Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,18

long as he left it for now, she was happy.

She felt sure that he would question her at a later date as to why her ‘wonderful’ husband was completely and utterly trashed at such an early hour. She could see the cogs working in his brain but was grateful that he hadn’t pressed the issue. She supposed - given his performance last night - that he really couldn’t say too much about other people’s relationship with alcohol.

The shock of the incident had now begun to wear off; Elise was starting to feel more human again and wanted to get back to work. She was worried about Dale and Cole but she was still mad, spitting-mad at the pair of them. Whilst she appreciated that Cole had only been defending her, part of her wished that he had just stayed out of it and let her handle the situation. She was sure that she would have been able to get Dale out of the office without either of them being arrested, but Cole never allowed her to fight her own battles.

Without thinking she sighed, huffing out the events of the morning and inadvertently drawing Vaughn’s eyes back to her face. In an instant their eyes caught and locked and suddenly the atmosphere in the room shifted and changed; becoming something much heavier - and altogether different.

Recognising the change, Elise tried to drag her gaze away but it wouldn’t budge, locked on his of its own volition, caught up with eyes an intriguing colour, somewhere between black and brown – big dark pools that you could easily lose yourself in. As their eyes continued to hold, Elise was aware that her breathing was becoming more rapid and uneven and, although she knew that this was wrong and shouldn’t be happening, lost in the deep wells of his eyes, she was powerless to stop. She couldn’t drag her eyes away. She didn’t want to drag her eyes away. She needed this power, this connection. She needed his strength.

Vaughn reached forward and carefully tucked a lock of her blond hair behind her ear. She shivered as his fingers lightly brushed the side of her face, lingering slightly above her collarbone before withdrawing. She immediately wished that he had left his hand there and held the touch for just a little bit longer. Instinctively she lifted her hand to cover the place where his had been and, as if reading her thoughts, Vaughn rose up and leaned forward so that he could whisper in her ear.

“You really are incredibly beautiful, Elise.” His voice was velvet, his breath sending shivers down her spine that almost robbed her of her own. Before she could think her actions through she turned her face to the side, searching for his eyes wanting that connection again but he was closer than she had realised and as she turned, his lips brushed along her cheek.

Swallowing against the intense sensation of his mouth touching her face, she watched as the heat collected in the depths of his eyes, saw as they flicked down to her mouth and nervously she darted her tongue out to moisten her lips. At the slight movement, his breathing became more erratic and the moment was suspended in time, neither willing to break the contact or make the next move. Eventually Vaughn spoke, his voice gravelly and rough.

“Elise, I really need to kiss you right now - more than I need my next breath. I am right at the end of my control and if you don’t stop me, then I can’t promise that I can.”

The desperation in his words pulled at Elise’s soul and she gazed deeper into his eyes, hearing his deep and sexy voice; almost feeling the pounding of his heart as he shifted closer to her and leaned in towards her. Somewhere in her head Elise knew that this was wrong, that she needed to stop this – her husband and her best friend were in hospital for Christ’s sake. Those thoughts should have been sobering, should have registered, should have shamed her and should have made her tell him to stop but she couldn’t seem to form the words. She didn’t want to form the words. Her mouth had dried up and all she knew was that if this beautiful man didn’t kiss her now, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

As if seeing the submission in her eyes, Vaughn closed the remainder of the distance between them and gently