is mocking or hopeful. Does he crave these moments between us, or am I being ridiculous for insisting they exist at all? I pull in a deep breath, reminding myself to trust my instincts above all else.
“Whatever it is, I’m not going to pretend it isn’t happening.”
Another beat. A long one. Too long.
“You shouldn’t be here, Kara.”
I hold my ground. “Why? Because you can’t control yourself around me?”
He sucks down nearly the whole bottle. “Maybe.”
“Maybe it’s the same for me too. Did that ever occur to you?”
“All the more reason to keep our distance. I’m not getting involved with a student, regardless of how tempting you are.” He pauses, raking his gaze over me too quickly. “Please, just go, Kara.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
He tosses the empty bottle and walks toward me slowly.
“I’m asking you for the last time. Go.”
He might intimidate other people, but there’s a kind of agony in his eyes as he stares down at me. I don’t fear him or feel sorry for him. The idea of weakening his defenses or poking his ire only spurs me on. And I know the best way to do it.
“Make me,” I whisper.
His voice drops low. “Stop this.”
“I’m serious, Maximus. I’ve watched you mold metal like putty in your hands. Kicking me out of your apartment should be no problem.”
“That’s exactly why…”
When the last of his thought seems to fizzle in the air between us, something snaps inside me. I take a fistful of his T-shirt and yank down, lifting myself to reach his mouth as I do. Everything happens fast. Searing and inevitable, the way lightning chooses a single blinding moment to strike.
It starts with the crash of lips. My fingers in his hair. Then the race to get into his arms. His strong hands cup my thighs at the fringes of my shorts, guiding my urgent climb until my legs are cinched around his hips. The full-body contact inspires a needy moan that I bury in our kiss.
I open my lips, an invitation for more. He takes it, giving me his taste and more of his bruising grip as he yanks us tighter. I relinquish my need to breathe to stay inside the kiss as long as I can. Eternity this way would be fine, I think, inside the chaos of my mind.
When I finally drag myself away for air, I lift my gaze to the ceiling so he can kiss my neck. The bristle of his facial hair along my sensitive skin has me closing my eyes. Sucking in another fevered breath along with his masculine scent. Digging my fingernails into the meaty flesh of his muscular shoulder.
He growls and walks me backward until my back hits the wall. Hard.
I lower my gaze to the fire in his. I don’t have to guess that he’s both angry and every ounce as turned on as I am. I feel it spilling out of his pores, saturating the particles of air around us, seeping into me where we’re connected.
His chest moves with ragged breath. I think he’s going to kiss me again, but he surprises me by taking my wrist and yanking my grip loose. He threads our hands and slams them into the exposed brick above my head. The bite of friction, stone against skin, is surpassed when he takes my mouth in another consuming kiss.
I’m on fire. Fully consumed. I hardly notice when he repeats the motion with my other hand, pinning me with the force of his massive magnificent body. But it’s the weight of his desire that keeps me here. It’s too good. Too heady. I whimper against his mouth because I know the last of my control is slipping away. And I’m sending it off without a shred of remorse.
I thought I knew about temptation until this moment.
When he suddenly pulls away, the separation feels like a thousand nails tearing at me. His grip stays firm until he lowers me to my feet and stumbles back a step. We’re both catching our breath, but what gives me pause is the look in his eyes. Like he just committed a murder.
“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me that way?”
He shakes his head, his gaze darting all around me and to the floor. I start to pick up on the little details. The brick dust around my feet. Then the reddish-pink scrapes along the tops of my hands. I lift my gaze to his.
“It’s nothing, Maximus.”
“Nothing?” The word tears from him.
“What’s the difference?”
I