was the only explanation. How else could his lungs hesitate, his heart stutter, and his mind freeze all at once? How else could every worry that buzzed steadily through his head suddenly fall silent?
There was nothing, now—no work to complete or meetings to schedule or doctors’ appointments to dread. Nothing but Hannah’s hands fisted in his T-shirt and Hannah’s tongue slipping tentatively into his mouth. Nothing but the softness of her lips, nothing but the way her thighs cradled his hips as she pulled him closer. Nothing but the scent of her, fresh and real and so familiar, and the hoarse little sound she made in the back of her throat as his hands settled at her waist…
Nothing but her. Nothing but heaven. Nothing but bliss.
She let go of his shirt and smoothed her palms over his chest, trailing sparks of desire with her touch. Her fingers nudged the little bar at his nipple and lust shot through his body. Nate’s hips thrust forward of their own accord and found the edge of the sofa—not what he wanted, not Hannah, but enough to alleviate his sudden, desperate need for pressure.
She wouldn’t tell him how she felt, but Nate let himself pretend. Let himself imagine. When she moaned softly into his mouth again, he decided that meant, I need you. And when she raised a hand to glide over his jaw, her thumb stroking his cheekbone, Nate interpreted that as, I care for you.
And when she pulled back, panting, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated, he almost heard, I love you.
Almost. But not quite. Even his imagination wasn’t that powerful.
Still, what she actually said was pretty fucking great. “The inoculation was a failure.” The humour faded from her voice, until she sounded achingly serious. “I can’t stay away from you.”
He was holding her too tight. But she didn’t seem to mind, and he didn’t want to stop. “So don’t. Ever. I don’t want you to.”
“But you were right,” she murmured. “What you said about power, I mean.”
He closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. Tried to ignore the jagged pain in his chest.
She kissed him again. Gently, carefully, pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth. “I’m not worried. You can’t hurt me. But I don’t want you to feel guilty. You already feel so guilty all the time.”
He didn’t even know where to start with that. Was it bad that he cared most about her second sentence? “You can’t hurt me.” Not won’t. Can’t. Nate might have power over her job, he realised dully, but he clearly had none whatsoever over her emotions.
Well. That was okay. It was enough that she wanted him. It would have to be enough.
“I wouldn’t feel guilty,” he said, “as long as you swear to me that… that you’ll never put my feelings before yours. That you’ll never be afraid to tell me the truth. No matter what.” He opened his eyes to find her smiling gently.
“I’ll never be afraid to tell you the truth,” she said. “And to prove it, I will tell you right now that I want to kiss you again. And stuff.”
He arched a brow, but it was hard to look sardonic when a pathetically happy grin was spreading across his face. “And stuff?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“We really need to work on your dirty talk.”
Hannah looked down at the erection straining his jeans. “I think I get along just fine without it.”
Hannah watched as Nate opened the door to his office with a baffled expression on his face.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked teasingly. “It’s not, like, top secret in here?”
He rolled his eyes, stepping back to let her in first. What a gentleman. “No, it’s not top secret. But I don’t see why we’re here.”
“Because we’re doing things,” she murmured, looking around the spartan little room. “Remember?”
“Yeah,” he said dryly. “I remember.”
Hannah was too distracted to laugh at his tone. She was busy studying the mysterious office where Nate spent most of his daytime hours. Honestly, it was a bit of a disappointment. She’d expected some dark and sophisticated den of creativity, but it was just a plain, clean and tidy space with a desk, a chair, a huge Mac, and a shit ton of cupboards.
Still, at least the desk was big. That suited her purposes.
“You know,” Nate said as he shut the door behind them, “I was thinking we could have sex on a bed.”
She wandered over to the desk. “What