Page 13 of Attraction

Now staring again into the mirror, her eyes concentrate on the deepening purple mark on her neck. It’s sore and way more prominent than she thought. Having deeply scarred her skin, it’s definitely going to take a while to fade. She let him get carried away and enjoyed him much more than she should have, actively encouraging him biting and sucking the most vulnerable part of her neck. Now she hopes the collar on her shirt covers it because there’s certainly no way to disguise the fact it’s a bite.

Hickeys—something for hormonal teens, carried away in their first flourishes of sexual desire. But as grown-ups, this is much more than over-excited heavy petting. This, she frowns staring at it in the mirror, this… this was deliberate—he meant for it to markher skin. It’s such an obvious mark, and if confronted about it, she won’t be able to deny anything. But if anyone found out it was him, then it would be her undoing, an end to herspecial operationscareer before it began—and just like the past, all because she couldn’t keep her panties up when needed.

“Shit…” she mumbles. “Perhaps it’ll fade by the morning?”

Needing something to put on it she turns to the wisdom of the internet, it returns a plethora of options, including toothpaste, banana peel, and cold spoons. Considering the first to hand — toothpaste, she looks at the mark—it’s still very raw and the minty paste would hurt. And so, after much deliberation, she concludes that for tonight she’ll leave it, and deal with it tomorrow, when a generous amount of facial concealer may have a better remedial effect.

Right now, she must deal with Ryan, andjust like the love-bite, wonders whether it’s a situation that should be dealt with in the cold-light-of-day? Perhaps instead, she ought to take herself to bed and try to forget this ever happened.

No…she thinks, scraping her hair back, tying it in a loose knot on top of her head. He was making pasta and if nothing else she was hungry, so the best thing was to face him and get it over with now.

* * *

Stepping into the room, Kat smiles nervously, confronting him after theirencounter. “Hey!”

“Oh, hey! You okay?” He turns from the stove and looking at her—khaki shirt, bare legs, and worried look, he smiles. Then taking the caps off two of the cold beers, he hands her one. “So, you want cheese on your pasta?”

He seems relaxed, and it puts her at ease. Softening her stance, she smiles. “Uh, no thanks, it’s fine as it comes.”

“There you go then. One Digby special: carbonara.” he grins, passing her the bowl filled with a generous amount of mushrooms, ham, and ribbons of pasta covered in a white cream sauce.

“This looks great… I mean,reallygreat!” Once again he surprises her. When he said he was making pasta, she envisaged a microwave and a six-minute ready-meal. Filling her mouth with a forkful of the delicious food, she cocks her brow with surprise. “Wow… this is so nice. You know you’re actually a really good cook.”

“Oh, I’m good at everythin’I do,” he says. Then, taking the beer and over-filled bowl, drops his six-eight muscular frame on the couch, and flashes another of hiscome-fuck-megrins. He looks so good and so sexy that it melts her inside, but pulling herself together she focuses back on her food.

“Modest, too,” she says, teasing him. Looking at him laid there, feet up on the arm of the couch, she makes the first sensible decision of the night. “I’m going to eat this in my room. I’m tired and I’ll probably just crash after.”

He grins, and it’s apparent he wants to say something, but Kat gets the impression he’s not feeling as uncomfortable as her. “Ryan… about what just happened in there. Could we agree to forget about it and maybe start again? I was stupid to let it happen, and it’s sure as hell not going to happen again, so perhaps it’s best if we just put it down to a schoolgirl error. I know I’m tired, but still…. I should’ve known better.”

“So, what… are you complainin’ now?” His face fills with a full-of-himself smirk. “I mean, about the sex? Only you know, I didn’t hear much complainin’ goin’ on in there. A lot of moanin’ and groanin’, but certainly no complaints.”

“No… no I’m not complaining—well not about the sex anyway,” she says, blushing as the images of them in the shower replay in her mind. “No, the sex was good… Actually, the sex was great. You misunderstand, I just don’t think we need to mention what happened to anyone. We should just forget about it.”

“But what if I don’t wanna forget about it? What if I wanna do it again?”

His declaration concerns her. He stares at her, a glint in his bold blue eyes, while he fills his mouth with a large spoonful of pasta—it’s so sexy. Watching him sat there eating, wearing only a clean pair of tight-white boxers, makes her clit throb and ovaries ache. She has to look away—berating herself for being so immature.What the hell is wrong with you? What, you can’t even watch him eating his food without getting turned on?

She’s tired and in need of her bed—for sleeping—it’s been a long couple of days, and she needs to pull herself together. “Thanks for this…. I mean, the food and the room. I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiles before heading to the small box-filled room to find her bed for the night.

“Hey…” he calls. She walks back out to see what he wants. “How about the sex? You didn’t thank me for that.”

“Yeah, well… thanks for that too,” she says, laughing. He’s incorrigible and a little too sexy, but for now, he must remain on herstay-awaylist.

“Nice to meet you, Kat. I’ll see you in the morning.” He grins, watching as her firm butt—crammed into a pair of small black panties—disappears behind the bedroom door.

Taking a deep breath, he adjusts the hard swelling that’s growing in his shorts—just looking at her has got him aroused again.Fuck man, what the hell is wrong with you?He reaches for his cell from the top of the dresser and makes a call.C’mon pick it up…“Dammit!” he curses loudly as it goes to voicemail. “Darius… it’s me. Look… I know what I said but… well, about this new medic…She’s gotta go… I can’t have her here.”

* * *

04:16HRS

“What the hella you doin’?” he asks, watching as Kat ties her laces. “Do you even know what the hell the time is?”

“Yeah, of course, it’s just after four.” She pulls at the elastic band of her ponytail, making it tighter.

“So… as I said, what the hell are you doin’?”

“What does it look like? I’m going for a run before work.” Sipping quickly from the hot coffee in her cup, she frowns. “Oh, I hope you don’t mind, but I made some fresh. There’s plenty in the pot if you want some?”

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