I tugged at the necklace around my neck as I tried to ease the constricted feeling that was spreading rapidly through my chest. The crowd of people hovering around the lobby of the bar suddenly seemed stifling. And loud. I couldn’t catch my breath. I was standing in a crowded room asphyxiating.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on filling my lungs with as much air as I could suck in, aware of what was happening. It had been years since my last panic attack but they were nothing new to my life.

“It surprises me what an easy fuck you are at restaurants.” The smooth baritone that issued the attack should have sent me spiraling out of control but, to my surprise, instead eased the pressure.

I opened my eyes. “Stalking me now, Dr. Bennett?”

Kean grinned at my sarcastic tone, but it didn’t go along with the incensed look in his eyes. “I know you would enjoy if I was, but I’m not. I’m meeting some colleagues for drinks.”

“At the same restaurant? Again? And what colleagues? Oh wait. You mean your most recent conquest, don’t you? What happened? She got tired of waiting for you to finger fuck her at the bar and left?”

“You seem to be in quite the mood, Ms. Thompson. Whitman leaving you unsatisfied?” 

“Trust me, I’m more than satisfied.”

“So, then you lied to me about you and Whitman not being in a relationship? I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Lying seems to be your thing.”

“No, I didn’t lie. Stuart and I aren’t together, not that it’s any of your damn business. He is a really sweet guy and I enjoy his company,” I responded with a smile.

“Sweet, my ass,” he bit back.

“He is a thousand times the man you could ever be.”

An inferno blazed in Kean’s eyes as they darted over my face.

He held out a hand, palm up, towards me as if he expected me to take it. I looked down at it and swallowed before stubbornly meeting his eyes.

“Ciaran, take my hand,” he growled, stepping closer.

I raised my chin defiantly. In response, he raised his hand a bit higher.

I knew the man wasn’t the type to take no for an answer. Hesitantly reaching out, I gently slid my palm over his.

No sooner had his fingers closed over mine, he began to walk.

He led me out the front door and towards his car. Upon reaching it, he opened the passenger side door and shoved me into the seat before slamming it shut.

Were I a normal person, the way Dr. Kean Bennett acted would have been frightening, but the shiver coursing through my body had more to do with lust then fear.

As soon as he slipped behind the wheel, I asked, “Where the hell are we going?”

“Text your friend and let her know you’re with me,” he commanded instead of answering my question. He had seen me with Brenda.

“I can’t. You yanked me out of the restaurant and my purse, which contains my phone, is with Brenda at our table,” I explained dryly.

Keeping his eyes on the road, he pulled his cell from the pocket of his dress shirt and handed it to me. I shot a quick text to Brenda. I made up a story about an emergency situation and told her I had left with a friend. I also asked if she would keep my purse with her until I could retrieve it later.

While handing back the cell, I glared at Kean’s side profile.

“You were watching me?” I asked.

“You are kind of hard to miss.”

I wasn’t sure how to take his response or where to go from there. The questions I had for him about Dr. Duarte and about what Stuart had just told me didn’t seem appropriate for the moment. Nor did inquiring if he was aware someone may be out to ruin his life.

I straightened in the seat and looked out the windshield. “Kean, where are you taking me?”

His only answer was the placement of his hand on my bare leg. His fingers stroked against my skin sending prickles of heat along my inner thigh. I began to feel dizzy.

His next words were soft. “You think I can’t see it, don’t you? You think you have it bottled up so well it isn’t noticeable. I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but you’re wrong. I can see it. I can feel it. It’s buried deep, but it’s there.” 

I began to feel dizzy. I knew what he was referring to. About what he saw. I knew what he connected with. He didn’t need to explain in any more detail. I had tried so hard to keep it buried and I thought I had, but I was a fool.

“What do you see?” I asked, keeping my focus out the front window.

“You tried to hide it behind those sunglasses in the café but it radiated off you. When you grabbed your keys from my hand I felt it. And in the reflection of the mirror at the gym when you were lost somewhere in your thoughts as you ran, I could see it on your face. At the French restaurant, every time you glanced in my direction I felt it beckoning me to come closer. I couldn’t ignore it any longer.”  

