Page 62 of Grave Matter

Fuck that, I think, hating the idea of being tested unknowingly.I’ll never work here.

But then there’s that part of me that doesn’t want to rebel, the part that wants to work here, that craves that recognition and the significance in my life. I’m not sure which one is stronger.

Kincaid and I stare at each other for a moment.

His obsession with me…

Why me?

“You look tired,” he finally says.

I bristle at the comment and nod at the dark circles under his own eyes. “So do you, doctor.”

He nods, running his hand over his jaw. “Yes. I haven’t been sleeping well either. Perhaps it’s contagious.”

I sit up straighter. “What’s contagious?” I frown.

“You’re not sleeping well,” he says. “I assume you haven’t been.”

“Well, I haven’t had a chance to talk to you,” I tell him. “Not since breakfast on the boat.”

He inhales sharply. “I’m glad you brought that up.” His eyes flick to the wall. “I think that was a mistake.”

“Breakfast?” My stomach drops.

“There are boundaries between a doctor and a patient, and I think that I crossed one by inviting you into my private quarters. I’m sorry.”

Fuck. He really is putting in the distance now after what Everly said.

“I just thought it was really nice,” I tell him quietly. “I felt a little less…alone.”

That softens something in his face for a moment before it hardens again.

Please be obsessed with me, I think.Please want me like I want you.

His gaze is unreadable. “Tell me how you’ve been,” he says.

I exhale and sit back in my chair. “You want the truth?”

“I only ever want the truth.”

Do you tell me the truth?

“I’ve been having dreams.”

He grabs his pen and his book and starts writing. “What kind of dreams? When did they start?”

“They started pretty much my second night here,” I tell him. “They’re sex dreams.”

He pauses, eyes glued to the paper as he swallows hard. “Oh. Well, that’s not cause for alarm.”

“They’re about you.”

He drops the pencil, his jaw tense. “I see.” His gaze burns as he meets my eyes. “It would be inappropriate for us to discuss this more.”

It sure would be.

“Don’t you want to know what we were doing in the dreams?”

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