“Oh.” She’d only been asking for a kiss, but the new suggestion sent a shot of lust-laced adrenaline through her vitals. She glanced at the empty hallway over his shoulder. “There aren’t hidden security cameras around, are there?”

“Nope.” He dragged his greedy gaze over her chest, and her nipples tightened under the perusal, her whole body going achy with want. “Grab the edges of the shelf above your head and don’t let go. I’ll show you exactly how much I missed you.”

She stretched her arms above her and wrapped her fingers around the cool metal, her heart hammering against her ribs. “Are you sure no one’s going to come back here tonight?”

“Nope.” He set her on her feet, giving her a dark smile, and shoved her skirt to her waist. “Want me to stop?”

His fingers trailed up her inner thigh, sending hot and tingly desire steamrolling over any lingering worries. She shook her head. “God, no.”

“Good.” The backs of his knuckles brushed against the cotton of her panties. “Because I don’t know if I could make it through a whole meal knowing how hot and wet you are under these already.”

She wriggled against his touch, seeking more, needing all of him. Now. “Well, whose fault is that?”

“You’re sassy tonight.” His hand slid beneath the band of her underwear, dragging heated fingers over her slick tissues and the throbbing bundle of nerves. “Guess I need to remind you who’s in charge.”

He pinched her clit hard enough for her to cry out, and she jolted against him, squeezing the shelf so tightly her nails bit into her palms. “Yes, like that. Please.”

“Did you obey my orders while I was gone?” he asked, continuing to stroke her with firm fingers. “Or did you touch this pretty cunt and come without my permission?”

“I obeyed, sir,” she panted, grasping at her unraveling rope of control. She wouldn’t last long. He’d told her not to touch herself the whole time he was gone, and for some reason, she’d listened. Now she was like a grenade with a loose pin.

“Good girl.” Without finesse, he yanked her panties down, and she kicked off her heels. “Let’s see if it was worth the wait.”

Her head lolled back against the wall.

She had no doubt he’d be worth the wait, but would he be worth the heartbreak?

Reid fumbled with his belt and unbuttoned his pants, the need to claim Brynn burning through him like wildfire. A week without her had been like walking around with a hole in his chest. He’d planned to surprise her tonight, take her to a nice dinner. Talk. But now she was here in front of him, smelling like strawberry shampoo and feminine arousal. Looking like sin. And he was about to lose his goddamned mind. Food and the discussion he wanted to have with her could wait.

Not even bothering to step out of his pants, he rolled a condom on and grasped the backs of her thighs, lifting and spreading her. “I don’t know if I can go slow and easy right now, sugar.”

Her green eyes met his, the low light of the room not dimming the fire behind them. “Then take me hard, sir.”

He groaned and dug his fingers into the soft undersides of her thighs as he thrust forward. Her wet heat closed around him like a velvet fist, causing a bone-deep shudder to wrack his body. “Goddamn, you feel good.”

Part of him wanted to stay like this, buried inside her balls deep, feeling her stretching around him, watching how her teeth bit into her full bottom lip as she fought to keep her composure. The tender skin at her neck jumped with the frantic beat of her heart, and he dipped forward to run his tongue along the pulse point.

She moaned and her muscles flexed around his shaft, nearly sending him over the edge before they even started. “Reid, please, I need you.”

He slid out until just the head of his cock rested inside her, relishing the view of their carnal connection, then plunged forward, deep and hard. Her feminine grunt of satisfaction, that little catch in her throat, was all it took to strip the last remnants of patience from his system. He hitched her legs higher and rocked into her with the speed and gentleness of a freight train, the sound of skin hitting skin drowning out the mundane noises around them.

She writhed against the wall and sweat slicked both their bodies as he balanced on the precipice before release. He refused to let it end too soon. He wanted to savor the feel of having her in his arms, enjoy the wild look in her green eyes as she hurtled

toward her own bliss. “Touch yourself, sugar. I’ve got you.”

Her fingers uncurled from the shelf, and she lowered her hand to her swollen clit, stroking over it with the confidence of a woman who wasn’t ashamed to take her pleasure. The move shot lightning through his blood, tightening his balls and dragging him even closer to the edge.

She leaned her head back, her breath turning choppy. “Oh, God.”

“That’s right, baby. You come for me. Let me hear how much you like me fucking you hard.”

“Reid,” she ground out, the word rattling out her throat and her inner muscles rippling around him as she flew apart.

Unable to resist the combination of her orgasm and the erotic sound of her calling his name, his entire body tensed, the sweet ecstasy of oncoming release rushing along his nerve endings. His cock swelled inside her, and he crushed her against him as the heated pulse of his own climax jetted through him.

When they both quieted, his legs felt as if they would collapse beneath him. Keeping a snug hold on her, he turned until his back was against the wall and then slid them both to the floor.

She touched her forehead to his and laced her fingers at the nape of his neck. “Okay, so that was worth the wait.”

He laughed and kissed the corner of her mouth. “Definitely.”

