“My pager hasn’t gone off. Is there something wrong with Joseph?” She looked concerned as she rose from the bed, her book set aside as her instincts took over and she went into nurse mode.

He was impressed with how quickly she responded. He knew if something were to happen to Joseph, she was the one he’d want to help him. She was good at what she did - she’d already proven that.

“Joseph’s fine. I wanted to talk to you,” he said as he leaned closer.

She finally realized they were alone in her private room. She glanced at the closed door behind him and her eyes widened. He waited until she nervously looked back at him, and then he smiled.

There was desire burning in her eyes, and he knew it wasn’t him she was afraid of. It was herself. Piece by piece, he was tearing apart her self-built walls of protection. She was going to succumb to him. She was finally going to give in to her own desires.

He knew the waiting had ended.

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊

Kinsey looked into the predatory eyes of Austin, feeling like a cornered mouse. She fought the trembling in her body, knowing if she let her guard down even the tiniest notch more, he’d have her on her back.

She tried telling herself it wasn’t worth it. She was already too used to him, looking for him each time she stepped into a room, listening for the sound of his laughter, wanting him with a burning need.

If she let him seduce her, she’d be a goner, too attached to let go of him. Their one night together had been fantastic, but their tension filled days had been… too memorable. He was carving a place for himself in her heart, and she couldn’t afford to let him do that.

“I should go and check on him,” she finally said after an uncomfortably long silence. It was taking all of her wits to remember they were talking about Joseph.

“I just checked. He’s in good hands right now. Katherine is asleep beside him. You don’t want to disturb her, do you?”

“Of course not.” But I want to get the heck out of this room before I make a monumental mistake, she silently added.

“Good. Now, let’s chat,” he said as he took a step forward. She automatically retreated.

At her show of weakness, his eyes lit even more and he closed the small gap. He was like a wolf – she his prey. She was in big, big trouble.

Danger! Her brain screamed.

Shut up, her heart admonished.

The room was filled with thick, pulsing desire. With her back against the wall, she could do nothing but wait.

He was inches from her body, his arms rising as his hands created a cage around her trembling form. His scent engulfed her, a slight musk mixed with a hint of driftwood. She wanted to reach forward and run her tongue down the column of his throat, to taste him, feel his heart pumping beneath her lips. She’d never taken a pulse with her tongue before…but was willing to give it a try.

She felt the heat building up as her muscles quivered. Her body was barely holding together and when he kissed her, because she knew he was going to, she thought she may explode. She closed her eyes, trying to block out at least that sense.

“Stop.”

She opened her eyes to look at him with confusion. Stop what?

“Stop fighting it – you – me – us. Just let yourself feel,” he murmured, his breath caressing her face.

He leaned down and took her bottom lip between his teeth, gently biting down before running his tongue across the surface. He didn’t take his eyes from hers, showing her the intense desire shining in their depths.

He needed her – more than a desert needed rain.

She felt lightheaded, yet powerful. She couldn’t say no. She wouldn’t think of anything but him if she did. If she just let herself give in, she could purge him from her system, realizing it wasn’t as great as she remembered.

Hundreds of thoughts raced through her mind as she tried to reason with herself.

When his lips fully closed over hers, her mind went blank. When he sucked her tongue into his mouth, her body took over.

Kinsey’s heartbeat accelerated as Austin pressed his entire body against hers. His arms were a solid cage around her, his chest pushing against her breasts, making her nipples harden as they strained toward him.

Fever rippled through her as he let go of her tongue, then chased it back into her own mouth, twining the two of them together in a dance of seduction.

He moved his hand, just a few short inches, and ran his fingers down her flushed cheek. The corner of his thumb skimming the edge of her lip as he moved a fraction of an inch back. Instinct took over as her tongue sprang out and licked the rough pad.

He groaned in pleasure, encouraging her to go on. She opened her mouth and sucked his finger inside, exulting at the savage lust in his eyes. She gently bit down before he pulled his hand out of her mouth and grabbed the back of her neck, his lips claiming her once again.

He wasn’t gentle as he owned her mouth, kissing her with unadulterated need. He was possessing her, and holding nothing back in the process.

“You’re mine,” he growled as he leaned back far enough to pull her scrub top over her head. Before she could take a breath, he kissed her again, igniting the inferno her body had become.

“Yes,” she cried when his hand lifted up and cupped her breast, kneading it as his thumb rubbed her nipple. She didn’t want even the thin piece of lace between his hands and her flesh.

This was what she’d needed all along. Austin. Only Austin. Since the night he’d taken her so long ago, this was inevitable. He filled a need in her no one else could fill. He gave her pleasure no one else could come close to giving her. He made her heart beat.

