My hands clenched at my sides. "I would have stopped you."
"I know. That's why I didn't try." His gaze dropped to my mouth. "Still, you wanted it too. You were watching me. You stopped breathing when I moved."
I couldn't lie. Not to him or myself.
"I want it," I said. The confession was like stepping off a cliff. "I want you. But—"
"But you're supposed to protect me."
"Yes."
"And you think wanting me makes that impossible."
"It makes it complicated."
"Everything about my life is complicated." He moved an inch closer. "Wanting you is the only simple thing I've known in years."
His honesty momentarily took my breath away.
"This is a mistake," I said.
"I know."
"There would be consequences."
"I know that, too." He reached up and touched my jaw with his long fingers. Tentative. Testing. "Tell me to stop."
I couldn't. His other hand joined the first, framing my face. The touch was careful, almost reverent.
"Griffin, please."
I didn't consciously decide. My body decided for me. I closed the distance between us.
The kiss was nothing like I'd imagined. Not soft or tentative.
It was desperate. Rune's mouth opened under mine immediately. I reached for his waist, pulling him closer. He gasped lightly and pressed against me.
My back hit the door. I didn't remember having moved. His fingers threaded through my hair, curling into a fist, holding me there.
I kissed him harder.
He responded instantly, a combination of heat, need, and perfect synchronization. I slipped my hands under his shirt and found bare skin. He arched into my touch, releasing a low moan from deep in his throat.
"Griffin, we can't—"
"I know."
"Someone could—"
"Yes."
His lips moved to my jaw and then to my neck. He found the pulse point and pressed harder, confirming that I was alive.
It was all a mistake. An inevitable one.
A series of sounds echoed in the corridor outside, footsteps and voices.
We froze.