I had always believed darkness inside people attracted other darkness. I believed when people who had those shadows within them crossed paths, that inner darkness called out to each other, recognizing what it was. I had slipped up. I identified with Kean’s darkness and I was moving towards it at a speed I couldn’t control.

My heart pounding, I grabbed the hand that was playing with the skin on the inside of my thigh and made an attempt to push it away but Kean spread his fingers and clamped down.

“Ciaran, you can try and deny it all you want but I see it. You’ve built a wall to protect yourself but a voice behind it is calling my name. Your body is begging for me to rip down that barrier. Every inch of you wants my mouth to expose all its secrets.”

Before I could utter a word, his fingers were under the skirt of my dress. Like a heat-seeking missile, they hit directly over my burning wet center, which dragged a moan from my lips. Keeping his hand on the outside of my panties, he pushed a finger against my swollen bundle of nerves and rubbed, sending a tsunami of shivers racing through me. I cried out loudly as my hands squeezed the sides of the leather seat.

“Fuck, Ciaran, all this wetness better be for me,” Kean growled.

His fingers kept rubbing and pressing, pushing me closer to the edge. “Tell me it’s for me.”

“It’s for you,” I gasped.

“Louder, Ciaran. I want to hear my name. Who makes you this fucking wet?”

“You. It’s for you, Kean,” I yelled, spreading my legs wider as I lifted my hips. “Oh God. More. I need more.”

With a sudden jerk, Kean pulled his hand away from my body. My mouth flew open, emitting a cry of protest.

My gaze shot to his, looking for answers as to why he stopped. He shifted the car into park and graced me with a beautiful smile I felt unworthy of. “We’re here.”

Here where? Had the car even been moving I thought, as I tried to find my bearings. man wielded some kind of magic that made me completely clueless as to what was happening outside my body.

Through the passenger window, I saw we were in a parking garage of a building. Kean got out and walked around to my side of the car, giving me a couple of seconds to yank my skirt back over my drenched underwear. Extending the same hand that had been torturing me minutes before, he helped me from the seat. With it pressed it to my lower back I was guided into the structure and straight towards a bank of elevators. He seemed to be on a mission, not even pausing when he called out a curt hello to a kind looking doorman on the way.

Before the elevator door shut, his mouth was on mine in a needy kiss. I pushed up on the tips of my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck. He groaned once and lifted me off my feet so that my legs were able to wrap around his waist. His erection pressed into the divide of my legs, its massive size causing me to feel like I was plummeting instead of rising.

Much too quickly, the elevator pinged twice, announcing the doors were about to open.

I wiggled, a silent request to be let down, but Kean had his own ideas. With his palms slapped to my ass, he walked off the car and took several steps forward before stopping at one of two doors that faced each other across the wide hallway.

The door unexpectedly opened from the inside revealing a man dressed in an impeccable suit. He was as tall as Kean but had short hair and silver gray eyes. I could tell by the way his suit jacket pulled tight across his shoulders, he was also slightly more broad than the man who was carrying me in his arms.

Embarrassed at how intimately I was being held I looked pleadingly at Kean but he only grinned as he carried me past the suit.

“Kean, I already checked the security camera feed. I will update you tomorrow. I’ll be heading out if you and Ms. Thompson don’t need anything,” the suit sternly said as Kean finally set me down in the middle of a spacious living room.

“We don’t need anything, Thad. Thank you. Have a nice night.”

With a brisk nod, Thad walked out the front door shutting it behind him. I turned towards Kean, curious as to what security camera feed the man was talking about. I also wanted to ask how Kean knew the stranger and how the stranger knew my name. The troubled look on his face caused me to inquire, but indirectly.

“Family?” I asked, sounding like I wasn’t really interested.

“Something like that,” he muttered.

Based on his vague response, I decided to let him off the hook for the time being and assessed his apartment. A huge dark leather sofa with matching side chairs were the main pieces of the room. They were centered around a wide flat screen television mounted on a wall. I smirked. I had a hard time picturing a casually dressed Kean kicking back while watching a basketball game. It seemed in total contrast to the person I knew.

Giving Kean a sideways look, I walked over to a row of windows that overlooked downtown Dallas. The view itself was beautiful; however, it was the large patio with several potted trees and plants I fell head over heels in love with. 

“There were only two doors in the hallway and one of them was yours. Am I to assume your apartment takes up half of the entire floor?”

