If I admitted it, then I gave him the power to hurt me. He’d already hurt me once, long ago. And while I hadn’t expected a love match with Gregory, I’d expected mutual respect and admiration. I’d gotten neither, only more pain. I wanted to trust Ian, to trust that he wouldn’t hurt me again, to trust that he wouldn’t turn out like my late husband, but fear stole the words.
“What are you doing, Ian?” I asked instead, my voice quiet.
He ran a thumb across my bottom lip and chuckled. “I’m trying to convince myself to leave before I kiss you.”
I made a mental list of why kissing Ian would be a bad idea, but, for once, I ignored it. I wanted him to kiss me, consequences be damned. I might not be ready to trust him with my heart quite yet, but I absolutely trusted him with my body. Ian would never physically hurt me, never take more than I offered. I knew it down to my bones.
“Kiss me,” I breathed.
He slid his hand into my hair and angled my head. His lips covered mine, warm and firm and divine. I slid my hands up his chest, one to his shoulder, one to the back of his head, and pressed upward, desperate to get closer. He groaned low and sucked my bottom lip into his mouth.
I opened with a moan and slid my tongue against his. My nipples tightened and my pulse raced, pushed by the lust blazing through my system. Ian skillfully explored my mouth with seemingly infinite patience while I wanted to rip his clothes off and ride him to bliss.
I pulled back with a gasp, aware that I was teetering on a dangerous precipice. Ian nuzzled his way down my jaw, nibbling and kissing. I let my head fall back into his hand, enjoying the feeling. I drew a mental line in the sand: I would allow this, but no further. Kisses might complicate our relationship, but sex had the potential to destroy it.
Thoughts sorted, I used the hand buried in Ian’s hair to pull his mouth back to mine. He came willingly, scorching a trail up my jaw. His hand slipped under my shirt and headed north. I stopped him before he reached his destination, though my breasts ached to be touched. But I held on to my resolve by the slenderest of threads—if he caressed me, I’d be lost.
Ian respected the line I’d drawn. His hands didn’t stray, but his mouth tempted me with every firm stroke of his tongue. By the time he pulled away to rest his forehead against mine, I was lightly panting and nearly ready to combust.
“I should go,” he said reluctantly, his voice a low growl. His breath came in uneven rasps. I wasn’t the only one affected, then.
“You should,” I agreed. I played with the soft hair at the back of his head, unwilling to let him go. Once we broke out of this quiet, hidden bubble, the real world would be all too eager to reassert itself, along with all of my doubts and fears.
He kissed the corner of my mouth and straightened. “Get ready and I’ll meet you downstairs for breakfast. It doesn’t make sense for us to switch to local time if we’re only going to be here for a day.” He pulled away slowly, then turned and disappeared through the door connecting our rooms, closing it gently behind him.
I stared at the door for a long moment, half hoping he’d come back and finish what he started. My body still hummed. It would take so little to push me over the edge. I’d never reacted so strongly to a kiss before.
I foresaw an icy cold shower in my very near future.
After getting ready, I put on my smart glasses, set up my connection safeguards, and logged in to my safe house in HIVE. Outside the window, golden early morning light hadn’t quite burned off the fog, turning the forest into an enchanting wonderland.
The forest was part of this virtual location, so I often wandered through the trees, but today I didn’t have time for a leisurely stroll. I had two replies on the note board and one of them was from Tori Waugh. Based on the time stamp, I had just missed her.
Both replies said essentially the same thing: MineCorp did not play when it came to network security. As expected, they had an entire department dedicated to locking down their