“No.” Shaking my head, I step in, the movement automatic—muscle memory born of too many nights patching each other up.
Before I can overthink it, his hand finds my waist, and then I’m against his chest, the thud of his heart steady under my palm.
“I think you scared her,” I say quietly. “And I think she scared you back.”
He doesn’t argue and slides a hand up my back, fingers tracing the edge of my collar until I shiver. When I look up, he’s already watching me—the kind of look that melts me every time I see it.
The first brush of a kiss is restrained—almost clinical. Then his lips part; heat pours in until it’s too much and not enough.
When we break, his forehead rests against mine, breath rough. “I’ll stay away,” he murmurs, the words brushing my lips like a lie we both agree to keep.
“You won’t,” I whisper, and kiss him again anyway—slow this time, just enough to remind us both what we’re risking. I tell myself it isn’t about proving I still have a place in his heart and in his bed.
Desperate and controlling, his kiss turns fierce. I moan against his mouth as he palms my cock.
Just enough to catch my breath, I pull back, my lips tingling from the intensity as I work at unbuttoning his pants. Dark with desire, his eyes hold a feral edge that sends a thrill through me.
This is the Rowan that no one else sees—the one who lets go of his iron control, if only with me.
“Rowan,” I groan.
His mouth crashes back onto mine, swallowing the rest of my words. He tastes like a storm on the verge of breaking. Snapping with every swipe of his tongue against mine, his control fraying, the leash he keeps on himself coming undone.
He’s a fire that licks at my senses, his touch makes me grind against his hand, chasing the friction that sends electric shocks through my veins. Rowan’s grip digs into my flesh with a possessiveness that makes my heart race. Raw and unfiltered, his need matching my own desperate hunger.
Anchoring me against him, his other hand finds my hip as he devours my mouth. The length of cock is hard agasint me, sending a wave of desire crashing through my body.
More—I want more of his touch, more of his taste, more of everything.
I fumble with the zipper on his pants and a feral groan comes from him, the sound vibrating through my chest and straightto my cock. Shaking, he helps me, tearing at the buttons of my jeans, pushing them and my briefs down my hips.
His mouth moves to my neck, biting and sucking at the sensitive skin as I kick off my jeans. I feel his smile, the scrape of his teeth sending shivers down my spine.
“You taste so fucking good.” He hooks a hand behind my neck, forcing eye contact. “Need you now.”
“Then fuck me.”
His grip tightens as he guides me back until the edge of the desk bites into my thighs. Between us, heat floods, his scent overwhelming—rain, sandalwood, and want.
In the desk, there’s emergency lube and he grabs it with one hand, dousing himself while he holds me down with the other. Hard and fully erect, his cock makes my mouth water, but he’s not letting me up.
I love the dominance in him when he’s like this.
His hands are rough and demanding, pushing me down onto the desk. Cool wood presses against my cock, my ass in the air, the sensation grounding me even as Rowan’s touch sets every nerve ending pulsing with need.
He nudges my ankles wider with his foot, making space for himself, and I can’t help but squirm, eager to have him inside me.
“Stay still,” he growls, and the command drives straight through me. He leans in, his breath hot on my ear. “You know how much I want this?”
I nod, even though it’s rhetorical. How much he wants it is pressed hard and insistent against my thigh. He nips my earlobe, and I gasp, then trails kisses down my neck.
Slick and cool, his fingers press against me, and I gasp at the intrusion, my body tensing for a moment before remembering the rhythm of us. Not slow, not gentle—he knows I don’t want that.
Not now. Not with the scent of Jess still clinging to his skin, mixing with the rain and sandalwood that is uniquely Rowan.
“More,” I demand, my voice hoarse with lust.
He gives it.