Chapter 7 Chemical Attraction #2
An ache lodges at the base of my throat, and I decide I can give her this. “What would you tell a patient caught in a similar situation?”
She releases another light laugh. “Clever. But I think I’d warn them not to get marooned on rocks with devastatingly attractive astrophysicists to begin with.”
She pulls a smile from me too easily. “Is there a better way to get you alone, then?”
Something flashes in her eyes, but before I’m able to analyze it, a wave breaks over us with a harsh spray, and Collins buries herself into my side.
The feel of her hair grazing my cheek stokes the fiery itch beneath my skin, and a hit of alarm spikes my adrenals.
In an effort to distract myself as much as her, I cast a glance at the starry canvas above.
“If the moon were full, we could see it reach its zenith, giving us a better calculation for the outgoing tide.”
“All this from studying rocks in space,” she says absently, but not at all incredulous.
“Admittedly, I have the advantage of watching the ocean for years.”
“For some reason, I doubt you need the advantage.” She peeks up at me, her smile sweet but knowing. “Don’t try to be humble, Dr. Night. It doesn’t suit you.”
There’s a flutter in my chest. “Noted, Dr. Holbrook.”
“You can use my name.”
“You caved on that stipulation.” The corner of my mouth kicks up.
“Life in peril has a way of doing that,” she says, her starry eyes hung on mine.
As the ocean rises around us, I keep her locked in my gaze, feeling unmoored by the rhythmic crash of waves and the sharp, howling wind.
The thundering drum of my pulse. The spray misting the atmosphere, ethereal and hazy.
Beneath it all, I can sense the violent, uneven thump of her heart, a rising chorus of chords and beats that twine around me, through me, rushing the deeply pronounced crags of my soul more furiously than the ocean between the hollow veins of the rocks.
At the atomic level, chemical attraction is an absolute, a rule. The process to form bonds is a law woven through the very fabric of the universe. The fusion which fuels the stars.
There is no refuting the science. Instant chemical attraction not only exists, on a nuclear scale, it’s strong enough to power a hypernova.
I just never believed I’d experience it outside the lens of my telescope.
An ache sears my throat as I realize, here beside her, falling into the captivating depth of her eyes, I’m utterly susceptible.
This attraction burns.
Breaking the charged connection, I swallow, returning my gaze to the dark expanse. There is one advantage I can take—one I should be shamefully opposed to.
But the dark tide rising within me makes its own demands.
As my eyes track back to her, maddeningly beautiful in her disheveled, vulnerable state, obsession licks through me, coiling around me like the dark tendrils that twist tighter and tighter every day.
“Why are you here, Collins?”
Her body tenses next to mine. “I told you, I went for a walk—”
“At Stonehurst.”
It’s unfair on my part, cornering her like this on a rock in the middle of thrashing waves where she can’t escape, where she’s too fearful to raise a defensive wall.
But fear has a way of stripping our defenses. Making us honest.
She pushes upright and tucks her arms close to her chest, shielding herself against the next hostile spray off a breaker. “I was brought in to help mediate,” she explains simply. “Dr. Banner wants to assure you’re being given the attention you need—”
“Don’t.” My jaw sets hard. “The truth.”
She licks the water from her lips, the sensual act a threat to obliterate my resolve. “You’re quick to anger, Dr. Night.”
“I’m quick to detect bullshit, Dr. Holbrook,” I fire back.
The shadowy night presses in, heavy and tangling with the electric pulse vibrating between us.
She adjusts, sitting straighter. “I’m here to conduct a risk assessment,” she finally says. “But my objective is to help you, Dr. Night.”
Something in the way she says this makes me want to believe her.
I nod once. “You can help by telling me how Leo intends to get rid of me,” I say, allowing the darkness to bare a layer of my desperation.
She licks her lips again slowly, sensually, and fucking Christ—whatever barricade I erected crumbles like sediment assaulted by the ruthless storm of waves under her weighted stare.
Firming her shoulders, she says, “I think Dr. Banner wants to have you placed under evaluation. A psychiatric hold.”
“Hmm.” Now that I believe. It’s why he was pushing so hard for me to commit to just one session.
Hiring a professional who can sign the necessary legal documents to deem me a danger and have me removed, leaving my instruments and research all to the university.
That ungrateful bastard. “I confess, that’s particularly brilliant on his part. ”
I have my answer, and yet I’m stalling, searching for an excuse to keep her trapped on this rock. I tap my fingers against the stone in ritual count to ease the restlessness.
