"What if I had?"
She smiles. "You didn't."
"But what if I had? Then what?" I question.
She opens her mouth, then snaps it shut. She peers closer, and excitement grows.
A cold swell gathers beneath my sternum, tightening just enough to steal a fraction of my breath before I force my expression neutral again. "Answer me."
She beams. "I know why we're meant to be now."
I don't correct her and fall into her trap. "Why is that?"
She leans closer, the excitement pouring out of her. "You have things inside you, dying to come out."
My voice cracks. "What?"
She nods. "You do. Morally gray, erotic, twisted things lie deep inside you."
My pulse pounds between my ears. I don't move.
She's wrong.
No, she's not.
"I'm your muse, Dr. Mercer," she says in her breathless tone, accentuating my name in the way that always makes my blood turn hot.
"You're not," I manage to get out.
She nods faster. "I am. I'm the one woman on this earth who you can do it all with. You can go deep into my head, then my body. You can sort me out, fix me how you want, then watch me break again so you can do it all over again. And every taboo thing you've ever wanted to do, you'll do to me, and I'll beg for it, Red. I'll plead for you to go a step further every time your conscience tells you to stop, then remind you that you're the only man to have me. The only man who owns me. My breath. My body. My soul. It's yours to burn with me lighting the match."
A crazed, violent, heated wave rushes over me. My cock pulses, reminding me to breathe, but my exhale comes out ragged.
She's wrong.
"I'm the woman who gets to enact all your fantasies, Dr. Mercer. Me," she adds with total confidence.
God help me.
My voice comes out too low. "You're in a delusional state right now."
She continues to smile, not taking her eyes off mine. "No, I'm not."
Tension builds.
Her eyes dart to the side of me. She jumps up, flips the hourglass, then crouches so she's at eye level with my desk. She doesn't blink, watching the sand fall.
Several minutes pass. I don't take my eyes off her, unable to get the things she said out of my head.
She suddenly turns and slides to the ground. She leans against the desk, and exhaustion overpowers her. She hugs her knees and rests her chin on them, muttering, "If you don't kiss me soon, you might need to lock me up."
My heart continues to race.
I need fresh air.
I rise and hold out my hand. "Come on. It's late. I'll walk you home."
She blinks. "What?"