Kean walked to where I was standing, wrapped his arms around my waist and once again lifted me off my feet. “Your assumption is correct, Ms. Thompson, but you’ll have to accept my apology for not giving you a tour right at this moment. I kind of have other things taking priority.” 

I didn’t have time to give it further thought because his tongue stroked into my mouth as he began to walk. The next thing I knew we were in his bedroom where he broke the kiss and set me back on my feet.

“Ciaran, before we take this further I need to explain something,” he said, bending some at the knees to meet my eyes. “I’m not looking for a commitment. My life is too complicated to get into a serious relationship. I need to know you are okay with that before we take this further.”

His words stung.

All my “nice-guys-only” dating rules mocked my trepidation. My frame trembled as if it was aware having sex with this man was going to crush my soul once we were finished.

“I wasn’t asking for more,” I heard myself say.

Accepting my answer, Kean pulled my t-shirt dress over my head as I kicked off my high heels, leaving me in nothing but my bra and panties. He lowered his mouth to my neck, pressing it against my throbbing pulse as he pulled his wallet from his dress pants pocket and removed a condom. With my eyes, I followed the wrapped package where it was tossed onto the bed as I questioned my sanity.

Was I really going to do this?

All it took for me to make my decision was the quick sleight of hand he used to unhook my bra, while the other pushed my underwear over my hips and down my legs.

Kean’s eyes slowly perused my body as he began to remove his clothes. “You’re fucking beautiful.”

I swallowed once. Watching with rapt attention, the removal of each piece of his clothing struck me speechless. I enjoyed every inch of skin that was exposed. And when he pushed down his boxer briefs and revealed a cock longer and thicker than any I had seen before, I gasped.

Pushing me back onto the bed, Kean rolled the condom over his cock and settled between my thighs while he parted my lips with his tongue. His mouth made promises I told myself not to put faith in. It claimed ownership of my body and made me feel wanted. I felt stronger. I felt secure.

With his hand, he guided himself through my wet folds, circling around my clit then placed the tip at the outside of my entrance.

“Ciaran, I’m sorry. I had planned to take my time with you but I don’t think that’s possible right now.” His apology was quick against my lips and left me unprepared for the single thrust he used to push his way deep inside.

We both groaned loudly as my walls clenched tightly at the invasion. The abrupt sting only lasted a minute as I stretched to accommodate him.

Once the pain faded, I clawed at his back, starving for more movement.

“I need you to fuck me hard,” I panted, withering underneath him.

Kean answered with another groan but his body responded without hesitation. Pulling all the way out, he slammed back in, causing my body to slide against the sheets. Placing my hands over my head, I pushed against the headboard as my body arched to meet his thrusts. The feeling of his rough fucking had me in total ecstasy.

“Oh fuck, Kean,” I moaned as his thrusts sped up.

Pushing harder and deeper, he reached down and pinched my overstimulated bundle of nerves. The sensation obliterated my system. My walls pulsed as my core tightened right before shattering into a thousand pieces.

“Ciaran, I’m not going to last. You feel too good, baby,” Kean rasped, right before he lowered his mouth and sucked hard on one of my nipples.

I screamed and, when I started to come for the second time, he came with me.

“Ciaran,” he breathed, my name an imploration from his lips.

With the weight of his body pressing me into the mattress, we both lay still as we each tried to catch our breath. I shut my eyes and let my head drop to the side. After a minute, his weight disappeared and the bed dipped with his movement.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m fantastic,” I panted.

“Yes, baby, you are.” His surprising laugh coupled with a kiss to my temple made me wish I would have kept my eyes open but by the time I looked he was already headed through a door off to the side of the room leaving me with a fantastic view of an ass I wanted to bite. It was a thought I had never had before in my life.

What was happening to me? 

“Don’t move. I’ll bring a washcloth and some water.”

A weak nod was all I could offer, too exhausted and sated for words.

Drowsiness pulled heavily at my eyelids tempting me to fall asleep in the soft sheets but I couldn’t. A man who didn’t date or do commitments most definitely would not appreciate a woman he fucked staying the night.

Besides I still had to stop by Brenda’s to retrieve my purse.

Rolling my head to the other side I waited for him to return.