Page 44 of Midnights
This is a problem.
All night, I had to fight the urge to channel that sharp little attitude of hers into something much more satisfying. I wanted to push her, to see just how far that fire in her eyes would go before it burned out completely.
Being close to her had me hard as a fucking rock faster than I could say,Welcome to Scotland.
Provoking her just to see the sparks flash across her face is going to be my new favorite addiction.If I ever see her again.
Watching her at war with herself, trying to hold back, and pretending she wasn’t affected was intoxicating.
It was fascinating to watch the effort it took for her to stay polite and composed while her real thoughts bubbled just beneath the surface. That raw, unapologetic part of her that broke through when she finally let go is what got me hooked.
No one talks to me like that. Not in a way that makes me want to press them against the nearest wall just to see what sound they’d make. The way her breath hitched when I told her I wanted her number was sharp enough to cut the resolve of a weaker man.
And right now, I’m gripping the shower wall, with my fist tight around my cock because that woman is burned into my fucking brain.
She doesn’t even realize the power she holds, and that might be the most dangerous thing about her. Watching her get flustered over a simple command was a high I hadn’t expected. I wanted to see how she’d react, and her stumbling over her words was worth every damn second. But when she licked her bottom lip and bit down.Fuck me.
I barely managed to keep it together after that.
I pump my hand up and down as my vision goes white. I picture how I could push her and how she’d sound moaning my name.
It doesn’t take long. The sharp pull of release rushes through me and my groan is swallowed by the hiss of the shower as white ropes of cum disappear down the drain. But the tension in my chest doesn’t ease, not even close.
That wasn’t enough. I barely scratched the surface of how much I want her. I crank the water to hot, trying to shake her loose as I scrub a hand over my face. No good can come from this.
Sleep refuses to come. My mind replays the night with painful clarity…
The relief on her face when I told her she was safe did something to me. I could see the way she fidgeted with her phone, trying to stay calm when it died. How her whole posture shifted. She was still guarded, but slightly more open when she realized I wasn’t going to push her.
Maybe I need another cold shower.
I exhale sharply, dragging a hand down my face as I check the time. 5 a.m. I can never get a good night’s sleep, and I already know it's not in the cards for me today.
Cam’s probably still dead to the world, sleeping off last night, which means I have a couple of hours to burn.
I push up from the bed, shoving Raven out of my head where she doesn’t belong, and head straight to the gym. If I don’t do something with this restless energy, it’s going to eat me alive.
I crank up the music, letting the pounding bass drown out my thoughts as I load the bar. Bench press. Squats. Deadlifts. Anything to push my body to the brink, to force myself into exhaustion. With every rep, I push out a little more tension and frustration. Small victories.
I switch to cardio, hitting the treadmill at a punishing speed. My legs pound in a rhythm as brutal as my thoughts. This should be where my mind clears, where I lock in and find my focus.
I crank the speed higher as my pulse pounds in my ears. She’s a distraction I don’t need. I’ve kept my distance from women for a reason.
I try to focus on the job I should be wrapping up in less than forty-eight hours. A high-profile client who needs adelicatesituation handled. The money’s good. The target’s worse.
And yet, instead of replaying how I’m going to execute the extraction perfectly, and how there's going to be one less piece of shit running around out there, I’m here, running myself into the ground over a woman I met less than a day ago.
I slow to a stop, wiping sweat from my face, and consider waking Cam up and dragging his ass down here for a round in the ring. A good fight might be the only thing that shakes this shit loose.
“Fuck.”
I mutter the word to myself, dragging the towel across my face.
This is going to be a long fucking day.
Chapter 8
Calm Before the Storm
