Page 35 of A Discovery: Love and Other Things

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The faculty floor was silent except for the echo of my flats on the polished floors. It had taken me a moment to find my way since the archaeology building was massive. Three flights of stairs that my ankle didn’t enjoy later, and with a slightly sore ass, I found myself wandering through a maze of doors and dark wood molding.

Dr. James Campbell.

His name was etched in gold font over the glossy black plaque on the wall adjacent to the lucky door.

My fist hesitated.

What was I doing?He had ordered me here and I had just obeyed like it was second nature. I was losing all sense when it came to him, but I still couldn’t walk away. Curiosity was too strong for me to ignore. The excitement of seeing how far I could go without getting caught had consumed me.

I knocked softly and waited. And then again, slightly louder this time, but that went unanswered, too.

Looking around to see if the coast was clear, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“Dr. Campbell?” I called out, using his professional name in case anyone overheard, but the room was just as I had suspected.Empty.

I closed the door behind me and took in his environment. It looked to be a standard office, nothing spectacular, with a desk, swivel chair, and two guest seats in front—all made of the same dark wood that adorned the university hallways. The chairs were neatly arranged around the desk, which was meticulously organized, typical of what I would expect of its Type A owner. Behind the desk was a panel of windows that would probably have cast welcome sunlight into the dated office if the blinds had been open.

His space.Though it was most likely bare because this wasn’t his home university, the office was still infused with his presence. His scent perfumed the air around me—a warning that I was in his territory. I was at his mercy in this room.

My eyes scanned the wall of books adjacent to the windows. I meandered closer, my fingers grazing the spines. Books of all bindings filled the shelves, from glossy textbooks to fabric-bound compendiums. The shelves were deep enough to house two rows of books, one in front of the other, if he ever needed more space for his collection.

It would be lovely to have an office and book collection like this to call my own one day. Years from now, I hoped to have achievedsomethingin the field; I would be happy with even half as much success as James.

Without warning, the door swung open, and all the breath left my lungs. James rushed inside, twisting the lock with his fingers before turning to me. His body was taut like it was a locked vault of pent-up energy.

Slowly, he inched toward me, stalking me like prey.

My back hit the shelves as I retreated from his hungry gaze. “James?”

But he didn’t reply as he closed in on me.

Hard ridges of wood dug into my back. Adrenaline made it hard to think clearly. “I think Felipe might have seen something.”

“I don’t care,” he growled.

He should have. His career would be on the line if anyone were ever to see us—to see this.

His tall frame towered over me, caging me in like a caught rabbit.The big bad wolf with eyes that shine so bright. The better to see me with.

Those deep blues trailed the length of my body. His fingertips skimmed the skin of my vibrating chest, down to the valley between my breasts, concealed just beneath my shirt.

“You’re a bad girl, Sanura,” he hummed. “Teasing me like that in a room full of my colleagues. The cameras could have filmed you.”

As if it were no obstacle at all, he slipped the top button of my shirt through its hole, exposing more of me to his hungry gaze.

I tipped my head back, hypnotized by his full lips.

“Do you like other people watching? Does that get you off?”

“If I say yes, will you still want to pretend this never happened?” I shot back, hitting him with his dreadful words from the past.

Instead, his lips twitched into a half smile. “So confident that something is going to happen before it’s even started, eh?”

“Maybe it’s because I know you better than you think,” I whispered.

Another button slipped open, exposing the black cotton cups of my bra.Damn, I wish I had packed cuter underwear for this trip.

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