I dive under his oversized desk, my heart beating wildly, breath shallow.
Red's voice nears. "Casey, come in."
A woman's voice follows, shaky and raw. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
Jealousy sparks instantly, hot and irrational, curling sharply in my chest.
Red speaks gently, "Have a seat, Casey." His shoes and shins appear in front of me, and his chair moves backward. He drops into it, then slides forward. The desk presses closer, enclosing me. His knees widen, blocking any view except for what's between his thighs.
My nose flares with his scent, teasing my nerves. I stare at his zipper, remembering how his erection felt against my ass this morning.
"He broke up with me. I'm hideous, and I knew I should have never believed you when you told me I wasn't!" Casey shrieks, then sobs.
Envy carves straight to the center of my chest as her words ricochet around his office.
He told her she wasn't hideous.
The phrase repeats, ugly and invasive, settling somewhere it doesn't belong. My fingers curl against the wood beneath the desk, nails biting into my palms as heat crawls up my throat. The room shrinks, air thickening while he stays calm, steady, offering her the same quiet reassurance he's given me, and the realization lands hard enough to bruise.
Softness fills his voice, with a certainty he wraps around her pain and isn't for mine alone. "Casey, if someone breaks up with you, it doesn't mean you're hideous. We've gone through this before."
My pulse stutters as something acidic coils low in my stomach, twisting possessive and irrational. I don't want to share the words he uses to make broken women breathe again. I want them branded on me, meant for me, spoken only because he seesme.
Her sobs drag on, wet and desperate, and all I can think is that she's sitting in my place, unraveling in front of him, while I'm hidden beneath his desk, burning with the knowledge that he knows exactly how to make her feel seen, too.
Red is mine.
Dr. Mercer is mine.
Just as he showed me, I take a few breaths to calm my system.
"Is that all the time we have?" Casey frets.
"What do you mean?" Red asks.
"Your hourglass…"
Red swivels slightly in his chair and freezes.
Time to remind him who he belongs to.
I slide my hand up his legs and past his knees, pushing my thumbs into his inner thighs.
His body stiffens for a brief moment and turns back in his seat. He clears his throat.
"Well?" Casey pushes.
"Of course not," he says too loudly, then shifts his chair another inch forward, sealing me in. His hand touches mine, trying to remove it from his thigh.
I slide my other hand and tug at his belt, releasing it from the loop.
His hand flails, and I flick my wrist, grabbing his hand and sliding his fingers into my mouth, sucking hard.
He's not going to win.
"He was the only man for me!" Casey cries out.
I release his belt and button.
