Her fingers tightened on his shirt, the fabric bunching beneath her knuckles as she kissed him back, not hesitantly, not as a role, but with a desperation that surprised her. Her lips parted for him, her breath hitching as his tongue brushed against hers, slow and intentional.

The office disappeared. The papers. The tension. Everything but the warmth of his mouth, the steady strength of his arms around her, and the strange, terrifying way her heart seemed to stumble whenever he held her like she mattered.

She could feel the rise and fall of his chest against hers, the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath her palm. Her world had...