Chapter 13
POV: Brennan
When we arrived at my apartment, Marina walked in like she belonged there.
And God—
I wished she did.
She moved through the space like it was already hers, like she had always been part of this life I’d built, like this wasn’t a fantasy I’d carried since forever.
For a second, I saw it too clearly—her toothbrush next to mine, her books on my shelves, her laugh filling rooms I’d only known in silence.
I’d loved her long before I had language for love.
And now she was here. In my apartment. With my name on her lips.
The door clicked shut.
She didn’t hesitate.
She grabbed my shirt and slammed me back against the door, eyes blazing, breath uneven. The boldness of it made my chest tighten with something dangerously close to reverence.
“You think you’re the only one who can tease me?” she murmured against my mouth.
God.
This woman had no idea she was my religion.
She did something I’d never even let myself imagine, she kneels in front of me.
And for a moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t reconcile the teenage boy who’d worshipped her from across the yard with the man standing here while she took control of him.
My hands curled into fists at my sides. Control. Control. Control.
I watched her like she was a vision. Like she was something holy kneeling in front of me.
My boss.
My first love.
My obsession.
And she touched me like I was hers.
It almost broke me.
I swallowed hard, jaw clenched, fighting the urge to grab her, lift her, take control the way I needed to.
She smiled at me—slow, knowing, devastating.
She knew what she was doing.
She always did.
She looked up at me through her lashes while she opened my belt, unbuckled my pants, and slid my zipper down. I was so hard it was painful. In a slow, controlled movement, she freed me, pulling my underwear down just as my cock sprang free in front of her.
The moment she touched me with her bare hands, I almost came. I swallowed hard, jaw clenched.
And then she blew on me.
I wasn’t expecting that. Then she licked from the base to the tip, and the sensation of her tongue was unreal. She sucked the head, and suddenly I was in her mouth. She wrapped her velvet-soft hand around me and my hips moved in an uncontrolled thrust toward her.
She took what she could into her mouth, using her hands for the rest.
If that was the sexiest thing I had ever seen in my life, I didn’t know what was.
I couldn’t hold it anymore. I held her head just to ground myself, just to keep from losing everything. I tried—God, I tried—but she kept going, sucking, hollowing her cheeks, taking me deeper. The pleasure built too fast, too high. The scene was insane.
“Enough,” I said.
I caught her jaw and pulled her up in one movement. Then I bent down and lifted her onto my shoulders like she weighed nothing. She gasped.
“Brennan, let me down.”
“You have no right to say anything after what you just did to me.You don’t get to start a war and then complain about the consequences,” I murmured to her.
I carried her through my apartment toward my bedroom while she laughed against my back, every step grounding me, every second a reminder that this was real.
I set her on the bed like she was something sacred.
Because she was.
She wasn’t just my religion.
She was my entire fucking belief system.
She was my entire life. And she would never understand that.
I kissed her fiercely, tasting myself in her mouth. Deep. Raw. Desperate. Trying to show her what she’d done to me.
When I pulled back, her lips were swollen, her breath uneven. I gently pushed the straps of that beautiful red dress down—one, then the other—my mouth following, kissing, biting, worshipping.
I lowered myself and revealed her breasts, perfect skin, perfect curves. They were so soft. I brushed my face against her, feeling her shiver, before taking one nipple into my mouth, sucking gently until she arched into me.
God, I loved how responsive she was.
Always so honest with her body, even when her mind tried to lie.
And as I touched her, I thought of the girl who had waved at me from the baseball field, who had smiled at me like I mattered, who had no idea she had owned my heart since I was a teenager.
She still owned it.
She always would.
I did the same to the other, and she moaned my name. I could spend my whole life like this.
I kept stripping her, kissing my way down her stomach, pulling the red fabric away. I hooked my fingers into her panties and slid them down slowly, savoring every reaction. The fabric was soaked. It felt like victory.
“Open, for me” I ordered.
She did.
God, I loved when she obeyed me.
I held her hips apart, kissed her thighs, watched her wait. Then I sucked her clit hard, just to feel her body jerk. I tasted her, slow and deliberate, loving every sound she made, every desperate movement.
I kept going—gentle, then rough, then slow—until I felt her losing control. I knew her body. I knew the signs. Her breath, her hips, the way she tightened.
I slid a finger inside her, feeling her walls clench. I curled it just right, imagined how she would feel around me. Two strokes, and she came, screaming my name. I didn’t stop until she came down.
Her blue eyes locked into mine as she helped me strip.
“I want you on all fours,” I said.
“On your knees,” I repeated, voice low. “Show me you understand who you’re with.”
She smiled before obeying.
