Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 72(@250wpm)___ 60(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 72(@250wpm)___ 60(@300wpm)
"I'm sorry!" she cries, flinging herself against my chest hard enough to knock me back a step.
My arms immediately surround her, pulling her up against my body. I bury my face in her damp hair with a groan, stumbling inside her place. I nudge the door closed with my foot.
I see glimpses of bright colors and soft fabrics from the corner of my eye, but all of my attention is on her.
"I didn't mean to run off, Stone," she says, her voice muffled where she's got her face pressed against my throat. "I panicked."
"Hey. Hey." I cup her cheeks, tilting her head back until her eyes meet mine. "You don't owe me an apology, Seraphina."
"I feel like a jerk," she mumbles.
"So do I."
"What?" She blinks like the thought is shocking. "Why?"
"I didn't even give you time to process the thought of us before I was all over you," I growl. "You needed me to go slow, and I just charged ahead, desperate to get you on the same page."
"Stone," she whispers, her expression softening. "We didn't do anything I didn't want."
I press my forehead to hers, breathing her in. "Are you okay, angel? Did I hurt you?"
"Yes. I mean, no. God no, you didn't hurt me," she promises. "I just…" She stops, huffing out an adorable breath. "Yesterday, I was fantasizing about strangling you with the lanyard for your whistle. And now, everything is different. I'm trying to process. That's all."
I meet her gaze again, needing her to see me when I say what I have to say. "Not everything is different, Seraphina," I murmur. "I've been fucking wild about you since you came to work as my assistant. The university has a policy that made it impossible for us to date without risking our jobs, and I wasn't going to be the prick who got you fired, so I didn't make a move. Instead, I slowly lost my fucking mind every day. I figured it was my cross to bear because you didn't feel the same. And then…"
"And then things changed," she whispers.
"Yeah." I nod. "Things changed. I saw that goddamn game board and realized that I wasn't the only one feeling things." My lips curve in a rueful grimace. "I saw that little bastard's name on your paper and I just…snapped."
"He's made up, Stone." Her cheeks turn pink. "You were the only one I could think about when I was writing names down, so I just made up the rest."
"Jesus." I kiss her hard on the mouth, my heart thumping wildly. She told me that already, but I like knowing she actually meant it and wasn't just trying to get me off her back.
"What did Hector say?" she whispers when I let her up for air.
"Nothing," I murmur. "He was there about a schedule change."
"Oh." She squirms in my arms. "I guess that's good. I was worried…"
Fuck.
"Full disclosure, but technically, I'm still your boss right now," I murmur. "As far as Hector and I are concerned, he's your boss now. But until the Chancellor approves the reclassification of your position, as far as the university is concerned, I'm still your direct supervisor."
Her face pales slightly. "W-what does that mean?"
"It means…" I sigh. "It means if you want to kick me out of here right now, I won't blame you, angel. You have every right. I won't try to change your mind. I won't ask you for more than you're willing to give."
She considers this for a moment and then cocks her head to the side. "And what if you weren't my direct supervisor right now?" she finally asks. "How would that change things?"
"Right now?" I ask, and then wait for her to nod before I sink my hands into her hips. "Then I'd fucking beg on my hands and knees for you to let me stay. I'd ask you to let me take care of you tonight, the way I've wanted to do since you walked into my office for the first time." I exhale a shuddering breath. "And I'd be inside you again, over and over, until you forget your own name."
She whimpers—the sweetest little sound—and then her arms wrap around my neck, anchoring her to me. "Can we…?"
"What?" I growl, my fingers digging into her hips.
"Can we pretend you aren't still my supervisor?" she breathes. "Just for tonight?"
For the second time today, I just…fucking snap.
Within seconds, she's pressed against the door, her legs around my waist. I yank at the belt of her robe, attacking her throat with little kisses and bites that have her mewling and rocking her hips against me.
"Gotta make you smell like me again," I snarl against her skin, pinching one hard nipple between my fingers.
She cries out, her head thumping against the door.
I pull back to look at her, watching the way her skin flushes all the way down her chest, seeing how fucking soft and sweet she is beneath that robe. Christ Almighty. I'm never going to be able to keep my hands off her, not when I know she looks like this beneath those adorable little dresses she loves to torture me with.