Page 62 of Lethal Attraction

I play with my fingers in my lap as he rejoins traffic, feeling bashful about my earlier moment . “I’m really okay, Reed.”

“Mhm,” he hums. “Then consider this practice.”

“Practice?”

“For the future,” he shrugs.

The future.

He’s unaware of what those words are doing to the sick and twisted part of me—the things I want to do to him. There’s a future. This little mishap isn’t driving him away…

I roll my lips in to mask my smile as he pulls into the parking garage of his apartment building. Before I can reach for my door, he pinches my cheeks between his thumb and finger and drags my eyes to him.

“Don’t you dare,” he warns.

My eyelids lower into something sultry. “And what if I do?”

“I’ll throw you over my shoulder and spank your ass, Thalia.”

My hand shoots out, and I grip the door’s handle before shoving it open a crack. Reed’s head tilts as he gives me a patient stare. I don’t even try to hide my smooshed smile beyond his fingers as he sighs exaggeratedly and exits the car as if he’s irked beyond belief. As soon as he releases me, I press my fingers to my lips to keep my giggles contained. Every step he takes towards my side of the car amps up my pulse and causes an outbreak of fluttering in my stomach.

He rips my door open, and I nearly launch myself at him. Laughter bubbles up my throat as he slings me over his shoulder, and I kick my feet with a heated blush spreading across my cheeks. I can feel his shoulders shaking beneath me with silent laughter as he tries to keep his composure.

A large hand slaps over my ass, making an involuntary sound crest past my lips at the sting.

“You deserve more than that,” he mutters deeply.

My hands cup my jaw as I sway with his long strides. “Yes, sir.”

His hand smoothes over my backside before he squeezes a bit of the flesh where my ass meets my thigh. “You know what that does to me.”

“I sure do,” I purr as he brings me inside the building.

It’s pretty late, so it’s no surprise that the halls and elevator are empty. The whole way up to his floor, I’m a blushing, ditzy mess as he stands firm and strong with me hefted over his shoulder. There are hearts flooding my eyes as he kicks his apartment door open and stalks inside.

I’m a little thrown off when he lowers me softly to the ground before cupping my face as if he’s examining me with a tender gaze. His look isn’t that of a doctor—a trained professional who’s spent years in his field. No. This is the expression of someone who’s making sure their girlfriend is okay…

My heart could beat out of my chest at the care and compassion in his eyes. He has no idea about our stark contrasts. He heals and fixes things with his hands while mine are washed in so much blood it could taint his perfect soul. He would no longer be the innocent doctor left to help the world. He would be infected by my ways and mine to control.

I like the sound of that.

I slowly reach up and wrap my fingers around his wrists before turning into his touch and placing a gentle kiss on the inside of his wrist as my eyes flutter. His skin is so warm, and I can feel his pulse racing beneath his flesh.

Without thinking, I do exactly what I want.

I open my mouth before biting him so hard that I draw blood and copper explodes across my tongue. Reed hisses, dragging me into his chest and squeezing me as he rides out the pain. The whole time, he strokes a hand down my hair, creating such an intimate moment that I never want to let him go.

“Little vampire,” he chuckles.

I reluctantly release him before examining my work. “You should get this tattooed.”

He spins me around before wrapping an arm around my chest and holding up his wrist for both of us to see. “I do like the way it looks. I’ve always wanted tattoos, but the profession I pursued made them seem so inappropriate and unbecoming, as if the ink in our skin would prohibit us from diagnosing GERD.”

I snort. “And do you think that?”

“Of course not. It’s a dumb rule created by old men to have some say in what professionalism is.”

So, in other words, he’s giving full consent to be tattooed…