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“You don’t know me, Rhys. I’m sure I’m just as bad as my parents. They—they might be right.”
I kissed her again, preventing her from saying anything else.
“I want to know you.”
“We can’t,” she whispered, gripping my shirt.
“Then why are you here?”
She looked up at me, letting go of my shirt. She reached up, tracing my jaw with her fingertips. “I don’t know. I just started walking, and this is where I ended up.” She tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear, her touch lingering on my temple. “I can’t—I can’t stop thinking about you. Why?”
“Why?” I chuckled. “You’re the social scientist. You tell me.”
Finally, her mouth curved into a smile. “Laws of attraction, I guess.”
My free hand ran absently down her side, outlining the curve of her waist. She sighed, closing her eyes. I wondered briefly if Christian ever touched her like this, and the thought of him even being near her had me gritting my teeth with anger and even jealousy.
“I want you,” she whispered against my mouth, tilting her lips over mine. “I came here because I want you, and I can’t pretend like I don’t.”
“You just told me you wished we’d never met.”
“Well, technically, so did you.”
I leaned in, pressing a kiss to her neck. I could feel her pulse racing, and her breath came in a quick rasp as I closed whatever distance was left between us and took her into my arms. “I wish we would’ve met under different circumstances. I could have asked you out on a date. I could have done this the right way, and we wouldn’t have had to sneak around.”
“How bad would it really be if we got caught?”
“Professors dating students is against the bylaws,” I said with regret. “I would lose my job, which would hurt my professional reputation, but you—” I gritted my teeth. “You’d likely face disciplinary action.”
“They’d reconsider my enrollment in their graduate program.”
I nodded, but my mind was starting to go blissfully blank as my hands roamed over her body.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered with a hint of mischief.
“You’re right, we shouldn’t. But I—I don’t think I want to stop.”
She pulled me down into another kiss. “I don’t either.”
Chapter 19
Whitney
RHYS HELD THE BACK of my head, his fingers tangled in my hair as he kissed me like his life depended on it. I was nearly out of breath, but nothing in the world could tear us apart. Not right now.
He still caged me in against the wall, his free hand grazing down my belly and then under and up my shirt. I sucked in my breath at the feel of his hands on my skin.
His hands were rougher than I expected, large and callused. I suddenly imagined him out in the field at some archaeological dig site with his tools, digging in the dirt and sweating in the sun. I’d give anything to see this man, this scholar, in action, instead of pacing back and forth in front of a projector.
He unclasped my bra beneath my shirt and caressed one of my breasts. I sucked in a breath, letting it out in a soft moan that echoed through my body.
“You,” he rasped, kissing me right behind my ear as he whispered the words over my skin, “are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
I could have melted. My arms felt heavy as I unwrapped them from his neck and started unbuttoning my shirt, my eyes fixed on his, watching him watch me undress.
My shirt fell over my shoulders. His mouth parted like he was about to speak, but he said nothing. He took my bra off, sliding the lace straps down my arms to expose me fully to him. I didn’t feel the least bit self-conscious in his presence. I felt empowered, actually. The way he was looking at me right now had my entire body heating with white-hot desire. Something primal and nearing desperation.
I stepped into him, gripping his shirt. There was a couch in the corner near the fireplace, where he had a fire roaring. The air was dry and warm and licked over my skin as I backed him onto the couch.
