Page 290 of Love Me in the Dark

“I know.” I tell her. “I’ve been making moves since the first time I read your work logs. You’re skilled. I’ll show you the office. Your office. After.”

I kiss her.

“Remind me to tell you about the Phoenix program.”

Her fingers go to the buttons of my shirt, and everything else I would have said is lost. She doesn’t rush. Each one is undone like a decision she’s making. One she already knows the answer to.

She pushes the fabric off my shoulders.

I lift her and carry her to the bed.

But I don’t take her like I’ve fantasized.

I let her come to me. I let her take control.

She kisses me like she wants to punish me for everything I’ve done to her—then kisses me again like she wants to remember it forever.

She whispers, “Make me forget everything that came before you.”

I will.

And I will make damn sure she never remembers a world where she didn’t belong to me.