ian

r stammered

a jolt through me. For a month, she'd been a ghost. A whisper in the corr

, here

ant and sullen for

mal, it was a physical sensation, a tighteni

sharp nod toward

I

c scanner beside the door. It clicked open. I pushed the heavy

e with a fear that both irritated and intrigued me. Then, wi

leather and cedarwood of my office. It was the same scent that had clung to my s

her, the sound unnervingly fi

ork skyline sprawled below me, a kingdom of glass and steel. But I wasn't s

er in a lion's den. She held the folder clu

folder on the corner, as far from my chair as possi

is here," she whispered, h

and headed for the door. Her hand was

l rumbled

y you cou

ut they cracked through

ee the tension in her shoulders, the way her hand remain

action. She wasn't going anyw

wouldn't meet my eyes. Her gaze was

Montgomery. Is th

er. My shoes made no sound on the thick carpet. The a

I took, she se

luntary step bac

k was pressed flat against the cold, unyielding wood

ating in the delicate skin of her throat. She had to tilt her head back to lo

yes squeezing shut. Did she think I wou

idn't touch her. I simply reached past her and engaged the lock on the d

her side of her head, trapping her completely. H

rmur, for her ears only. "Why ha

eminder of the intimacy we had shared, an intimac

She forced herself to meet my gaze, a f

ntgomery. I've bee

s almost laughable. A humorless smirk touc

her bottom lip with her teeth. A nervous habit. I rememb

ded my floor, taken the stairs when you see my elevator arriving,

g. The color drained from her cheeks, leav

I'd noticed. She ha

ything. I had been wa

convulsive movement in her throat. The wave of nausea I'd see

r in me momentarily receded, replaced

you u