Chapter 3
Chapter three
Dr. Helen Chu
One Year Ago
New York City
Helen
Music from Gwen and Caleb’s wedding spills out onto the balcony, but it’s faint since we’re on the far end, away from the door.
Teddy kisses me deeper, and I take in the slightly metallic taste of his tongue piercing.
I explore it, running my tongue along the rounded ball that tips each end of the metal rod.
Teddy presses closer, his body lined up to mine with no space between us.
Each brush of his lips and tongue matches his hands, which encircle my waist, then drop to my behind, which he lightly squeezes.
The motion pushes his pelvis against my stomach, and I can feel his hardness.
He wants this. Just as much as I do.
I rub up against him, and he groans softly, the sound sensual and raw.
“You’re stunning,” he whispers, licking and sucking at the skin of my throat.
I whimper, extending my neck to give him better access, breathless from his touch. There’s an ache in my core, an all-consuming need for him. My nipples pucker when he runs his thumb over the thin fabric covering them.
“So gorgeous,” he says again, his voice thick with something that sounds dangerously close to reverence. He swirls his tongue over the shell of my ear, and a full-body shiver overtakes me. His hands tighten on my hips like he’s barely holding himself back.
I pull away to stare into his eyes, which are dark, heated, hungry.
“Take me to your room,” I say in a clear voice as I rub my hand along his length, so he knows exactly what I mean.
I’ve never had a one-night stand before. I have a rule against it, but there’s a recklessness in Teddy that calls to me. It awakens a long-suppressed urge to leave my normal self behind.
Just for tonight.
Just this one time.
I hold my breath and wait for his response.
For one long second, he stares at me.
His chest rises and falls rapidly. His heart thrums under my palm. His fingers flex on my hips, and his lips part—
Then he exhales.
And says, “No.”