Chapter 1

This is what I want.

Your hands make circles around my ankles. They shackle me for but a moment before your fingertips move upward over the edge of bone, the dip and hollow of muscle and flesh. Over my calves and the prickly surface of my knees, where they linger to stroke the soft, smooth underside. Those untouched places. Your fingers linger there, seeking creases.

Your thumbs move up the sun-warmed flesh of my thighs, which I part for you beneath summer's bright golden light. Like the breeze that twitches the ends of my hair, your fingers drift along my skin, moving higher.

This is what I want. You. Touching me.

You take the time to trace the faint white line, the place where once my flesh parted beneath the edge of a razor wielded by an unsteady hand. You don't ask about this scar. You ask nothing, say nothing. You have no voice but that which I grant you…and so far I haven't given you permission to speak.

You kneel in front of me, and this is where I like you. How I like you. On your knees, my body aligned for your worship and your hands smoothing a constant upward path.

This is what I want—your breath on my skin. Your fingers parting me. Your mouth finding the sweet, small pearl of my clitoris. I want your tongue there, and the pressure of your lips. I want you to lick me as I stand over you, you upon your knees.

I want you to worship me.

"Hold that elevator!" Eve Grant called across the lobby, already knowing it was a futile request. The elevator was super slow and had a cranky habit of stalling, forcing the employees of Digiquest to trudge up and down the stairs. Nobody was willing to contribute to a breakdown by stopping the doors once they were closing, not even at five to nine and knowing she was only hollering because if she had to wait for the elevator or take the stairs, she would be late clocking in.

Almost nobody.

A hand appeared at the last second, sliding between the slow-closing door and the wall. The elevator door bounced against it before grudgingly sliding back open. Eve grabbed up her bag and ran. Her sprint wasn't dignified or graceful, but she wasn't about to let the chance pass.

"Thanks," she said as she hopped into the elevator just before the door closed, finally. "I appreciate it."

"No problem."

Lane DeMarco, six-foot-four of gorgeous and a half inch of fantastic, smiled at her. Eve automatically smiled in return. Lane's smile was hard to resist.

Eve and Lane had been hired at the same time—she in customer service and he in I.T. They'd been through the battlefield of employee orientation together and two years of office picnics and holiday parties, but it hadn't made them anything more than acquaintances. He was just the sort of guy who'd flirt enough to flatter but not freak out, the kind who'd smile and hold the elevator for someone. Anyone. It didn't make her special or anything.

Lane lifted an insulated cup to his lips and sipped. Watching his throat work as he swallowed was bad enough, but when his tongue slid out along his lips to swipe away the creamy coffee, she had to look away.

"That smells good," she said about the coffee, because the only thing worse than making inane conversation was standing in awkward silence.

Where were her words when she needed them? Why could she speak to strangers online, share with them her most intimate secrets, yet she couldn't do more than mumble with Lane? Why was he so…unattainable?

Lane swirled the liquid in the cup and sipped again. "It's called a Mocha Mint. I got it from the new place next door, The Beanery. Have you tried it?"

"No." Her stomach rumbled, reminding her she'd run out of the house without breakfast. Again. She really needed to get up earlier if she was going to blog before work. "I'll have to check it out."

The elevator dinged. One more floor to go. It actually might have been faster to take the stairs…but then she'd have missed out on the exquisite torture of riding up with Lane.

The door opened on their floor. Lane hung back to allow Eve to exit first, depriving her of the chance to ogle his ass. Shit. Was he ogling hers? Eve glanced over her shoulder but found Lane's gaze trained on her face. Was that better or worse? Worse, she decided, but not unexpected. Lane might be the star of most of her naughty online fantasies, but to him she was just another computer to fix.

As if he'd read her mind, he asked, "Are you still having that problem with your chat windows freezing up?"

"Oh, yeah." She hadn't forgotten about the support request she'd put in. Lane wasn't the only I.T. guy on staff, but she'd been hoping he'd be the one to take the task.

"I'll swing by in a bit to check it out, okay?"

She nodded and gave him a little wave as she watched him saunter away. Gah. He's all that and a bag of chips.

In her pod Eve tossed her bag onto the spare chair and shook her mouse to wake the computer, then logged in quickly, barely making it before the clock clicked from 9:00 to 9:01 and made her officially late. Her queue was already five customers deep, the blinking cursor an impatient reminder her she was here to work, not fantasize about Lane DeMarco, no matter how tempting it was. Her fingers tapped away at the keys that would bring up the first customer from her queue. She had a minute or two of prewritten remarks to get through before she had to actually engage her mind.

Copyright © 2007 by Megan Hart.