Page 32 of One Night Only

I nod, tears clutching my throat. At least they arrest all the questions pounding at me about what kind of changes he’s going to make. I reach for him and bury my face in his neck. My fingers find the muscled slopes of his shoulders, and I dig them with a bloodthirstiness I can’t fight.

His breath hisses out of him, but he doesn’t push me off. “Ani? You’re shaking. What’s the matter?”

“Will you please hold me, Dr. Cross? Really tight?”

I can sense his confusion at the sudden change in my mood, but he complies. I’m crushed by the hard weight of his body, my breath mingling with his. Our hearts labor and try to sync up. I open my mouth against his neck and scrape my teeth against his flesh, eager to leave my mark on him. His skin is warm and salty, and his erection is a brand against my belly.

He’s a melody I want to hum for the rest of my life.

We stay like that for a while, interlocked pieces that I wish can’t be pried apart by anyone. Not the rising sun, not the cruel world, and definitely not my own insecurities.

“Are you sad about what happened with him? Your ex?” Dr. Cross asks, his tone super casual.

“What? Why would you think that?” I say, pulled out of my self-pitying pit.

“You…” I sense he’s choosing his words carefully, “it could be hitting you late, everything that happened today. An orgasm is like a valve. It releases a lot of pent-up feelings.”

“Thanks for the biology lesson. Where do I enroll as a permanent student?”

A soft slap falls on my ass cheek and I twitch. Laughter bursts out of me. “I’m not sure how I feel about spanking.”

“That was barely a pat. And don’t worry. I’m not into it.”

“No, you’re only into edging your partner.”

“Answer the question, Annika. You owe me.”

A soft gasp escapes me as I look up at him. There’s a ruthless edge to him when he sets his mind to something. It’s been more noticeable since he got out of the shower. I wonder what changed. “And if I don’t?”

“You’re picking a fight with me over a simple question. Why?”

We engage in a silent duel, and I get the sense that Dr. Cross, with his easy manners and cool smiles, hides a will of iron beneath it all. And that I very much don’t want to go up against it.

Even as that wild part of me I routinely stifle wants to try, wants to take him on and lose. Wants to provoke him into crushing me because I bet my last dollar that that would be an experience too.

How is it my fate that I throw myself into a scandalous, one-night fling and the good doctor is more interested in my secrets than seduction?

I rub my temple. “Rahul… is just like me.” I stop before I elaborate how we are alike. “We met through my friend Zach, with whom I was supposed to stay tonight.”

“The very friend that was entertaining said ex?”

I smile at his phrasing. “We attached to each other knowing that we could just coast, you know. Minimal chemistry, no deepfeelings, and even better, neither of us likes to stick our neck out and challenge the person to grow or any such shit.”

“Like an emotional crutch?”

I nod. “Friends with benefits. But the benefits were restricted to occasional cuddles and commiserating hugs. The one thing we took advantage of was to tell our families that we aren’t pathetic losers who don’t have anyone in their lives. It’s why I developed such a crush on you.”

“So I’m not a rebound fling, then?”

Eyes wide, I stare at him. Then it strikes me what he’s trying to get at. “That’s two questions.”

“Answer please.”

“It’s not a request just because you tack on a please.”

He grins, and it pierces my heart. Sharp and deep. I want to lick his lips when he grins like that and see if I can steal the taste of it. Anchor it deep inside me for a rainy day. “I want to know,” he says.

“You want to know too much. Too many things about me, Dr. Cross. That has never boded well for me. Letting people see the real me.”

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