Although he didn’t plan on ever making her wait that long again. The trip had been a mistake. He’d agreed to go with his aunt and uncle for the vacation, thinking it would be a good way to get his head clear and get some perspective on his situation with Brynn. Maybe shake off the feelings she stirred up in him—feelings that had no place in a summer hookup.

But it hadn’t worked. Instead, hanging around with his family’s hoity-toity crowd had only made him want Brynn more.

For a while, he’d convinced himself their scorching sexual chemistry was the only reason the sun seemed to get brighter anytime she was near. But the week away had burned that theory into a pile of ash. As he sat on the beach night after night, staring at the ocean, he’d realized that the agonizing ache he felt didn’t reside below his belt but square in the middle of his chest.

He missed her.

For the first time in his life, he felt comfortable in his own skin, and she was the reason. The people in his world always came with conditions, fine print. But not Brynn. Even after he’d told her about his father, she hadn’t judged, only accepted. She’d embraced the dark parts of him as well as the bright spots. He’d never experienced that kind of total acceptance—not even from his mom. And he didn’t want to give that up.

Not now. Not at the end of the summer. Maybe not ever.

And he had no idea what in the hell to do with that realization.

Asking Brynn to be in a relationship with him was akin to inviting her into a snake pit. The people who ran in his family’s social circle could be vicious. They’d slice her apart with their genteel passive-aggressiveness and backhanded comments before she even realized what was happening. Plus, if he and Brynn started dating publicly and the press dug into her background… Hell, he didn’t even want to think about that. Beyond the fallout from his aunt and uncle over the campaign, he’d never forgive himself for bringing that kind of scrutiny and exposure down on Brynn.

But he was getting ahead of himself.

Even if he could figure out a way to shield her from the land mines in his life, she’d given him no signs that she had any interest in him beyond the summer. Sure, the whole thing was fun and different for her right now. She was trying it out. Just like she’d try out a threesome if he offered one. But would she want this kind of relationship with him for real?

He intended to find out soon. If she felt even an inkling of what he felt for her, maybe they could figure out a way to be together.

He shook himself from his thoughts and smiled. “How about some dinner, sugar?”

Her lips parted to answer, but a noise coming from down the hall made them both freeze.

“Shit,” he whispered. He strained to listen. What in the hell was that? “Is that the… the copy machine?”

Her eyes widened and she climbed off his lap, hurriedly standing and tugging her skirt down. “Did you lock the front door?”

Had he? He thought he had, but maybe in his rush to see Brynn he’d forgotten.

He buttoned his pants and stood, putting his finger to his lips to hush her. If someone was in the office, he and Brynn could be in trouble for a number of reasons. He didn’t want anyone knowing about their relationship, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. If someone had broken in, they could be in much more serious danger.

He leaned next to her ear. “Stay here. Don’t come out until I call for you. If I’m not back in ten minutes, call 911.”

“Reid,” she whispered, latching on to his shirtsleeve. “Don’t go out there, what if it’s a burglar?”

“I’m sure it’s fine. What burglar would use the copy machine?” he whispered, trying to reassure her, but not convincing himself.

He crossed over to the sink and pulled open a drawer but found only plastic utensils. Damn. He bent and opened the cabinet below. He grabbed the small fire extinguisher. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

He headed toward the doorway and poked his head out into the hallway. Empty. The copy machine was still going at a steady pace in the distance. Click and glide. Click and glide.

He slipped into the hall, keeping his back close to the interior wall, and inched forward on quiet feet. If he could get to the end of the corridor, he’d be able to peer around and see the spread of the main office area. Step by agonizing step he made it closer to his destination, all the while telling himself that the stealth was for nothing. That it was probably just one of the office workers stopping in for something. But the hairs on the back of his neck said otherwise.

As he reached the end of hall, he carefully peeked around the corner. The whole office was dark except for the parking lot lights illuminating the glass doors at the front and the green and white dance of lights under the lid of the unattended copy machine across the room.

“Hello?” he called out. “Anyone there?”

Only the monotonous rhythm of the damn copier answered.

Unwilling to traipse around the place in the dark to search, he reached for the light switch and flipped on the bank of overhead fluorescents. He scanned the room quickly to make sure no one was in sight, then started looking behind desks, keeping the fire extinguisher poised for his lame spray-and-distract plan.

Once he’d secured that area and checked that the front door was indeed locked, he did a cursory search of the private offices. Not a soul anywhere.

He blew out the breath he’d been holding.

Huh. Maybe some weird glitch in the copier.

He stuck his head in the hallway and called out, “Brynn, all clear.”

He headed across the room to shut off the annoying contraption that had caused the drama. The machine had been queued up for five hundred copies and was steadily pumping them out. He hit the stop button and grabbed the top page of the stack in the output slot.

His blood ran cold.

A photo filled the center of the page—the two faces in profile easily identified. He and Brynn naked by the lake during a midnight tryst from a few weeks ago, her arms bound behind her, his hand poised above her backside, ready to strike. Underneath the photo, a handwritten message in small block letters: