us likely wondering the same thing.
How much can we get away with in five minutes…
But in the end, I finally shake my head, pulling out of his enticing grip.
