She clutched her hands in her lap, unable to look away, unable to move, the fear of what she might do holding her still as the warmth in the pit of her belly became a rolling ache.
‘I can’t work,’ he continued. ‘I can’t sleep. I can’t go home without the memory of you being there plaguing me, teasing me...’
His honesty pushed through her defences, toying with her heartstrings, teasing her with a multitude of possibilities that no amount of trepidation could quell.
‘The truth is...’ he repeated, and her every sense waited for what he would confess next, a spark of hope flaring that had no right to exist. ‘I don’t think I can function properly without having you, without letting this thing between us take its course.’
She frowned, a real chill working its way in.
Take its course? Did he think it was finite? That he would wake up one morning and it would be gone—the want, the need, the persistent ache?
Isn’t that what you thought? When you asked for that extra night, didn’t you hope it would do the same?
Hell, she knew better now.
It wasn’t that simple.
Not for her.
She took hold of his fingers, forcing herself to stop his heady caress. ‘Please don’t, Marcus.’
She sounded weak, but her hand lifted his away and she returned her own to her lap, her eyes to the window.
‘Don’t tell me you don’t feel it too,’ he pushed. ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t struggled all week. I know you’ve tried to avoid me. I’ve seen how you escape the office. I’ve seen how you look my way when you think people aren’t looking.’
She swallowed, shaking her head in denial.
‘And these,’ he said, gently flicking the crystal droplet hanging from the ear that was closest to him, ‘are killing me.’
What?
She looked to him, brow furrowed. ‘Why?’
‘The way they swing when you move your head, like they did just then... You do it in meetings and I’m sucked right in, drawn to the skin just here.’ He swirled the pad of his thumb over the exact spot. ‘Remembering how it feels, how it tastes, how it makes you whimper...’
Christ, she wanted to whimper right now—could feel the need bursting through her.
Don’t do it.
‘You know what else it makes me want to do?’
She felt her head shake and he leant in, his breath sweeping over her sensitised neck and making her tremble with want even as her brain screamed Stop him!
‘It makes me want to drive that sound out of you...that small, tiny noise that starts just here,’ he whispered, his mouth devouring the space his fingers had just occupied.
Her body exploded in a rush, that whimper breaking free, the impulsive sound jarring out as a feeble, ‘Don’t...’
‘Why?’ he rasped with need, cajoling her along despite everything else telling her otherwise. ‘Why deny something that feels so right?’
‘Because it’s bad for business.’
‘Denying it is bad for business.’
His tongue did a crazy dance over her skin, prickling over the area with dizzying effect.
‘Or are you telling me your week has been particularly fruitful?’
As he said the words he curved his hand around her neck on the other side, coaxing her to arch her neck and grant him greater access.