Page 77 of Fixation

He draws back quickly, leaving me gasping, breathless, and messed up.

“I’m sorry about that.” The apology is as stern as his hands on my arms. As concise as he manhandles me, flipping me onto my stomach. “It won’t happen again, Miss Arlington.”

“Harper.” My cheek is pressed to the pillow. Hair tucked behind my ear. Anderson did that. Anderson is taking care of me. “I’m Harper.”

“Miss Arlington.” Anderson doesn’t need to raise his voice for me to listen to him. For me to be quiet. “I’m trying…” As he sucks his lips in, I notice the first signs of hesitation.

Only until his eyes darken. Once they do, he pins me with a stare so intense that I think I imagined the whole thing.

“You’re my patient. Being on a first-name basis will only lead to unnecessary confusion.”

The old me, the one from who knows how many days ago, would’ve screamed at him. She’d say that there is no confusionhere. That I’ve been kidnapped. That he’s the one who’s doing the kidnapping.

This new me is unsure.

Grateful.

“Okay, Dr. Maguire.”

“Better.” The uncertainty has been wiped off his face. He massages cool soap into my shoulder blades. The curve of my back. The length of my legs. “Stay still,” he gives me a heads up before he rubs the soap on my feet, though it isn’t necessary.

His grip is firm, practiced. Nothing ticklish about his strong hands on my feet, either.

What’s wrong with me that I crave his touch?

Everything.

“Ass up.”

A light tap on the small of my back, and I obey him, tucking my knees in, raising my hips.

I’m soaked.

For him.

He sees that.

“Good.” His praise bathes me in warmth I don’t want to feel.

I won’t accept it. I fight against the things it’s doing to my heart and head. I fight my lust harder when he grabs the backs of my thighs and spreads my legs.

“Miss Arlington.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Bite my tongue to stop panting.

Anticipating the worst, I wait and…

Nothing.

My eyes open, and there he is. Next to my face. An all-powerful man looming over me.

Something about his posture makes him seem like a God.

He’s unlike any other doctor I’ve ever met. He looks capable of killing people just as he’s capable of healing them.

The realization doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t.

The fluttering in my stomach is just as confusing.