On her knees and hands, that perfect ass on display, I knelt behind her, guiding myself to her entrance. Her hips pushed back, desperate.
“Patience,” I warned, fingers digging into her hip. “I decide when you get me.”
Then I thrust inside her slowly, deep, feeling her gasp and moan. I kept moving, trying to control myself, but she always made me feel too much. Too fast. Too intense.
She was close again. I pulled her back against my chest, one hand on her neck, the other on her clit. She came, squeezing me, pulling me deeper.
That was it. I came hard.
God, I love this woman.
I just can’t say this out loud.
She collapsed onto the bed, still trembling, breath uneven, skin warm under my palms.
I followed her down immediately, pulling her into my arms before she could even think about pulling away. She fit there like she’d been built for it—her head tucked beneath my chin, her body curled into my chest, her fingers tracing slow, absentminded patterns across my skin.
Like she was memorizing me.
“God,” she murmured, voice lazy and wrecked. “How did I end up here again?”
I brushed my lips over her hair, her temple, her cheek.
“Because we’re inevitable.”
She huffed a quiet laugh, the sound vibrating against my chest.
“You are so sure about this.”
“You know I’m right,” I said, tightening my hold on her. “You’re just not ready to admit it to yourself.”
She was quiet for a moment, her fingers still moving over my skin, then she sighed and melted into me.
“Sleep.”
And she did.
I woke up with us tangled together, her legs wrapped around my hips, my arms locked around her waist like I was afraid she’d disappear if I let go.
She looked different like this.
Younger. Softer. Vulnerable.
Not Dr. Meyer. Not the cardiology legend. Not my attending.
Just Marina. My Marina.
My forever crush. My first love. The woman I’d worshiped long before she ever looked at me twice.
I brushed my thumb over her cheek, then slipped my fingers into hers. She tightened her grip even in sleep, letting out a small, sleepy moan.
Fuck, I loved that sound.
“Marina,” I murmured.
Her lashes fluttered, then those blue eyes opened, still heavy with sleep.
“Morning,” she whispered.
“Morning,” I replied, kissing her forehead, then her temple. “Did you sleep well?”
She smiled, slow and lazy. “After all those orgasms? Yeah. I think I did.”
I smirked.
“I aim to please.”
She laughed, then her expression shifted—thoughtful, distant. Overthinking. As always.
“Don’t go there,” I said quietly.
Her gaze snapped back to me. “I don’t know how you read me so well.”
“I’ve been reading you my whole life.”
She sighed. “You know what I’m thinking.”
“I do,” I said, brushing her hair back. “You’re already listing every problem in your head.”
“Of course I am.” She looked at the ceiling. “I’m older than you.”
“I don’t care.”
She studied me. “It’s not you. It’s everyone else.”
“I don’t care about anyone else,” I said, firmer now. “I care about you and me.”
She hesitated. “I’m your boss, Brennan. Your attending. This could ruin your career.”
I lifted her chin so she had to look at me.
“I am not fucking you in a call room. I’m in my apartment. With you. Off the clock. And I am very capable of being professional.”
She smiled despite herself.
“We’re unavoidable,” I said again. “You fought it. I know you did.”
She nodded slowly. “I did.”
Then her brow furrowed again. “It’s not just work. Our families. My parents. Yours. You were younger, they might—”
“My parents adore you,” I interrupted. “And your parents already think I’m perfect. That problem is solved.”
She laughed, then grew serious again. “You’re too confident.”
I pushed myself onto one elbow so I could look at her properly.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I said I have this under control. Don’t you trust me?”
Her eyes searched mine. “I do. That’s the problem.”
“You deserve to be happy,” I said quietly. “You are brilliant. I’m brilliant. We’ve survived two weeks of pretending nothing was happening between us, and we did it well. We can handle this too.”
She swallowed.
“Stop thinking about consequences,” I added. “We’ll deal with them when they exist. Right now, you’re here. With me.”
She hesitated, then nodded.
“Good,” I said, kissing her once, slow and deliberate. “Come on. I’m making you breakfast.”
She watched me pull on sweatpants, then stole my shirt like she owned it. By the time she walked into the kitchen, the sunlight was catching in her hair, turning it almost white. My shirt barely covered her thighs.
She looked unreal.
She climbed onto the counter, swinging her legs lazily while I made pancakes. It felt domestic. Dangerous. Perfect.
She took the first bite and smiled like I’d handed her something sacred.
“Now that you’re refueled,” I said, stepping closer, “let me wash you.”
She laughed when I scooped her up into my arms.
“You really are impossible.”
I kissed her nose.
“You already knew that.”
And I carried her toward the bathroom like this was the most natural thing in the world.
Like she was already mine.