“Dr. Banner is concerned for you,” she says, her tone softening.
“You were doing so well with your honesty. Don’t offer excuses for him.”
Collins rubs her arm, chasing away a chill as she nods. “Yeah, you’re right. I was appalled when I realized his intentions.”
From my peripheral, I study the tightening of her lips, the forced swallow pulsing down the slender column of her throat, my gaze drawn helplessly to the erratic flutter beneath her skin.
My tapping speeds, syncing to her accelerating heartbeat—a Euclidean rhythm of rising beats and notes until my chest nearly explodes.
Maybe she’s not part of Leo’s scheme, but that does little to change the outcome.
What has to be done.
As she shifts her position for comfort, her fitted skirt rides higher up her thighs, weakening my resolve another fraction. If we weren’t stranded on the fringe of a surging ocean, I might accuse her of trying to distract me on purpose.
“You should let me conduct the assessment,” she says suddenly.
A derisive smirk curves my mouth. “Haven’t you already? What was it you called it… Naturalistic Observation?” I tilt my head and tsk. “Unless all those lingering glances and blushing smiles when caught watching me was because I am, in fact, so devastatingly attractive.”
Her lips part slightly, her blinks coming faster, and I’m somewhat bothered to realize I’m holding my breath in anticipation of her answer.
When she takes too long to respond, I nod again, firmer. “Sorry, Dr. Holbrook. But given this new knowledge, I feel undergoing an evaluation by you would be unethical.”
Her hand curls into a fist against the rock, and a hot coil of tension snaps the air. “That’s pretty hypocritical coming from you, considering how unethical your behavior has been.”
I cock an eyebrow, amused.
She lifts her chin defiantly. “The inappropriate remarks during our first meeting. All the lurking and smoldering grins, and intimidation tactics—”
“Yes, I can see how offering you an umbrella is diabolical.”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, gaze narrowed. “Don’t gaslight me, Dr. Night. I see the way you look at me…” She trails off, her insinuation clear.
I scrape a hand over my jaw. “Before I discovered that you came here to sabotage my life’s work.”
She lifts her chin higher, undeterred. “I see how you’re looking at me now.”
On impulse, my gaze drops to her exposed thighs, and I take my time roaming back up. A hot ember flares beneath my icy skin at the sight of her nipples peaked against her wet blouse.
Her chest concaves, her breathing shallows, as though she’s concentrating on each inhalation beneath my heated stare. When I lock with her gaze, I allow her to read the wicked intent in mine.
Fear has a taste, a scent lingering on the air. Intoxicating to those who feed on it. And right now, it swirls thick and tempting around Collins.
For a single heartbeat, I wonder how difficult it would be to scare her off.
The impulsive thought constricts my chest until my lungs burn. Even if I could, I’m not sure how I can simply let her vanish, not when I can’t even tear my eyes away from her. This rock begins to feel unsteady, upending me like a capsized vessel on the deepest, blackest waters.
She shivers, and I feel powerless as I lean in, claiming the space near her lips. “Don’t worry, Collins,” I say, my words falling across her mouth. “I can’t touch you.”
Her gaze darts to my gloved hand before she levels me with a meaningful look, and I’ve never wanted to defy my own words as badly as I do right this fucking second.
After a prolonged beat, where I try to count the gold bands in her iris, memorize the light pattern of freckles across her smooth cheeks, I force myself to draw away.
She tentatively crosses her arms over her chest. “Does that work both ways?”
Her question aims to explore deeper than the surface banter between us, and just the threat of her touch sparks up the column of my spine like a strike of flint.
I flex my jaw. “This isn’t a session, doctor.”
“It should be.”
A groan works free from deep in my throat, and I clench and unclench my hand, the leather strapped tight across my knuckles. The abrasive rub against my inflamed palm feels satisfying.
“The last thing I want to do is sabotage your work,” she says, referring to my earlier accusation. “I can promise you that.”
I risk another glance into her eyes, startled to find the gravity of truth held there.
Collins tilts her head. “Do you like chess?”
“I don’t hate it.”
“One game,” she offers. “If you meet with me, we don’t have to discuss anything in particular. Just play a simple match.”
She’s a clever little starling, I’ll give her that—but none of this feels simple. “That’s assuming we make it off this rock.”
And sometimes, I can be a real asshole.
“Shit,” she mutters. “You’re serious.” Her blinks come furiously as she glances around, as if only now realizing how high the ocean has risen.