Rough Edge (The Edge #1)(47)

“I had a cancellation, so it worked out,” I said, ignoring the question in her eyes.

“The board’s pretty interested in this.”

“It’s hot in here.” She took off her jacket. “Do you want some water?”

“I’m good.” I opened the folder and handed her a copy of the proposal with my inner wrist facing the table. “I put in your revisions. I think it’s ready for the board.”

She nodded and scanned the pages. “I think so too.”



* * *



“Hey.” I had my phone pressed to my ear as I walked down an empty stairway. The walls were bright white with black scuffs. I’d waited at the elevator, but I had too much energy. I didn’t wait for Caden to greet me. “I just met Tina. She loved it. And I mean loved with a capital L and a heart for an O. She wants me to present it to the board and tell her what kind of position I want!”

Full time? Advisory? Did I want to stay in private practice? Any kind of hybrid? The options were overwhelming and thrilling. So many doors had opened, I couldn’t count them.

“That’s wonderful,” he replied.

I slowed my run. He had been his one true self when he’d kissed me good-bye in the morning. But he wasn’t now. It was creeping back. No one would notice but me. He sounded so close to normal, maybe a little tired, but he was in the beginning of Damon’s cycle.

I stopped on a landing. There was going to be a course correction. “Where are you?”

“In my office. I just got out of the OR.”

“What floor is that on?”

“Where are you, Major?”

“Between seven and eight. On the stairs.”

“Meet me on six.”

I hung up. My heels clattered and echoed off the metal steps and stark walls.

The door to the sixth floor slapped open, and he was there. Clean-shaven for cutting day. Collar open to the edges of the hair on his chest. Thick watch setting the boundary for the precision of his hands. Eyes of cold, dark sapphire that would get darker and colder very soon.

He reached out as I came to the last step and kissed me. Possessed me. Devoured me. I had so much to say, but I was consumed in that kiss.

“It’s working,” I said when I could breathe. “You’re holding.”

“I know. I know. We were down to eighteen hours. Now it’s three days.”

“Three whole days.”

He squeezed me so hard I left the floor and only let go enough to kiss me again. “I just want a minute to kiss you like this. Taste you before I get taken over.”

I forgot about the sleeves and the bruises. About the meeting with Tina and what she’d offered at the end.

He was in there with me, kissing my mouth and my neck like a starving man. Nothing else mattered. Nothing.

He put hands on both sides of my face and yanked himself away.

“I love you,” he said through his teeth as if carving it in his mind.

“Three days.”

“Then five. Then a week.” I hooked my hands at his elbows and touched his forehead with mine. “I never thought I’d be grateful to Ronin for anything in my life.”

“It’s changing fast though.”

“Tonight then.” I couldn’t help but smile.

“When this is all over—” He kissed my lips, flicking his tongue inside them. “When I’m normal again, I’m not going to stop.”

“Stop what?”

He kissed my face between every act. “Tying you down. Spanking you. Hurting you. Pushing you. Owning you. Marking you.”

“Deal.” I pushed him away, and his face darkened as if the change was coming in with a tide.

“Be naked when I get home.”



* * *



“I’ll be there in five minutes,” he said over the phone as I paced the living room. “Are you naked?”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

“I’m going to destroy you whether you’re ready or not.”

He hung up.

My plan was to get destroyed, then before he went cold again, we would talk about my options with the hospital and my practice. I couldn’t figure out how to manage the time. Many doctors melded the two; I didn’t know how. The normal Caden would know what to do. The man who was coming home was a trusted keeper of my body and my orgasms, but my career was off-limits.

Passing the mirror by the front door, I stopped. My hair draped over my shoulders like a veil. I pulled it into a twist and over one shoulder.

Three days.

The time between episodes was getting longer. The crescent of light that glowed when the dark eclipsed the light had gotten slimmer and slimmer. Totality never came. The moon was already moving away from the sun.

There was a knock at the front door, and I froze. Why didn’t he come in?

Did he want me to open the door naked onto 87th Street?

The satin lining of my coat was cool on my back. I checked myself in the mirror and let the collar loose so it fell over my shoulders as I clutched the placket together at my breast. I opened the door. Colin stood under the front light.

“Jesus, Colin!”

“You invited me for dinner. Where are you g—?” He stopped himself when he saw my bare feet, then he raised an eyebrow at me, a smile curling one side of his mouth.