Page 60 of Stolen Temptation

Maybe he’s been too busy drugging and abducting women for work.

Pressed against one wall is a queen-sized sofa bed.

I must stare at it with intensity because Rory shrugs in my periphery.

“Used to pull a lot of all-nighters in here. Still do, occasionally.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Yeah. Lots of college papers to write, I’m sure.”

A smile comes to his face. Amused, but somber. “For work.”

Wanting to be as far from that bed as possible, I walk around him and lean against his desk. “And how much of your work requires a mattress?”

A soft chuckle rumbles from Rory’s lips. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that.”

“Really? Because what I’m thinking is that I mentioned sex back there, and now you’ve got ideas.” The words are out before I vet them. Heat follows, burning up my whole face.

I donotwant to look into Rory’s eyes, but I’m afraid my embarrassment will be obvious if I don’t. Especially since that bed dominates the space.

Steeling myself, I hold my breath and meet his dark, heated gaze.

Rory stares back in a dangerous, predatory way that curls my toes in my sneakers and shrieks alarm bells in my head at full volume.

Damn, my heart’s pounding like a snare drum.

And despite that lethal gleam in his eyes, I want more of that rabid-butterflies-in-my-stomach sensation. Anxiety and excitement ping-pong through me at warp speed.

I should know better. For all intents and purposes, I’m a hostage, and Rory’s my kidnapper. I watched him kill two men. He could murder me in a matter of seconds.

But even if my brain knows not to get sucked in, my body is an entirely different story.

A vein in Rory’s forearm pulses. “And what if you’re right?”

“W-what?” I stammer, open-mouthed and suddenly far too warm.

“If…” His jaw tenses. “What if…Iamthinking about what you said back there?”

My pulse races like a world-class sprinter.

He’s actually admitting to it? That he’sthinking about sex with…me?

The idea threatens to implode my mind.

I swallow hard, but the uncomfortable knot in my throat doesn’t go down.

“The life you wish you were living.” His eyes somehow drill into mine, upping the intensity crackling between us. “Was that all true?”

“Huh?”

“Do you really want to do those things on your bucket list?”

Rory moves, invading my personal space again. The words he’s speaking are charged in ways that terrify me.

Without my permission, my body reacts as if I’m full of metal and he’smagnetized, pulling me closer. “I used to.”

His intensity ramps up. “The way you spoke earlier…you made it sound like you’ve never fucked anyone. Is that true?”

Not only have I never had sex, but no one’s ever spoken to me like that before. The bluntness combined with his velvety voice electrifies my body.