Moving his other hand down her body, he tightly gripped the soft flesh of her behind as he pushed his erection against her core. She met his movements, wanting the clothes gone, but not wanting to break away from him long enough to remove them.

As he groaned her name, anticipation built. Her desire multiplied with the power of knowing what she was doing to him. He needed her, and she had to please him, just as she knew he’d give her more pleasure than any one person deserved.

When he pulled his lips from hers, she whimpered in protest, her lips tingling with the need to be taken again. Then his tongue ran down her jaw and followed the smooth line of her throat to where her pulse was pounding against her skin.

He nibbled his way across her collarbone, smoothly licking each spot, causing heat to cascade over her in wave after wave. She moved her neck, silently begging for him to continue.

“I want you so much, Kinsey. I think of nothing but you. I need to push deep inside your body, and feel your nipples rubbing against my chest. I have to sink my tongue into the very core of you while you scream in pleasure. I can’t stop until you’re shaking in my arms as I make you cum over and over again,” he whispered before biting down on the edge of her earlobe.

She was done. Her legs gave out as she sagged against him. With the smallest of touches she was going to explode in his arms. Never before had a man brought her so close to the brink of ecstasy with only his words. But then, Austin wasn’t just any man.

His hips held her against the wall as he undid her bra and brought both hands up to cup her naked breasts, taking her nipples between his fingers and pinching them as he rolled and tugged them hard. She wouldn’t be able to bear much more.

“Now, please, now,” she demanded. No more denial. No more waiting.

His hands left her breasts and she moaned her disappointment. No! He needed to keep touching her. In a quick motion, he stepped back, lifting her up before she dissolved to the floor.

Before placing her on the bed, his head bent and he took her nipple into his mouth, sucking her deep inside, his tongue sweeping across the hardened peak. He let go only so he could claim the other one, giving it equal attention as his teeth scraped across the pink bud.

He dropped her the last few inches to the bed, making her body bounce on the soft cushion. She looked at him with confusion until he started ripping his clothes off. In a matter of seconds he stood before her in all his magnificent glory.

His large arousal looked like it was pulsing as he stepped forward, the head glistening. Before he could lay down, she quickly sat up, surprised she even could.

“I need to taste you,” she said before grabbing his satin covered steel and tugging. He stumbled the last inch to her, giving her all the access she needed.

“Ah, Kinsey, no…” he protested in a guttural groan as she took him deep inside her mouth, sucking his throbbing flesh.

She responded to his protest by running her tongue across his silky head, tasting his pleasure on her tongue. He said no, but his hands gripped her head as she moved up and down his erection, sucking him deeper with each stroke.

“No more,” he cried, grabbing her hair and pulling her away.

She cried out her displeasure at him making her stop. He bent down and grabbed a package from his pants pocket, quickly slipping a condom on. She got over her frustration of him pulling from her mouth when his body covered hers and he kissed her again.

His hands moved up and down her naked torso, grazing the edges of her breasts as the light dusting of hair on his chest teased her nipples. He ground his naked hips into her still covered core, making her whimper.

She needed the pants gone. She had to have him inside her.

Nothing and no one outside their bubble existed. Only Austin. Only her. He moved his head again and nibbled down her throat, then slowly kissed the tops of her breasts. His tongue swirled around the edges of her nipples, wetting the area before he finally sucked each straining bud into his mouth, moving back and forth. When he lifted his head and blew on each one, she strained her hips against him, rubbing, grinding, seeking…

“Please, no more. I need… please...” she sobbed. Her head moved from side to side as she gripped the bed.

He shifted and then his hands were finally on the waistband of her scrubs, pulling them, and her panties, in one smooth motion down her legs. With his foot, he pushed off her shoes, never stopping the downward removal of the final pieces of her clothes.

He quickly moved back up her body, finally lying on her skin to skin. His heat was scalding as he pressed fully against her, his manhood pressing against her wet entrance. She spread her legs, opening herself up to him, encouraging him to fill her.

“I can’t wait any longer. I need you too much,” he groaned as he finally started sliding inside.

She groaned as he stretched her skin. She couldn’t even answer him to say she didn’t want to wait. She wanted what he was giving her. She twisted against him, opening her thighs wider, letting her body speak for her.

With a hard thrust, he buried himself fully, his hips meeting against hers, stretching her small body to the point she didn’t know if she could handle him. Her stomach tensed as she took his entire girth, her body trying to adjust.

His eyes closed as he moved backward, before thrusting forward again, his thick shaft easily sliding in and out of her wet core.

“So wet, you’re so wet,” he groaned.

That did it for her. As he slammed hard back inside her, his shaft buried to the hilt, his skin rubbing against her sensitive flesh, she fell apart, her body exploding as pleasure washed through her, wave after wave of unbelievable pleasure.