The possessiveness of it made my knees unreliable.

"No," I whispered. "Nobody."

The silence that followed was enormous and weighted and full of something that made my pulse spike.

He uncrossed his arms. Reached out and took my wrist — loose, unhurried — and stepped back from the doorframe.

"Then get in here," he said softly. "Because I've been thinking about this since the first time I saw you in that hallway and I intend to take my time."

I crossed his threshold.

The door clicked shut behind me and the sound of it — quiet and final — sent a shiver down my spine. The apartment was dim, lit...