"Phoenix—"
"I know. Let go."
"I can't?—"
"Yes you can." One hand slides between us, finds where we're joined, and I shatter.
I come crying out his name, clenching around him, seeing stars. He follows seconds later, groaning against my neck, his whole body going rigid before collapsing forward.
Still inside me. Both of us breathing hard. The office silent except for our ragged breaths.
"That was—" I start.
"Yeah."
"We shouldn't have?—"
"Probably not."
"I should go."
"You should stay." He lifts his head to look at me. "Here. With me. Tonight."
"Phoenix—"
"Just tonight. Then tomorrow you can decide if this was a mistake."
I should say no. Should gather my clothes and walk back to the guest cottage and pretend this never happened.
Instead, I say, "Okay."
He helps me down from the desk, both of us gathering our clothes. My tank top is by the window. His shirt is near the door. My shorts somehow ended up under his chair.
Then he takes my hand and leads me upstairs to his bedroom.
Floor-to-ceiling windows here too, facing the ocean. A bed double the size of mine back in Boston with the kind of sheets that make you feel like you’re in heaven.
He pulls back the covers and I climb in. He follows, pulling me against him until my back is to his chest and his arm is around my waist.
"Sleep," he says against my hair.
"I don't think I can."
"Try."
I close my eyes. I feel his heartbeat against my back, his breath in my hair, and the weight of what just happened settling around me.
Tomorrow I'll deal with the consequences and figure out what this all means. Tonight, I just let myself feel safe in the arms of the man I’ve been warned about.
15
PHOENIX
Iwake up and for a moment, I don't remember what had happened. Then I feel her.
Jade is in my bed. Her dark hair spread across my pillow. Her body curled against mine like she belongs there.
We had sex. On my desk. Against the window. In my office. And it was everything I've imagined for seventeen years. Every fantasy I've had since I was old enough to understand what wanting someone meant.
