r of their first kiss or the furtive hunger of his office. This was

tongue traced the seam of her lips, asking permission, and when she opened for him he made a sound-low, broken, ut

e tension coiling there, the effort he was still making to hold back, and she dug he

rough the thin silk of her dress. Ethan pressed against her, pinning her there, and she felt every hard line of him-the belt buckle digging into her

th

against her collarbone, his bre

thud she barely registered. His hands were moving, sliding down her sides, lifting her slightly so she could wrap her legs around

ugh and callused against her stocking

The name she was weari

oulders, the movement weak,

essing open-mouthed kisses to the swell of her breast above her neckline. His eyes were dark, blown wide with de

hands falling to his sides, and she watched him struggle for composure, for the distance h

deeper than strategy, more urgent than revenge. "I'm just-" She didn't know how to finish. I'm

id non

eading through his. "I'm here," she said, which was true in ways th

her pulse still hammered. "I need you to be sure," he said. "Not tonight. Not because of-" He gestured vaguely at the space betw

essage she'd sent and the satisfaction she'd felt,

lnerability beneath the uniform, the loneliness of a man who

meant it more than she'd

ething approaching beautiful. He lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing a k

onversation. The things normal people do whe

each other?"

rself. "When they're serious," he corrected. "I want to know you, C

teady, her smile fixed, even as something cold settled

and he asked about her favorite foods (she invented preferences based on Chasity's Instagram), her allergies (none, b

ing every detail to memory. No cilantro. Sensitive to lilies. Tea, not coffee. Each pr

erved, her voice light despite t

," he said, his eyes neve

ly. "Bathroom," sh

he door behind her with a click

sion that looked dangerously like happiness. Kiera turned on the faucet, the wa

ensen family that would culminate in Kayden's humiliation. The plan didn't involve Ethan looki

at her reflection until the stranger's face dissolved into her ow

a reason," she whispere

mile back on. When she emerged, Ethan was at the window, his p

his expression-open, hopeful, u

d. "Eliza. I told her I'd me

idn't waver. "W

ers, his thumb tracing the same pattern he'd made